Just Do It!

I learned how to write my name in Greek today! But if you put a gun to my head and asked me to write anything else, I'd be dead. I'm sure my handwriting is about the quality of a four year old, but hey it's a start!

I also went on my first Greek run today. I figured I would wait until I could at least ask for directions to the main road, or say, "Where am I?" and know what my address was (as you may recall from a previous post, this was information that we were not privy to until very recently). Also, I can at least sllloowwwlllly read street signs now, so I felt confident that I could recognize names if given directions. So, I took a turn around the Pharos area of Neo Psychico. This is one of my favorite things in the WORLD to do. I love going running in a new place! It's absolutely the best way to find fun, interesting things and get a real feel for your new surroundings. I'll go into more detail in a minute, but first, let's take a moment for a few gems of Athens traffic mayhem:

1) Speed trees- Apparently, speed bumps are too boring for the Athenians, so they have planted little rectangles of shrubbery right in the middle of the roads AND sidewalks making driving, walking, and running a sinuous, bush-wacking jungle adventure. Does this slow down the traffic? Of course not. Now the cars are just gunning it in zigzag motions instead of straight lines making them even more erratic and out of control.

2) iPods- I am not even kidding you when I say that I saw a man driving with an IPOD in his ears. This was not a bluetooth or some sort of cell phone apparatus, no, this guy had TWO earbuds in and was fiddling with his iPod while driving. TURN ON THE RADIO! Don't have a radio? Sing to yourself! I really don't care! But, dude, don't iPod and drive.

And now the segue...

The traffic madness makes running extra challenging. Even on my neighborhood-y suburban streets, there's just no telling what's going to happen. I'll tell you this much though, I got some excellent sprinting and hurdling practice in. If you ever want to run Steeple Chase, train in Athens. As I mentioned, the trees are also right in the middle of the sidewalks, so there is often need to leap over loose rocks, fallen branches, cats, etc. As for the sprinting, whenever crossing the street, ya just gotta go, man. One way streets? Psh. That means pretty much nothing in these parts. There was a lot of frantically looking in every possible direction and then full out sprinting if ever a street needed to be crossed. Good grief. Also, there is a darling traffic circle near my house that is rather pleasant to visit, but in order to get in, around, or through the traffic circle, one must zigzag (really, Greece, what is it with the zigzag?) through a Disney Land style series of bars, which while running was interesting to say the least. Agility, sprinting, jumping... no wonder the Athenians rocked the Olympics.

The best part of running in a new place is that moment when you reach the end of a street or park and something opens up in front of you to reveal a view that takes your breath away. This happened to me twice today:

The first was when I reached the end of a row of trees (that I had been weaving around, of course) that finally cleared, opening up the street and showing me the spectacular mountains that rise up around Athens. That's a sight that will stop you dead in your tracks when you're not expecting it. It was beautiful. I could also see part of a huge stadium (not certain if it was part of the new Olympic stadium or if it was for football; I'll check out a map later). The second was toward the end of my run when I decided to go back a different way. I turned a corner and was smacked in the face by a gorgeous Greek Orthodox church. I decided to collect myself and take a quick peek inside. I couldn't just walk past it. This was my first Greek Orthodox church. And oh my goodness-- how beautiful! The ceilings were a deep, deep blue (just like the water of the Aegean) with gorgeous frescoes of birds and angelic beings. Someone from behind the altar yelled out a "YASSSSOOOUUUU" to me that echoed within all of the domed ceilings of the church. I managed a feeble response as I nodded and shook myself out of my reverie and walked out to finish up the last leg of my run.

An adorable old man said something to me while I was jogging in place on the corner while praying that traffic would let up, but I have no idea what he said because he was speaking Greek and I was using an iPod, but he mimed running-arms gestures, made a ridiculous face, and gave me a fist pump. I'm going to pretend he was telling me I was channelling Nike and was a total champ.