)(( hannah mello ))(

catching up...more stories from 3 weeks ago

These stories stem from 2 weeks of Pre-Corinth travels.
Now, in Corinth (Korinthos), I'm energetically teaching 10 year olds and adults beginner and intermediate English-- LOVING every second of it. SUCH A BLAST. :) 12 hour days and not much chill time-- but a COMPLETE gift. (Next time, I'll share the recent stories I'm excited to share...)


Athens & Santorini: THE TEXAN <> BOB
In Athens, I stayed at the Austrailian Backpacker’s Hostel one block from the ancient sites of Athens. My first night there, there was no room in the hostel. They had compassion on me and let me camped on a couch in the living room. On another couch, reading “Angels in Demons”by Dan Brown, was the dark haired, puca shell wearing, 23 year old, Texan university graduate named Bob. We ended up trekking around the Acropolis the next day together-- getting sweaty and dusty from the humid, hot Athens sun. He introduced me to the lifestyle of locusts, told stories about his Italy explorations, and was quick to join me in my “oh! look at that!” tendencies. Great conversation. Lots of laughs. Love the movie quotes. Love them. We ended up at the Piraeus Port Ferry Ticket counter at the same time & he followed me to the Greek island of Santorni. Truth be told >> I was a little irritated. I wanted to spend time on this dream island alone & independently. I had been looking forward to the week in Santorini for months. Five concentrated days together began on a Mediterranean ferry (along with two Aussie girls from the hostel who were heading to another island—Sarah & Rachel). The morning after we had arrived, I sat on the floor of my tent and made a decision. It wasn’t an accident that I was here with him. I needed to learn this difficult lesson of sharing the journey with an unexpected traveling companion. The days that followed ended up being a blast (although I tended to wander off exploring sometimes ... :) ... and he was frustrated that I always seemed to meet people when he wasn’t with me…). We camped at the same site (yes, in separate tents :)...), explored the island beaches (including a red rock beach & a black sand beach which was my favorite: “Peressa Beach”) & the volcano-torn red cliffs on a little motor bike for 2 days. SO MUCH FUN. Except he tried to teach me how to drive it so I could take it out on my own, and I ended up making the mistake of getting off and not being able to turn it back on. I had to wheel that HEAVY HEAVY thing downhill for about a 1/4 mile. RIDICULOUS. Love it. Love it. All in all- Bob was great. Definitely a fun stretch for the independent me that was expecting to enjoy Santorini in quite a different way! SO good for me.

Oia, Santorini: THE ARTIST <> DIMITRI
((I spent 4 of my 7 days in THE MOST picturesque corner of Santorni—a village called “Oia” (pronounced “ee-a”) at the northern tip of the island (...after parting ways with Bob). The hostel I stayed in there was basically a mini pencion/villa. AMAZING. (and only 15 euro a night!) ANYWAY >> I ducked into one of the many shops there one night only to find myself in the art studio of an Iconographer named Dimitri. The seventy year old artist scooted his easel away from me when he saw me enter the shop—hiding his work. My breath escaped me when I saw the STUNNING work before my eyes—original works painted on old doors or pieces of drift wood. Golds. Silvers. Deep Mediterranean blue tones. Form. Structure. Symbolism. Depth. Unbelievable! :) After minutes of breathlessly viewing the art, we began to talk & he wrote down his information—saying he will be having shows in LA & San Francisco in the next year. He scooted his easel out to let me see what he had been working on—allowing me to watch him work in silence… he said he will only work in the company of friends. :) The next day, I came by his studio to see his door only ½ way open. I shyly entered only to find him with a long time friend also named Dimitri—from Athens. This new Dimitri was a pianist & songwriter. They invited me to pull up a chair & sit with them. The artist Dimitri was over by the window, sorting through cassette tapes, choosing songs to play for his visiting friend. They spoke to each other in Greek—critiquing and analyzing the different songs of different genres (traditional Greek folk music & Greek Orthodox liturgical chants mostly). The artist Dimitri finally found the song he was hunting for—a liturgical chant in Greek that made his face change with emotion. He had moved to his easel-side table which was colored by paint blots and littered with every kind of painters tool imaginable. As the melodies filled the room, he sang along under his breath, closing his eyes when the emotion became too great for him. UNBELIEVABLE. When I said goodbye after the 10 minute song had completed, and stumbled out of the studio—overwhelmed with what I had just experienced.

Oia, Santorini: THE CORNELL STUDENT <> JEFF
I was sitting in my favorite lookout spot—a very dangerous ledge with a ½ mile drop to the port below. A guy was sitting on another piece of the lookout— more of a wall that overlooked another angle of the hillside of magical architectural masterpieces. He was sketching a corner of the hillside with a black pen on a piece of scratch paper. After 40 minutes or so of sitting across from each other, in a swirl of French and Asian tourists, I took a risk of speaking English and asked him what he had been drawing. We ended up talking & walking together for a ½ hour. His name was Jeff—a student from Iowa (it turns out later, he’s from Cornell University! I only found out because of seeing his email address later on!) of Sociology—having a passion for community needs especially in economically struggling nations. We ended up meeting up later that night after sunset and walked around all of Oia. His mom, who was there with him, hunted for Santorini clothes while he and I stood or sat outside of the shops talking about unbelievable subjects. Our experiences. Buddhist spirituality. Marxist philosophy. The teachings of Jesus. And comparing & contrasting all of those themes and encouraged lifestyles. Sadly, I had to say goodbye earlier than I would have liked—because I was 3 days into a TERRIBLE cold and had completely lost my voice at this point in the conversation. :) What an incredible encounter though. I admire Jeff greatly for his great courage in seeking to see change & to work towards it in the world.

posted by )(( hannah mello ))( @ 2:57 AM