Basically just move to Greece.

Nothing is straightforward here. I mean, why get a job done in one go? What fun would that be? You want to drag every little thing out for as long as possible to get every last drop of enjoyment out of it right?

Want to do your grocery shopping? Go to three supermarkets and a couple of mini markets to get the stuff on your list cause no one supermarket will stock all the items on your list. So much more fun than getting it all in one place.

Want to book a flight to Athens? Why just do it in one simple transaction when you can spend hours on the internet and phone asking why it won’t accept a card which you’ve used before on that very same site and that works in all the shops you visit? Where is the fun in that?

Want to get a drivers license (a re-issue of an old one since you remembered you used to have a greek one and they managed to find it on the system)? Easy. Just go to 3 different places to get about 4 forms filled out and pay for them, then go get photos… Arrive to have photos taken and get told you need to remove all your earrings. We’re talking small sleepers and studs here folks, nothing dangly the size of a small african country…

WTF?

I’ve been working on some of my critters for Easter – more anti-bunnies! Think of it as stress relief…

Right now I’m living in a state of limbo, not only do all my ‘great ideas’ get knocked on the head, but I’m also putting off doing anything till I know what taxes I’ll be up for once I start a job and get paid in Greece. Seems that even if you want to visit the toilet you must speak to your accountant first in case your output vs your input affects your tax status.

Today I was meant to be on my way to Athens… Instead I spent about 40 euros going to the airport and back cause the flight was cancelled due to bad weather. Ok, I get that. But man. That wasn’t an expense I had planned for. I didn’t wake up this morning thinking “Hmmm, I might take a taxi out to the airport, have a coffee there, then come back”.

Avrio. Tomorrow. Hopefully the weather will be better or I get to do it all over again! We know how to have fun here!

The weather has been wonderful and shitty, not all at the same time. One week it will be glorious, the weather of the Paros of my dreams. The next its freezing cold and so wet I wish I hadn’t left my Bogz in Australia. Sure, the dogs (Romeo) had chewed the top off one, but they were the best boots ever.

The things I regret selling, giving away and just leaving behind – up till now (I’m sure more things will come to me as I live here):

1. stick blender/bamix
2. hand held mixer
3. rice cooker
4. waterproof boots as mentioned above
5. industrial sized bottles of wood glue

As I said, the longer I stay here, the more I’ll realise I left behind things vital to living here or anywhere.

Other than that, things are great.

My cold has been progressing nicely. Every morning I wake up and there’s a new timbre to my cough. Its a nice surprise every morning. “I wonder what I’ll sound like today?”

I’ve almost lost my voice again but that’s ok. It means I don’t have to talk to anyone if I don’t want to. Besides talking too much brings on coughing fits. That’ll put an end to even the most scintillating of conversations.

I’m still stressing over to buy an apartment, hang out for the house of my dreams which I probably can’t afford anyway, buy a car or just walk, get a bike and play chicken with the cars, get a full time job, a couple of part time jobs (if those even exist) or try to actually live the dream and create, groom and sell things to earn a living.

For instance – I thought why not apply for a license for a stall where I can sell my own stuff? Its a job, I can set my ours hours, there’s no huge overheads, I like the boss… But the hoops I’d have to jump through (sit an exam to get some certification cause having a BA in Fine Art doesn’t qualify me to sell art and craft stuff I’ve made myself, apply to register a business for the honour of paying a higher tax percentage and no tax-free threshold and the thrill of paying all the related business expenses before selling a thing) only for a 5% chance of getting a license kinda dashed that dream onto the pretty cobble stoned streets.

It not only bashed the idea against the stones, it then held its head under the aqua Aegean till it drowned…

I won’t go into it. Let me just say that right now I feel like I’m on a torture machine that’s a cross between a spanish inquisition rack and being drawn and quartered – I’m basically being pulled in all directions by different people and expectations: my own, my family’s, and everyone who I ask the opinion of.

I know. I know. My own fault for not just thinking for myself and making my own decisions. I do. I always make my own decisions, but this is a new country and a new culture for me despite the fact that I’m greek, from this particular island. I’m not that greek. I haven’t lived here for many years and when I did I had mom and dad to lean on. Now I only have myself. So I gather advice from all avenues in order to understand things so I can make informed decisions.

The only decision I’ve made 100% so far is I need to see the accountant before I make any decisions. (You can call it procrastinating. I call it making a decision.)

This is something that annoys my friends no end. Its hard for them to understand my process:

Ask everyone you know, meet, stand in line with at the supermarket what they think. Then change my mind about what I plan to do every day, sometimes twice a day.

What they don’t understand is that maybe, perhaps, most of the time, I kinda, sorta, maybe know what I want to do. I’m just looking for confirmation or approval or a blessing. Like ‘9 out of 10 people I asked agreed that this option was the best’. They’re not professionals, so I could show you their faces, but I won’t. I won’t pull you into my nightmare.

So other than that, and that the bags under my eyes are getting to the point that they’ll count against my luggage allowance, I’m doing great.

z