a couple days ago, nikos ziggity-zig-zag encouraged me to think about the multitude of things i’ve done/experienced in the last week as a sign that some cool shit is going down in my athenian life. what’s more, it’s happening at an alarming frequency. is this because i’m abroad?
anyway, out of tribute to the craziness in greece over the last week (the first anniversary of the killing/murder of a 15-year-old greek boy by a police officer that spurred on over a month of rioting in exarhia was this past sunday), i will write in bullet-form. god, that cheese i just laid down right there was stinky.
so, in the last 10 days, in no particular order, (part one)…
1. i turned 23.
in all honesty, like pretty much every single birthday to come before it, i didn’t have huge expectations for the day. all i wanted was to have a good time in some form or another, preferably with greeks. i actually had to work on that day at the fulbright office, where i’ve been reviewing and approving a select number of applications from greek secondary school teachers to attend a two-month-long fulbright program at george mason university next summer. it was really surprising, then, when out of nowhere the entire fulbright staff surprised me with the birthday song and a number of delicious greek pastries with candles. it was a nice way to start the day, if only because it means i’m totally “in” with some incredibly important people. i’ll be riding that gravy train til it don’t toot no mo.
later, nikos came over and gave me several presents. he also gave me a physical gift: tom robbins’ “villa incognito.” i’d expect nothing less.
anyway, the day finally culminated in going out. i was getting anxious about it all week after the roomies insisted on taking me out but started to show signs of noncommittalness at the last minute. andi and i were going to get a few drinks at tralala and then meet up with them later, but right as i hoisted my infamous neon-pink bday leggings up past my american thighs, she insisted i go to her apartment for what seemed to be an impromptu music gathering. i showed up to find a dark room with candles glowing and andi with four other greek musician friends i know, all with instruments in hand, serenading me beautifully with the birthday song in greek. they had a cake too, which resembled and tasted more like incredibly dense and dry stale bread, but it’s mere existence made me giddy. antonis, andi’s sexy greek landlord, was in attendance along with odysseas, a dj who’s spun at all of antonis’ notorious parties (that have become the highlight of my indie social calendar in athens). while the musicians played, we talked why? and the fuck buttons while guzzling red wine. a few infrequent hits of greece’s finest led to my participation in a music circle where i banged a drum. the way i played, there are no words, to describe the way everyone felt (bad stone roses reference).
later, stamatis answered important questions about my existence based on astrological readings. surprise, surprise, if i truly want something, i’ll get it. it took him 45 minutes on a computer and nearly 2 hours of my rambling to come to that conclusion. still, it was a sweet moment between the two of us when he suggested that all of my tentative plans coincide with my astrological inclinations within the universe.
that conversation inspired antonis and me to go buy more cigarettes and talk about the existence of god on the way. it was great, normally i only get to interact with him around andi who is obviously hung up on the guy and who also has zero chemistry with him, but this time around i felt like i really got in a little. you know, i did my whole abrasive flirtation bit that works every time. it felt particularly appropriate in this case when he mentioned a belief in the after-life. i mean, enough said.
i suppose in retrospect what transpired afterwards is not entirely shocking given that quick walk to the periptero (kiosk). later the room cleared out and then there were three: me, antonis, and andi. andi wanted to go out, i was a tad toasted, and antonis wanted to watch a movie. so we went to his room and all relaxed on his bed while starting up nacho libre. and then, there it was, antonis shoving his tongue down my mouth while andi looks on awkwardly. i turned my head out of respect to her, at which antonis said, “andi, you can just go to your room then.” i felt bad so we both left and i later spent 30 minutes convincing her that he had wanted a threesome, though i’m pretty positive that was not the case. maybe he did, and if so, then jesus christ fernanda, that’s my second time in 4 months that i’ve been in that scenario.
unfortunately, all interaction with antonis has now been somewhat cold after what happened. i tried to tell him that i couldn’t do anything because of andi, but i think he was just drunk and doesn’t give a shit. i don’t really give a shit either, i kinda just want him for his parties. oh and his lusciously long hair and beard. i’m jazzed just thinking about it.
2. i went to three shows.
i saw a place to bury strangers two nights in a row — once with nick and ranya and a second time with andi. also saw my brightest diamond on friday. i have to say, a place to bury strangers fucking killed it that first night. it also really took me back to the my bloody valentine concert from the summer (sigh). i want to be able to click a switch and live inside a speaker whenever i want (this seems possible). it was pretty awesome when i finally got in bed at 6am and could hear these crazy frequencies in my ears… i was mildly drunk but i remember listening to them as if i were hearing a song being played.
my brightest diamond fucking rocked it as well. i didn’t give a shit about going and honestly didn’t know anything about her, but she is one of the finer entertainers i’ve seen in a long time. she also gave me a continuous clitoral erection, what with the great androgyny of her beautiful voice coupled with that hard guitar. mmmhm.
3. i partied with a band.
when oliver, the lead singer of a place to bury strangers, emerged on the floor after the first show at rodeo, i went up to him yelling “i’m an american!!” he was all about it and we had a good banter while experimenting with various forms of the traditional high-five. i was bummed i didn’t stay longer to see what they were doing after the show, but don’t you dare worry your little awkward indie head, fernanda, because i went back to the same show the next day and talked to him again. he kinda remember my name (“it begins with an A…”) and told me about where they were going later. i ended up dragging andi along and sure enough they showed up. at one point oliver and i danced to the violent femmes’ “kiss off” — not my fav song of theirs, but certainly a band to which i wouldn’t mind consummating my first marriage — and smoked some cigarettes. honestly i was getting a heavy attraction vibe from him but i wasn’t about to make a first move. sadly, he eventually returned to all the female-only greek fandom that made up the rest of the small bar and that would be the end of the ollie and ashley tale. after andi left, i was left sitting on a stool by myself in this near empty bar, where i chain smoked while ashing into an ashtray i situated on the stool next to me. as the bar was in exarhia, less than a block away from me, i thought i’d stay a while. at one point i actively conversed with said ashtray. frankly, i’m not totally sure that that conversation even took place entirely in my head either. i have no shame. ashtray, you have stood by me through thick and thin in this crazy adventure so far. i will not tarnish your name. bad-dum-ching!
4. i got a visa and bought my flight to beijing.
i leave a week from tomorrow (sunday) and i’m staying with my bro until january 5. i’d post more about this if i had more concrete things to say about it, but i’m not really there yet in my mental process. i’m psyched to see carsick cars at a show they’re playing new year’s eve though.
5. i’m having regular sex.
and when i say regular, i mean habitual, as there is nothing standard or run-of-the-mill about it. it feels great to be an intensely sexual being again. i’m simply delighted to remember how being a sexual object, totally at someone else’s mercy, can also coexist with intellectual respect, maturity, and most of all, fondness. there was a time when those concepts were at odds with each other, that i couldn’t find a way to be both at the same time while also being honest. i can feel a change happening now, and i have the thigh bruises and spotty sheets but also the long messages and political conversations to prove it.
with that i’ll close, as some of the next five relate to the events that have occurred in greece over the last week and it might take a bit longer to write those out.
missing you over here and rooting for you out there,
GERTIE
ThereWasNoSound 