by Ελένη Ηλέκτρα Σακάι Athens-Kuala Lumpur-Singapore-Bangkok 180 euros. This is what Skyscanner decided to pop up as a notification at 6 am Sunday morning coming back from a terrible alcohol night where the hangover was banging my head and body while the smell of cigarettes was starting to become a part of my natural smell. The need of forgetting that I’m stranded in this city, with these people and these experiences made me want to basically punish myself day by day for not finding my way out. Fast and now. Smoking- drinking- Kubrick’s movies and Kerouac’s 50s had become a way of forgetting this place.
Athens, the city of never ending nights, where Greek ancient and modern culture collide and express themselves from street art to 2000 year old monuments. Where life and death coexist at the pavement while everyone is running their routines over and over and a young male of 21 is taking his last white line outside my doorstep. Where sea and sun and ouzo can accompany you whenever you feel the need to. Where souvlaki is just two euros but the guy that is serving you takes two euros for each 4 hours of work. Where we hate our politics and mentality but we do nothing about it cause there is always a house or a car or money that can be used just in case things get… worse. Where my brother and I can have free education and then go for a coffee near the sunny port. Where people are so welcoming their hugs feel like home. Where diversity is accepted and loved but is criticized when expressed in public. Where I can say these things and a lot of people approve. I hated this city as much as I hated those people that agreed to my hatred. Those people that they just accepted these and never opposed any challenge or different opinion cause things will get worse anyway and nothing will change. Change expressed as a static thing. Blaming is great right? You can blame and feel rage and anger and fire all over just because you support your beliefs so much your inner ego is feeding and keeps going and going until some idiot comes and wakes you up with that tricky question: “What are you doing about it?” And then your fire settles and your ego is hurting the very last parts of your mind cause that question is killing your so hard earned and fake confidence. To that demon I said I’ll walk the city and I’ll make people dance with me. Shake it off. Be themselves. Make this city their own, giving part of their soul. Be one with its vibe and finally understand that they are the only people in this endless universe that can alter it. And I started dancing and dancing at the middle of Syntagma square where history was hitting me hard for dancing and expressing my feelings. Other people joined and they danced their hearts out, shouting how they feel, smiling and conquering that central square being themselves not faking but laughing and crying the joy. I’m daydreaming. Maybe that’s what crazy people do until they make the shit that they’re thinking happen and then find something else to daydream for. Between my daydreaming reality always comes in and I welcome it only when there is something I need to learn or be taught the harsh way. And that exact moment when Skyscanner hit the notification and I was listening to Beck ready to book my ticket for June to my dream work place, a German guy with the height of an NBA basketball player, put off my headphones and said “don’t be sad alone”. I looked at him confused and he laughed. My confused face was what made him laugh he said in great Greek. Greek mother German father. “I was in Germany two weeks ago” I said “I love Berlin, the vibe, the undercity, could definitely live there”. And then he said the one thing you do not expect at 6 am in the morning, drunk, stoned and in emotional pain from a hot German guy at the center of Athens. “Love Athens, here you are and you’ll always be loved, don’t look for it abroad, it has already taken the next possible flight” and kissed me going down at the next metro stop. That wasn’t a random German-Greek guy who liked my tan. That was a message successfully delivered. And I promised to not leave this place if I don’t fall in love with it again. You know it’s really hard to unlove and love something and someone from the beginning. It’s hating that song with all your mental capacity and suddenly finding the beauty in it. So, I started walking…
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