wanderlust wednesdays: santorini, greece

swimming to greece

a week ago i received the most amazing news. my cousin mikey has been chosen as one of the athletes competing in the 2011 Special Olympics in Athens, Greece.

you see mikey, 18 years old, has been diagnosed with autism when he was a little kid. i remember how the family, especially my uncle mike & auntie pam, worried about him growing up. then from a distance (they live in the united states, while we're continents away here in the philippines) we saw how he started to make friends, grew a liking for chicken, how he uncannily remembered everyone's birthdays.... we saw how he managed in his own special way. and when they moved from new york to florida, we remembered how he quickly & enthusiastically took to the water. i remember stories of him staying for hours in their pool every single day & when he was big enough, the ocean became his playground.

an excerpt from a st. petersburg times article

It was kind of a miracle — an awakening.

The kid who used to while away time flushing the toilet just to watch the water spin or setting up chairs in a straight line had finally found another interest. The kid who used to bite and kick and scratch because he couldn't express himself verbally, who had been through countless therapy sessions to help him find his voice, was now pleading with his dad to take him to Clearwater Beach. There the two would spend hours in the water; father coaching son, teaching him the freestyle, the backstroke, the breaststroke and racing with him until son was soon leaving father in his wake.

"He never wants to leave," said Mike Tuason, 50, of their daily visits to the beach. "Sometimes we stay till 10, 10:30 at night just lying in the sand watching the stars."

here's the full article by the times

true enough whenever they'd come over for a visit, mikey would swim like a fish in our warm seas. now my cousin is an olympian - how cool is that? this news warms my heart in ways that i can never explain in words. mikey is an inspiration. his story is a great testament to the wonders of following your enthusiasm, of not knowing fear and therefore finding your bliss.

the world summer olympics in athens is a year away but mikey has already won a far bigger game.

thank you katrina for these adorable tape strips!

bliss

i love looking at this picture. it reminds me how happy & giddy & simply wonderful this day was. it was too cold for a swim and i was on my own. the sun was shining down on me and everything was just perfect. i don't long to go back to that day because in some way i am still there, dipping my feet in the cold mediterranean sea, content in knowing that i always get to where i want to be when i follow my bliss.

things you need to know (when in greece)

Horta - boiled greens, a favorite appetizer of many which looks like a blob of deep green moss and seaweed on a plate. Served with olive oil and a generous dash of lemon, it's probably the best vegetable dish you can ever have.

Tsipouro - a crystal clear liquor from grape skins, leftovers from the wine making process to be exact. This wildly bitter drink is also known as Raki and the Greeks love to drink it with meals. I think I may be addicted to it.

Baklava - an extremely sweet Greek dessert composed of filo pastry, chopped nuts & honey. I probably won't eat it again, but having it for the first time in Santorini tastes like something I've been waiting for my entire life.

"Only in Greece..." - is a phrase you are bound to hear always especially from the men whose passion for anything Greek is fiery. "Taste this, our ocean is so rich with minerals that only in Greece will you have this kind of fish" or "You will never have an authentic Greek salad elsewhere, only in Greece can you get this kind of tomatoes..." Disagreeing is not recommended.

Hopa (!) - after a few rounds Tsipouros, Greek men especially are fond of shouting this. I asked "what does it mean?" Looks at me and shouts "We don't know!" Hopa!

from an island, with love

it's official - i am totally and irrevocably in love with Greece.

yesterday i went over to my neighbour nikos, a photographer who's lived in santorini for many years. he had an exhibit where i met his lovely spanish girlfriend esther, and many other wonderful characters who've made this island their home. when i asked each one how they found themselves here, faces lit up and each story unfolded like fine poetry. listening to them talk made me realize how much island people all over the world have in common. how we all remember the moment when we left that old life behind and let the heart take complete control. looking back, the decision probably didn't make practical sense to some of us at that time and it surely didn't make any sense to our families who watched in horror as we packed our bags and set sail to the island of our dreams. but when we let the Heart lead, then we are always led to the right place.

so there i was, drinking wine with this vibrant and interesting bunch (an artist a shopkeeper, a writer who owns a bookstore, a lovely couple, a kinesiotherapist to name a few), watching the moonrise and seeing their island in a different light. much has been said and written about santorini, and all this hype is richly deserved. i am so content to just lie in bed with my windows and doors open, looking out into the caldera, into a sea that is magnificently blue. but hearing them talk of their favorite spots and things to do make me want to stay longer. it makes me want to come back already even though i'm still here.

which is why today i traded my afternoon nap for a walk around Oia and further down to Katharos beach with Craig (writer & bookstore keeper). we passed an abandoned church, an old leper colony building that has been turned into a cafe open during the summer and a huge rock where a couple was sitting with a million dollar view. it was a warm and lovely day, the flowers in bloom, the trails narrow, the pebble beach empty. we folded our pants and went straight to the water - totally resisting the urge to take my clothes off and jump in for a swim. we headed back as the sun was beginning to set.

it was only then i remembered that i had left my thick sweater at the bar we went to after the exhibit. that i realized i ran going home at 3 in the morning because i was freezing. blame it on the many glasses of wine and dancing to abba (yes the old man dj played old man songs) to make me sweetly forget.

supper was on the bookshop's roof terrace with home-cooked borscht - a rich vegetable soup topped with a dollop of yoghurt and a specialty of Slava, a funny and gentle Ukrainian guy who has just moved here. dining in a home with the locals on my fourth night on the island isn't bad at all. i'm beginning to imagine how a week, hmm or maybe a month would look like if i stayed.

what did i tell you, this girl is in love.

our dreams are made of real things

today i watched a dream unfold before my very eyes. after years of imagining writing wishing and conjuring images in my mind, i am finally in Santorini. i walk the narrow streets of Oia (Ia) and my smile is a mile wide. each painted door comes alive like a character out of a storybook. the aegean sea shimmers like a jewel in the sun. i am surrounded by so much breathtaking beauty i find myself rooted to one spot. i have a precious room in a traditional cave house and when i open my doors, i can look out into the sea from my bed. i don't find the need to go out and explore. i am exactly where i want to be.

after a restful nap, a lovely and windy sunset and a quiet dinner in a taverna, i'm back in my room watching the orange moon make its way into the night as it rises over santorini. it is springtime and everything is peaceful. everything is beautiful. i've been so used to feeling a sense of longing all my life and now that it's gone, i find myself looking around in awe and at the same time, making sure it's not just hiding in some corner. but even with my eyes closed my heart tells me that i have freed myself. gratitude overwhelms me, knowing what it took to get here.

the biggest adventure you can ever take is live the life of your dreams and i'm so greatly blessed to be doing exactly that. i don't know how things will unfold, that's the beauty of it. what i do know is it's going to be amazing. my heart is opening up to all the beautiful possibilities and looking forward to seeing the next dream unfold. but in the meantime i am here, steeped in beauty, taking it one breath at a time.

my big fat greek adventure

a few days ago when i asked my friend konstantinos if i can listen to some greek music, i had no idea what i was in for. so on a beautiful saturday morning, we drove up to mt. parnassos with greek folk songs blasting on the radio and konstantinos singing (and dancing!) - all the way. the sun shone down on the countryside as i listened to stories & translated lyrics, as i learned more about life behind these songs, as i laughed till my insides hurt. after a very healthy dose of live greek entertainment, we arrived at the elatos mountain resort where my friend was holding a yoga retreat later this month and where i was taken on an unexpected hike through the forest. we walked on rough trails, past bubbling streams, through a bright green world waking up to spring. it was drizzling and it made everything look so pretty. after much huffing and puffing in my mud-covered espadrilles, we reached a meadow high up on the plain - and the place was serenely beautiful. no sound from below could be heard, as if no other world save for that mountain existed. our guide was an old man who grew up in the area herding sheep as a young boy. he pointed to the small caves where they would take shelter from the rain and to all the places where they would run and play. hiking back down to the resort my heart was fuller, my smile a mile wide.


we visited delphi late in the afternoon and consulted with the oracle. it's amazing to see all these ruins. it puts me in such awe and wonder how highly advanced these ancient civilizations were, and more importantly the high regard they had for art and beauty. to live in those times! we then drove down to Galaxidi, a small quaint village by the sea where we had the most amazing meal - fresh fish grilled perfectly, sweet fresh mussels in wine & lemon, some horta some salad, and cheese! lots and lots of cheese. ah nostimos! since i arrived in athens, after meals especially with konstantinos around, i would always feel like an indian cow - spoiled, fat and happy. patting my round belly and complaining half-heartedly, i would then drift off to my happy place imagining once again the food which i had just eaten and replaying all the flavors in my mouth.


then yesterday was a nice lazy sunday. after a fun laughter yoga in the park and a souvlaki lunch, we walked around the city which was quiet & did what the Greeks do - enjoy their coffee in one of the many cafes in the old plaka. since i don't do coffee i've slowly adopted the habit of drinking tsiporou - a bitter liquor made from grapes which to me tastes a bit like vodka. it's their version of the grappa except that instead of drinking it after, they also drink it before & during meals. so there i was sitting with new friends drinking my tsiporou, surrounded by a language i didn't understand but totally comfortable with, feeling so content and grateful. oprah said - the biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams. and yesterday i realized what a wonderful adventure i am having. indeed, everything starts with a dream.