Hello again,
I find myself at these Internet Cafes often these days as I am arranging my plans for the Turkey part of this adventure. I have a former client who used a travel agent in Turkey and I am using this agent and find myself daily at the internet firming up my itinerary with "Lutfi". So it gives me a chance to write a little to you.
Today, I went to the far beach which involves taking a bus and then a boat along the coastline. Yesterday, I went to "Super Paradiso" which is a beautiful, beautiful beach with gold sand and tourquoise water that is perfect for swimming. My healing arm and leg was quite weak and sore for swimming, but the water was helpful and by the end of the afternoon, I was feeling better from the ocean water.
The beach I visited today is much more remote and doesn't have a live DJ playing music or a fine restaurant. It was quiet and along rough sandstone rocks with a lovely gold sand beach. I've brought a little of the coarse sand with me to take back. It's very special and very healing place. Everyone was calm at the beach and I think I'll spend the whole day there tomorrow reading my next Kazanstakis book. I read Zorba the Greek earlier in the trip and now reading The last Temptation of Christ. He's a fabulous writer and philosopher, and wonderful to read while I'm in Greece!
I really like this country. The people are so friendly and warm. The men are very charming, flirtatious, but very respectful of women. As a single woman, I have felt wonderful being here and must say that it's been very easy to travel. The other day I was hobbling to town and a cute Greek man stopped with his motorbike to give me a ride. He took me all the way to town like a galant chauffeur and was so sweet. I wish American men would come over here and take lessons!
As I mentioned, everyday I have opportunities to explain my work with Feldenkrais to people. On the boat today, I talked with an Australian woman who was complaining of how frightened she was of her low back going out during her trip. I showed her my little towel trick, using two towels or blankets to straddle like a log or saddle and she took careful note of that and said she would write this down and check the internet for Practitioners in Meldbourne. It's hard to give a lesson in 5 mintues, but it's a fun challenge.
Well, tomorrow is my last day here and I'll be leaving at 3 in the morning-- just as things wind down a little here. Such an incredible place, I must say, I love it here.
But soon, I'll be writing from Turkey.
Ciao!
Hello again,
Well, my scabs and scars are shrinking and even though I still look pretty knarly on the beach with the bruises in my bikini, everyone nods understandingly and mouths the words, "Motorbike?" The small comforts of these little islands. Seems like everyone has had an incident with a motorbike.
So on Mykonos, I am taking the bus. It's cheap, runs often and much safer (knock on wood).
I arrived yesterday and had a cute little apartment right in the main town which is near the ferry landing. My apartment reminded me of a boat cabin with a shower in a drop-down bathroom that was mounted just on the wall with no stall the way boats have their showers. You can spray water everywhere without guilt in that bathroom, where the other bathrooms here have a 4 inch tile on the floor that is supposed to keep the water from spreading on to the floor. (good luck, maybe if you use a drip method you won't get the floor completely soaked.) My friend from Wales in Kos Island couldn't get over their shower systems in Greece because of the standing water problem that results from it spilling all over the floor. There is another drain in the middle of the floor, but the whole floor gets wet. It's a mystery. Maybe some reader out there knows why the Greeks (and some French) prefer this shower.
Gosh, enough about showers.. This island really surprised me. It's notoriously touristic and the "party" island of Greece and it's actually incredibly beautiful and charming - yes H.S. and A. dB. you were right, right, right. I love it here. Didn't think I would, but it's a very cool place- even with the tourists. Contrasted to Santorini, it's pretty mellow, even at night in town-- the party seen is more like people promenading through the narrow little streets decked out in gorgeous beach dress clothes and shopping at 1, 2, 3am. Yes, shopping at 2 am. I've never seen this before. The bars and tavernas are beautiful, finely decorated- everything is chic here, but relaxed at the same time. Hard to explain but it's a fascinating place to people watch.
So, I've extended my time here a couple more days to heal my ankle and arm-- the beaches are the prettiest I've seen yet. Truly beautiful, even if there are cafes and umbrellas, it's a very cool place.
How this blog related to Feldenkrais? I do have to explain my work to people on a daily basis which is always an interesting experience. Sometimes, I think I should just say I'm an astronaut or something they know but is unusual. We'll see.
Ciao from Mykonos!
Annie
Hello again,
I'm preparing to leave for another island tomorrow. To be determined depending upon the next stage of my trip to Turkey... There are many boats heading out of Santorini. I won't make it to Crete like I had hoped, besides, Crete deserves a trip by itselt. Its like another country according to the Greeks. Though, I'm disappointed to not see Gnossis.
I had my stitches removed today after an hour and a half wait in the emergency clinic. The entire staff know me well since I've been coming there every two days, and there are not very many Americans here. The nurse made my day by saying she thought I was 20 years younger!
I feel like I've come to know some small parts of this island in great detail, connecting with a few shop keepers, the motor bike rental people (who have been giving me rides to the hospital whenever they can), and a few of the taverna owners who saw me the first day and remark on my progress every other day. "Getting better?"
The owner of the pension where I am staying had her son get in a motor bike accident on the same night and hour that I was in mine. I met him tonight and we showed our wounds to one another. Same right side of the body except his elbow was shattered, poor guy. The owner, Anna, and I have gotten to know each other very well over these 8 days and she treats me like family. I'm honored. It's interesting to watch the various travellers that pass through my family "hotel".
Tonight, I hope to taste the famous Santorini wine (not too much) which is famous all over Greece. It's different from the Retsini which I found quite interesting and refreshing in the heat. Anyway, I am not on motorbike any more. NO worries.
I'm as curious as you may be on where I'll be tomorrow and how I'll get there.
At some point, I'm bound to be in Turkey.
Well, I'm off to see the glorious sunset here. Famous because of the cliffs from the volcano.
Cheers,
Annie
Hello Again,
To continue my Emergency Hospital experience. I haven't actually had an accident before and gone through this experience. I've taken other people, but not myself. It was surreal to sit in the waiting room, dripping blood on the floor and scaring most of the other patients there. Fortunately, I didn't have to wait long and I shuffled into a dingy room with beat-up O2 canisters that looked like they were from WWII and a floor that didn't look like it had been cleaned in a while (today, it looked much better).
If I was a Howard Hughes fan, I wouldn't have stayed there, but I wasn't and was greatful to have someone, anyone help me wash these wounds and access the damage. I was not as much in shock as I thought I'd be. My fall from a papaya tree in Hawaii many years ago was much more frightening, even though less bloody. (sorry for the kids who might be reading this...). So, these woman hover over me, speaking Greek faster than the Spanish speak Spanish. English is a slow language in comparison, especially when you grow up in Iowa... I wonder what they are saying. They shake their heads and one says, "You are very lucky."
"Yes," I agree, gratefully.
"It could be much worse," the nurse says, nodding with a serious frown. They asked me what happened and they all said, "Oh, you could have gone off the cliff... no cars behind you... you were lucky."
"yes," I nodded, shivered and felt the cold metal table under me.
For the next 2 hours with lots of interruptions, they cleaned all the woulds. From head to toe, dabbing 3 different stinging, burning things. The last thing they did for the superficial wounds was spray it with something white that smelled like burned skin. One of the nurses began stitching up my elbow while another staff member looked on. I couldn't tell who was in charge. Finally, half way through this very slow process, she said something to the other young woman (who turned out to be the doctor) and gave her the needle and thread and left the room.
The doctor told me, "The nurse has had a hard day and asked me to finish."
I was glad the nurse said something instead of doing a bad job. So the doctor continued and had a little therapy session with the nurse (in greek of course) and the nurse left after a while while the doctor continued to stitch. At one point, I felt she was hitting my ulnar nerve with the needle and told her. She said, "Are you sure?"
"Yes, that is my ulnar nerve. It is pretty superficial."
She shook her head but I explained my previous work in massage had inflamed that nerve making it more superficial. She nodded and seemed to respect my knowledge of my body more and took her time stitching my arm over the next hour... We talked about medicine in Greece and how she would love to go to the US, but how difficult it is for a woman doctor in Greece. We talked about alternative medicine, and she laughed saying there is no alternative in Greece. "Maybe you can go to your grandmother for herbs, but no. We laugh at homeopathic medicine here. You cannot find it."
If I were to say anything about the Greek medical system, I'd say it was spartan. They don't coddle you and there was one nurse (the one having a hard day) who seemed to look out for me. She brought me water after I asked her, which was really nice.
After this long clean-up, the doctor said I should stay over night because they needed to xray my ankle and the pharmacy is closed at night so I would need to get medications tomorrow (antiobiotic and antiinfammatories). You would think a hospital would have things like that, but they didn't.
I was wheeled into a room by a busy street (it was as noisy all night as Athens). Once I had my water, I asked for another pillow to prop up my swelling foot-- this took a while. Needless to say, I was grateful just to have a safe place to be. The room didn't seem very clean either but after being on survival trips, as long as I would get some antibiotics-- eventually, I should be ok with a dirty floor and questionable bathroom.
After a few hours, a young woman in great pain, maybe from miscariage or something where she was bleeding and clutching her stomach in pain, joined my room. The doctor came in smoking a cigarette and I immediately felt nauseus from the smoke and wondered how this woman who looked green could tolerate the smoke. This certainly wasn't america and the doctor looked very sternly at this woman who was moaning and frightened. People weren't trying to calm her. These people were tough. Even the young woman's mother (I'm assuming) stayed by the foot of the bed, with a concerned look, but gave her space. The staff would come in and inject her with something and just watch. It was stressful and even though I was in spasm and uncomfortable, I was grateful not to have whatever she had.... even though I was alone...
While the experience was challenging, I had to buck up for these Greek people. They really are tough. They seemed to show me some mercy for being alone, female and in a foreign country. The scooter people who I rented the bike from, would pick me up from my room to take me back to the hospital and helped me get some groceries at the market. So, I am doing OK now. Recovering much better with the ankle and elbow slowly healing-- the rest is scabbing nicely. Anna, who runs the pension where I'm staying scrubbed all the oil and blood out of my clothes, like MacBeth- "out, out damn spot"-- but she was successful. I kissed her on each cheek and she was very proud of all her scrubbing.
I think so often of two of my clients who recently broke their ankles and what they have been through. And many of my clients and friends who have difficulty moving and chronic pain. This minor injury has made me appreciate the simple things in life, just getting up and walking ten steps to the bathroom, being able to get out of the house, and enjoying the sunrise as I did this morning. I've been reflecting on the many wonderful people in my life and so grateful I can have these memories and this moment . Hi to J.F. are you reading?
So, here I am in Santorini. Sitting still while tourists scurry and flit around like bees released from captivity, much like I did a week ago. I am eventually headed to Turkey. Sometime. Until next time, I hope you are all well and enjoying your precious life.
Hugs,
Annie
To continue,
So, I'm standing with a large crowd of tourists on the edge of Oia, this village on a cliff. Like standing in a natural stadium, people are staring off into the direction of the sunset with cameras, embracing their lovers, talking excitedly, waiting for the sun to drop over the horizon. I'd heard about this nightly ritual at Oia, where people gathered every evening to celebrate the sunset and once it goes, they all clap and cheer the sun.
It was a spectacular sunset, clouds to diffuse the colors, a 3-mast pirate-style ship sailing into the horizon in front of us. We all stood together for an hour and at the moment the sun descended, sure enough, everyone clapped and some stood in reverence. I was glad to witness this ritual and then threaded my way through the masses of people through streets that were wide enough for 3 people to stand side by side.
It's a chic little village and if I had lots of spending money, I'm sure the shopping is wonderful. But I haven't bought a thing other than a little tiny bracelet so far. I left the village thinking I'd better get back before it's dark on that dangerous road back to my room.
I haven't eaten for a long time and was quite thirsty but thought I could make it to Fira. So I drive on the road, which seems to have less traffic now-- there is no one in front of me. I have my lights on and it's hard to see.. not good. After a few miles, I feel a bit confident now though concerned by how dark it is even with lights. My mind wanders for a split second as I am going around a bend. Aiee, there goes my tire, slipping and like rollerblades (I've only fallen once), I could feel the gravity winning-- I was crashing. Amazing how in a split second one has time to reflect, I was aware that I had lost my concentration- that maybe I should have had more water or food before I set out, or maybe the road was just too oily- as I had noticed on the drive there. Regardless, I wondered on the way down in my crash, how bad it would hurt and how badly I would be injured. Morbid thoughts. Then, I felt the impact, my leg, elbow and head-- flashing lights from hitting my head, but not too much pain, just burning pain from sliding on the asphalt. I slid like a baseball player into second base. Familiar but painful. I got up, worried about oncoming cars and was lucky to have a few minutes to move the bike off the road and assess myself. I knew I was OK, no broken bones. Thank God, but I didn't know how bad the injuries were-- I bloody from head to toe, literally. I looked like a perfect person for a halloween film. My ankle was the worst. Anyway, after a few minutes of waving at cars, a nice couple from Spain stopped and picked me up. They had been in a scooter accident 3 weeks ago and his wife had recently been to the emergecy room here for a fall and she showed me her purple elbow and grimaced.
They were so kind to take me to Emergency and get me some water.
Emergency was quite different from USA. I haven't picked up as much Greek as I hoped, and wish I had known more, but there were a few people who spoke English there. It was a scruffy little clinic that must have had a lot of these kinds of accidents... the first thing they said was how lucky I was. (I was just there again after 6 days now of recovery and there was a man with a broken leg who just arrived from a motorbike accident..)
gotta post this before my time is up.... to be continued...
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