January
The month was spent mostly in hotels, so I can’t really count that as living in Athens. A couple of things hit me by surprise though.
- I was not allowed to flush toilet paper in the toilets – this really panicked me. Many hygiene standards were forced on me as a child and one of them was dumping your waste and all the paraphernalia that goes with it.
- There were stray dogs everywhere! From Dalmatians to Alsatians to Mongrels. I’m not an animal lover (quite the opposite as I’ve had many bad encounters with animals, especially dogs).
- You could stop your car in the middle of a single lane road, as long as you put on your hazard lights. Totally disallowed according to my understanding of the UK Highway code or even the Nigerian jungle justice code.
- Smoking was rampant – in and out, up and down, everywhere. I suffered from bad asthma when I was younger and fatter, and I sure did not want to become addicted to steroids again.
I real did wonder if I was still in Europe.
February
I spent most of the month out of Athens so I don’t really have any memory of the month apart from paying for an apartment. I went back to the UK to get my belongings packed up and ready to be shipped. I also raided Costco for all the little comforts I needed to keep me sane – groceries, cleaning agents, furniture. I’d been to a few supermarkets in Athens and the prices of almost everything foreign was double the UK prices i.e. triple the Costco prices.
I was in Ukraine for about two weeks - my first time in the former Soviet Union. There was an abundance of tall leafless trees, snow covered hills and Lada’s - even the police used Lada’s to cruise the towns. I’m guessing there is no crime in Ukraine.
No highway chase expected in Odessa, Ukraine.March
My belongings were moved into my apartment. It is a lovely apartment with more space than I was familiar with in England. It had been quite an experience viewing apartments – creepy, ancient antiques, clean, unfurnished. The Greeks take the unfurnished concept to a whole new level, all the fittings without the furniture, no appliances. You basically get walls, doors, baths, toilets and sinks. Telos! C’est fini!
My aunt and cousin (love you both!) came to visit the day after I moved in. It was really great to have them while I adjusted to my apartment. We went downtown to see the Parthenon (Acropolis) from the bottom of the mount, visited the Mall of Athens and played around with some Greek cuisine. The humble and simple gyros and the Greek salad were absolutely delish (delicious for my more cultured readers).
April
I experienced some frustration with driving, the banks and the supermarkets. The driving habits of Greeks have quite a reputation but having lived and driven in Lagos, Nigeria, I must say it is not quite as bad. However, like Lagos driving, the speed limit signs might as well be street decorations.
The banks operating in Greece including the international banks must have one of the most archaic and inefficient customer service / processes in Europe. All doubts I had about Greece being in Europe kind of vanished. I decided to think of Europe in two parts – Western and Central/Eastern. If I can compare banks in Greece with banks in Nigeria – I’d take GT, Skye and may be even Zenith over the Greek banks. For starters, the Greek banks shut at 2 p.m. – who does that in the 21st century? A monthly payment standing order needs to be renewed monthly – what exactly is the order?
The lovely Olawoyin family visited – it has gone beyond Club 1000. They helped me get familiar with Greek roads – thanks for the TomTom map. We visited the Acropolis Museum where we viewed the marble statues of Athena, Thisseas, Athena, and err… Athena, and Athena again.
I started building on my Greek vocabulary:
- kali mera – good morning
- kali spera – good afternoon
- kali nikhita – good night
- parakalo – welcome, excuse me ( you can’t go wrong with this one)
- epheristo – thank-you
- enya – nine (door number of my office)
I did not spend too much time in Athens. Two weeks in Italy – Milan and Rome, a week in Budapest and a weekend in London. Glad to be out of Athens. I’ll reserve the stories on my travels for other blogs.
June
I was training for a 5K in July. I ventured on the streets of Athens for a run. It was my first positive experience of the steep roads of Athens – an uneventful run, no dogs encountered.
My Greek internet saga begins! Quite a frustrating month, considering I had moved into my apartment and had been paying for an internet connection for 3 months – I still had no working internet connection. I was advised to have strong words with the provider but the strength was lost in translation. I spent days in my apartment without any connection to the World Wide Web. A nightmare in modern times. A very resourceful and kind-hearted colleague, Christos, helped with acquiring internet on the go - such a relief to reconnect on WhatsApp, Skype, Facebook without having to go to the mall in search of free Wi-Fi.
Still no working internet connection at home but still paying!
I was introduced to Ade (the only other Nigerian in my part of Athens) and thanks to him, life in Athens was a bit more bearable. I attended the Omo Oduduwa Day in Athens with Ade on the day we met. This is not generally the type of place I like to hang-out but it was surely a lot of fun. It was a true Nigerian - Yoruba style party. The $1 bills were ‘sprayed’ across the dance floor and 90% of the guests were dressed in the same fabric.
Ade also found me a church, St Andrews in Kifissia with lovely people. I really needed a connection with other Christians before I lost fellowship completely.
August
Still no working internet connection at home but still paying!
My weekends were spent cooking, feeling lonely, watching tv and going to the beach. I had my first visit to a Greek island – Hydra in the Saronic Gulf - a very charming island with no cars except for the waste disposal van and donkeys as the main mode of transport. I opted for trekking a few miles to Vlihos beach. The sunset in Hydra is not hyped but was quite serene and rewarding.
My aunt (friend’s mum) came visiting and we explored the fishes of Greece. Tsipoura (gilt-head bream) is my favourite. We also took a one hour trip to Sounion, ruins of the temple of Poseidon. After an hour of driving we looked at the columns and left, none the wiser. There was no obvious attempt to educate the public on the history of the columns or of the achievements of Poseidon unlike the very similar standing rocks of Stonehenge. There’s a clue to why the Greek economy is suffering.
My garden bloomed with vanillias (plums to the English), peaches, apple and pomegranates and I spent the rest of the month anticipating Belinda and Bimbo’s visit, hoping for my next island trip.
September
Santorini! Visited the very much hyped Santorini and was a bit disappointed with the sunset – we waited for hours and then it performed its disappearing act in all of two minutes. It was quite an act but I can’t imagine that the sun reserves this performance for just Santorini residents and visitors. 
It was great having friends over and we had many late nights just chatting away. And then there was the BBQ for Belinda and Bimbo’s send-off. Ade was the very capable and talented chef. A nice game of charades with new friends (introduced on the day) ended late in the morning, and all seemed right with my Greek social life.
Still no working internet connection at home but still paying!
October
I completed the Shine London Half Marathon night walk in all of 4 hours and 30 minutes and I can’t remember much of the month. I took a week’s break before I started training for the Athens Marathon – 10K race. I moved my training to the confines of my cheap and cheerful gym after months of running around in circles at Zirinio Stadium. I spiced up my training by switching from Life Fitness, Technogym and StarTrac treadmills from day to day.
The internet connection at home starts working - intermittently!
November
I was away on vacation for most of the month. I wasn’t really sure what I missed most of my previous abode but I sure was glad to be away from Athens. The internet still working intermittently.
December
Back in Athens but the main thing on my mind was the Christmas vacation in the UK. The internet now working full time on weekends and intermittently on weekdays. Who cares? Wi-Fi works 24-7 in the UK.
A year in Athens with many frustrating things but after all said and done, I can mention at least three things I like about Greece (a challenge by my colleagues when I complained a lot in the earlier months).
I like the food – tomatoes, olive oil, pastichio.
I like my apartment when it is not cold.
I like Hydra.
Let’s hope I can add to the list in 2012.
