3 paintings

my obstetrician bought 3 paintings from me for his home & office.. feels goood! for those of you curious, he took "elephant dream" "mandala dream" and "village of bethany".

in other news: philippe's atmospheric data were published in greek in the local paper "ta nea", and lucas' 2-month birthday is this week, so we'll celebrate with ice cream and 2 candles. there were fireworks in the sky last night, we could see the tail-end of it from the roof, apparently it was "st. paraskevis day", so aghios paraskevis (the big church in the nearby square) was doing it up proper.

all in all a pretty good week if you ask me.

traditionally non-bethany vocabulary words

I read what I wrote below, and wonder who wrote it – I mean… ? huh? There;s just too many traditionally non-bethany vocabulary words. Hear these – pediatrician, megastore, mommies-club, loner? Oh well, I was never too big on tradition anyway. Here we go!

I met a 7-month-old girl sitting up playing with blocks in our pediatricians waiting room. it seems like an eternity from now that lucas will be the same age, but “all in good time” I suppose. This little girl’s mom is English and we had some nice small-talk while we were waiting for the dr.. the following week, we were standing in a checkout lane at the local megastore and she was in the very next lane! She invited me to the next English-speaking-mommies-in-athens meeting which happens to be held near my house in halandri. She said theres 2 english and 4 american ladies.. sounds like fun, and I guess I cant hole up in my house forever... I make a very good loner, but I need to socialize a bit. Moderation in all things, right?

Life is a big fast rollercoaster. I heard someone say it well once: life is a rollercoaster, with exciting twists and turns, the best way to ride it is to slide in sideways at the end screaming “holy sh*t! that was fun!”

Side note::: fave cd lately::: ween “quebec”

i just cant get over it

lucas smiled his first grin at us this week. my heart melted like butter on hot sloppy syrup pancakes.

ptsuh-tsuh-tsuh

lots of little greek ladies do this funny thing where they fake spit on you, and they say “na sas eesai” (something very nice, I surmise). I cannot tell you exactly how many times we’ve been spat-upon, but it started during the last week of my pregnancy, and has continued every time I go out with lucas. I heard it’s a superstitious behavior… from Costas the friendly neighborhood passport photo-guy, but he didn’t know what this spitting action prevented or caused. so I looked it up: http://www.europeans.co.za/cafeneio/superstitions.htm

It’s such a strange culture that takes a lot of getting used to, but we have started appreciating their quirks & recognize that we will probably miss it if we ever end up moving away.

Because all these little sweet ladies stop me on the street, in the supermarket, and on the bus and ask me something (which I answer as his age, and that he’s very nice… regardless of what they ask – who can tell?) and I get broad smiles and good wishes and lots of them grab his stocking feet for a tender tug. Some of them want to know more, and I sheepishly say that I dont understand and I am sorry. Most times they repeat it, but it doesn’t help. I have figured out a smile and a hello or thanks is the best answer to every little lady with a smile.