Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Descent

Yesterday I had occasion to sit at a coffeeshop by myself, and so I was left to my own devices to order what I wanted. I still don’t do well when it comes to speaking Greek, I would certainly do better if all communication was written instead of spoken. When I placed my order, I could tell by the look on the waiter’s face that my dull pronunciation of his native tongue had certainly caused some kind of neural misfiring in his brain, yet he seemed to understand me because I ended up with my fresh squeezed orange juice just the same. At this point I figure I might as well speak Greek with a Southern accent, since pronouncing things correctly seems an insuperable task. “Ef-ahhhh-rees-toe, y’all!” Eh, it works for some people.

It was raining, and rain doesn’t seem to stop people from walking up and down the square, although it does seem to make them move a bit quicker if they are caught sans umbrella. There was the usual cadre of strange and unusual characters, including a young man walking around with a bow and a quiver full of arrows. I thought perhaps my mind had lost the ability to separate myth from reality – a common problem with people who play MMORPGs. But no, he was definitely real, not some errant ranger from the land of Norrath. He seemed amiable enough, I don’t think he was an assassin of some kind, although I guess it is possible. There were no shocking bow and arrow incidents on the news today, at least.

As summer slowly fades into autumn, I will spend many days people watching, until they begin to hide beneath their winter wear and fail to linger longingly as they stroll down the sloping square towards the sea. I never thought I’d find the coming winter so melancholy as a Demeter, but I know, just as Persephone will emerge again in the spring, so will the wandering throngs on my beloved square.

8 comments:

Tim said...

Perhaps it was an extremely pissed of Icarus at being dooped into getting so close to the sun. Now that things are beginning to cool down, he's looking for an alternative to those out-dated wax wings.

I perfectly understand the southern dialect vs. foreign language barrier. Mine isn't so much the inability to speak the language, but for others to understand me withouth having to annoyingly repeat myself into a grave.

I've nearly mastered two dialects now, but there are certain folks I don't understand, not because of their dialect, but tone of voice. Believe me, tone goes a long way, and if a person is a mumbler, nasally (sp?) or is too high-pitched, I understand nearly nothing.

Keep at it, Mel, us rednecks'll take over Europe, yet, and will have moonpies, pigs feet and RC Cola being sold out of every kiosk there is. :D

Anonymous said...

ZARDOA SAYS :

"REDNECKS WILL TAKE OVER EUROPE."

Tim , that was funny as hell

and not very far from the truth

for each countrys ,,analogous

redneck locals ,,.

aint seen greek "rednecks"

if you dont go to METSOBO , IOANNINA PERFECTURE

AND ISLAND OF CRETE , the village of ANOGEIA ,in RETHYMNO PERFECTURE.

ms MEL,,

bows and arrows , in central salonica huh ,,?

DISARMAMENT must be evolutionizing.........

think HE MIGHT BE INVOLVED IN A DRIVEBY SHOOTING,,? =Z=

Anonymous said...

Now it's time for today's GREEK Language Lesson:

Easy way to remember:

Thank you: I've Got a Stove (exharisto)

Your Welcome/Please: Park it in low (Parakalo).

That was today's Greek language lesson as through the redneck eyes (by way of Calif) of Scruffy

Cynthia Rae said...

Speaking Greek with a sountern accent! Wonderful! It sounds like you fit in with Jackie and I just fine! We have fun speaking in Italian with the thickest American (or British) accents that we muster!

I will be seeing Jackie tomorrow. We will have to try the southern accent....
hehehehehehehe!
Cyn

Anonymous said...

Mel/Thanos:

When is blog reader appreciation day. I read your blog and comment most every day (sometimes in my other personalities as you realized) but still I'm here.

Mr. Zardoz, Cyn, and a few others of us are hear day in and day out, rain, sun or shine.

How about a column thanking us--your faithful readers and trolls who haunt your blog.

Just a suggestion, if you don't agree, then just delete this..

:)

Anonymous said...

ZARDOZ SAYS:

HEY , SCRUFF , WHAT THE F_ _ K ARE YOU RANTING ABOUT ,

YOU WANT AKNOWLEDGEMENT OF YOUR EXISTENCE,AND BRAVO

FOR COMMENTING ON A BLOG ,,? ? / ? /?

HOW ABOUT A MEDAL MAYBE..?

MAN ,, COMMENTING OR WRITING IN GENERAL LIBERATES THE SOUL

OF THE ONE DOING THE WRITING WHETHER AUTHOR OR COMMENTATOR,

CANT YOU , JUST BE HAPPY , TAKING PART IN THIS ,,,,,FOR YOURSELF,,

IF YA CANT ,, FRIEND ,,

......think it would be time to talk something like this over with loved ones ,and professionals.

but then again , its just an opinion.=Z=

melusina said...

Ah, Time, I can't wait til I see a moonpie over in these here parts. I do think I saw RC Cola once, but I might have been hallucinating. Honestly though, I can do without the pigs feet. There are enough weird delicacies here in Greece without adding more.

Zardoz, as you stated rednecks are not indigenous to America. But the southern redneck is! Muahahaha! As to the bow and arrow, I just don't question these things anymore. Anything goes.

Scruffy, nice Greek lesson. And as to the reader appreciation day, well I *do* appreciate my readers. I've met a lot of really interesting people, especially other ex-pats, but also home grown Greeks. That is the great thing about blogging. Primarily, though, I blog for myself. To get stuff off my chest, to just write something, anything, even if it is one sentence. I think the readers know that they are appreciated, although I could be a bit better about responding to comments. You should see how frequently my friends back home get email. ;)

Cyn, the Southern accent is the coup d'etat of all language pronunciation. It makes everything better, ok, well, funnier. It is really hard to do with Greek, though.

Anonymous said...

Mel/Zardoz: Thanks for the thoughts on my post. Ok, I'll go lay down now.

:)