I have never felt so relaxed for such a long period of time in my life. I can tell you with full certainty that I did not have a single moment of worry or stress from when I got on the ferry to go to Santorini, until I got back on it to go back to Athens. The people there have such a simplistic view of life and I admire that and hope I can have that some day.
They don't care about fancy cars, having loads of money, or having the ideal lifestyle. They have what they need to get by and that is enough for them. All the houses and places look similar, the cars they drive are nothing special, if they even have cars. Food is cheap and everyone is happy. I did not come across any people native to Santorini that were not generally happy people.
I learned individual things from some of the people we came across. For example:
The owners of our hostel were a couple. After only a few conversations with them, I knew the woman was from Michigan. She is not married to the man she is with, but they have been together for 25 years and have 3 older kids. They built the hostel for their kids, so that when they get older they could have the business to live off of, but it did not work out like that. Their kids grew up and wanted nothing to do with the business. So the woman goes home every fall and winter to be with her family and returns every spring and summer for the business and her partner, meanwhile he stays to maintain their property. You could tell through the story that she had a little bit of struggle with it, but ended it with, "But it is true, distance makes the heart grow fonder." The way that she had gone through a lot to be where she is at was powerful, and reminded me that things aren't always going to go how we want them to. We can plan and plan all we want, but ultimately we have to willing to adapt to anything. We have to learn to make the best out of whatever is handed to us and keep our heads up.
That was mostly the woman at the hostel, but the man also spoke to us about a few things. He told us that he would not go back to Michigan, because he did not like that lifestyle. His exact quote was something like, "too much business and so many laws, like seat belts and stuff." And though seat belts are a small silly thing to be worried about, he got his point across. When you go somewhere like Santorini where life is so simple and is the way that life is supposed to be, you realize how wrong life is and what we have made of it. They don't even have to lock their doors in Santorini, and they leave their car keys in their cars. They make friends everywhere they go and are laid back about everything. In America, life is about status. Who can have the cooler and faster car, who can afford the designer jeans, and who is friends with who. We care so much about what others think that we forget how to live life.
Other people that gave me happiness in general would be the waiters at the beach restaurant. They were so welcoming, no matter what hour we showed up, we ask if they are open and every time the response was, "don't you worry, just sit down!" They were so welcoming and so hospitable. It was also a couple that ran this restaurant and you could see just how they looked at each other how in love they were. Its amazing that even being the only ones working the restaurant, day and night, they don't let it affect the love they have for each other.
Also, there was a 24 hour bakery around the corner from our hostel that we spent a whole ton of time and money at. By the time we left, the people genuinely cared about us and even gave us the Greek double kiss when we told them it was our last visit. Just the way the welcomed us and treated us brought me joy.
I was upset leaving Santorini in the same way that I'll be upset when I leave Athens. I learn so many things in all of these places, about life and about who I am and who I want to be. When I leave these places, all I have are the memories and the journal entries I wrote on here. I get scared that I will forget everything and go back to the person I was, and that is not something I would want to happen. I want to make changes in my life, and as it is easy to do here where the only people I know have seen only the new me, I know it will be harder when I go home and people are expecting me to be the same person I was before. Though I know it will not effect my real friendships, it could change a lot in the dynamics of my life back home. I'm a little scared, yet trying to be hopeful.
They don't care about fancy cars, having loads of money, or having the ideal lifestyle. They have what they need to get by and that is enough for them. All the houses and places look similar, the cars they drive are nothing special, if they even have cars. Food is cheap and everyone is happy. I did not come across any people native to Santorini that were not generally happy people.
I learned individual things from some of the people we came across. For example:
The owners of our hostel were a couple. After only a few conversations with them, I knew the woman was from Michigan. She is not married to the man she is with, but they have been together for 25 years and have 3 older kids. They built the hostel for their kids, so that when they get older they could have the business to live off of, but it did not work out like that. Their kids grew up and wanted nothing to do with the business. So the woman goes home every fall and winter to be with her family and returns every spring and summer for the business and her partner, meanwhile he stays to maintain their property. You could tell through the story that she had a little bit of struggle with it, but ended it with, "But it is true, distance makes the heart grow fonder." The way that she had gone through a lot to be where she is at was powerful, and reminded me that things aren't always going to go how we want them to. We can plan and plan all we want, but ultimately we have to willing to adapt to anything. We have to learn to make the best out of whatever is handed to us and keep our heads up.
That was mostly the woman at the hostel, but the man also spoke to us about a few things. He told us that he would not go back to Michigan, because he did not like that lifestyle. His exact quote was something like, "too much business and so many laws, like seat belts and stuff." And though seat belts are a small silly thing to be worried about, he got his point across. When you go somewhere like Santorini where life is so simple and is the way that life is supposed to be, you realize how wrong life is and what we have made of it. They don't even have to lock their doors in Santorini, and they leave their car keys in their cars. They make friends everywhere they go and are laid back about everything. In America, life is about status. Who can have the cooler and faster car, who can afford the designer jeans, and who is friends with who. We care so much about what others think that we forget how to live life.
Other people that gave me happiness in general would be the waiters at the beach restaurant. They were so welcoming, no matter what hour we showed up, we ask if they are open and every time the response was, "don't you worry, just sit down!" They were so welcoming and so hospitable. It was also a couple that ran this restaurant and you could see just how they looked at each other how in love they were. Its amazing that even being the only ones working the restaurant, day and night, they don't let it affect the love they have for each other.
Also, there was a 24 hour bakery around the corner from our hostel that we spent a whole ton of time and money at. By the time we left, the people genuinely cared about us and even gave us the Greek double kiss when we told them it was our last visit. Just the way the welcomed us and treated us brought me joy.
I was upset leaving Santorini in the same way that I'll be upset when I leave Athens. I learn so many things in all of these places, about life and about who I am and who I want to be. When I leave these places, all I have are the memories and the journal entries I wrote on here. I get scared that I will forget everything and go back to the person I was, and that is not something I would want to happen. I want to make changes in my life, and as it is easy to do here where the only people I know have seen only the new me, I know it will be harder when I go home and people are expecting me to be the same person I was before. Though I know it will not effect my real friendships, it could change a lot in the dynamics of my life back home. I'm a little scared, yet trying to be hopeful.
No comments:
Post a Comment