Raw

Salvete Carissimi!

Boy have I missed you all, so much… It’s only been a week in Iraklion, and my mind does its usual telescopic thing with time. One minute it seems like I arrived yesterday, and the next that I have been here for centuries, that I never came to Tampa, that a place called CPR Hall is a figment of my imagination. And yet I know that there are people and places waiting for my return and I have found myself happy at the thought of returning to the states as I am happy now to be here with my family. Could it be (gasp!) balance? Finally?! Say it isn’t so!

The first week here is always the hardest, and years of back and forth have turned this experience from existential and devastating into mildly annoying. Once I make sure that my parents and brother are well, my mind relaxes and lets the outside world come in, a mostly unpleasant experience. Everything bothers me, everything offends me. There is no hot water on demand; garbage truck drivers are constantly on strike and streets are impassable; butcher shops with carcasses of un-skinned animals wearing the glassy eyes of death; no air-conditioning in the blistering heat; people who don’t believe in showers; uneven side walks; extravagant euro prices for things I buy for a $1.50 at Walmart; smoking everywhere, in restaurants, in elevators, in doctors’ offices.

All this, and more, used to bother me much more before I went to Rome last summer. Once I realized how many problems the eternal City has in common with a backwoods town like Iraklion, I chilled significantly. Yet I am far from being a true Stoic. I know, I know, the little luxuries of life do not amount to much, compared to human relationships, with all their joy and drama. And yet I need to remind you, especially those who have not traveled outside the States yet, not to take these little luxuries for granted. It is the small pleasures of that weave comfort in the heart and mind, so that real life, life with others that is, can happen…I hope this makes sense, it’s one of the many things that I wanted to talk about with y’ all (vobiscum), but Latin was first and time was never enough (which reminds me this great line from Ovid Ars longa, vita brevis). I trust that you are all enjoying your holidays, and I can’t wait for our reunion in July (Rachael, Mia, Olivia, Stacey, Jackie et ceterae, are you setting it up?). Thank you also for your individual e-mails and posts on the blog, to which I cannot answer at length because I have this old dial up connection here at home that falls through every 10 minutes or so. (I don’t want to go to any Internet Cafes here, with all those 14-year old boys that check out pornographic sites, play games, and smoke constantly!). Much love to all,

Your teacher, the spoiled brat

PS. There is this great episode of Seinfeld, where George’s father tries meditation to relax from his wife’s constant nagging. The exercise is to repeat calmly the phrase ‘Serenity now.’ Apparently it doesn’t work, because in the end he screams it hysterically ‘serenity now, serenity now!!’. It is an appropriate soundtrack to what I was writing above….