Yeah! Greece!
….
“Stop right there! Hold your horses buddy!”, says the voice in my head…
“Before talking about this wonderful country, why not start from the beginning?”
You are right voice in my head!
So, over a year ago, my wife and I were at home having a discussion about life. In particular, if we were happy about the life we were experiencing and what to do next.
We came to one simple conclusion: we were miserable and we needed a change!
“Let us roam the third rock from the sun, our good old planet Earth, visiting new places, making new acquaintances, experiencing different ways of looking at the same thing, enjoying diversity and gaining knowledge. What do you have to say about that?”, I said to my better-half, with a huge smile on my face.
She looked at me kind of funny, as if I was out of my mind and asked: “How do you purpose to do that? We have no money!”
“Simple!”, I replied. “We’ll choose a place that we want to go first, try to find a job there, one that allows us to pay the bills and start the journey!”
And here we are at an amazing country with such wonderful, warm and, on top of all, resilient people…Greece!
When the decision was made to move to Greece, not going to lie, family and friends were feeling apprehensive.
“Why?”, was the question on everybody’s mind.
We could understand where they were coming from, the reason why they were questioning our judgement.
After all, almost every time the media reported anything about the country, the word “crisis” was making the headlines.
But I could see the silver lining and my wife trusted my judgment (I still believe that, back then, she was thinking I was having a meltdown!).
After all, I’ve been travelling all around the world for the past twenty years and I know a thing or two about misconception, about the way others see you… and media plays a huge roll on that.
At the time of the decision-making process, Portugal, our home country, was at the heart of the international press due to the fires that were raging all across the nation.
“Guess what? It is, without a reason of a doubt, a terrible thing that what it is happening in our country right now. But, to state that the whole country is on fire and we are nothing but a nation of reckless fire-starters is nothing more than sheer stupidity!”… I said in a family gathering.
Game, set and match. Athens here we go!
Roughly more than a year has passed and we can honestly say that we have made the right call.
We are truly honoured.
Even though moral is low, the people have the ability to look beyond the horizon.
They are part of our world, a global village full of diversity.
The past has been hard.
The present is all about living one-day-at-the-time.
The future?
Well, seeing that I'm not psychic, I don’t have the faintest idea.
But here we stand resolute.
If life is all about memories, and my wife and I we truly believe that to be true, then we will try to make the most out of our time on this planet.
For the time being in Greece and loving it!
Yassou!
P.S.: original text written on May, 2018.