26th of September 1999. Sunday Yesterday night Father’s sister Sofoula and her husband organized a night out with two girls. Both were complete strangers to me. They were from somewhere else in Greece and shared an apartment with a few others nearby. I kind of forgot the second girl’s name but the first was called Maria. Perhaps the first girl did not make an impression on me although I have never been good with names. They both took me out to sample some of Thessaloniki’s nightlife. Initially, I do not think that the two girls were keen on going out with me. They made an effort only because of Sofoula’s husband who had asked politely, as a special favour perhaps. Anyway, that is how it felt. People generally gathered thickly amongst the cafeterias and bars to celebrate on a Saturday night. Following closely behind came the beggars, the gypsies, the vagabonds, the small children dressed in dirty clothes. They made the rounds going from one table to the next palms outstretched, imploring, beseeching, displaying their rotten teeth and pleading for any money the patrons could spare. It seemed to me after spending some time in Greece that the destitute on the streets are a common occurrence and for those who see them constantly hardly ‘batter an eye lid’ in surprise. They get used to it. But I could not help but muse over the number of such individuals of all ages. Their tenacity, brazen shamelessness made an impression on me. I began to think about what was truly going on around here. How can some people enjoy their coffee while betweens sips and conversation they were nodding a constant ‘no’ at the begging. Lucky for the Greeks little effort is spent saying no, it is conveyed by raising the eyebrows. At our table, where I sat with my two young and strikingly attractive friends an old woman approached. She wore black clothes, a frightful demeanour and with a forced smile, she stopped and searched my eyes for a moment without saying a word. She then asked me in a sweetened voice for a little money. When her request was denied her voice suddenly changed. She turned dark as the girls nodded her away referring in conversation that ‘we could not even have a coffee in peace.’ But the old woman did not care about the two girls. She focused all her attention on me. I looked out of sorts not the two local girls. The old woman began a litany of curses which she rained down on me as she moved slowly away to the next table, when again her voice changed into the sweet grandmotherly type. Maria is about five foot six. Her friend is about five ten and both girls were lovely. They both seemed to make an effort to talk but it was clear that both were not interested. I noticed this as their attention span kept waning and so I kept making a special effort to keep the conversation going. Our time together passed away a little strained. We then got up and walked to the seaside and sat once again at another café across the road by the sea wall. Maria is a dental Nurse and her friend is an agricultural student. We chatted away the few remaining hours until midnight. The conversation varied from Australia to life in Greece, the differences and the similarities. I also mentioned my stay in Italy, the Gypsies and talked briefly about the ancient sites. That was it. Having paid the bill we started back towards their flat. Initially, I was not aware that the girls were going home. I thought we were going to stay out longer. I even went so far as to mention a bar or two I had discovered in my wanderings through the city. But Maria cleverly directed my attention to better venues further up and nearer to their apartment. She kept talking about those bars the closer we got to their apartment until quite suddenly, both stopped abruptly and thrust out their hands to shake mine in a formal gesture of goodbye, nice to have met you, before disappearing into their apartment. I then realized that they had a rendezvous with boyfriends perhaps. Most everybody here goes out around midnight, especially on a Saturday night. Our return just at that moment seemed to beckon this conclusion. Perhaps I was a little disappointed only because I was lonely. Those relatives of mine who had visited our home back in Australia and stayed on at our home for months rent-free had made themselves scarce. Not many wanted to take me out. Never mind, with a genuine show of surprise I quickly grasped the meaning of the moment and with some social acumen thanked them for the coffee. I did not turn towards Aunt’s apartment immediately but wandered the streets of Thessaloniki for another hour afterwards. I passed happy couples embracing outside bars and listened to music spilling out from the quickly filling cafes. People and places, they seem to be all the same to me no matter where I travel in the world. I have travelled across the planet but have I really gone anywhere? The same feelings I had at home I still have here. Nothing much has changed. I cannot really say that anything has changed.
Posted on: Tue, 03 Sep 2013 08:52:04 +0000