July 18, 2019
Hi friends. You will not even believe it. Last night, after our most wonderful, delightful meal, I threw up all night long. I do not think it was food related. Aaron had a barf bug the night before, then I got it. Please say prayers that the boys don’t get it! It was shite, to say the least. Stupid barf bugs! Fucking shit.
I finally fell asleep around 6 am and Aaron and I woke up at 2:00 pm. Aaron woke me up with a tiny amount of panic because we had slept the entire day. Lavi woke up at 3 and Mayim 4. Jet lag is the real deal.
As you might know, if you’ve been following my story, my camera was broken. We hoped it was just the filter. Or perhaps just the lens.
I found a camera shop today.
We walked through the city of Athens which is an extraordinary mix of so many kinds of architecture, most crumbling, peeling, falling apart. Some things are beautiful, some are bad and old and ugly. Always it is fascinating and dreamy, we are in one of the oldest cities in the world. It’s hot, there are so many people everywhere, so many cars and millions of mopeds. The moped drivers do so one-handed, no helmets, while texting. Many pigeons in the big square that we walked diagonally through. Many Muslim people sitting in the square, some feeding the pigeons. Also, the smells are intense. Car/moped exhaust. Food. Coffee. People.
I kept telling Mayim to snap photographs of everything around him with his imagination. It feels surreal to be here, but for kids, I think they accept things in a different way. One day they are here, next day they are there. It doesn’t seem to phase them in the same way it effects me. I keep saying, I am in Athens. I am in Athens. In disbelief, excitement and a bit of worry (being so far from home is an interesting feeling, we should talk about that more, later).
Aaron navigated us to the camera shop. It was tiny, just a small, narrow space. They were incredibly kind and generous. We figured out what was wrong with my camera. The body. The most expensive part. Mayim almost lost it, but all of us, including the people working at the camera shop, reassured him that it was time for an upgrade. My camera body is old (as all things digital get after a short amount of time, when I think about my Dad’s Nikon F, it’s older then I am and is still a gorgeous camera). So, today, in Greece, I bought a new camera body. And this photo of Aaron is the very first portrait I have taken with my new camera.
I am grateful beyond words and feelings and heart and soul to Aaron. I can’t say more now, but I will say that I am working on this in therapy - the ability to talk about the good things in life. Always, puh-puh-puh.
Everywhere you look, there are evil eyes for sale. This is big for Greeks. And it should be for Jews as well. If you are Jewish, is the evil eye a thing for you? Lmk.
Sleep well. Miss you.
Love,
Eden