'I can't believe I'm getting paid to do this,' I think to myself. The music overhead is blaring, and I feel nauseous from running around. Even worse are the bruises and scratches now covering my body.
'I can't believe I'm getting paid to this, because I've never had so much fun working in my life!' I think to myself. I'm fulfilling my Friday night, 5-hour, take the younger kids out duty. Usually it's a monotonous five hours at the grocery store, or strolling around at the mall (I didn't know 12 year olds could spent that long looking at nail polish). But tonight, the three youngest girls, Ira, Sia and Xanthi, decided they wanted to come to Magic Park, a small amusement park. They were giddy from the moment we entered the park; I was skeptical. Yet after the Ferris wheel, mini roller coaster, and water ride, I forgot I was actually there to monitor them and was instead jumping enthusiastically from ride to ride.
Both Xanthi and I loved bumper cars the most. We hit each other over and over, chasing and spinning and colliding. I sometimes ran into them thinking 'this is for never going to bed on time!' As time came closer and closer to their curfew, I wasn't ready to go yet. So we called the school, and I extended their time at the theme park another hour (they thought I was being nice, but I wasn't ready to go to bed yet either!).
My third semester at Anatolia has had some very beautiful moments, just like the theme park. I started tutoring two boys, a senior and tenth grader, who are very receptive and always do the work I assign them. They are eager to learn, and I enjoy the time that I spend with them. Also, the weather here is finally warming up. While winter is nothing like Grinnell, Greeks are noticeably more pleasant when the weather is warmer. After school, many of the dormitory kids play outside. I enjoy watching them, climbing trees, or starring up at the clouds (again, I get paid to do this!).
Of course my job is not all fun and games. At the beginning of the quarter, we received all the student's grades from the first semester. I was surprised and disappointed to see how many of my students were failing or, in my eyes, not doing well. As a result, I attempted to be more strict about study hours and bedtimes. Twice I got in shouting matches with two different children about why they should be studying during the allotted time instead of sleeping or cleaning or putting on makeup. My sternness and anger did little; the same children continued to avoid their homework.
As a councilor, we always walk a thin line between being a parent versus an advisor versus a friend. I realized that my actions, while well meant, were crossing over to the parental zone and thus ineffective. While I want all my kids to excel in school, it is not my job to motivate them or punish them when they fail. The best I can do is to be open to helping those who ask. And some have asked. This semester I've revisited 7th grade Algebra, helped with disease projects for biology, learned some world history, and more. One of my students, Pamela, brought home a good grade from her biology project, and was very excited to show me since I had helped her. We taped her paper to my wall, and I gave her a big hug.
This quarter I also feel that I have come to understand Greek culture deeper. This discovery started when I took a trip to Xanthi, a town four hours north of Thessaloniki, to attend Greece's second largest carnival party. While I did a fair share of partying, staying up all night and sleeping all day, I also made new friends, all who were Greek. While sitting with them, going on our third hour of having coffee, our fun conversation turned into passionate debates about what being Greek means, as well as why Greeks live the way they do.
We discussed the Greek tradition of spending at least three hours having coffee and how it appears lazy, but how really it is a way to connect to others -- a therapy-like session with friends. We discussed Greek values (the family above anything else), Turkish occupation and how it relates to how Greeks view authority today, and finally, Greek proverbs. While, I still don't understand many of the proverbs (The monk got angry and burned his cassock?) I left the cafй with a deeper appreciation to the culture and society I was living in. Many of the customs I have struggled to understand are now a lot clearer since having Greek friends of my age explain them to me. I continue to see these friends here in Thessaloniki and in Athens. My understanding of them and of their culture continues to grow.
I am also exploring new hobbies and interests of mine. Inspired by Calvin and my grandmother, I tried to learn how to knit. The first couple of times I gave myself a headache from wrinkling my forehead, but after a while, I felt less clumsy. To enjoy the time more, I started listening to standup comedy while knitting. Another hobby has been reading. Throughout college and even after, I read only for class, and always with a pencil or highlighter in my hand. Once I graduated, I needed a hiatus from books. But my interest returned when my sister sent me a late birthday present: the first two books of the Twilight series.
For those of you who don't know Twiglight, it's a teenage romance series about a girl who falls in love with a vampire and has a werewolf as a best friend. I am slightly embarrassed to admit reading them, but not enough to hide it. Once the girls on my floor found out I was reading them, we had an immediate connection. Sia, stayed after study hall one night to read with me (she was reading the fourth book in the series, I was reading the second). We all watched the movie together in the playroom. Oh, and together we lust over the posters of Edward, the boyfriend vampire, whom the girls have in their rooms. To reclaim my dignity, I am also reading some higher quality authors, among them Kurt Vonnegut and Jeaneatte Walls.
I feel that time has finally slowed enough to enjoy the downtime that this job provides that I never had at Grinnell. It took the first two quarters, and part of this one, to stop panicking about what to do when I had spare time. It seems easy to me now to sit on the balcony, read a book, or listen to music without fidgeting. I feel like this skill is something I could've only learned here, away from the American work ethic I learned growing up.
As I soak up this relaxed atmosphere, I'm also ready for my life to move along at a faster pace, to work towards a more definite goal. This semester I have worked hard on applications, and decided to accept a place at Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine next fall. I will be in medical school for four years. This new adventure makes my time in Greece a little sweeter. I enjoy days that pass with little work, that I spend hanging out with friends or lounging around. I can't believe that this year is starting to come to a close. I look forward to seeing the weather get warmer, the kids passing their classes and heading home for the summer, and the last memories of a job where I get paid to have fun.
