Hanging in there - Halfway home

Well there are two things that float inside my head for the past weeks.

First of all: I am indestructible. I was built to endure anything in this life and nothing will ever break me. Sure you might bend me at times, but i am made of memory shape alloy and i will return to my former self slowly. I have progressed so much this year. I found a job to keep me floating around, i found another one as well in Norwegian Air.  so that means i am taking the correct steps, or that i am doing things correctly and it is being recognized. I am destined for success and when the opportunity arrives i will seize it. Overconfidence? Maybe. Inner belief? Definitely.

Secondly: I was correct about everything in my last post. Like everything. But if you are not thick headed and you look at things from a wider perspective putting fanaticism aside what would you conclude anyways? The Greek government decided to bend over and take the new incredibly strict financial measures that the Europeans requested and now they are fighting internally with elections looming over our heads on September. And all i can think off is leaving for my beloved Sweden on August 19th again. Not only that but as i said if you go through my post, you will see that the new measures are double as harsh as the ones before the public voting. Instead of 8 billion regulations we ended up with 15. In the end the public voting was a NO to the "easier" measures and YES to stricter ones.

And as a parenthesis here, i have to thank Jaime and his family for feeding me a lot of rice during the year and his mom that had just kind words to say about me.

Where do we go from here? I can share some stories about the things that go around in Greece which i most likely will do until i move back to Sweden again. I think i might also start writing a book that could be called "A Mediterranean's guide to survival and blending in in Sweden". Regarding the future of this blog i am still looking for guest posters of course. Let's make it a global voice and a multinational multicultural place where everyone can share their stories. When i am financially more independent i want to be able to cover more events in Uppsala and show once more the vibrant fantastic nightlife that was evident during my first months there. Because lately, this has become something more, something personal. But i guess its the true quest for happiness and inner searching.

On to what i have been going through the past 3 weeks. Well apart from working all day i decided last week to reopen a new chapter in my life. I started going to the gym again and in boxing classes. I want to get my former self back and i hope i can continue this in Uppsala. I am going there daily and pressuring myself and i already feel more energetic physically but also a bit more stressed due to the extreme workouts. Today i took a day off to reinvigorate my body and soul. It is strange how people "forget" you over the years though right?...After training for a few days i realized how weak i feel compared to the previous years where i could go for rounds and rounds of moving and dancing and punching and kicking relentlessly. But i will persevere and get there again. Impossible is nothing, repeat that.

On Friday i decided to visit Vangelis in Athens for a few days. We originally met in the army and we usually went out on our days off to have fun and talk to women. I slept a bit in the afternoon and begun my journey to meet him outside the metro station in Euangelismos. We met and started to catch up a bit talking about things and how life has changed over the past year that i am gone. We went to Xalandri to meet some of his friends in this gourmet eating place located in a yard with all different kinds of stuff to eat and try. They were alright but a bit too "cultural" for me. I remember when i asked him if he wants water while pouring a lot of white wine in his glass. It was transparent and when i tried to taste it i understood i might have made a mistake. In any case we shared a huge laugh. Another nice guy Alexandros was there with a girl and another older couple. We had our fun for some hours and we decided to go out later in a real shithole called Gazi. The first night clubbing was a disappointment both in music and people perspective. Around 4 am i felt like my energy completely evaporated, i felt old and i went back home. We met an irritating girl called Xristina who i tried to avoid like the plague and her friend was dancing relentlessly like a Duracell battery.

Let the good times roll.

The second day was funny. It was a boys night out. Me, Vangelis, Alexandros and a crazy russian greek guy Pavlos went out around 11:30 in a nice bar called Tranzistor close to Monastiraki. It was full of people of different kinds and looks and the music was not too shabby either. Two girls were sitting next to us and i thought of making a move for my friends there but they did it later by themselves. In the process i also met a nice girl from France called Emily. I asked him where is she from and she replied "from everywhere". She travels and makes documentaries about things in her blog Travel and Film. If you know french or can go through Google translate it is worth checking it out.

That is all really. I just want to write about a last thing that irritates me greatly. During my stay in Athens there was supposed to be the vote for the new measures and reforming of the government. "Suddenly" wildfires started to sprout like mushrooms all over the country and in the usual mountain of Ymmitos. With my innocent mind i just think that maybe "cough" some nice people did it on purpose to take our minds off the political scene and think about something else. This country is rotten to the backbone and eats itself from the inside. I might sound cruel, but i urge all new young people that are trying to find their place in the world to leave and go study and work somewhere were they will respected instead of bash by their own homeland. Harsh isn't it? That is what has been going on though for the past decade and i do not think it will slow down any soon as there is a massive exodus of people like me.

Until next time, goodnight Sweden, We will meet again soon.