It started out just fine...
The picture NYC as seen from Delta 132 LeavingJFK at about 5:00pm Eastern Time embarking upon a 10 hour flight to Athens...so far so good...
The chicken dinner was tasty...complimentary wine...not bad...took 2 Tylenol PM and slept soundly...
Arrived in Athens, just a little late, at 9:45 am...seven hours time difference between NYC and Athens...
Immigration takes more time than is comfortable because I have a scheduled flight to Samos...at 11:00am on Aegean Airlines...
Get through immigration by about
10:15...tight...however, I remember
the gentleman that curb handled my
luggage at JFK was thoughtful enough
to check it through all the way to Samos...
I'm OK...tight...but OK...between
immigration and the 'Transfer Flights'
sign there is a flight info desk,
so I stop for directions to Aegean Airlines...the nice lady tells me that I must first retrieve my luggage
from carrousel 4, submit to customs then re-check my bag as I check in at Aegean Airlines...
Time is tight...so I head for Carrousel 4 and wait...and wait...everyone else retrieves their bags and I am
waiting...it is now 10:40 and my flight leaves at 11:00 from somewhere in the Athens Airport still
unknown to me...
her my luggage ticket whereupon the nice lady explained that since my
luggage was checked through to Samos, it would have been
separated out, for their is no customs in Samos...it would arrive
shortly she assured me and pointed at Carrousel 4...as if she were a teacher and my desk was in that direction...
At 11:05 Carrousel 4 stops...and my bag is not on it...whereupon I
return to the nice lady at Swissport, who then looks into the system
and informs me that my bag has been left behind at JFK...
And now my mind is racing..."What could have happened to my bag at JFK?"...then I suddenly conjure up dreadful images...
Shaking me out of my horrific dream sequence, the nice lady at Swissport assured me it would come in tomorrow...
"OK," I said..."I can live without my bag until tomorrow; however, my Aegean flight has already departed...do you have a suggestion?"
Are you with me?...I'm not sure I am as I am 7 hours lagged and even with my 'No Jet Lag' homeopathic
pills in me, I'm pushing the envelope of cogent thought at this point...
Dutifully I report to the Olympic desk and the nice lady there tells me that I must go to the Aegean desk
to re-issue my ticket...and yes, there is availability on the flight...she points at a desk that looks to be
about three miles away...and yes, I feel as though another teacher has asked me to sit down and be quiet...
the nice lady there (are all airline desk people former elementary
school teachers?) tells me that since my original itinerary was booked
by Delta, I would have to walk to the other end of the airport (I think it
was six miles) to have them re-book me onto Olympic's 3:30 flight to Samos...
Are you following this?
So the nice gentleman (there were men teachers in my elementary school too...this one reminded me of
Mr. Green in 6th grade) looks at my ticket and asks me why I missed the Aegean flight at 11:00 am...and
I explained as best I could, gasping for air after my six mile walk to the Delta desk, what had occurred...I
then asked him if he would please book me on the Olympic flight and he balked, because I had missed
the Aegean flight...I asked him to call the lostage baggage at Swisstageportage and the nice teacher there
told him that IF my bag would have made it...ya da ya da...but of course that was impossible because my
bag was still at JFKage, whereupon Mr. Green, the nicage manage at the Deltage deskage issued me a
ticket for Olympic Airlines 3:30 pm flight and handed it to me as if it were a hall pass and the note that I
had brought him was a rank forgery...after thanking himage, I caught a glimpse of a McDonalds sign and
high tailed it for a Big Mac...I felt like my last meal had been on October 11th...
My tummy now feeling Mac'd...I stopped by the LG
battery charging station to pump some gas into my iPod
and iPad and it worked for a little while and then went on
strike...at least my instruments were 1/2 charged...
Meanwhile...it is now 12:30 and Alecos is waiting at the Samos airport for me...I must call him...uh oh,
in the upper left hand corner of my iPhone it says...'No Service'...odd...I've traveled abroad many times
and my iPhone worked well...having arranges with AT&T that whole international travel routine, for
which I now had a masters degree...so Alecos is waiting at the Samos airport for a Yankee he has never met...
dressed in cool torn jeans with rhinestones where the raggedy holes
would normally be and wearing very cool shoes that looked as though
she had taken them out of my agent Kirsten's closet...(Kirsten wears the
coolest shoes ever)...I asked if she spoke english and she nodded a
suspicious yes and I began to explain my plight...about half way through
the rhetoric you just skimmed through (I hope for your sake) she
waved me off and said, "Give me the number you want to reach and I'll
call it for you..." Whew! she did and Alecos answered and that was that...I thanked her and offered to
buy her a Big Mac, she demurred explaining that her flight was leaving...I gave her my card...and
thanked her muchagely...
At last, I arrived in Samos...Alecos is as cool as he can
be...a guide here in Samos as well as a real estate agent...
he drove me to my apartment which is perfect for my
research here...it overlooks the Marina where we
moored the Holo Kai the last time we were here...small world...
More soon...
It occurs to me that ÆSOP encountered none of this in his time...
And now...
The Fable of the Moment...
ο αγόρι που φώναξε Wolf, γνωστό και ως The Shepherd Boy και ο Λύκος, είναι ένας μύθοςπου δόθηκε στη Αίσωπος (210 στο σύστημα αρίθμησης του Perry. [1] ) Ο πρωταγωνιστήςτου μύθου είναι βαριέται βοσκός αγόρι που ο ίδιος διασκεδάζει με την εξαπάτηση γύρω χωρικούς να πιστέψουν ένας λύκος επιτίθεται κοπάδι του προβάτων. Όταν ήρθαν να τον σώσουν, διαπίστωσαν ότι οι συναγερμοί ήταν ψευδείς και ότι είχε χάσει το χρόνο τους.Όταν το αγόρι ήταν στην πραγματικότητα αντιμέτωπος με έναν λύκο, οι χωρικοί δεν πίστευαν του κραυγές για βοήθεια και ο λύκος έφαγε το ποίμνιο (και σε κάποιες εκδόσεις το αγόρι). Η ηθική αναφέρεται στο τέλος του μύθου, όπως:
We are in Greece you know...
:)
More Soon...
Yeah, so today is soon...(November 12, 2010)
What a tease...and yet, Zeus, who controls the weather here...(and who knows where else) had his fun
today...and the journey was so worth it...I am about to go to sleep with a gaggle of wonderful memories
of this day...my first complete day in Samos...
Here's how it started...
Even thought I took drugs...(Tylenol PM) and went to bed at 8:30 pm Samos time...I still awoke at 2:30
am...full of joy looking out at the Aegean Sea...the clouds began to appear...I walked into Pythagoria, the
port town here (historically, the 'big city') had an english breakfast at one of the strand restaurants and
walked the main street...my instinct was to rent a car...now, I must say that I realize that my best quality
is following my instincts...that is what led me here...but today I get a gold star...or, I should say, my
instincts get that star...as I walked the main drag...and BTW...the main street is a marble street...that's
right, MARBLE...I shall take a pic for you tomorrow...I came across a National Car Rental...the door
was open, but no lights were on...there was a gentleman at the desk...so I enquired..."Do you speak
English? His response..."I hope so, I'm from Oklahoma..." His name is Richard Wight...great
guy...rented me a car and drove me to the airport to pick it up...we also checked on the status of my
luggage and found no information and before I could react...Richard said, "Don't worry...it always
arrives..." and he was right...someone called me from one of the airlines a little later...either Delta,
Aegean or Olympic to say that my bag was on the afternoon flight to Samos from Athens and I could
pick it up after 4:30pm...after obtaining a local phone here and driving to visit one of the great historical
sights here...the Herarion, I went to the airport to fetch my bag...only there was a catch...it has been
raining here, the storm was of such magnitude at altitude that the plane carrying my bag turned around
and headed back to Athens...you know...I'd just like to brush my teeth with something other that the
scrubber I am using on my body...besides, as much as I like 'No Tears' shampoo...it doesn't taste that
great...about this time I am grateful that I have little or no body odor that seeps into my clothes as I am
going on my 4th day wearing them...I'm hoping for better weather tomorrow...
OK so much for Zeus' sense of humor...here's the best part...
Today was my first full day in Samos...I met seven wonderful people today...al ex-pats...New Zeeland
Sweden...England...Denmark and the U.S. and they all said the same thing about Samos...
They all started with a visit and all seven moved here within a year...and they all gave the same reason...
"We can't explain it...there is something about this place..." I understand that...now I'm not saying that I'll
move here anytime soon, but I feel what they feel...this is a magical place...
Love to all...
Thomas
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