June 10, 1976Dear Mom, Dad, G, Grandmother, and et al.
Well, now if this all sounds a bit English, that is, British it’s because I spent me day in the company of two lovely and charming Welsh gents. Bryn V and his brother Phil are 21 & 22 respectively and come from Wrexham. They’re on a holiday from their jobs. Bryn, who is a pipefitter for an air products company owned by someone from Allentown PA, & I got to be quite chummy.
Perhaps you have wondered what I looked like back then...this is the picture the photographer took of Bryn and myself on Hydra. Back on the tour boat I overheard an "ugly american tourist type" couple commenting on how awful it was that those boys had "picked up that lovely Greek girl." Hah! That was me! I set them straight! Did my Maine accent sound Greek to their Texan ears??? Don't you love my "afro perm"?
You notice how my English goes bad. It’s from hearing so much other languages all the time. G, you would love the tours. The guides speak first in English then in French. Sometimes I understand all the French and then am surprised when they go into English again and realize I was understanding French. The last two nights I have gone from a walk around the Syntagma Square and over to the SAREION (assembly hall) in the Gardens and over around Hadrian’s Arch. 
It is European. Mothers & babies, men sitting on benches. All the young men in the tight shirts and ladies with big glasses. Girls walking arm in arm. Either everyone is walking in this surge of people or sitting on benches or at the sides at cafes. People here love to walk and talk. People walking have as much right to the streets as cars. In the states people are given a crossing of 3 ft to walk in. Here you get 30 or 40 feet and your own traffic light. Red or Green (picture of walker). Everyone waits at the light, it changes. Cars and busses and trolleys screech to a halt. Walkers surge forward down next side walk. Cars surge forward. It’s almost like a shuttle loom rhythm. I bet you can’t read this can you. (I’m certainly having trouble 32 years later and I have it enlarged!) I walked back from the park tonight with a Delphi young man who has had 3 years of English. He is an engineer and told me things to do.
Would you believe I have not seen the Acropolis up close yet? I will go early tomorrow before the crowds and then through the Plaka. Also I hope to go to the Archaeological Museum. 
I can’t remember if I sent you a card yesterday or not. But I went to Delphi. Met an Australian girl who’s been away from home 8 months now. Her name was Anne. Also two girls from Vancouver, Canada. English speaking people migrate to each other. Athens is cosmopolitan. It is truly a crossroads of the world. Everyone is here. I have so many languages buzzing around in my head that English becomes truly difficult at times.
English spoken by the Welsh is unreal. It takes getting used to. Bryn & Phil were extremely witty. Phil looks like a blond Jamie T. Sort of Cherubic. Bryn was more wirery (9 stone) and had bright red hair. There was a photographer on the boat who took at least 30 pictures of us and sold them to us for 200 drachmas. 1 dr. is about 3cents. Did you notice I left my deodorant at home? Well, Johnson’s Medicated Powder works well, but I got some Roll-On Noxzema deodorant this evening that cost me 120 drs. That is $3.60! It might have been better to smell and buy an icon. Both of which I probably do anyway. Well onto Jordan tomorrow. I’ll find someplace. My love to all! Nancy.
PS Dad, I saw a Westerly Centaur in the harbor of Pireus.
PPS Bangor Wales is a student town.
1 comment:
I never know you were so well traveled! I think the pic of your younger self is just gorgeous!
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