Sitting at the Pink Palace internet cafe which is super expensive. Bought a digital camera at the airport at a $100US markup but I had to do it. I didn't know when I'd find another opportunity.
From this morning's Moleskine scribblings:
I missed last night's dinner and partying. I got caught in one of my familiar "recovery comas". This is basically 12 hours or more of sleep after some harsh days of walking, trains, planes, and buses. It also involves a lot of strange dreams [in last night's dream- I was arrested for interrupting a major league baseball game which was being played on a little league field. One of my ex-girlfriends was imprisoned on an island - in Princess Leia-like threads- as I passed by on a felucca through a canal. Weird man] But I'm awake early, writing by the beach, waves crashing on the shore. Over breakfast I eavesdropped on other tables' stories of last night's hedonism. Bleeding heads from broken plates and dirty dancing in dorm rooms.
Traveling has exposed me to socio-economic differences. I've heard locals from Havana to Cairo tell me how difficult life is for them [it feels like they're trying to reel me down from my tourist's perspective in the clouds- for my own benefit]. But you can also see harsh differences in the lives of animals. Every area of ancient ruins I've visted- Pompeii, Roman, Greek, Egyptian- seems to be ruled by bony dogs, napping in the shade of temples or crumbling statues. At Athens airport, I read on the cover of a magazine that we're spending $41 billion a year on our pets. A staggering number! Immediately my mind thinks about how that money can be used to help troubled humans. Just as quickly, another part of my mind argues whether humans are worth saving. Are we living in a sustainable world? It's a giant planet but we in the 'western' world are leaving massive footprints, crushing everything beneath. How do you choose what to save, what to fight for? So many big questions on this Earth, so many little people who cannot begin to think about answering them (their big question could be, how will my children eat today?) I write and think about this stuff and feel like a bleeding heart who'll end up not doing anything more beyond thinking. Tomorrow, I'll put my headphones on and fantasize about driving my car...
[at this point a French-Canadian girl that I hung out with yesterday walked up and had a seat... a nice interruption]
We're off to the beach! :)
Labels: Greece
Enjoy Corfu and the partying. I had the best time there. Very relaxing. Later dude.
Just caught the video of you on horseback headed towards the pyramids. Your expressions in it are priceless--had me laughing out loud each of the three times I watched it. Love you, man. =)