A dream come true

Let's leave Istanbul for a second and pop over to Greece for just another split second, I swear I'll have more Istanbul posts up soon. This is a worthy deviation.

Remember I raved about Dreamy Skin? Well reading the post again I see I didnt exactly rave about it, I definitely downplayed how amazing Dreamy Skin shower gel is! I was all nonchalant about it, who was I kidding?? The smell is to die for, and it really does make your skin feel, well, dreamy.

Of course being on the bottom of the world means that we South Africans don't have access to little luxuries that are deemed basic necessities by the rest of the civilised world. I knew Dreamy Skin wouldn't be available here. But then about 3 months ago I found a night cream from the Dreamy Skin range, if I could cartwheel I would have done one-handed cartwheels all the way down that aisle!

At night I slather a dreamy blob all over my face. The second the smell hits my nose I am back in Greece getting ready for a day drenched in summery sunlight or a night massaged by the sounds of party animals getting their Greek groove on. And then I open my eyes and I'm back in this work-obsessed, live-to-work cuntry of ours (nope it's not a spelling mistake).

Today is the best day, ever! Today I found Dreamy Skin shower gel, right here in South Africa! There is a God and he believes this princess needs pampering!

The shower gel is a fraction of the cost, and quadruple the size of the night cream, so no need to use sparingly. Tonight I am gonna lather up a storm, I am going to lather up hurricanes and lightning, very very frightening (you know where I'm going with this right?) I am even tempted to wash my car with Dreamy Skin!

If there was a Guiness World Record Prize for product most effective at smell association, Dreamy Skin would win, every year. I smell it and it's as if somehow, somewhere, some clever little scientist managed to capture all my emotions and memories of summer 2009 and squeeze them into this pretty purple bottle. I smell it and I feel like one of those people in the movies who suddenly wakes to find themselves in a bathroom on the opposite side of the world at a previous time. I smell it and I am staring in the bathroom mirror at 25 Argostoliou in Galatsi and it's the summer of 2009. I smell it and wonder why I'm not back in Greece yet *googles flight prices*

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Things I need to get used to in Greece - Part 2

- There is a pharmacy on every street corner, how many sick people are there here? *sprays herself with swine flu preventing stuff*. Pharmacies are like petrol stations, they aren’t open all the time or even until late. They work on a rotational basis – if your pharmacy is closed it will have a notice on the door letting you know which pharmacy in the area is open (please note you get an address not directions so for emergencies go straight to the hospital, do not pass the pharmacy and do not collect R200)
- The shops aren’t open all day every day. Mondays and Wednesdays they close at 3pm, Tuesdays and Thursdays they close at 9pm but are closed during siesta time between 2pm and 5pm, Saturdays they close at 3pm, and they don’t open on Sundays, even most supermarkets are closed on Sundays!


- 80% of people don’t wear helmets when riding a motorbike or scooter (I have a feeling it’s a Kool Kid thing), 10% ride them with their helmets hanging on their arm (I don’t get it either). Quad bikes are also allowed on the road. It’s the norm to see more than one person on a bike at a time, even 3 is not unusual (I saw a family on a bike, dad in front, mom at the back and little kid squished in the middle, yip just like that e-mail you saw once)
- Most robots have poor people waiting to wash yo
ur windscreen, all you need to do is shake your head or finger once, only once, and they will go away. No need to scream NO NO NO and put the windscreen wipers on as a deterrent. And I haven’t seen any pamphlet people, imagine stopping at a robot and not having a pamphlet shoved in your face!
- The effing dustbin collectors (in Galatsi) wake me up at 05:50am every morning, they make so much noise that it sounds like they are demolishing the building next door! This white south african girl has a little heart attack every morning at 05:50am
- I’ve been here for a month and I still worry that someone will have broken into the apartment while I was out, I still worry that someone will break into the apartment during the night, I still get a bit panicky when I hear strange noises…. But I do feel a lot braver here *lifts her fists and starts weaving* bring it on motherfuckers! *said in her best gangsta voice*
- Most people park their cars on the road at night, and find them there in the morning! In SA I parked my car outside for half an hour and it got broken into. I parked my car inside, activated the beams and the alarm, and it got broken into!
- Greek rap. Enough said
- Paying 11 euros for a cocktail. R130 for one freaking cocktail! And no, not a lethal concoction that will have you dancing with your arms in the air shouting how much you looooooove this song after a few sips….. just a plain old mojito. When you say you’re going out for a drink you really mean just ‘A’ drink. When I get back to SA I am going to throw alcohol down my throat until the cows come home, until then guess who is going to be nursing a couple of bottles of cheap vino before going out? Oh and no one dances here….. no wonder, cause they’re all sober!!!
- Restaurants, coffee shops, clubs etc serve the entire table water as soon as you sit down, even if you don’t ask for it, and they keep refilling the glasses even if you don’t ask them to.
- At a coffee shop or bar, as soon as you order a drink the waiter brings you the bill, which does seem just a tad bit rude but apparently you aren't actually expected to pay it right away. When you are ready to leave you add up each bill from each round, no such thing as running a tab here
- The showers are tiny. I’m not just saying that because my daddy built us the mother of all showers. In hotels, if you stand in the shower and close the shower curtain it touches one whole side of your body (the feeling of a wet cold shower curtain clinging to your body is enough to make you see the merits of a Portuguese bath. Not? Just think how many thousands of random bodies that same shower curtain clings to each holiday season). In homes, the shower head is attached to the taps in the bath with a pipe just long enough to lift it over your head, there is no hook on the wall to hang it from, try washing your hair with one hand and holding the shower head in the other! When I get home I am gonna shower 5 times a day *thinks of her fabulous shower back home and imagines she is featuring in a Timotei ad*
- The lift (elevator) door doesn’t automatically open when you reach your floor, you actually need to push it open. The lifts are roughly the same size as most showers, not unusual for a lift to only fit two people at a time (and it’s a tight squeeze, shoulder to shoulder)

The First Good Boy a.k.a The First Attempt at Getting me off the Shelf

My laptop has been broken for a few days, it doesn’t connect to the internet at all (I know! How the flip am I supposed to survive without internet access?? Feels like I’ve been living on another planet for months). So Dimitri (Marianna’s husband) arranged for a friend of his (who knows all about computers) to come fix it.
Dimitri: “You’ll be here on Wednesday at 8:30pm”
Me: “of course! I need the laptop to be fixed pronto”
Dimitri: “Vasili is a good boy”
Me: “…………………………….” *fabulous, just fabulous, he’s trying to marry me off*
So Wednesday comes around and we gather at Dimitri’s house for dinner and to have the laptop sorted out
Dimitri: “Stavroula, sit here next to Vasili”
*rolls her eyelids and sits next to the good boy*
Dimitri: “Stavroula, have some pizza”
*gets up to get herself a slice of pizza*
Dimitri: “Vasili, do you want pizza?”
Vasili: “okay I’ll have some”
Dimitri: “Stavroula, give Vasili some pizza”
*rolls eyes and serves the good boy a slice of pizza just like a good greek girl should*
*Dimitri spots Vasili’s car keys on the table*
Dimitri: “who’s keys are these?”* turns the key over to inspect the badge* “aaah Vasili you have a really good car” *looks at me for a reaction*
*no reaction from me*
Dimitri: “ Stavroula, see this key ring, its from Switzerland, Vasili goes there to ski”
*I remain unphased*
The rest of the evening continued as above, it was a long evening…..
Me: “thanks everyone for a lovely evening, Vasili thank you for fixing the laptop, goodnight”
Dimitri: “Vasili will you walk Stavroula home? You must make sure she gets home safe, she cant walk all that way alone at this time of night, no no it wont do, you must walk with her”
- Please note that I walk home alone every night and it is completely safe to do so, the walk to my house is less than 20 seconds, its literally half a block away

So the good boy is indeed a good boy, but I didn’t come here to meet good boys *makes a note to meet some good girls to introduce the good boy to, and makes special note to get cracking on Liezl's 10 rule*

My Living Arrangements

25 Argostoliou, Galatsi – Kosmeria’s Apartment

My cousin Marianna (Kosmeria’s daughter) lives at 11 Argostoliou, its literally half a block away from number 25. Kosmeria lives with Marianna to help her with her babies, so 25 Argostoliou is all mine! First floor apartment with all the bells and whistles I could wish for. My favourite feature is the balcony, perfect for catching some rays in the afternoon while painting your nails, and for being nosy and seeing what the neighbours are up to (I haven’t actually seen anyone from my building, haven’t heard anyone, starting to think I don’t actually have neighbours , but the neighbours across the road will do….) There are shutters on the windows that let the air in but keep the sunlight out, allows me to sleep in as much as I like (I know I know I should be looking for a job not sleeping all day and painting my nails the rest of the time… work is overrated *puts a 2nd coat of nail polish on*)

11 Argostoliou, Galatsi – Marianna’s Apartment

People living there:
Marianna (very sweet cousin who goes out of her way for me)
Dimitri (Marianna’s husband – very sweet , we like him– gave me a full size bottle of Dolce & Gabbana The One and the matching golden shimmer lotion, we really really like him
Marianna’s kids: Vangeli and Angelina, both very good children (when Angelina is not pinching me! The kid pinches me everytime she sees me!)
Kosmeria: My aunt (my dad’s sister), and the former tenant of my apartment. She is also the babysitter and the chef . As soon as food is ready she phones me to come eat, then I go have a nap then she calls me when the food is ready, then I go have a nap
The best feature at 11 Argostoliou is the neighbour with the unsecured wireless network!!

28 Oktobriou, 44, Vrilissia - Glykeria’s apartment (this is where I’ll be living when I’m not at Kosmero’s apartment)

Really fab apartment, divine bathroom with a spa bath…. I wish Denis was here, he has the best bath parties *makes a mental note to make friends soon*
Glykeria is a crazy cousin from my dad’s side, the biggest party animal you will ever meet, very witty, we are gonna have a blast living together! Everything is going to be suuuuppppeeerrr! The only thing I don’t like is the neighbours pool….. huge bright blue pool in full view from our balcony, you can hear people splashing in it while you roast at 37 degrees Celsius…… we need to make friends with someone who lives in the apartment block next door, I’m prepared to swim and tan topless! Make Greece beautiful :-)