{"id":3977,"date":"2013-06-01T18:34:54","date_gmt":"2013-06-01T18:34:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.itisallgreek2me.com\/?p=3977"},"modified":"2013-12-03T16:56:23","modified_gmt":"2013-12-03T16:56:23","slug":"anytime-the-tide-can-turn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.itisallgreek2me.com\/?p=3977","title":{"rendered":"Anytime, The Tide Can Turn"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Godparents, Spiros and the Priest<\/p><\/div>\n

This week has been a little surreal.\u00a0 It began okay on Monday … went to the Bar early at 2000 hours to\u00a0farewell\u00a0Paddy and Wendy.\u00a0 It was their last night on the island for now … hopefully we will meet up here again in May next year.\u00a0 I was home again by 2230 hours, could not sleep, so went back to the Bar\u00a0at 0130 hours until 0330 hours … when I left, there were still 17 customers and I figured it was going to be another late night for Costas.\u00a0 Apart from one couple holding hands, the town was ghostly quiet, however, as I neared the house, I could hear that Boggi was still in full swing.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Costas\u00a0bought 3 kilo\u00a0of minced beef which together we made into Biftekia\u00a0(Greek burgers) …\u00a0the majority we put into\u00a0 the freezer.\u00a0 I made a lovely salad which we had with takeaways from Quarter for lunch and that night I stayed home for a quiet one.\u00a0 Wednesday morning I was back at the beach … the sea a little choppy and I was there alone.\u00a0 As I was leaving, met Costas, we went to Delfinia\u00a0for a coffee, then home to make\u00a0a salad with Roka\u00a0(Rocket) to have with Biftekia for lunch.<\/p>\n

For sometime before leaving New Zealand, I had been experiencing pain in my upper right arm, however, being the stubborn individual that I am, pretty much chose to ignore it, believing it was most likely as a result of stress and that it would go away once I made it to Greece and relaxed a little more\u00a0but it has continued.\u00a0 Then, some 10 days or so ago, I developed a pain under my left breast and on Costas’ insistence,\u00a0I agreed to go and see a Physiotherapist\u00a0who\u00a0came highly recommended\u00a0… my appointment was on Wednesday afternoon.\u00a0 Vaggeles\u00a0could not help me with the pain in my rib cage … something of a mystery as to what has caused it in the first place and whether it is the muscle, bone or cartilage that is damaged.\u00a0 It could take weeks to come right.\u00a0 In my neck, shoulder and arm,\u00a0he located some very tender spots and recommended Acupuncture.\u00a0 As I could not comfortably lie down on my tummy on the table,\u00a0I knelt in a special chair so that Vaggeles\u00a0could insert the needles.\u00a0 After a little while I felt faintish\u00a0and nauseous … he assisted me to the table where I lay down and\u00a0he raised my feet in the air.\u00a0 It seems the treatment had caused my blood pressure to drop rather low.\u00a0 He then gave me the most wonderful\u00a0neck, shoulder and arm massage\u00a0after which I walked home feeling so much better.\u00a0 I was to telephone him on Friday to report on my well-being.<\/p>\n

That night I went to the Bar around 2130 hours\u00a0and had a most enjoyable evening … home before 0100 hours.\u00a0 I could not sleep, the pain in my rib cage had worsened and I was unable to lie on either side.\u00a0 By the time Costas\u00a0arrived home around 0430 hours, I was feeling\u00a0very poorly.\u00a0 According to Costas, I was yellow\u00a0and so he summoned a Doctor to the house around 0500 hours.\u00a0 My blood pressure was high … very unusual for me and\u00a0this Doctor thought there could be a problem with my heart … in the morning I should go to the Clinic for an ECG.\u00a0 Costas\u00a0called a taxi to take us there … the ECG was performed, the Doctor looked at the resultant chart and declared there was something not right, I must go to the Health Centre in\u00a0Kranidi\u00a0for further examination and\u00a0 be prepared for a possible few days in hospital in Navplio.\u00a0 It was 1240 hours, no time to return home for any personal items. \u00a0Costas\u00a0arranged for Panayiotes\u00a0wife\u00a0Carol to accompany us as in the event that I ended up in Navplio, he would not be able to stay there with me.\u00a0 By 1300 hours we were all in the ambulance aboard the Katerina Star ferry on our way to Kranidi.<\/p>\n

Another ECG, poked, prodded, listened into, blood and urine samples taken then\u00a0on a drip for half an hour which did have the desired effect of easing the pain.\u00a0 A third ECG followed … they stated they\u00a0believed there had been an “incident”, however, my heart was now quite healthy and I was free to go – what a relief was that!\u00a0 A taxi then a water taxi back to the island, takeaways from Spetsiotiko\u00a0for lunch, followed by a very welcome siesta … interrupted only by a telephone call from\u00a0Ray “How is Helen”?\u00a0 News travels fast on Spetses\u00a0… Anna had spotted us on the ferry and it seems the pigeon courier had started from there.<\/p>\n

For now, taking things very quietly\u00a0… I did not leave the house Friday and my second night of staying at home.\u00a0 Feeling okay, however, the pain killers I am taking out of necessity are working.\u00a0 A complete medical check when I return to New Zealand will be a priority.\u00a0 Costas is right, I do push myself too much when I am working and also trying to live a lifestyle here which I am not accustomed to with the late nights.\u00a0 Add to this the travelling from one side of the world to the other … I need to slow down.<\/p>\n

Saturday the 1st of June\u00a0dawned overcast.\u00a0 Nevermind, I did not have any plans to go to the beach as we had been invited to the Baptism of 7 month old Spiros, the son of Nikos and Tina … to be held at 1100 hours at the Ieros\u00a0Naos Agion\u00a0Taxiarchon\u00a0church, located in the oldest part of Spetses\u00a0town, known as Kastelli.\u00a0 Left the house around 1020 hours to go to Dapia\u00a0Porto Cafe for a coffee … then a taxi up the hill to the church.\u00a0 In contrast with the Dapia\u00a0and Old Harbour areas, where luxury yachts, expensive shops,\u00a0trendy cafes\u00a0and the rich and famous mingle, Kastelli has a village feel to it with tethered horses, chickens roaming free, cats and kittens abound and vegetables are\u00a0planted anywhere a space can be found.<\/p>\n

I believe this little\u00a0church is one of the oldest on the island, however, I have not been able to establish exactly how old … inside it is absolutely beautiful.\u00a0 We entered, lit our candles and waited for the service to\u00a0begin … the church was packed to capacity with many\u00a0more people\u00a0outside.\u00a0 Greek Orthodox Baptism is rich with symbolism and it is a service in which the godparents play a very big role.\u00a0 Unfortunately, we had to leave before the end as Costas\u00a0had an appointment but there are many excellent websites where you can learn more.\u00a0 Before leaving we took our Bomboniera’s\u00a0… these gifts are an Eastern Orthodox tradition over 3,000 years’ old.\u00a0 Filled with koufeta\u00a0– jordan\u00a0almonds – the favours are given as tokens of good fortune and happiness.\u00a0 Bomboniera’s\u00a0are symbolic of life with their bittersweet taste.\u00a0 The sugar-coating represents the hope that life will be blessed with more sweetness than bitterness … with that, I can only agree.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week has been a little surreal.\u00a0 It began okay on Monday … went to the Bar early at 2000 hours to\u00a0farewell\u00a0Paddy and Wendy.\u00a0 It was their last night on the island for now … hopefully we will meet up here again in May next year.\u00a0 I was home again by 2230 hours, could not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itisallgreek2me.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3977","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itisallgreek2me.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itisallgreek2me.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisallgreek2me.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisallgreek2me.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3977"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisallgreek2me.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3977\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4615,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisallgreek2me.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3977\/revisions\/4615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itisallgreek2me.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisallgreek2me.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisallgreek2me.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}