99 + today

another grand day began. Today i have (only???) 100 days till i am free from the army!

27

"Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live."~ Unknown

How does it feel to be 27? It feels ok, and unfortunately it doesn't feel too special. Probably beacuse of the phase in life where i currently find myself in. But there are exciting times ahead.

Anyway, I came to Athens to celebrate and felt fine to be among a few of the people i love. Thank you guys for the celebration, and thank everyone who called and e-mailed :)

A few random events on July 29:

1909 Cadillac: From Ford To GM
1928 Walt Disney's "Steamboat Willie" is released
1947 ENIAC, one of the world's first digital computers, was turned back on after receiving a memory implant on this day in 1947
1956 Jacques Cousteau's Calypso anchors in 7,500 m of water (record)
1957 International Atomic Energy Agency established by UN
1958 Pres Eisenhower signs NASA & Space Act of 1958
1965 Beatles movie "Help" premiers, Queen Elizabeth attends
1968 Pope Paul VI reaffirms stand against artificial birth control
1973 Greek plebiscite chooses republic over monarchy
1981 Prince Charles of England weds Lady Diana Spencer
1984 Summer Olympics opens in LA
1988 Gorbachev pushes plan electing president & parliament in March, 1989
1988 Judge orders NASA to release unedited tape from Challenger cockpit
1988 South African govt bans anti-apartheid film "Cry Freedom"

Famous birthdays on July 29:
(Well, only the ones i knew off are mentioned here :-)
1871 Grigori Rasputin (Russian priest)
1883 Benito Mussolini (Italian dictator)
1869 Novelist Booth Tarkington
1938 ABC News anchorman Peter Jennings
1953 Rock singer-musician Geddy Lee (Rush)

astrology and dimitris

did you actually know that astrology is also a greek word (old joke :-).
Άστρο (astro) = star
Λόγος (logos) = word

a good friend sent me my astrological map, depending on when i was born, what time of the day etc. She's really into this stuff, i am not. I actually don't believe much in astrology and different ways of drawing links betwen the position of the stars and human behavior, without having researched on them too much (don't know if a link has been scientifically proven and how the people who predict/explain do it). Now, obviously, looking at a chart like this, i don't know about you, but i can't make anything out of it.

The surprising fact, despite all my skepticism is that what came with the chart/map, was a 2 page explanation, where as a matter of fact my personality is described in a lot of detail. i was astonished as i never came accross anything like this in the past. In fact, i am interested in reading some about astrology. Any good sources to suggest?

music

i really wanna get ahold of the following in the next few days or more:

• X & Y - Coldplay
• Madredeus
• OST of Motorcycle Diaries
• OST from Woody Allen movies

Wouldn't you?

Book review: In the footsteps of Stamford Raffles by Nigel Barley

once upon a time i went to Singapore, that was two years ago. And i bought a couple of books about the country along with reading about it on the internet (and being there, yeah). One of them was the above, the name Raffles is seen too many times on the isle.

the book is supposedly witty, informative about history etc etc. I didnt' find it particularly witty. But i did find it an interesting read, and providing information about who Stamford Raffles was and what he was doing in Indonesia and Singapore. He is the founder of Singapore. There are different links and comparisons drawn with other leaders before and after him who played a role in South East Asia, (i.e. Sukarno) which i couldn't relate to, since i knew neither.

A couple of things i did not enjoy about the book:
1. The book presents a saint model of Stamford Raffles. According to the read i can assume he was an extraordinary person, but still i oppose the "saint" profile given to anyone at all
2. The author continuously criticises the Dutch rule over Indonesia etc. while it praises the British one, which i find judgemental. Talking about how good a role the Brits played in the area and how bad and destructive the Dutch were. Maybe i don't know much about the history of SE Asia, but weren't they both ruling by force? And what's the perspective of the people who are from Indonesia/Singapore etc?

Would really be interested in hearing the locals' side of the story, which is not particularly included in the book according to me. We have a lot of nomads from those areas of the world, so feel free to comment (and correct me).

the next best thing

is what i'm looking for. and it doesn't necessarily have to be something big. I just had a wonderful evening discussing and swimming with my cousin. Simple things i missed doing.

photos from the trip to NL!

click on photo to see all of them :)

maritiem museum, rotterdam

boat
Originally uploaded by Dimitris Mazarakis.

if you park your car outside the museum, they will take it away. If you park your BOAT though, things are different :)

coolest graffti in a while!

found in Rotterdam, NL!

on u2 concert

just a few words about the concert itself, now that i am back in Greece...Well, the only next news about the u2 gig will be the photos, when i get them, to be uploaded

First of all it's the first time i see u2 play live, and i can say they were awesome. The ArenA is also and amazing venue, so 50,000 people created a great atmosphere. Some of the songs i didn't know, but that didn't matter. The songs from the concert are still going round and round in my head! In fact i just listened to city of blinding lights randomly on the radio, at the internet cafe where i am. Although we missed the first act (we entered the stadium at 18:45 more or less) both Brenda and myself had a great time!

I think u2 are the most influential band on the planet right now. And i was glad, although it felt weird for a rock concert, to see that they went beyond their lyrics, beyond their songs. Their entire attitude is committed to the messages they want to send, to make our world a better place, the way they mean it. You can like it, disagree, ignore it, or leave it, but they could have just been singing to the same crowd and just making their money and going home.

I don't care about any criticism against Bono or u2 on the political stand that they are taking, i don't care if they become richer, or use the issues they spend time with to improve their profile (some people say). I only care that they manage to bring some results, and that i am willing to applaud and support, where i agree. Messages of peace, brotherhood, support to fellow peoples appeared throughout the concert.

Other than that, on the concert itself, the performance was amazing. I hope i will be able to see them play again in the future. And before that, maybe get a video of the show somehow? :-) My 3 favourite songs all were performed (with or without you, where the streets have no name, still haven't found what i'm looking for), and lot more than that.

In the end, it's always a great feeling to be part of a big crowd that's having fun, whether that's a big party or a rock concert.

change from within

i landed in athens last nite at 02:00 am. It's the first time in a long time that someone was actually waiting for me at any airport around the world. I dread to think that i can't remember the last one. My sister was there, although she's working today.

i was supposed to stay in athens today since i only have to be in camp tomorrow. I don't feel like staying here though. There's a few things more that i need to decipher about this trip, and for this i need time alone. i need the 3 hours of train ride, i need the afternoon and the evening at home, i need my music, my books, my notebooks.

thank God for the inspiration i had six months ago to think it woud have actually been possible to visit the netherlands in the summer.

a few things have changed inside me after this trip. to the better.

with or without you

See the stone set in your eyes
See the thorn twist in your side.
I wait for you.

Sleight of hand and twist of fate
On a bed of nails she makes me wait
And I wait without you

With or without you
With or without you.

Through the storm, we reach the shore
You gave it all but I want more
And I'm waiting for you

With or without you
With or without you.
I can't live with or without you.

And you give yourself away
And you give yourself away
And you give, and you give
And you give yourself away.

My hands are tied, my body bruised
She got me with nothing to win
And nothing else to lose.

And you give yourself away
And you give yourself away
And you give, and you give
And you give yourself away.

With or without you
With or without you
I can't live
With or without you.

With or without you
With or without you
I can't live
With or without you
With or without you.

Songlist from last night's gig in amsterdam ArenA

From u2.com:
Hot Date In Holland

Kaiser Chiefs, Killers, U2 - great way to open a three night stand in Amsterdam. Bit of a treat for Dutch fans tonight, getting to see the incredibly energetic Kaiser Chiefs, the deeply wonderful Killers... and all before the main attraction. (Incidentally, good to see Mark Stoermer, Killers bass man, wearing a vintage U2 'Boy' t-shirt under his jacket!)

The Amsterdam Arena - home to Ajax FC - is quite an intimate venue, round rather than long, and it also comes complete with glass roof. Bit of a greenhouse in fact, so at the end of a scorching summer day in Holland, this was going to be a hot gig whatever. Here's the set list - full report to follow.

Songlist:
Vertigo
I Will Follow
Electric Co.
Elevation
New Year's Day
Beautiful Day
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
All I Want Is You
City of Blinding Lights
Miracle Drug
Sometimes you Can't Make It On Your Own
Love and Peace
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Bullet The Blue Sky
Running To Stand Still
Pride/In The Name of Love
Where The Streets Have No Name
One
Zoo Station
The Fly
With Or Without You
All Because of You
Yahweh
Vertigo

amsterdam diaries

today is thursday, day 3 in the netherlands, as I landed at my favourite airport (schiphol) on Tuesday morning. And it feels like i have been here for months. Don't really know where to start from.

Events: Mostly i have been roaming the city alone in the mornings till the afternoon. tuesday i went to Rotterdam to visit the Greek consulate (i have to) and close my ABN bank account. Also went by the AI office to say hi. In the evening i was back to Amsterdam meeting with Zoe and Brenda for dinner and then a party. I have visited the Rijksmuseum, Anna Frank house (or huis in Dutch) and a very cool park in Amsterdam i had never been to. Other than that, of course the big event was the u2 concert last night. It was a blast, the Amsterdam Arena full of a cheering croud, a great concert indeed. Unfortunately i didnt have my camera with me (thought that it's not allowed) but a few friends are going on the next concert so i will have photos through them.

Thoughts:

• Roaming alone for half the day has allowed for a lot of thoughts coming along. One of which is that i have to get moving pretty soon in terms of my future work etc. I am now more determined than before to get my last 2 university subjects ut of the way in september and move on in life.
• My visit to NL has been a wake up call on a lot of things, especially putting into perspectiove what i think are my problems during this period of time. Especially in regards to my military service remaining, it made me think that it's much less than i think it is and will go by easily.
• I sure got a bit more ambitious again, and starting troubling my mind in a more creative way as to where i will be working starting next year and what i will be working on. If i get a choice, amsterdam will be one of the top destinations, along with zurich and london.
• there's still a lot of places i want to visit but for now i am going to keep it simple.

Next stops: Vivek's place this evening till tomorrow, then meeting Volodja at Schiphol (he is off to Turkey for Evrim's wedding) and then Rotterdam, staying with Pascal and going to his bbq and AI transition party. Stay tuned.

All set?

Cannot quite believe it. In about 30 hours i will be out of the country for the first time since last october, when i went to sweden to visit Ying. That's 9 months ago.

To tell you the truth, it feels weird. I cannot quite believe this is real, still worry that something is going to f**k up on the way (I still have to be in camp for 8 hours tomorrow and get my permit on paper). But the time i will be landing in Amsterdam Tuesday morning is the time when i realise how cool this decision to pursue a trip abroad has been. Getting me out of my stagnation, meeting old friends, discussing about the future, partying a bit.

There's one more element to this trip that is unusual: It's the first time I will be a tourist in the Netherlands. Everyone (Vivek, Zoe, Brenda, Pascal, AI) works in the mornings, so if you exclude the weekends I will be hanging around alone and just being a tourist/enjoying places already discovered in the past. I think I will enjoy this a lot :).

attack in London

i lack a lot of the details. i haven't seen anything on the news yet, just read nomadlife only been in camp and travelling. I would like to eexpress my sympathy to all the people that suffered and live in London, must have been shocking.

On a second note i am happy all the people i know in London are safe (pretty much the list on nomadlife.org and a few more include all). Though it's not the best thing to happen in your neighboorhood.

Maybe the Olympics and the terrorist attack are not linked but in my opinion, though shocking as a bomb attack can be, it was to be expected. In this terrorism frenzy era that we live, when a country is awarded the olympic games it's a once in a lifetime eopportunity for people who want to terrorise others and gain power to show everyone how easy it is to attack and make everyone's life a scary experience. If you attack a "secure" environment" "successfully" then you can literally attack anywhere in the world you wish to do so.

We went through a process like this in Greece as well last year and the year before. I remember there was a gas tube explosion sometime in Athens more of a prank (no victims, noone hurt), and it was reported in all major world media - CNN, BBC, etc - (two months before the Olympics) as a security breach. I don't know how other olympics were or are gonna be in the future, but they will always be a challenge for any terrorist in teh world.

And i don't know how the hell you don't make yourself, your country, the event itself a target. It's difficult to have a strategy for that. Sad but true.

I can only hope that such events will not follow in the future.

Am i allowed to make travel plans?

Of course I am. It's just that my next trip will be almost 4 months after the one in NL, since i am running out of days off the army (i am allowed only a certain limited number of days) and well, my expiration date as far as the army is concerned is november 8th, 2004. Oh, i forgot: I also lack the finances (how trivial).

However, i can make a list. Not of the want to's (i.e. India) but of the feasible ones out of the want to's:
November onwards:

• Mt. Athos
• Climbing mt. Olympus
• Bosnia

That's enough for a start, say till the end of 2005... After that it also depends on where in teh world i will be situated...We will definitely have India coming up sometime in 2006 and Egypt of course....

Wow, this is easier than making a playlist!

Coldplay, the scientist

Still remains a favourite. I was in Larisa today (don't ask me why :-) and i had the mp3 player on random in the car, it popped up. So cool - a must listen.

Come up to meet you

Tell you I'm sorry

You don't know how lovely you are

I had to find you

Tell you I need you

And tell you I set you apart

Tell me your secrets

And ask me your questions

Oh let's go back to the start

Running in circles

Coming up tails

Heads on a silence apart

Nobody said it was easy

Oh it's such a shame for us to part

Nobody said it was easy

No one ever said it would be this hard

Oh take me back to the start

I was just guessing

At numbers and figures

Pulling the puzzles apart

Questions of science

Science and progress

Do not speak as loud as my heart

Tell me you love me

Come back and haunt me

Oh and I rush to the start

Running in circles

Chasing our tails

Coming back as we are

Nobody said it was easy

Oh it's such a shame for us to part

Nobody said it was easy

No one ever said it would be so hard

I'm going back to the start

Aah oooh ooh ooh ooh ooh (x4)

netherlands - status report

• Leaving Greece on the 12th at 03:40 am
• Returning to Greece on the 18th 02:30 am
• u2 on the 13th with Brenda, Amsterdam Arena
• Pascal's bbq on the 15th or 16th, Spijkenisse?
• AI transition party on the 16th, Rotterdam
• no accommodation arranged yet, no itineraries arranged either
• Looking fwd to meeting: Makhi, Zoe, Brenda, Volodi, Maria, Adriana, Matt, Rajiv, all other AIESECers and friends that come along the way ! ! ! Exciting reunions and discussions ahead, beating Vivek at pool and losing at beer drinking etc.
• All excited, but it's only 5 days away and i am sure my time abroad will be perfect!!!

More news soon!

Same place, different year, different gang!

Both of them are in Chanioti beach in Chalkidiki, where we drove and had a swim, at one of my favourite beaches with one of my favourite beach bars in Greece.

The 1st photo was taken yesterday, the 2nd is from last year, same place (Molos - Chanioti) different gang: myself, Pedro, Pascal, Ramon. I am sure al of you guys remember those cool days in August 2004.

cool photos from the weekend

Amazing what you can see by the beach!

observation

i am the only Greek AIESECer I know who maintains a blog. Valia started one but seems to have damped it and there used to be another guy on aiesec.ws (some Konstantinos guy i haven't met). Fotis started a blog for his traineeship in Ecuador and damped it as well.

I don't know if it's because blogging culture is not so widespread in aiesec.gr or bcos the internet culture is generally not as popular as elsewhere in the world. But I know quite a few people with very interesting stories to tell who are not blogging. and of course the Greek trainees abroad always have cool stories to tell.

i'd like to see this change to the better - it's such a pity!

optimism

i took the exam and it looks like things went smoothly. Never say never, cos i am sure i didn't excel and that might mean that i am in the margin for failure as well if some of the things I wrote prove to be wrong. Analysis of my paper:

• 30-40 % correct
• 20-30 % wrong/not answered
• The rest i think is correct but don't know for sure.

So no celebration as of now, but at least i have a positive feeling. And on that note, on the hottest day of Greek summer so far (Thessaloniki has a forecast for 33 degrees today, Chalkidiki a couple of degrees lower, in Lamia the temperature is 40 degrees!), I am leaving to Chalkidiki to go swimming today. Tonight going out in Thessaloniki, tomorrow back to Lamia!

So cool.

Summer finally began! And the countdown to my trip to NL as well! 10 days - Netherlands, here I come!!!