It's the end of May already. How fast did this month go? Just yesterday it seems like we were on Spring Break and now, with the coming of June, the classes are nearly over, a few grades are missing but mostly completed, and the final touches on student comments are being made. Exams begin tomorrow. Classes end tomorrow. The 2007-08 school year is officially winding down. Being the first place where we have spent a "6th" year in, it's quite impressive how easily it went by. Now all that's left is the little stuff - fixing up the office space, grades and final reports, signing out, and getting ready to head home. Natalia is more thrilled than I am to get to Greece and sink our teeth into a nice juicy souvlaki. I will need to move from the academic mind-frame to the summer mind-frame, but I am sure it won't take long.
As the academic year winds down, the summer is steamrolling toward us, larger than life. Suddenly we are talking about what to pack, how to travel with an infant. What, really, do we need to take with us? Will we be prepared? Will we forget anything? How does one feed an infant and hang on to an arm rest for dear life at the same time as a plane goes through turbulent weather? Luckily, this only applies to the father. The mother is perfectly content going through whatever weather the world has to offer, but now instead of picking her head up from her nap and offering it to her husband, she will check the baby to make sure she's okay.
In less than two weeks we will be in Athens! We can't wait to land in Athens and show little Irini the olive trees, the blue blue Aegean and the countryside that have been so powerful in the formation of who I am. We can't wait for her to take a walk in the park outside the apartment in Marousi, and put our hands on my mother's, Anna, favorite cypress tree. In many ways, this is Irini's introduction to her past and her future. When Malaysia is a chapter we've moved on from, Greece and Colombia will still be there. The pillars of cultural identity and inheritance. Who she will become we cannot say, but we certainly hope that, as she grows up, she will embrace both Greece and Colombia and allow them to be a wonderful and integral part of her being. She is destined to be a citizen of the world, to be sure, but there is nothing wrong with having a place to call home, or, in this case, a couple places. :-)
Our plans in Greece and Colombia include a lot of staying "at home", getting used to being in different living environments with a baby on board. We expect that the onslaught of visitors will be somewhat overwhelming at times, but given the nature of our lives it is something that we are counting on. Fortunately, Irini is a social little thing, happily being passed from one lap to another. With each hand off she welcomes the new lap owner with a smile to brighten anyone's day.
But they also include a fair bit of taking Irini to see stuff, to be there, to feel, smell, taste, and see the things that make the world so diverse. A Greek Orthodox baptism for Irini. A drive to the Peloponnese. A walk around Athens' old-town with a frape under the Acropolis. A swim below the ruins of Sounion. Meeting her 90 year old maternal great-grandmother in Bogotá, Abuelita Celita. Trying the tropical fruits Natalia grew up with and misses so much. Enjoying her cousins and rest of family who are so excited to finally meet her. A weekend road-trip to Villa de Leyva. A walk at the ciclovia on a Sunday morning in Bogotá. A visit to Creppes & Waffles. We can't wait. Seven weeks of 'doing' to do and "familying" to be. It should be fun. :-)
In the meantime, it's not all work and no play. Just last week we took Irini downstairs (yes, we do this often, don't worry) and, dressed in a little water-proof bathing suit (though topless in true European fashion), plunged her into the pool. Her head stayed largely above water, but we wanted her to enjoy being in water. As would be expected, she went from apprehensive (particularly as the water was somewhat cold) to happy as can be! We are so glad she enjoys the water. Perhaps we can put her in a novice scuba-diving course over the summer. Do they offer infanct classes in underwater breathing apparati? :-)
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