The sun rose over Kythera and so did I — reluctantly, as usual. You know it’s going to be one of those days when your morning starts with Dieter (our resident mad German foreman) storming around a half-built house, shouting orders like a man one stone short of a breakdown.
We were building again today — another stone wall, another chance for bedlam. This time, it came courtesy of Irving, a German hippy with a spiritual connection to rocks. I’m not sure there’s a worse combination than patchouli and perfectionism. Irving insisted on choosing “beautiful stones” for the wall and flipped out when Georgo (my Polish co-worker) and I committed the unthinkable crime of using… cement.
To be fair, Georgo and I are hardly a slick duo. He speaks no English. I speak no Polish. So we get by in pidgin Greek — a mix of gestures, swear words. The only Polish word I know is for “shit,” which, funnily enough, sees a fair bit of use on site. "Gówno" (pronounced GOOV-no).
🌍 Meanwhile, in the Rest of the World...
While we were wrangling rocks and egos, the outside world kept spinning — and cracking.
A Ugandan Airlines 707 was forced to land in Yugoslavia today, intercepted by fighter jets and found to be carrying 19 tons of ammunition. Nobody seems entirely sure where it was headed, but it's a stark reminder that not all travel plans are made for pleasure.
In the East, the Soviet Union continues to disintegrate. Today, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan declared independence, bringing the tally to 10 breakaway republics. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine — the list grows by the week.
Wayne quipped:
We’ll know Russia’s truly democratic when they include it on the Interrail ticket.
📞 Mum, Maps & Money
Managed to get through to Mum today by phone. She said Marshall’s in Florida and heading back to the States soon. More importantly, she’s posted maps of Italy and France to help me on my next leg westward. No smartphone, no GPS, just creased paper and a vague sense of direction.
I also handed over 15,000 drachma to Martina, who promises to sort me out with more Australian dollars at the current rate.
🎭 Dieter’s Mood Report
Shockingly, Dieter didn’t lose his temper at me today — which felt almost suspicious. But he made up for it by yelling at everyone else on site. He’s not so much managing the project as surviving it one tantrum at a time. The man looks like the Kaiser and acts like he's one faulty cement mix away from exploding.
📝 Final Thoughts
Kythera is a strange place to watch the world fall apart. While republics crumble and planes full of ammo land under suspicion, I’m knee-deep in dust, swatting mosquitoes, building imperfect walls with perfect strangers.
I’m not sure where I’m heading next. But today — just for a moment — I felt like I was exactly where I needed to be: sunbaked, sweating, arguing about cement, and somehow still smiling.
On Tomorrow’s Horizon:
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Will Martina come through with the dollars?
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Will Dieter implode?
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Will Irving find the “perfect stone”?
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Will Georgo teach me another Polish swear word?
Stay tuned.
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