Shepherdesses? Fisherwomen?

Back in the days of college, usually when I was up pulling an all-nighter to finish a paper and feeling absolutely abysmal, I would take a breather with my roommate and best friend, Leah. We'd blast U2's "Bloody Sunday Bloody" or Greenday's "When I Come Around" or Pearl Jam's "Daughter" and then we'd discuss alternative career paths. My favorite job de jour was usually becoming a fisherwoman on some Greek island. In fact, I talked it up so much that Leah was ready to join me. Truth be told, in reality I'd spent less than 2 or 3 weeks of my entire life actually fishing... of course, there were camping trips with the Blizniks and times with my grandfather Wyszkowski in Whitney Point and Lisle, but who was I really kidding? Well, still, I had found my escape artist career as a fisherwoman in Greece. That was something to hold on to. After all, who really needed an Ivy League education? Was writing 20-30 page papers really going to get me somewhere someday? Being one with nature, living life with the locals, looking up at the stars every night, hearing the constant din of the ocean waves, and aiming for simplicity and subsistence, all that sounded pretty carefree and all right by me.

Several years later, Leah and I actually found ourselves on a couple of Greek islands, Naxos and Paros, to be exact. During this trip a few crazy things happened. For starters, we allowed ourselves to be convinced by two older entrepreneurial Greek men who happened to be brothers to rent a room at their hotel. We didn't put up a fuss and were fairly easy targets. For all we knew they were offering us a decent deal. I guess we were pretty green: two naive, young women without much of a clue. Those mediterranean men love to turn on the charm and they can talk a good deal. The real clincher though was the offer of a ride on the moped. You should have seen Leah's eyes light up!

Most people are probably thinking, "Wow, Greece. That must have been awesome." Well, yes, Greece in March is a time to beat the crowds, but it's actually very cool temperature-wise. And, on the islands most of the touristy villas and such don't really have heat. At night the temperature drops, and boy, do you hug whatever covers you have tightly! I think pretty much every morning I woke up with taught muscles from trying to make myself warm throughout the night.

I also had some problems with the ferries. The boats were not that rocky, but it didn't really matter. I can be extremely nauseous with the slightest roll. On a few of the ferry stretches Leah had to take care of me, figuring out where to buy dramamine and helping me find a bathroom, trash bin, or the side of the ship. I was not a happy camper, not at all.

We had our fair share of faux pas, too. Little did we know that good Greek girls do not venture out at night in the village. Rather, they stay at home. Only the men go to the bar to socialize. Perhaps the loose women of the town might come out. One night we decided we needed a little local flavor so we tried a little bar on the main seaside strip. Man, were we surprised to find ourselves the only females. That was a quick education.

On this adventure, Leah and I actually came face to face with the opportunity to become fisherwomen. Our very friendly Greek hosts (the brothers) offered us the opportunity to stay on as hotel staff to help during the summer onslaught of European vacationers. The brothers also had a spare boat or two, not very high tech, but rather of the humble sort, what I imagined Jesus and Peter out in on the Sea of Galilee. Leah's eyes lit up once again at the prospect of me realizing my dream. But, somehow, just then it didn't seem all that tempting. If I were to become a full-fledged fisherwoman, I would definitely need a more remote location, away from the trappings of strange men. My reverie definitely required a degree of solitude and that was not to be found with George and his brother.

On a rather amusing and true side note, there were some very big career decisions that were made on the course of our Greek trip. Somehow as we were hiking amidst the sheep one day, I talked Leah into joining the Air Force, leaving behind her job at AmEx. Yeah, that's how fast our brains work. One day it's fish, the next sheep, and before you know it the armed services. Go figure! We can jump the entire spectrum in an instant. By the way, the picture here is me and Leah in the Yorkshire Dales in northern England this past Thanksgiving.

To sum up, we all seem to have certain idyllic pictures of what life could be like. We dream of ways to escape the current stresses of our lives. Funny how when I came face to face with the option to fish and settle down for a while on a Greek isle, it no longer seemed so wonderful. The reality of hard work with fishing nets and smelly fish set in and it lost much of its luster. Back then it was fishing, now I dream of owning and running a bed and breakfast. I'm sure that would be a whole lot more hard work than I presently think.

You can call me fickle, but these are my thoughts as I ride the metro escalator up to Foggy Bottom on my way to work. Oh, and in the background, it's the Beach Boys, of course.

So, it's T-16. Boy, I just can't wait.