Category: love

Thankmas Day Nineteen: Thank you Pasta Grannies

What is Pasta Grannies and why on earth do you feel the need to thank them? You might wonder.

Well, that’s how it all started a few months ago and I weirdly wouldn’t be where I am today if I hadn’t discovered it.

I came across the Pasta Grannies Youtube channel just a while before and ever since that moment I kept thinking how awesome it would be to do something similar in Cyprus (with my own twist) and then maybe in another countries, but start from home, document my little island’s customs and traditions that have been passed on from generation to generation through our love of food. That’s what Vicky Bennison so beautifully has been doing on the Pasta Grannies channel.

(https://www.youtube.com/user/pastagrannies)

So about a year ago I twitted Vicky with my idea and she replied with this:

That’s when I had an epiphany moment. Why not find a why to do it now? Why wait? Originally, I was to try and film every time I were to visit Cyprus but a few months later, I had another epiphany. I’ll save up for a few months, then quit my job and go back to Cyprus to attempt this. I even came up with a name for the channel and a theme song.

I decided to give teaching a go first (it’s funny how I ended up in Italy out of all places) but I haven’t given up on that dream yet and if it wasn’t for Pasta Grannies I might have still been stuck in an office, so thank you Vicky and Pasta Grannies. Thank you for the inspiration.

Eleni

Thankmas Day Eighteen: Thank you Sophie

Today’s Thankmas is dedicated to my cousin Sophie (though technically she is my aunt, but she is way too young to call her aunt!) not only because she is fun, awesome and one of the few people in Cyprus I can talk in English with, but I wouldn’t have coped that well (or at all) on my CELTA and more importantly, I wouldn’t have been where I am today, as in teaching full time in another country, without her advice, help and encouragement.

A day after my grandpa died I had to teach my second assessed lesson, on Mongolian horse racing (of all things!). I woke up that morning with bright red eyes, I’d cried my eyes out the night before trying to come in terms with the cruel reality that I wasn’t going to see my beloved pappou Costa alive again (I’m tearing up now just thinking about it). Every time I thought of him I couldn’t stop sobbing (more on that here).

How was I going to actually stand in front of people and manage not to cry, let alone teach them?? Sophie’s advice was what got me through not only that lesson but the rest of the month.

‘Remember, teachers are really actors’.

To be able to control my emotions and not burst into tears every time I thought of my grandpa or someone asked me if I was OK I convinced myself I was a great actress. That’s exactly what I did each and every single time until the very end. I still do this today when I’m about to walk into a classroom and I’m exhausted or sad but I don’t want my students to be affected by my mood.

When I moved back to Cyprus (for what it was going to be for a few months but I got itchy feet so I only stayed a month) Sophie recommended me to a great local language school, who offered me a part-time job almost straight away. Working there was what made me realise I wanted to give it a proper go and try my luck somewhere I could get a varied experience, away from ‘home’, whatever that is. I’m so confused now that I moved away from the UK, I don’t know where home’s anymore but that’s another story!

So thank you dear, thank you for everything. Without realising, you probably played the most pivotal role in what is turning to be one of my life’s greatest adventures!

See you next week!

Eleni

Thankmas Day Seventeen: Thank you Fiona and Jonny

“Doing and actually getting an A on my CELTA (relevant post here) was undoubtedly one of my most memorable and probably the biggest highlight of the year and I wouldn’t have managed to finish it, let alone achieve the highest grade without my classmates”, I wrote yesterday.

But there are two so very important people I would certainly not have done the CELTA (let alone get an A) without, my CELTA tutors, Jonny and Fiona.

I posted about it before and from conversations I had with fellow teachers, I feel I was lucky to have such great tutors.

They were not just incredible teachers themselves (I observed them both delivering interesting, interactive, informative lessons so naturally they made it look easy, but trust me, it is not!) but amazing teacher trainers too. Our input sessions with them were always fun and varied, they managed to grab our attention every single time and we learned a lot from them (with some exceptions towards the end of the course when we were all exhausted and our attention span shrank significantly). Two superb professionals, who though quite different in their teaching methods and personalities, they are a match made in heaven.

What made a huge difference for me was their understanding, kindness and above all, empathy, a rare trait nowadays.

I cried in front of both of them on week one after I informed them my grandpa had died and they not only offered me a break if I had felt I needed it, but they checked up on me making sure I was OK.

They also helped me manage my anxiety which reached ridiculous levels during my CELTA- I haven’t felt that stressed teaching as a professional and I’ve been working with a large number of students, nothing beats CELTA-induced stress I guess-, especially Fiona. She had a way of bringing me back to the moment and somehow making me forget about stress even for a while.

I shared a special moment with each I won’t share, they are both quite personal , but I’ll never forget.

I’ll never forget as well that they believed in me enough to push me for that A grade. They didn’t have to do it, they took a risk and I’m over the moon I didn’t disappoint them.

So thank you Jonny and Fiona. Thank you for your advice and nurturing, your empathy and kindness, your love for that you do, your honesty (God I miss a no bull***t Fiona chat!), for believing in me and for all your hard work.

I wish I’d have spent more time with you, there’s so much more I could have learned!

Eleni

Thankmas Day Sixteen: Thank you CELTA classmates

Doing and actually getting an A on my CELTA (you can check out relevant post here) was undoubtedly one of my most memorable and probably the biggest highlight of the year and I wouldn’t have managed to finish it, let alone achieve the highest grade without my classmates.

The (full time) CELTA experience is so unique and intense, it brings people very close very fast, at least that’s what happened with us. It’s hard not to when you spend most of the day, every day for a month together and you see each other at their worst, stressed, tired and emotional.

We looked after another, comforted each other, read each other’s assignments, lesson plans, helped with cutting, glueing, offered food, got coffee, had a laugh, a cry, long chats, we did it all.

I still remember the hug Carolina gave me when I told her my grandpa had died, the sandwich Darren offered me just before my last TP, since I was so stressed I hadn’t eaten all day, the coffee I desperately needed and Elliot got me when I was running late for my lesson planning session and I had barely slept the night before, laughs to the point I almost peed myself with Sonia, deep conversations on life with Monalisa, Shalala’s look, she could always read my emotions, (I’ll never forget on our last day when we just looked at each other and we both started crying) Fatima’s spicy dates I snacked on for days, Ralph’s bright red face the first time he made a sarcastic joke and Anoushka’s brilliantly still unspoilt enthusiasm (ah to be 21 again!).

So thank you everyone, I would have quit on week one if it weren’t for you.

I hope you are all doing well in your new and not new jobs and lives. Maybe one day we’ll meet again but even if we don’t, we will always have that strong, special bond of August 2019 in Cambridge.

Eleni

Thankmas Day Fifteen: Thank you Mary

My biggest worry when I moved to Cambridge for a month to do my CELTA was accommodation.

Cambridge is expensive and I couldn’t afford a BnB (or AirBnb) near the college for a month and I didn’t want to live in the centre and commute every day so I opted for the homestay option (staying with a family, though luckily in my case the host’s children had grown up and moved out) the college offered which included breakfast and dinner. But I was terrified. I’ve been living on my own for the last three years (minus a 6 month break in which I lived with a flatmate I did not get along with) and I had knots in my stomach even thinking about living with someone else again.

On a hot, sunny day, the 25th of July, I met Mary, my host, for the first time. She didn’t say much before she grabbed my luggage to clean the wheels and asked me to take my shoes off. I wasn’t sure what to expect after that first encounter.

But Mary turned out to be an incredible host. She didn’t speak much English, though we always somehow managed to communicate, she was wonderfully weird, hanging out bedsheets to dry on the staircase, wearing a plastic bag on her head to keep the fish smell away and I loved her to bits.

She made delicious albeit always ‘with a Chinese flavour’ food every day for all her guests, she would serve dinner for me in her own private kitchen when it was too noisy in the other room because she knew I needed peace and quiet (she’d even tell others to keep it quiet when the levels of noise were too high), she brought me fruit and other treats when I was stuck in my room for hours working on lesson plans, she did my washing and made me feel comfortable and well looked after.

My CELTA experience was definitely one of my 2019 highlights and Mary was huge part of it.

I would have probably worn the same dirty clothes and starved for a month if it wasn’t for Mary. So thank you Mary! I miss your delicious cooking and your sweet laughter!

Eleni

Thankmas Day Fourteen: Thank you Debs and Hannah

May 2019,

A year after signing up as volunteer, in a packed CoffeeLab I hosted my last Touch event.

Our monthly events were definitely one of my most precious 2019 highlights.

I’ve written about Touch before, the mental health social enterprise I volunteered for, organising intimate story nights where incredible, amazing, extraordinary everyday humans like you and me, find the courage to stand in front of strangers and share their most personal experiences, overcoming difficulties, coping with whatever life brought to them. I teared up, laughed and left in awe and inspired after every single evening and even though it’s been months, I still remember most of the people and their stories.

If you want to know more you can read a post I wrote a few months ago.

Today I want to say thank you to the two amazing, sweet, caring ladies behind this, Debs, the founder of Touch and Hannah, Deb’s right hand. Thank you for letting me be part of this incredible experience, for trusting me, driving me around with you, for your love and support.

I miss you and our monthly events and I sincerely hope one day to start something similar wherever I end up living. In the meantime I’ve been telling everyone about it!

Eleni

Thankmas Day Thirteen: Thank you music

How dull, meaningless, poor life would be without music? I genuinely think I’d die without it.

I always loved music, I always listen to music, on my way to work, at work, on my way home, at home, everywhere.

If it weren’t for music (and my guitar which I love) I wouldn’t have made this year.

It’s been my therapy, a safe space to laugh, cry, let me emotions unfold, get my frustrations out, remember and honour loved ones.

So thank you to every single person who makes music from the editor, guitarist, drummer, singer to Spotify and Soundcloud.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Eleni

Thankmas Day Twelve: Thank you Dan

On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me… Dan!

Once again I’m struggling to decide where to start from. Where and how do I begin? Words are too little to describe one of my favourite humans ever, Dan, though if you know me in person, the chances are I have already spoken to you about him, I’m pretty sure I even talked to strangers about him.

I’ve known Dan for about five years now, when I first joined the Uni’s staff choir, a decision that completely changed my life.

I won’t say much about all the fun, amazing things we did with the staff choir, you can read about it here, I just want to thank Dan for being there for me, particularly this last year, listening, calming, cheering me up, helping me control my anxiety and also sharing one of the most amazing, challenging experiences of my life, our Macmillan Mighty Hike, and oh my, mighty it was, it nearly broke us.

Dan is one of the very few people that can understand exactly how my brain works (in all kind of mysterious, crazy ways) and how I feel without having to say much and I somehow can do the same for him,we are very similar in that way, something incredibly rare. I consider myself extremely lucky our paths crossed.

Thank you Dan. I miss you terribly, especially on Tuesdays afternoon.

Eleni

Thankmas Day Eleven: Thank you Lucy

What I wouldn’t give for a lunchtime date with Lucy.

I’ve known the awesome, funny, intelligent, amazing, beautiful Lucy for a couple of years now but over the last year we bonded over our monthly catch ups over lunch, talking away our troubles, chatting about mental health, something we are both passionate about, music, food, interesting books we read, musicals, food, holidays, politics, the environment, academia, whatever you can imagine. I’ve learnt a lot from her.

I always felt that Lucy and I could talk about anything and everything openly with no judgement or prejudice and we always, always had a laugh.

Our lunches were our own little monthly therapy sessions.

Lucy would often check up on me, cheer me on and remind me how lucky I am to have such incredible human beings like her for friends.

So thank you my dear, thank you for, well, everything.

Eleni

Thankmas Day Ten: Thank you Phoebe Waller-Bridge

‘Are you really dedicating a post to an actress/producer/writer you never met?‘ you might ask.

And the answer is yes, of course.

Have you ever watched a film or a TV show you loved so much it sort of changed your life? That’s Fleabag for me, a fictional character I actually, genuinely love.

I love a good TV show, a show so brilliantly written, with dialogues that can easily be turned into a book about your own life because they somehow capture your deepest, most intimate thoughts, worries, troubles, with incredible characters you cannot but only love and feel like they could be your friends.

That’s what Fleabag is for me. Definitely one of my highlights of 2019.

A TV show, a play, a book, any form of art when masterly, skilfully crafted can truly feed creativity and touch your soul in a way nothing else can. That’s why art is essential part of everyone’s life. How else can we try and make sense of this world whilst also documenting our culture for future generations? Art is the food of the soul, and when that food is cooked to perfection, you can’t but enjoy every single bite.

So thank you Phoebe for bringing Fleabag into our lives, the best comedy drama show ever made (and for Killing Eve). You are a genius!

Eleni