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Dear Louisiana: A Letter From Athens, Greece To America With Love...(By Sari Annike Gustaffssenn, Olympic Watcher! :) ) by Karen Lynn Vidra, The Texas Tornado
Friday, August 27, 2004
Rated "G" by the Author.
Sari writes her last letter from Athens, Greece, the site of the 2004 Summer Olympic Games, before she heads back to Finland on Sunday prior to the closing ceremonies.
Friday, August 27, 2004, 5:10 p.m. Athens time (Athens, Greece)~
Dear Louisiana:
Hai! How are you doing, as you say in America LOL? I am fine, hope this finds you well.
I am a little sad: the Olympics are coming to a close, and I head on back home to Finland on Sunday. I would have dearly loved to have gone to the closing ceremonies, but my plane leaves a few hours before, so there is no way that I can watch the Olympic closing ceremonies. I have had so much fun here in Athens; the Greek people are very nice, and the food has been nothing short of outstanding! I find I have gained weight from eating all this wonderful Greek cooking; am going to have to hit the exercise gym upon my return home to Ivalo! My clothes are snug on me; and I have had to get bigger clothes so that I can breathe! LOL
The weather here in Greece has been sunny and hot; and I had a hard time at first with the hot temperatures, but my body has finally aclimatized itself to the heat, and now finds me to be actually a bit comfortable: the heat doesn't seem to bother me as much now, and I am wearing clothes made for hot weather; so that definitely does help! I hope the weather there is good!
What are you doing now? I know: taking care of your village; that is what you are doing! Either that, or you are at work! LOL I know it is at least eight hours difference between there in Tennessee to here in Athens, Greece; so for you the day is just starting while it has been in full swing for me since eight this morning. I slept really good last night; I feel more rested than I have in days, and I am still giddy with joy over the women's soccer team of America defeating the Brazilian women's soccer team for the gold medal. Can you believe that? Two overtimes to decide the winner! Wow, what a thrilling game! We were there, me and some friends I met here in Greece (Nikolas Constantinos, Grzegorz Igorinski, and Gunnar Nelssonn; believe it or not, Gunnar is from Finland! He is from Ivalo; when I found that out, I about died! All these years of living there, and I never knew that Gunnar Nelssonn even EXISTED!), and we had a fun time, whoopin' it up for the Americans! We were so happy that they got the gold medal for women's soccer for the U.S.A.; when that one woman socked the ball into the net with her head, we just went crazy with excitement! Even though Nikolaus is from Greece, Gunnar and I are from Finland, and Grzegorz is from Poland, we were still rooting for the Americans because I have several friends there in you and in my Finnish buddy Helvig, and also Nikolaus has a sister named Athena who lives in Nashville. So we had good reason to cheer for the Americans! Plus Grzegorz has family in Chicago, in Illinois, so he was pulling for the Americans, too! I was so happy that the U.S. got the gold medal; wow, what an exciting game! You had to be there to witness what we did; it was pure madness! But boy, oh, boy, was it a BLAST! LOL
Last night, after the game, we went out for one last fling here in Athens, and Nikolaus took us and showed us Athens from a Greek's perspective, as he put it, and we really had fun! We got drunk on Ouzo, and this morning, we were feeling pretty hung over, but we have seemed to recovered now, and we are all fine! LOL The stuff was nasty, but it sure did make us feel no pain after a while! LOL WOW! Ouzo has nothing on your American beer, that is for darn sure! LOL We went dancing, and we pigged out on bavlaka and souvlaki, and we just acted goofy and stupid! LOL But then Grzegorz got sicker and sick and lost it in the hallway of the restaurant as we were leaving, so we had no choice BUT to get him back to where he was staying, so he could sleep off his alcoholic haze; and then Nickolaus, Gunnar, and myself, went to a karaoke bar, where we sang and had a ball! We didn't get home until 2 this morning, and here I was back up, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, at eight this morning! LOL
Saturday (tomorrow), we are going to sleep in all day, and I also have to finish packing for my return trip home to Finland on Sunday. I think we have more than earned it! LOL And then Sunday, I go back home (I just KNOW I am going to bawl my eyes out when I say goodbye to my new found Olympic friends I met here!), and the Olympics come to another close. I am really sad to see the Olympics end: I have had so much fun here, and I have found some of the neatest things here! I have also met some of the Olympic athletes, and you are going to like what I got for your children Johnny, Ronee', and Gemini; I just KNOW you will! I did get the kids the autographs I promised, and I also got them some Olympic stuff from the media, and also some Olympic programmes and replicas of the medals, so they can pretend to have their own Olympic competitions! LOL (I got them each some silver, some bronze, and of course, some gold medals! LOL) I also got them some Olympic pins and other souvenirs! I also got some stuff for you and for Bill, and I know you will like what I got you! So be looking for a package after I get back home to Finland! :)
Well, I will let you go. Someone is knocking on my door. Maybe it is one of my friends; maybe we will do something later. I will write again after I get back home to Finland! Until I hear from you (or you hear from me, whoever responds first!), you take care, and God bless you! Thank you for writing me while I was at the Olympics; what a nice surprise! It is always a joy to hear from you; and I LOVED the picture you used! It made me think of Athens, and the fun I am having here at the Olympics! Where do you find those pictures? They are the neatest things!
(((HUGS))) and much love, your Finnish friend in Athens, Greece, at the Olympics, Sari Annike. :)
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Friday, August 27, 2004, 5:10 p.m. Athens time (Athens, Greece)~
