If you’ve ever been to an urban city I’m sure you’ve seen
street musicians set up creating an ambient scene for people strolling around
downtown. When I imagined what Athens would look like, I completely forgot to
regard the musicians. I was so concerned with architecture, language, food and
my family here that I didn’t spend much time thinking about what else I would
discover here. All is well though because there is no way I could have prepared
myself for this experience.
The street musicians here are incredibly talented. Many of
them play multiple instruments at once or put so much soul into their street
performance that you can’t help but stop mid-stride to listen and watch.
Yesterday during our free trip around the city, a group of us passed by a
street performer preparing to begin his song. He had tambourines strapped to
both of his feet, an acoustic guitar, a microphone with an amplifier, and a
percussion bracelet. He started by strumming the guitar and then began to stomp
his feet to create a beat with the tambourines. He sang a beautiful song and
shook his wrist to accentuate the music with his bracelet. I realized how happy
I felt in that simple moment and how important music is in this culture.
The surprise I encountered today, however, was that talent
is not just reserved to adults. Even children demonstrate their charisma from
an early age, and this is exactly what we saw at the café today.
This charming young boy, who by the way, appeared out of
nowhere without any parent or adult, wandered over to our table and played us
an interesting ballad…on his paper towel roll. You’ll see the roll itself seems
to solicit spare change-3 euros to be precise. One of our group members gave
him a few cents, which the boy immediately shoved into his pocket and offered
his open hand again, eagerly waiting for more. His performance was not passive
like the older gentleman mentioned above. The boy actively sought a reward for
his obviously incredible musical masterpiece and when he didn’t get what he was
after, he turned his instrument into a paper club, bopping some of our
classmates on the head as he admitted defeat and walked away to perform for
other patrons at the café.
This town is full of surprises, so far all good (fingers
crossed), and I know that this month will fly by faster than I can imagine. I’m
excited to see what I discover tomorrow!
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