Today it was time to get many things settled with my apartment... meeting the real landlord, telling him things that need to be fixed, and finding out how to pay my bills.
So let me first start with the meeting my actual landlord. You see my landlord lives in Switzerland and I have only meet his brother who is the one who I really have to talk with when things go wrong. But since the real landlord was in town he wanted to meet me and see how things were going. He come to the house today along with another team member to translate for me; but the interesting part is this. They both speak Greek and German so they were talking in German and then they would explain to me in Greek. It was a little hard to concentrate when they were switching between both language and none of them being my first language. But we got through it all.
Next I wanted to know about my bills. For example where to locate them and where to pay them. They told me that they were going to leave the water and the electricity in the previous name as it has been in that name for some time now. They said that it was a bigger problem to change the name than to just leave it. So I have to look for one name for the electricity and another for the water. Also with the water there are three people in this building with the same name on the bill so then you have to look for the number on it. No for America this will be a huge shock. This is how it works.... the mail lady puts all the mail for the whole building on the desk at the front door, everyone sorts through all the mail to find theirs. Well when you have three people with the same name on a bill but with different numbers then you have to open it to see the number; if it is the wrong number you leave it and open until you find the correct one.
Also here in Greece you have to pay an additional charge for the person who cleans the building. So you get that bill under your door and you just go down and pay this one lady. Well that one lady, my landlord, my teammate, and I were all downstairs trying to figure out what bills were mine and which were not. I am not sure but I think we finally have it all sorted out, but even with that when I opened up by bill after they finally all left I can not understand it. It of course is all in Greek and for some reason, that I am not sure of, it have -31.98 euros. I am sure if I could understand the bill I would know why this is but unfortunately I do not. Once I figure out all of this then I have to find the place to pay the bills... Oh the joys of it all...
Finally the things that need to be fixed. The cold water in the bathroom sink has not been working since I have moved in here and when I went to show him of course the water came flowing right out that nothing was ever wrong. So I go to the next problem. In my bedroom I have a door that goes to the balcony and with the door is a blind. This blind has a rope that you pull to open the blind and when I first moved it in come off the tracks. Well it came off completely; it is not even connected to the rope anymore. He told me he was going to call me tonight to arrange someone to fix it but to communicate in Greek especially over the phone is very difficult. Next thing I know my phone rings and it is a friend who helped me get the apartment. They always call him when they need things and then he calls me; and then the poor guy has to call them back and then me back again. So he is in the process of the many phone calls now.
I hope you are seeing a glimpse of the importance of the language in everyday very simple matters. It is critical that I learn this language not only to minister but to make it in everyday life. Normally when I am having a rough day or things just are not happening as planned it is because there is a hindrance with the language.
