Observation Note 64: Language. I made a decision at the tail end of my thesis studies that when I had finished I would re-engage in reading in Greek again. I attained my First Lyceum certificate (first year of senior high for those in the US, Year 10 for those in Oz) and then I stupidly stopped studying Greek. Though I am fluent in Greek, my reading flow has diminished over many decades. So in my aim to become proficient again, I read a travel photoessay. The text is a reworking of the Instagram post I wrote upon finishing reading the book a while back. I am well aware that my written expression is rudimentary and on par with a primary school student but I don’t care. I am rebuilding a skill lost here!

Reading Note 27: Photoessay. Nikos Desyllas’s Epirus: an aesthetic wander through a Greek region is a beautiful bilingual photoessay travelling through the state of Epirus in the far North West of Greece where the Pindus Mountains meet the Ionian Sea. The photographs of places such as Ioannina, Zagoria, Metsovo (which I have visited 3 times) and all the in-between mountains and gorges, lakes and rivers to the sea are presented alongside quotes and stanzas from Ancient Greek tales of Odysseus to folkloric songs similar to those my mother (who is not from Epirus but from nearby on the Eastern side of the Pindus) would sing. I deeply enjoyed reading this book and I really hope I can find more of Desyllas’s books.

Greek Note 1: Γεμίζει το μάτι. Τού Νίκο Δεσύλλας το βιβλίο Ήπειρος: αισθητικη περιπλανηση στο χωρο μου άρεσε πάρα πολύ. Είναι μία φωτογραφική έκθεση για το νομό της Ήπειρος. Ειναι δίγλωσσων στα Ελληνικά και στα Αγγλικά με στοίχοι απο αρχαάα μυθιστορήματα του Οδυσσέα και διαλεγμένα δημοτικά τραγούδια που μου θυμίζουν τα τραγούδια της μαμάς μου (που δεν είναι απο την Ήπειρος όμως κατάγεται από κοντά στην Ανατολική πλευρά του Πίνδος με την Ήπειρος στην Δυση. Ελπίζω να βρω κι’άλλα βιβλία του Νίκος Δεσύλλας.