Η εμπειρία της Srbislava Todorovic από την Σερβία, εθελόντριας στο ELIX03 - "Αυτό το καλοκαίρι είναι δικό μας" στον Εύοσμο Θεσσαλονίκης - 2014:

Dance of life

one sunny morning in όμορφη Θεσσαλονίκη

After some time people usually remember smallest world, soft touch, pleasant sound. It can be good morning that somebody wished, thanks, hello, and kept silent goodbye somebody may haven’t said. It is an inquiring look, smell of morning coffee singing in the kitchen, small flesh of first Thessaloniki sun.

Altaught I miss ancient monuments, sea side, White tower, long walks and peaceful churches, I usually remember two simple eyes that I once saw in that beautiful town. It was an innocent look of two different colored eyes staring back at me. One, blue like deep sea where Poseidon took his morning bath, was deep, pure and honesty. It reminded me of Odysseus and his old dream of Ithaca. Other, brown as land where green olives are grown had a solidity and pride. When I call back my memories, I can’t help myself not to feel again that pure wave of joy and happiness covering my body and mind. Instantly I go back in time and I am alive and pure part of one sunny Thessaloniki morning.

The bus stops. Volunteers gathered from all over the world to say hello to disability children. They are nervously waiting for the first meeting. Some are whistling, whispering, looking curiously each other’s and at the bus that had just stopped. Everybody’s quite. Morning freshness in the air, screams from the bas, kids running towards as like furious herd with no Sheppard. They do not care who you are and which language you speak. Don’t care how you look, what you know, what parties do you go. Don’t care are you rich or you have expensive t shirts. They just need you to give them a little fun in this warm day. No rules, no obligation. Freedom is their guide. Speechless, we all relize we are not that funny and worth anymore. Under morning sun we all admit that only disability was fear of unknown..

Little girl approaches to me. Circling around me, watching me seriously. “Δεν μιλάς ελληνικά”, she asks. “λίγο”, I smile.

“Εντάξει”. She doesn’t want to be friends. So she keeps walking around me. Then she decides to take my hands and continues saying something I can’t follow anymore.

I hear mixed screams and laugh , feeling the morning breeze on my skin. Two eyes just came to my sight. I smile, but this time from my heart. Little girl than smiles me back. She has just accepted me with same easiness that she didn’t liked me at first. Her freedom decided other way. So she represents herself, saying her name with tiny voice. Ζωή! O, yes, I have been taught that you Greek people are never wrong with names! She is quite that. Life! She carefully starts to dance and I can almost see her imagined pink dress and lady shoes ready for dancing in a sound of Zorbas... We are in tavern; bouzouki is near, smell of ouzo in the air. Little lady named after life dancing for life, love and freedom. She doesn’t care about time, place, and audience. Her dance is crossing beautiful green land where plenty of gods made peace with one orthodox and plenty of seas come to one big eternity Life Ocean. I always remember her, two eyes and a silent lection I have learned that day just from a simple dance. Some of you may not believe, but I can swear that that day, under Thessaloniki sun, the only real life was dancing.

Srbislava Todorovic, Serbia
@ ELIX 03, Thessaloniki - 2014