We were very obsessed with Greece. It was a country that we had on the highest pedestal. Ironic in hindsight, but we were so in love. We felt we had hit the jackpot being posted there. Athens was the epitome of the diplomatic life for us. I was admitted to the cheaper school as my parents could only send two kids at a time to the International School. Cheaper meaning, a British school, Byron College. After being homeschooled in Senegal for 6 months, I was happy to take any school I got. But, I hated it at first. I hated it so much that I would cling on to my brother during school drop off and he would try to sneak out behind my back. It is ironic because I wasn’t a big fan of Tariq back then so clearly Byron won the hate game. Why I disliked Tariq I don’t know, but he just annoyed me back then. Probably he was Ami’s favourite child at the time and that also rubbed me off wrong.
Keeping up with Rasheed family traditions, we hated the house we were passed down with. It wasn’t good enough for us so we started a search for a new one. The first house was slightly odd and had a very ugly backyard. I have amazing memory considering I was only 5 back then. I always wanted my older siblings to include me in things. Eveything. So one fine afternoon, they were playing with a frisbee and I followed them and begged to be included – regretfully. They were dorky teenagers but had their own life at least unlike me – a much a younger misfit in this older family. The first go of playing frisbee, they asked me to catch it. How it struck my face from across the yard, broke my front teeth is something none of us will ever understand. I landed on my back, shocked and could tell something had broken in my mouth. It was my front teeth (thank God baby teeth). My siblings ran towards me and picked me up and I announced I could feel something had broken in me. They immediately started laughing and I ran crying to my mother. She came out, shouted at them, took me to McDonalds for a Happy Meal and told me to get over it. Great leadership. I looked like a vampire for a year straight.
We moved to the upscale neighborhood of Politia, some time later. We had a stunning garden and stunning house with amazing views of Athens. We loved it. My friends from school called it a ‘palace’. The garden was gorgeous. The landlord not so much and wouldn’t let us do much. He followed our plants around and told us to take extra protective measures for his marble that he had invested so much on – literally an arrogant twat and served us right for choosing that house. The neighbours were cold. We once gifted them mangoes, as Pakistanis do and they didn’t even thank us. Odd but we realised later the insular culture of the country was how it was going to be for us moving forward. My father bought me pets. Very unusual ones. Two ducks, two chicks and two pidgeons. I was thrilled. I was a mother hen and I had something to look after. Of course my siblings treated them like crap and I was very protective of my little farm. They lasted 4 months. The same damn neighbours had a wedding and didn’t invite us. The music was so loud, their cats attacked overnight and ate my pets. All we found was blood and beaks in the morning. I was 6 and traumatised. Never had pets since then.
Shopping with Ami in Plaka was interesting. We bought so much decoration and at the end of every shopping spree she would demand that the shopkeeper gifted her little one something, and definitely after bargaining the entire bill. ‘Now please, my daughter has come with me this far, give her something’. So I would go and pick something out – usually a porcelain thimble or miniature house and she would say to me; ‘This is your collection Saira, you will one day have your own house to decorate’ and I would think to myself, ‘Delusional of my mother to think I will have my own house one day’.
I also won my first and last lottery in Athens. 3000 Drachmas at the time and my sister took me shopping. I bought a Spice Girls CD with it for my discman. I was SO STUPID!
My first crush was my brother’s best friend. A very cute Greek guy and he was just adorable. He was ten years older than me to be fair but everytime I told him his cheeks were cute he would blush and become even redder! I was reunited with him at my brother’s wedding 24 years later and I am still proud of crushing on a guy who is now a Professor at UCLA. Not bad Saira. I told him he was my first ever crush – he blushed again.
Greece was ultimately amazing and lived up to the pedestal we made of it. And I am glad I went to the second best school in Athens and made some friends I to this day share memes with and see every decade or so. One in particular, Elaf. I call her Alufa, a nickname only people who’ve known her since she was 4 are allowed to call her – this is how far back we go!
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