I type these words on my phone at the table of an Athens tavern surrounded by a mix of local and tourists. I close my book and I feel it’s a good moment to write this edition of Limen.

This visit to Athens is the last part of a small adventure I embarked on this month. I’ve landed here after my first official assignment following the Alliance for Smilesteam during their Lagos mission.

I won’t hide that, for the first time after my Missives From Vietnam, I felt the pressure of having to deliver daily. In fact, I was responsible for writing the daily briefing and a set of photos for the social media. Every day, when the rest of the team was sliding into dreamland, I was sitting reviewing the photos and the notes from the day. Every night, I was ending the day with a draft to review in the morning.

This daily responsibility reminded me why I switched to a more loose schedule for the Missives From Mexico: I didn’t want to miss life unfolding during the night.

Nigeria.

Reading at tourism safety websites, Nigeria is not a safe place to be. In fact, most of the time I’ve been just moving from the hotel to the hospital. And from the hospital to the hotel.

Just one day I was able to see more about Lagos. Our marvelous host gave me a tour of the island part that ended up to a stop by a local market.

I was blown away.

One of the most chaotic and energetic markets I’ve been to. And the fact that I was the only white dude with a camera added a pinch of adrenaline. All the eyes were on me.

It was a great experience to witness that part of the city. They say that Lagos is the Silicon Valley of Africa and I can see why. It’s time to move past the idea that this continent is still catching up. Of course there is poverty and there are cultural differences, but that’s the case every time you move to a different country. Thankfully globalization still didn’t make everything the same.

And why Athens now?

I thought I’d have a short stopover for a few days to decompress after this experience. I’ve always passed through this city to visit the islands but never stopped by, time has come to do so.

I was envisioning some me time, but once here I reached out to Spyros on instagram. He’s a local street photographer I found searching online. I wrote him a dm and, to my surprise, he replied that he was gonna be downtown the next day.

Meeting a stranger has always been that underlying discomfort to me. It feels like a Tinder date, you never know how the vibes will be. Thankfully the day turned great. Spyros and Panagiotis were super friendly and we had a blast together.

My friend Manu wrote a post about this topic here and here. Every time someone takes the time to reach out or answer to these dispatches puts a smile on my face.

Circling back to the present, I’m glad I reached out to Spyros and that I’ve planned this small visit before heading back to Barcelona.

Also, the time flying around was the perfect buffer for some reflections and poor sleep. There I wrote this post about creative outcomes as a self-discovery tool, in the same instinctive way I’m writing this edition.

Time to put down the phone and get back to my book now. I’ll just proofread this note, add photos, and send this out once back in my room.

Till next month,

— M