Do You Like Greek Language?!?!

Patagonia’s expansive landscapes, breathtaking glaciers, and unique wildlife attract visitors from all over the world.  During a backpacking journey through many hotspots on the Patagonian bandwagon tour (El Calafate, Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego…), my friend and travel partner Roxana and I caught a nine hour bus ride to the Chilean national park Torres del Paine.  Despite the breathtaking experiences we had while visiting the park, more memories were actually formed during the arduous journey across the plains of Southern Argentina.  

Bus seats were assigned in this particular liner.  As I climbed aboard the bus, I felt the distinct presence of male eyes watching me while I proceeded towards the back.  Realizing my number corresponded to the open seat directly behind the tactless observers, I knew the bus ride back would be interesting.  Roxana and I sat side by side, listening to the unidentifiable dialect of the two men in front of us.  We made bets on their language and country of origin.  Most travelers on the bus hailed from Australia, Argentina, the United States, and Spain.  From an initial calculation, we ruled out English, Spanish, Italian, French, and Farsi, but were still unable to identify a language.  Though I knew it might cause us trouble later, our curiosity got the best of us.  Roxana leaned forward, tapping one of the men on the shoulder to get his attention.  “Excuse me sir, what language or you speaking?” she asked.  The two men looked at each other, mumbling with a look of confusion.  A few minutes later, one turned around, his heavy dark mustache twitching, and shouted in an accent unlike Borat, “GRRREECE!”  

For the next several hours, we had no other communication with the two Greek travelers.  Guarded from the rest of the world by our iPods, we stared outside through the murky windows as the immensity of land passed us by.  I had put together a mix while in Buenos Aires, and at this particular moment, I was listening to Brazilian Girls.  As the beat began to pick up, I found my self swaying in my seat along with the music.  Soon I noticed that Roxana and I were swaying together as if listening to the same notes.  Sure enough, when we looked at each other’s screens, we realized we had indeed been both dancing along to “Don’t Stop”.  The swaying in combination with the failing climate control on the bus caused me to remove my long sleeve shirt, revealing a camisole.  As I settled back into my seat, the moustache had turned and was visible yet again, but this time it was accompanied by a large thumb’s up coming from the crack between the two seats.  My eyes met Roxana’s in a “did that just really happen?” moment.  

After another few hours of intermittent napping and listening to music, the Greek moustache once again turned around in his seat.  Roxana and I both had headphones on, so I removed one plug from my right ear in order to hear him.  “DO YOU LIKE GREEK LANGUAGE!?!” he yelled with great enthusiasm.  “Umm…yes…yes, it’s…nice,”  I responded while simultaneously replacing my ear bud with a smile.  When we finally arrived at the bus station, the two men were quick to introduce themselves before we parted ways.  “I am Demitrius,” the moustache said, “and this is…Demitrius,” he said pointing to his friend.