Rhea’s Story. Part 3.

“My most memorable experience was when I went to Khartoum, Sudan and danced at the Hilton and we were raided by the army seeking to enforce Islamic law (see my column in the Gilded Serpent for more on this wild tale). However the times that I enjoyed the most were in the Plaka in the late 70s, when the ancient city was still a thriving hotbed of international tourism and trade. At that time, a carnival atmosphere prevailed – you could find everything from traditional taverna fare to raucous loud music played on the rooftop discos to colorfully attired transvestites who paraded joyfully through the streets of the opulently done-up gay section of town. I of course added to the color by running from club to club dressed in my belly dance finery, sword in hand. Sometimes Melinda, then age 8, would dance with me at the Athens by Night in front of 500 people or more. Tourists from all over the world would run up to the stage to bestow Melinda with gifts after her candle routine, piling rosewater perfume bottles, painted wooden spoons and plates from Russia, gold watches and trinkets of all sorts onto her tray.”

Excerpted from a 2002 interview in Jareeda magazine, in which my mom free wrote responses in her beautiful cursive script to questions submitted to her in writing by Morgana/Meg Smith. I typed up Mom’s responses then, and share them again now because her story is unconventional, unique & inspirational.

Mom felt a primal connection with Greece when she first visited in 1976. The ancient city in particular felt electric, magnetic. True to her instincts - with the exploratory fire of Sagittarius (her sun) and the persistent and practical will of Capricorn (rising)- she lives still in chosen beloved city of Athens, a stone’s throw from the Acropolis.