By Helen Popper

Just as the country lurched precariously close to economic collapse，1 we moved to Greece.

The day we arrived， expecting the first warmth of the Mediterranean spring， it was cold—the sky gray and ominous.2 On the way home from the airport， the taxi driver asked us why we were coming here when everyone else wanted to leave.

A couple of months later， when the banks stayed shut because they were running low on cash， I hurried to the supermarket to stock up on diapers and baby formula，3 but not much else. I knew it wasnt necessary—our freezer and cupboards were crammed full， as usual， thanks to the regular food parcels we were sent from the horio （village）.4

In Athens， nearly everyone seems to have a village， a place of abundant orchards and vegetable patches， dedicated matriarchs， and vast reserves of plastic food-storage containers.5

Rarely has the plenty of the village been more appreciated than during Greeces long economic crisis. For some Athenians， food sent from back home helps plug everexpanding holes in the household budget.6

作者于人心惶惶的金融危機(jī)時(shí)期來到希臘定居，卻在糟糕的經(jīng)濟(jì)社會(huì)環(huán)境中被一陣陣溫暖所感動(dòng)。驚喜不斷的一個(gè)個(gè)包裹，享用不完的新鮮果蔬……雅典人對食物的淳樸堅(jiān)守給前景暗淡的日常生活帶來了無窮無盡的驚喜。也許經(jīng)濟(jì)條件無法總盡如人意，但若保持一顆熱愛生活的心，重重難關(guān)也定能安然度過。

For us， it vindicated7 our decision to move closer to my partners family after many years of living in South America. His mothers preparation for a food shipment is exhaustive， almost military. Once， we found a roll of bank notes buried in a tub of dried pasta. Another time she sneaked bills into a bulging bag of carefully wrapped free-range eggs from her small farm.8

First comes the phone call： So-and-so is driving to Athens（normally its her sister-in-law， but sometimes its a distant and slightly reluctant cousin）.9 What should she send？ Do we need more olive oil？ Have we run out of walnuts10， coffee？ Rabbit or chicken？ What should she cook for the baby？

It takes two people to unload11 the car.

“Your mothers gone mad，” I said， the first time I saw perhaps half a dozen shopping bags spilling their contents in our cramped hallway.12 My son and the cat investigated together. Plastic bags rustled13 and giant red tomatoes rolled across the floor.

Individual portions of pork chops and chicken arrive frozen and neatly labeled.14 Sometimes there is a homemade casserole of cuttlefish or meatballs in egg-lemon sauce.15 Occasionally， theres orange cake soaked in syrup or a bag of spicy cinnamon cookies from the familys bakery in the Peloponnese.16

When I see heaps of recently harvested oranges， zucchinis， or eggplants， I worry that we wont be able to eat them before they spoil.17 But we always do.

For better or worse， one does enjoy being independent， however， so at first I couldnt help feeling a little put out by what I saw as domestic interventions.18 In our 40s and parents ourselves， we were beyond mollycoddling19， I thought.

“How does she think we managed until now？” I asked one day， wondering if my housekeeping skills were being called into question.

Before long though， I started to look forward to the arrival of our next consignment and realized no slight was intended.20 Its common in Greece， after all.

A friend told me her mother and her boyfriends mother are locked in competition over who can send the best food parcels from their respective villages. The couple scrapes by21 on the 600 per month he earns. Its barely enough to pay the rent and the bills， but they still manage to eat well.

Im already starting to look forward to our next delivery. The bustling laiki （street market） that sets up once a week near our home is a good alternative，22 but I miss the element of surprise， never knowing what well find inside the carefully packed bags and plastic tubs.

I miss being mollycoddled， too.

1. lurch： 突然傾斜；precariously： 危險(xiǎn)地，不安穩(wěn)地；collapse： 崩潰，突然的失敗。

2. Mediterranean： 地中海的；ominous： 不祥的，不吉利的。

3. diaper： 尿布；baby formula： 嬰幼兒配方奶粉。

4. cupboard： 櫥柜；cram： 填滿，塞滿；parcel： 包裹。

5. 在雅典，幾乎每人似乎都有一個(gè)小村莊，那里有著產(chǎn)量富足的果園和菜地、勤勤懇懇的女主人，和一大片用來放置食物儲(chǔ)存塑料箱的區(qū)域。matriarch：女族人，女家長；reserve： 專用地。

6. plug： 堵塞，封堵；ever-expanding：不斷擴(kuò)大的。

7. vindicate： 證明……正確（或合理）。

8. sneak： 偷偷地做，偷偷地給（拿）；bulging： 鼓起的，凸出的；freerange：（家禽）自由放養(yǎng)的。

9. so-and-so：〈口〉某某人；reluctant：不情愿的，勉強(qiáng)的。

10. walnut： 核桃（指果實(shí)），胡桃。

11. unload：（從車上或船上）卸下，取下。

12. spill： 使溢出，灑出；cramped： 狹窄的。

13. rustle： 發(fā)出沙沙聲，發(fā)出輕輕的摩擦聲。

14. portion：（食物的）一份；pork chop：豬排。

15. casserole： 燉鍋菜；cuttlefish： 烏賊，墨魚。

16. 偶爾，還會(huì)有裹滿糖漿的橙子蛋糕，或一袋味道辛辣的肉桂曲奇，皆是在伯羅奔尼撒的家庭烘培店中新鮮出爐的。syrup： 糖漿；cinnamon： 肉桂皮，桂皮香料；Peloponnese： 伯羅奔尼撒，希臘南部的一個(gè)半島。

17. heap： 堆，大量；zucchini： 綠皮西葫蘆；spoil：（食物）變質(zhì)，腐壞。

18. put out： 使不高興；intervention：介入，干預(yù)。

19. mollycoddle： 溺愛，寵壞。

20. consignment： 運(yùn)送物；slight： 冒犯，侮慢。

21. scrape by： 勉強(qiáng)維持，勉強(qiáng)度日。

22. bustling： 熙熙攘攘的，忙碌的；alternative： 供代替的選擇。