I'll take it

welcome. Welcome to the effortortless English Podcast. Today's episode continues the

homeless in Athens article. Today's title, Homeless in Athens, Part 1B.

The bathroom situation was not nearly so sublime.

Mostly I managed with public bathrooms, restaurants, stores, and libraries took care of my needs.

When necessary, I ducked behind a tree or into an alley.

Again, I was far more fortunate than many of Athens homeless population. Generally I had a clean

cut appearance and never had trouble using public bathrooms. Many homeless people

especially those who have been living in hard conditions for a long time,

have become ragged in appearance and suffer a great deal more discrimination than I.

They are refused access to bathrooms in restaurants or businesses and must often resort to the outdoors.

Using the outdoors carries risk as it is illegal.

So, a homeless person faces police harassment and a ticket for satisfying a basic bodily function.

Most homeless people will tell you that sleep more than food or clothing or elimination is their most difficult challenge.

They are chronically sleep deprived, subject to terrible conditions at night, biting insects, harassment from drunks, police checks,

rain, noise, and extremely uncomfortable beds.

I fared better than most, but rarely got a good night's sleep. My bunk was narrow, only two feet wide and the plywood was hard, though certainly an improvement over the cement sidewalks that some use.

At night I covered the windows of the Nissan with

burlap curtains for privacy. Mosquitoes plagued me relentlessly. I'd lie awake in

the windless heat and listen to them buzzing in my ears. I rolled and

turned and squatted at my arms and legs, unsure if I was feeling bites or

imagining them. At times I sealed myself under a blanket to avoid the bugs, but this caught off air circulation,

...