“How are you?” “Eh, endaxi.”
It is the answer of someone who is not fine, but who has no intention of unpacking their tragedy in the middle of the street. It is a polite, dignified shuttering of the soul. It acknowledges the chaos but refuses to bow to it. It says: Things are not good. But they are in order. I am managing. endaxi
Most tourists learn endaxi as a synonym for "OK." You ask for a coffee without sugar? Endaxi. You confirm a taxi fare? Endaxi. It is the grease on the wheels of transaction. But this is the shallowest reading. “How are you
And then there is the saddest endaxi . The one whispered into a phone after bad news. The one spoken with a flat, empty stare when life has delivered a blow—a lost job, a failed relationship, a diagnosis. In this form, the word becomes armor. It says: Things are not good