Ach Gamoto!
There is so much to say about the last two months in Greece, but really it’s the little things that I want to share. I spent 6 weeks at a farm in Argalasti with Anika who is German, Nikos (Greek) and their three kids: Yannis 9, Sophia 7, and Katerina 3 (going on 18). Katina is Nikos’ mother who lives down the path towards town. I intended to only spend two weeks there, then go on to another farm and travel, but stayed on because they needed help, then just until Christmas, and eventually ended up spending most of my time there then my last week on Crete. These memories are not in order, but really it doesn’t matter. siga siga (slowly, slowly)…
I want to remember things like walking down the path from the farm to pick Yannis and Sophia up from school at 1:15 and going to/eating a big grandma meal at Katina’s house, enjoying the silence of the generator being off while working in the garden (in the beginning when the weather was nice), the sound of 42 horses munching on their dinner as the sun is setting over the sea, waking up to snow one morning, having a hay fight with Yannis and Sophia, Katerina kicking her legs in the air and giggling every time I rolled the dice and tried to guess which number would come up and Nikos and Anika watching and laughing along with us, playing memory with Katerina and her ordering me to sit somewhere or asking me “could you pleas…” or “vhat is zis” in her little German/Greek accent, going fishing with Nikos and talking about life, Greek culture, etc…drinking cold instant coffee, trying to get the scorpion fish out of the nets, and getting shocked by the electric fish, going night spear fishing my last night, watching Nikos and Georgos play at the taverna then going to the “club” with Yannis and the other boys (ie Nikos and Yannis who are brothers, Apostoles, little Dimitris, Vasilniki and her brother (another time), working in the taverna Christmas eve because the server didn’t show and getting yelled at in Greek by Katina for clearing away the wine bottles before she could count them (though I counted them as I put them on the table and that seemed to make things OK), collecting woods with Katina and Nikos, the Nissan not making it up the muddy hill with a bed and trailer full of wood, so I sat on the hood of the car to weigh down the front, then just stayed up there because it was fun, the way Katina said laurA, the same hand gestures that all Greeks make, Anika constantly complaining about not being able to turn around in the small kitchen that is also the living room and sometimes bedroom, burning her popo on the woodstove (several times), making a quiche the first week that I was there and making Anika happy that I cleaned the kitchen, Anika Nikos and Katina all getting pissed that the cats get inside, but all of them picking them up, giving them love, and letting them inside at some point in time, Nikos starting to say Ach Lauren!, then Anika, then Katerina, Electrician Yannis (not little Yannis), and the rest, the tent, going to take the olives for pressing at the local place in town and Nikos telling me how they steal from everyone, helping Nikos paint the boat they later called the Lauren, helping Nikos fix the windows for the soon-to-be living room, cleaning fish in the taverna while Nikos gave bouzuki lessons, drinking Greek coffee and listening to Nikos practice bouzuki in the morning/afternoon/evening, Anika teasing me about saying "what's that" when I don't hear something and me teasing her about putting dishes away "upstairs", going horseback riding with Maya (another WWOOFer) and falling off, getting kicked by that same horse many weeks later and getting a bruise on my leg the size of a small child’s head, showing pictures and the movie of one of the farm cats giving one of the farm dogs a massage to the kids, going for walks with the kids and throwing them around/tickling them, working in Michalas’ coffe shop for ten days and all those experiences, i.e. meeting Zoe, the two Steffanoses, going to Lafocastro, all the old men drinking coffee/smoking cigarettes and playing cards all day, trying to understand their orders and make greek coffee, hitchhiking to Volos and getting picked up by Nikos and Anikas’ neighbor Dimitris who makes wine and talked a lot about his sons, realizing that every man is either named Nikos, Dimitris, Yannis, Costas, or Georgos (Yorgos) in Greece, going out for tsiporo and oers d’ouvers for 2.50 euros, lukaniko (spicy sausage), grilled octopus, rice and minced meat wrapped in grape leaves, minced meat and rice wrapped in cabbage with a lemon sauce, trying lamb that Nikos/Katina cooked in the oven for a whole day and night, the feta and fresh goat cheese!, Greek yogurt and honey, catching fish and eating it the next day with the family, Ankika’s soups!, Spending Christmas at Katina's (when everyone was sick, so I pretty much ate a chicken by myself) and New Years at the taverna with the family, getting used to throwing all paper in the basket and not the toilet, to make olives: soak them in vinegar for a week, then put them in salt water and cover with olive oil. You know the water is salty enough if a raw egg floats, remembering to keep my fire going all day if I wanted my room to be warm at night, trying to use the internet in the apartment above the taverna, but not being able to spend more than an hour there because my fingers would freeze off, coming to Greece to pick olives and ending up not picking a single one…
Crete:
Why Crete? Because I needed some sun and warmth. It wasn't tropical, but it was lovely. I took the ferry at 8pm from Pireaus (Athens Port) and got in at 7:30 in the morning. I will remember the ferry being cheaper than the buses, staying at the Rythmno Youth Hostel, renting a car and swimming naked on the south side of the island in the Lebennon sea (part of the Mediteranean) with Jeff and Ben (two gay guys studying architecture in Copenhagen) we intended to head to Palakis, but ended up in Agia Galina, not feeling my index finger for a half hour after swimming because it was cold, day tripping with Dimitris, Constanz from Argentina who just spent six months as a doctor in Africa for doctors without boarders, and Unsung from S. Korea, trying to see two caves, but having them both be closed for the winter, stopping for lunch with them at the perfect taverna in the sun eating a plate of meat, tzaziki, fried potatoes and drinking homemade wine, day tripping twice with a Philip and Julia from New Zealand. We rented a car in the morning, saw many ruins and realized we didn’t even introduce ourselves until half way through the first day. I guess we just forgot that part, driving in Greece/experiencing the fiat, buying a 20lbs sack of the best tasting oranges I’ve ever eaten along the roadside and eating a third of them by the end of the day, saying I was going to sleep early but rarely going to sleep before 3am (at the farm also), going out to see live music with Dimitris the first night. Heart to hearts with Dimitris, dinner and drinking raki the last night in Chania, going to Rene and Mario’s apartment for dinner/coffee. Ivan and Malena from Serbia who managed the hostel and made the place warm and friendly, they made it feel like a home away from home, Tito, the bitter French man trying to learn English, Steve the 50 something American man from LA who I named “the regergitator” from LA who would learn about something then try to impress everyone with what he knew and had endless pointless anecdotes to support it, feeling the sun after weeks of cold and clouds in Argalasti…
Shit, I forgot about spending a couple days in Athens. My favorite times were going to the island Agina for the day with an American girl who stayed at my hostel with me; Joanna from New York studying in Prague. We rented a vespa and toodled around for the afternoon. In the evening we stopped to eat octopus and feta at a restaurant next to the bay and both tried ouzo for the first time (me after spending 6 weeks in Greece and not trying it yet). We sat there, getting a bit tipsy, watching the fishing boats come in and the sun set, then realized that we had 2 minutes to return the vespa. I ran back to the place/where the vespa was parked to get my drivers license back, but it was closed. I thought I would have to take the vespa back on the ferry with me, but found the man down the street and all was well. While in Athens, I also saw the Acropolis and the National Acheological Museum. But to be honest, I only spent an hour at the Acropolis and a half hour at the museum. Those kinds of things are just not my deal. The rest of the time, I spent time sitting in the sun, people watching and just wandering the streets. I have to say, I was happy to be out of Athens, which by the way is the largest city in Europe actual size wise.
Greek words I learned: yasas/yasu (hello, good bye), eferisto (thank you/excuse me), psomi (bread), nero(water), paragalo(you’re welcome/please/what do you want), gamoto/malaka (fuck/jackass, but in a nice way), hellanicos(greek coffee), metreo(a little sugar), elico(lot of sugar), agape(love), ena/deo/trea (one, two, three), ella (come/go). And yeah, all of these are how I heard them, not the way they are spelled.
Cultural things I learned: Greeks are very proud of their history and being Greek. I found in general, they are very expressive and open. All Greek chairs are made the same way and Nikos said that they were made to play the bouzuki (like a cross between a guitar and a lira). At one time bouzuki was outlawed, so people made really small ones that they could hide/take to prison with them. Fishing and boats is very much a part of the culture and many men work/have worked on merchant ships. All Greek men are required to spend time in the Greek army where they learn to smoke, drink, and be dirty. Greeks are also very much into their cars and have many part shops everywhere. Greek drivers are crazy, and there are many little churches along the roadside to show where people died. Many men swing beads on a string between their fingers (I forget what they are called), it was explained to me that it is like tattoos in the US, it used to be that only tough people would do it, but now everyone does it and really it’s just something to keep a person distracted from smoking too much. Everyone smokes a lot in Greece. Everyone in Greek Orthodox and when they pass by a church, they will make the sign of the cross, though not everyone is religious. When you go to a club, you will find Greek dancing as well as normal club music. They will dance in the middle of restaurants between the tables if there is live music and no one thinks anything of it, sometimes break plates, etc.. Men dance with men and women dance with women, hold hands, shoulders, etc. They describe themselves as Hellinic not Greek because “Greek” is the slang term given to them when they were under rule (by whom I forget).
Ah, I think I got most of it out, but there is so much more. Anyway, I’m in Geneva now and on to the next part of my adventure. More to write soon. Now that I have better access to internet.
Yasas
