Kalispera! As promised, here is a summary of what I have been up to these past two weeks, as well as some of my initial reflections on this trip. 

Visit to Moria

I have talked a lot in this blog about the duality of this island. There are the beautiful beaches and mountains, a distinct sense of Greek culture that is lost in more touristic hotspots, a strong international community, but also, the struggles of people on the move. This history has also become a part of this island. 

And few places hold the weight of that more than the ruins of Moria Camp. Last weekend, my colleague and friend took me to visit the ruins of Moria camp. A refugee camp which, during the reception crisis from 2015-2020, held over 20,000 people within its barbed wire fences. In 2020 it burned down for mysterious reasons, but the weight of the human rights violations that occurred here can still be felt when walking around what little remains. 

I have attached photos of what is left, much of the ashes have been excavated. However, if anyone reading has an interest in learning more about this camp, and how it is not an isolated incident but rather the reality for refugees everywhere, I strongly encourage you to watch this documentary...

Christmas Bazaar

On a less solemn note, last Friday Lesvos Solidarity held a Christmas Bazaar. I was in charge of marketing for the event, as well as teaching a screen printing workshop during the physical bazaar. It was an incredible evening and felt like such lovely closure for my time on Lesvos. As a part of my role at Safe Passage, I have been in charge of doing screen printing (as I’m sure I mentioned earlier), and it was lovely to get to share my passion for it with others. 

All of the photos of me doing it, however, I posted in my last photo dump… so just in case you missed that I’ll post again. 

Winding Down 

And unfortunately, I have been saying the final wave of goodbyes this week. Because Lesvos is such a transient island, people are constantly coming and going. There was the initial wave of goodbyes at the end of the summer, then another in October, and finally… the last wave. As someone who is terrible at saying goodbye, I don’t think it ever gets easier. 

As things wrap up here, I have also been focusing on closing off my internship and training other volunteers and employees in the shop on how to do some of my duties once I am gone. It’s bittersweet and, honestly, doesn’t feel real quite yet. Although I do feel as though things are winding down here, and I am ready to finally have my own goodbye get together after going dozens upon dozens during my time on the island, I’m still wrestling with all of it. 

The struggle I have with saying goodbye to these lovely international experiences isn’t just saying goodbye to the people and the place, although that is a significant part of it. It is also saying goodbye to the version of myself that I met there. Throughout this experience I have evolved so much, a more confident, outgoing, and educated person. Although I know I won’t lose those parts of myself, it is still sad to let go of this version of myself and allow myself to shape into who I will be next. 

And finally… because I have forgotten to do one for a while (Sorry to my sister who requested this)... here is the playlist.

Lejos de Ti by The Marias 

Inventing by Matilda Mann 

All My Friends by LCD Soundsystem