Kalimera friends! The last two weeks have been less chaotic than usual… mainly because I have been sick. Today I am writing this as a dinner that I am hosting tonight simmers on the stove, so my little old house smells like garlic, mushroom, and onion (yummy). October 28 is a big holiday here in Greece known as Ohi Day.
Ohi Day celebrates the day that the Greek government said “No” to the fascist occupation of Greece and joined World War II on the side of the Allies. They celebrate by having large military parades in the streets. This morning I went for a long swim (it was cold), and when I got out they were out with their trumpets, ready to begin the parade.
Tonight is my current roommate’s last night in the house, so we will be having some friends over to have dinner in our courtyard (as it may be one of the last sunny days for a while). I believe I’ve talked about this in my past blog posts, but an unfortunate part of living on an island of transit is that you say A LOT of goodbyes. A part of me is getting used to it, but another part of me still struggles with getting so close to someone only to have to say goodbye again.
In other news, I had to take a few days off last week because I have been sick, so my project is moving a bit slowly. And although being sick and having to miss out on activities SUCKED, it was nice to have such a lovely community of people reaching out to make sure I was okay. That being said, the combination of being sick and the shift in the weather has been making me feel a bit homesick, so I have been trying to come up with fun activities to make me feel better. And of course, going for swims and getting out in nature has been a part of that.
For the last bit of this blog post, I wanted to talk about some aspects of Greek culture that I have found interesting…
- It is a very matriarchal culture. Women are often powerful figures, own their own businesses and homes, and if they are in a relationship (whether that be married or have a boyfriend) they often don’t bring it up.
- Community culture, even as the weather gets colder, the community is much closer knit. Rather than going straight home after work, people will be going to the cafe to grab a coffee with friends. It’s almost impossible for me to walk home without seeing someone I know.
- The Spanish siesta… but times 10. From the hours of 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. almost nothing is open. People go home, they rest, take a long lunch, and then don’t head back to work until 6 (although they do often work far into the evening… I can hear the music from the cafe’s in my room until 3 a.m. even on weekdays).
- Greek Maybe Time – as in “Maybe it will happen, maybe it won’t”. I’d heard this as a joke but it is so true. Timeliness just isn’t a thing here. And as someone who is chronically tardy, I love it.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chill little blog post. Stay tuned for my next one though, big things in the works 🙂
Attached are some photos from the past two weeks… although I don’t have much.
Group photo of the team at Lesvos Solidarity
Getting some work done at a cafe
Had the loveliest evening at an event commemorating the history of the crisis on Lesvos