A simple story of life in my Greek village.
When was the last time you met your neighbour? In many countries, we have become reclusive and hide behind our locked doors, shutting away the outside world. Sometimes you are lucky enough to receive a quick nod if you meet a neighbour taking the bins out or rushing to his car. The art of communication is fast disappearing.
But not in my Greek village. Privacy is unknown. Here, everyone knows everyone, and us being foreign is interesting. They consider us to be strange and exotic.
During an average day, we have a constant stream of neighbours passing by. The coffee pot is never cold as we listen with interest to how many fish Stavros caught this morning. Detailed information on the latest relationships is happily shared whilst probing us for information which can then be spread around the village.
It seems that the village knows more about me than I do. My brother-in-law visited recently and spent a morning with the old men in the kafenio. He returned and gave me the gossip.
Apparently, I’m married to a nice foreigner (Athenian). Although Greek,aanyone not born in the village is an outsider. I’m a rich English lord with a castle in England who never rents his house to tourists because I don’t need the money. I am the worst fisherman they have ever seen and grow strange things in my garden that you can’t eat and have a terrible taste in hats. But although I do seem rather dim, I’m a nice guy.
We recently went to the church to celebrate the Easter service. Being a special occasion, everyone in the village was there and there was standing room only. It was such a beautiful church; I wanted to take a few photographs to remember the experience. But I wasn’t sure if I would cause any offence. So, I sneakily took my phone from my pocket, held it at waist height, and glanced around to see if there was anyone looking. Nobody was watching the priest. All eyes were on me, even the priests. I slowly put my phone back into my pocket and smiled at the congregation. Most smiled back, and the few nodded at me. I don’t think anyone actually took offence at my trying to photograph the service. They were just keen to see what I was going to do next. Whatever it was, it would be interesting!
I love living here.
