My Greek life in Nafpaktos

Strange as it seems, maybe the best thing that happened to me on the trip so far came out of those two horrendous days in Nafpaktos Harbor.  While I struggled to lift the anchor, move the boat, tie lines, and so forth in a fishbowl  harbor, onlookers didn’t raise an eyebrow.  They either did not notice, did not care, or thought I was more competent than I felt.  The only passerby to help was George, whose 13 year old son noticed that it was just me and the boys on board.  George is also a sailor and recently experienced a fouled anchor in Kephalonia.  George helped me get the boat better situated on the dock, helped pull in lines tight (I just don’t have the strength to do all this alone, plus, by this time, I was getting exhausted).  Most of all, his presence was the moral support I needed.  I offered to buy him a beer for his help, but in true Greek hospitality, he says “It looks like I should be buying YOU a beer”.

Later that evening, the kids and I wearily took a walk, but stopped by Adagio, a hip bookstore/bar/boutique coffeeshop where George invited us to stop in during his shift.  It was beautiful and reminded me of the upscale townhouses you find in San Francisco (like in Noe Valley).  We sat and chatted a while over a much deserved beer.  I was desperate for childcare at this point as on top of all the boat issues, I was falling behind on a big project for work.  He excused himself for a moment, and when he returned he introduced me to Amy, who was available to help me out with the kids.

Amy was young, chic, thin, and blonde.   Her English was great, turns out she was born in NY city and her family returned to Greece when she was 5.  Lucky for me, she was available to watch Aethan and Graeme, as much as I needed and for as long as I needed.  I figured that her work schedule was flexible; I hadn’t realized at the time that like so many ‘young’ Greeks, she was not employed full time despite the university education and being fluent in English (and French).   She showed up the next day, took the boys for 9 hours, and I was finally able to hunker down and kick my way through work. 

The boys just loved Amy.  They were starved for company other than Mom and Dad, and I am sure it was great fun to hang with someone who was so cool and hip (not like us, LOL).  Amy is 30, lives in her family’s cottage in Navpaktos (her family resides in Patras on Peloponnosos); it is about the most charming cottage you have ever seen.  Marble floors, stucco walls, a miniature kitchen with a tiny fireplace, shuttered single-pane glass windows, and a small bedroom.  Most of the living area would be the front stoop where she has a table with two chairs next to a small garden and a grove of olive trees.  The bathroom is adjacent to the house, about a 10 meter walk with hot and cold water, toilet, and handheld shower.  Beyond that, more olive trees and an orange tree.

It seems that the previous generation was equivalent to that of our grandparents.  Her maternal grandparents sent their kids to live alone in this cottage to attend high school, a 40 minute walk away.  Her father (in his 60’s) was sent out into the world at age 12 with about $1 in his pocket and an empty suitcase to seek his fortune.  My sister Ann is in her mid-60’s.  The thought of my parents sending her off to live alone with a sibling in a town hours away from home doesn’t compute.  Nor does the idea of sending Aethan off with his empty suitcase in 3 years.   

The Greeks are in a very different economic situation than in the US.  Whereas I was in a very similar situation as Amy at age 30 (more-or-less single, educated, living in a small house, making ends meet) the main difference, as she pointed out, was that economically, I had hope.  Most Greeks feel that the economy is hopeless and the conversation almost always turns back to economics, the lack of jobs, and what to do.  It is frustrating to see a generation of capable and able people not able to follow their dreams.  The urge is to try to fix it, but what can we do?  Maybe because of this Greeks seem older than their years. 

Still tradition lives on.  Her father apparently is typically Greek in that he wants to know nothing of any men in her life until she decides to marry one.  Her dad will meet Dimitri someday, I think.  They are so in love it was intoxicating for Code and I to be around them.  Dimitri works in his parents shoestore, and by the end of the second day with Amy both boys came home with new shoes.  Who knew (other than us women) how much fun a shoe store could be?  When the customers were away, Dimitri turned up the music, and the kids danced, played ‘store’ behind the counter, and had fun with the boxes in the stockroom.  It was very special for them to get a chance to see behind the scenes of a real store.  I thought it was sweet when a customer came in the store and Amy, the kids, and I ducked into the stockroom.  “I like to watch Dimitri sell shoes”, she says.  It reminded me of how I like to watch Code negotiate in a meeting.  It takes the person out of your everyday context of familiarity and lets you see them like you did for the first time.

We took to Amy and DImitri and they took to us.  By the end of the week, we were solid friends.  Amy had us over her place for 2 nights, we were doing yoga together, and by the end of the week she was letting us use her car for running errands and sightsee.  It turn we had them for dinner and a short morning sail the day that we left Navpaktos.  I was teary when saying goodbye.  It was so amazing to connect so well with someone and really start to care a great deal about them and their future.  It turns out, I suppose, that getting ‘stuck’ in Nafpaktos led me serendipitously to one of the very best parts of this trip.