Blog Post 18 At Port Myteline
Blog Post 18
At Port Myteline
May 3, 2018
Gentle Reader,
Most nights now, I am down at the Myteline Port. I have found that this area doesn't come to full life until around 9 at night. Greeks seem to like to begin eating dinner about that time, or even a little later. I love watching the port come to life with so many people. Individuals biking or sitting on a bench by the water. Families out with strollers and dogs. Couples kissing in Sappho Square. The folks who populate the cafes and drinking establishments, starting around six. It seems many folks enjoy a coffee or a drink to unwind from the day. The chat is lively.
One of the joys for me of being overseas is that I treasure being in cultures that seem to honor and celebrate human contact on a daily basis. I'm reminded of a story I heard from a transport driver when I was attending an AP Literature conference in Vermont. The driver was from Bosnia, so we naturally engaged in a discussion about where we were from, why we were there, etc... The man told me that he was in Vermont because he was escaping the wartorn country at home. He sends money home to family members from his job.
When I asked him what he thought of living in America, he said the following. I am paraphrasing to the best of my memory, as this happened about fifteen years ago:
"...I do not understand you Americans. In my country, we work all day. Then, we go home and have dinner with our families. After, we visit one another in our neighborhood. I will usually grab a bottle of wine and head down to a neighbor's home. We don't plan this in advance. We don't make any appointment. We just grab the bottle of wine and share together. In the evening, we take time to be with others, drinking sometimes and refreshing ourselves for the next work day. It is important for us to do this, to relax and enjoy each other. This gives us courage and refreshment for working again the next day...
In America, you all work all day. And then you go home to your houses and close the door. You are alone in your house, sometimes with no one to talk to all evening. Every one in separate rooms sometimes. I think you Americans are the loneliest people I have ever known..."
I have never forgotten that conversation. There is much wisdom in what this man shared with me. Here, on Lesvos, people very much live in the spirit of refreshing themselves with family and friends in the evening. When I was teaching in Guizhou Province in China, we went down to the Square every evening. There, you could find numerous groups dancing to a cornucopia of tunes pouring out of boomboxes. Something for everyone, no matter one's age. People would pull me into the line or the circle, teaching me to dance. Imagine exercise actually being filled with music and laughter. There was also always the option of simply people watching. And the food!!! Some of my best memories of being in China for those three summers was devouring the amazing food in the night markets. The same spirit is here in Greece. I have yet to try uzo, but I'm certain Scott and I will raise a glass or two when he joins me in Athens on May 14, at the end of my service here at Kara Tepe.
So, here are a few more images of the evenings in Myteline Port...
The dogs and cats roam freely on the streets of Myteline. These are just three hanging out for the evening, right at the entrance to one of the port side cafes.
The police are always present down by the Port, and occasionally they chat with people walking by. They tend to be positioned by Sappho Square, where many of the recent protests have taken place.
There are always children playing soccer down at the Square...
There's something about sitting by the water that appeals to my sense of peace and calm, as well as my sense of connection with others. People sometimes sit alone, some have intense conversations, some wrap their arms around one another, and some share a moment of passionate kissing. Time just seems to stop.
I'd like to dedicate this blog post to my dear friend Patricia. She was my roommate on the Fulbright to Turkey back in 2009. After long days that often began by 6am, most of the group wanted to simply crash at the hotel by 9:30 at night. Seeing the vibrant night culture that Istanbul offered, Patricia and I would begin our evening at the time most of the group would take to their pillows. Scott eventually asked if he could join us on our night adventures, as he was a night person , too.
In the last nine years, Patricia and I have shared many hours by the waters of Lake Huron. That beach is my favorite sanctuary, a place where I go to slow down and be still. It is also the place where stories are told, where lives are shared. Thank you, Patricia, for giving me this gift. I will always remember the surprise visit from Scott on that beach one Labor Day many years ago. I will also always remember the winter walks on that beach, all bundled up in mittens and hats and scarves. And I will always remember Jim, Patricia's husband, bringing us homemade sangria in a wagon. And I will always remember hearing the laughter of our children playing in the water. Thank you, dear friend.
Here are a few more photos from Port Myteline...
v
And so to end today's blog, I will end with some quotes about the significance of community, of being a part of something larger than oneself...
At Port Myteline
May 3, 2018
Gentle Reader,
Most nights now, I am down at the Myteline Port. I have found that this area doesn't come to full life until around 9 at night. Greeks seem to like to begin eating dinner about that time, or even a little later. I love watching the port come to life with so many people. Individuals biking or sitting on a bench by the water. Families out with strollers and dogs. Couples kissing in Sappho Square. The folks who populate the cafes and drinking establishments, starting around six. It seems many folks enjoy a coffee or a drink to unwind from the day. The chat is lively.
One of the joys for me of being overseas is that I treasure being in cultures that seem to honor and celebrate human contact on a daily basis. I'm reminded of a story I heard from a transport driver when I was attending an AP Literature conference in Vermont. The driver was from Bosnia, so we naturally engaged in a discussion about where we were from, why we were there, etc... The man told me that he was in Vermont because he was escaping the wartorn country at home. He sends money home to family members from his job.
When I asked him what he thought of living in America, he said the following. I am paraphrasing to the best of my memory, as this happened about fifteen years ago:
"...I do not understand you Americans. In my country, we work all day. Then, we go home and have dinner with our families. After, we visit one another in our neighborhood. I will usually grab a bottle of wine and head down to a neighbor's home. We don't plan this in advance. We don't make any appointment. We just grab the bottle of wine and share together. In the evening, we take time to be with others, drinking sometimes and refreshing ourselves for the next work day. It is important for us to do this, to relax and enjoy each other. This gives us courage and refreshment for working again the next day...
In America, you all work all day. And then you go home to your houses and close the door. You are alone in your house, sometimes with no one to talk to all evening. Every one in separate rooms sometimes. I think you Americans are the loneliest people I have ever known..."
I have never forgotten that conversation. There is much wisdom in what this man shared with me. Here, on Lesvos, people very much live in the spirit of refreshing themselves with family and friends in the evening. When I was teaching in Guizhou Province in China, we went down to the Square every evening. There, you could find numerous groups dancing to a cornucopia of tunes pouring out of boomboxes. Something for everyone, no matter one's age. People would pull me into the line or the circle, teaching me to dance. Imagine exercise actually being filled with music and laughter. There was also always the option of simply people watching. And the food!!! Some of my best memories of being in China for those three summers was devouring the amazing food in the night markets. The same spirit is here in Greece. I have yet to try uzo, but I'm certain Scott and I will raise a glass or two when he joins me in Athens on May 14, at the end of my service here at Kara Tepe.
So, here are a few more images of the evenings in Myteline Port...
The dogs and cats roam freely on the streets of Myteline. These are just three hanging out for the evening, right at the entrance to one of the port side cafes.
The police are always present down by the Port, and occasionally they chat with people walking by. They tend to be positioned by Sappho Square, where many of the recent protests have taken place.
There are always children playing soccer down at the Square...
There's something about sitting by the water that appeals to my sense of peace and calm, as well as my sense of connection with others. People sometimes sit alone, some have intense conversations, some wrap their arms around one another, and some share a moment of passionate kissing. Time just seems to stop.
I'd like to dedicate this blog post to my dear friend Patricia. She was my roommate on the Fulbright to Turkey back in 2009. After long days that often began by 6am, most of the group wanted to simply crash at the hotel by 9:30 at night. Seeing the vibrant night culture that Istanbul offered, Patricia and I would begin our evening at the time most of the group would take to their pillows. Scott eventually asked if he could join us on our night adventures, as he was a night person , too.
In the last nine years, Patricia and I have shared many hours by the waters of Lake Huron. That beach is my favorite sanctuary, a place where I go to slow down and be still. It is also the place where stories are told, where lives are shared. Thank you, Patricia, for giving me this gift. I will always remember the surprise visit from Scott on that beach one Labor Day many years ago. I will also always remember the winter walks on that beach, all bundled up in mittens and hats and scarves. And I will always remember Jim, Patricia's husband, bringing us homemade sangria in a wagon. And I will always remember hearing the laughter of our children playing in the water. Thank you, dear friend.
Here are a few more photos from Port Myteline...
v
And so to end today's blog, I will end with some quotes about the significance of community, of being a part of something larger than oneself...
No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.
Community is a sign that love is possible in a materialistic world where people so often either ignore or fight each other. It is a sign that we don't need a lot of money to be happy--in fact, the opposite.
We have all known the long loneliness and we have learned that the only solution is love and that love comes with community.
When I am with a group of human beings committed to hanging in there through both the agony and the joy of community, I have a dim sense that I am participating in a phenomenon for which there is only one word...."glory."
The golden way is to be friends with the world and to regard the whole human family as one.
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