Here’s my ‘do what you can’ story for the weekend. Symi had over 400 refugees arrive over Friday/Saturday, in fact we saw a boat being brought in. A small inflatable packed with people, one of whom fell out, out at sea, but the coastguard were there and helped him ashore. The boat was brought to the clock tower where the already arrived refuges gave a cheer to welcome the others to safety. This was as we were getting ready to go down and do our Saturday morning shift.

We arrived there to find that the one and only toilet was out of order, but that two porta-ones were arriving later that day, along with two temporary showers; both of these as I understand it, were plumbed in to the mains and are now up and running. Let’s hope that helps everyone who is, basically, camping out around the police station.

Anyway, that aside, we were lucky that a holidaying doctor had given up her last morning on the island to see to any medical needs – mainly over exposure to the sun in the old and the very young. There was a case later in the day that required the island doctor and the ambulance, and there is a report of a tragic accident taking place out at sea involving ‘people smugglers’ and the coastguard, in which a young man was shot. This wasn’t, as you might think, during the night but at midday as another boat of refugees was approaching the island.

We also ran out of water and fruit to give people during the morning. If you’ve ever been involved in a stage production and watched a team of people pulling together you might know the feeling of pride you get when you see someone you don’t know very well pull something amazing out of a hat. (Not literally.) Well, I had a sense of that again on Saturday when I went out to put some rubbish at the collection point. There was a fellow Brit staggering towards me with two bags of oranges and a pack of water, which I took from her. ‘I couldn’t stand them not having any,’ she said, ‘so I went and got some.’ There are lots of instances of this sort of thing happening around here at the moment, and it makes you honoured to be a part of this particular piece of world history.

Washing was the needed event on Saturday, an appeal went out and before you could say ‘final rinse and spin’ volunteers were turning up to take away laundry and get it done, and back, in good time. We had three bags delivered which we worked through over the weekend. These were actually donation bags so there was no immediate rush. Not like the rush for clothes that happens daily down at the aid station where we had helpers from Syria translating and keeping order, as best as anyone could.

More water did arrive later in the day and more fruit, thanks to the sterling efforts and phone calls from the charity’s organisers. I didn’t have a chance to get any detailed stories from anyone but I did pick up on a couple of things. First of all, in the main, people were euphoric at being safe, and at having arrived in Europe. These are, of course the lucky ones. Apparently around 98% of the Syrian refuges are refugees in their own country and just over the border in Turkey. The European arrivals represent something like 2% of the population of the country – those numbers were on some video I saw, and may not be reliable.

The other thing that I picked up on was to do with age, and here’s where my writer’s brain slips into assumption. An elderly couple came to rest on the veranda, and to get away from the throng outside. I kept an eye on them and they sat and looked out to sea. I got the impression that they were stunned, I mean, after 60 years you’ve invested a lot in the world around you and suddenly it’s no longer there. You are no longer there, you’re miles from your homeland, wearing the last of the possessions you spent your life gathering, the rest are lost to war or the sea, and what do you have left? Your life and an uncertain future. I also saw very young children and babies who won’t remember any of this when they grow up, the ten year olds might remember some of it and an adventure in a strange land. The teenagers (one of whom looked like he was dressed for a night out, another who asked if we had any hair gel) will remember more and be more affected, those in their early twenties, as we have seen, might be more worried about how they will finish their college or university, and the parents simply have to get on with it and get their family somewhere settled.

But that’s enough for today, enough for my ‘Greece as it happens, the refugee crisis’ you might call it. There are more photos and more stories to come, maybe during the week. But I’ll leave off now as I am going to write to Sports Direct and see if they have any ‘must go’ menswear items that have not yet ‘must gone’ that they can donate. I’m not hopeful, unlike these guys:

Share on Facebook

Greece as it happens – Refugees on Symi.

Adnan (not his real name) studied for a month at university in a Syrian city before the trouble there forced him to leave the town and his course. He was studying for a degree in French literature. For the next two years he lived in a village with no electricity, no running water and no internet, before escaping into Turkey. In Turkey he learned to speak some of the language while he made his way to the coast. He already spoke good English. One night, he and fourteen others escaped Turkey in a small inflatable boat. He was in the company of men, women, children and a pregnant woman. They were half way to Greece when another boat appeared from nowhere and men in masks attacked their boat, stole its engine and slashed the inflatable which then sank beneath them.

Adnan, a freelance photographer by then, lost his Nikon camera, and his other camera along with all his possessions apart from his phone and what he was wearing. He was able to call the Greek coastguard but there was no reply. He managed to call some friends in Turkey and, after two hours in the water, help arrived from the Turkish coastguard. He was taken back to Turkey. A few days ago, after some time had elapsed, he tried again and this time arrived safely on Symi where he has been with around 400 others waiting for their papers to be processed.

On Saturday, he was at the Symi refugee aid station waiting for some laundry to come back. The clothes he was waiting for were all he had, and a volunteer had taken them to be washed; one of the things the volunteers do if they can. He told me he didn’t want to stay in Greece but wanted to complete his studies in French Lit somewhere in Europe. While we were talking he was also translating for his friends and others who came for clothes, water and toys for the children. Adnan was, I would say, no older than 21.

This was on Saturday morning and we were there helping out for only a few hours. In that time what I noticed people asking for (that we didn’t have) were clothes for men (though clothes for women and children are also needed, there was very little for the older boys and men), and also sun tan cream for the children, soap and basic washing supplies, shampoo, body wash etc. All things that you might have if you are finishing up your holiday on Symi; the kinds of things often left behind in properties. The holiday and washing items I mean, though I do know some men are prone to leaving their trousers lying around after a holiday. Least said…

And also on Saturday, I had two emails in giving support for the work of “Αλληλεγγύης Σύμης – Solidarity Symi” the charity set up specifically to deal with the crisis as it manifests on the island. Their Facebook page is here: https://www.facebook.com/solidaritysymi And you can get involved, if you want to, by donating to the fund here: http://www.everyclick.com/solidaritysymi/info (£4,435 raised by Saturday, that’s 63% of target).

And, if you are on Symi and want to help out you can also offer to volunteer at the aid station, the old post office building by the police station. While we were there two visitors came in to see how they could help and signed up for a short shift on a future day, and another visitor dropped off some end of holiday items and clothes.

If you wonder what you have to do, it’s not difficult. We helped with giving out water, answering questions, letting people come and check through the donated clothes, sorting out the donations and putting them out – once word got round that there were some toys there was a bit of a rush of under sevens calling in simply for something to play with to relieve the boredom – we also helped tidy up, cleaned the loo, and gave out what provisions were available. So, nothing strenuous or nasty and all very humbling. And everyone, even those who can’t speak English, are so thankful that we are doing something.

For full information see that Facebook page and to arrange to volunteer contact Wendy Wilcox via Symi Visitor, or, if you’re on Symi call (+30) 695 730 2565, or call at the old post office.

Share on Facebook

I’m doing these ‘Symi, Greece as it happens’ blog posts to keep you up to date with the situation in Greece as I see it here on Symi. I won’t be doing them every day, it depends on what’s happening. If we stay in the Euro or if we leave, I’ll keep you informed as much as I can, from my point of view at least.

So, what is happening? Well, as you can see, there are a lot of boats trying to get into the harbour…

That was Wednesday afternoon and that’s always a busy time with the day boats leaving, the taxi boats coming back, the Blue Star Diagoras coming and going and the daily visitor sailing boats coming into port for an evening on the town and dry land. And meanwhile, down in Pedi where we went for a walk on Wednesday, there were also loads of boats in.

People were having fun on their jet skis…

And the tavernas were getting ready for a busy evening as per usual. (This was late afternoon.)

In the evening we treated ourselves to a meal at The Windmill where, apparently, they are now serving Mythos wine.

No, not really, that’s James putting his beer bottle label on the jug. A very nice evening though and great food as always. If you’re not sure where the Windmill is, it’s up in the village opposite the Village Hotel. Up the Kali Start, turn left after the Olive Tree and along there on your left. Just before going there, Neil took a shot of Yianni and his wife Katerina. Here’s my shot of Neil posing the couple impromptu like. Hopefully we’ll see the finished shot before long.

Thursday morning brought a little cloud cover which hung around and got in the way of the sun from time to time. It helped take the edge of the heat (32 in the shade in the courtyard) and it made for a great sunrise. It felt pretty humid out there at 5.30, and there were low clouds in the valley between the Turkish mountains, and a low cloud hanging over Nimos too.

The path up to ‘To Vrisi’ was busy with wayward goats all thinking I had come to feed them, or milk them maybe, but clearly I hadn’t. I’d come to tiptoe in and out of the droppings.

That reminds me of one of the gags in ‘Jason and the Sargonauts’ where someone says: ‘Is that an olive on the ground or a goat dropping?’ and another character replies, ‘I don’t know. Eat it and find out.’ To which the first replies, ‘I couldn’t possibly! I can’t stand olives.’ Which is a great segue into a plug for my comedy novel based on the tale of Jason and the Argonuats, set on Symi in three time periods (late 1880s, early 20^th and WWII and ‘present day’) and involving Jason the ‘Sargo’ rep and his quest to unlock an old mystery and find the whereabouts, on Symi, of ‘the Golden Fleece.’

‘Jason’ has a four point five star rating on Amazon and some good reviews: “Finished this book yesterday and oh so amusing, would love to see it as the film. Another unputdownable book, that had me engrossed from beginning to end, and chuckling.”

“This is Dan Brown meets Whitehall Farce with a bit of education about Symi’s history thrown in for good measure. Set on the Greek island of Symi, it’s a fast paced whodunnit with lots of laughs and loads of page turning moments. Yes, it was hard to put down.

This books deserves a large audience and stands up there with the best novels about contemporary Greece.”

I’ll leave that with you and, more importantly, the link to where you can find a print or Kindle copy and a broad hint that if you’ve not read it yet…

Jason and the Sargonauts

Share on Facebook

Just sitting here on Wednesday late morning with Euronews playing the PM’s speech to the EU – translated by a very clever interpreter. This is obviously yet another crucial week for the Eurozone and Greece and yet another emergency meeting is to be taking place once they’ve had a last minute summit to discuss the urgency of the next emergency meeting that will be a second one-off to discuss the meeting that did not happen the last time an emergency happened a week ago last Thursday tea-time and how they all felt about it. Watch this space.

Meanwhile, I was watching Yialos on Tuesday evening as we popped down to welcome Neil’s brother to the island for his 14^th or 15^th non-emergency visit. You could hardly see the sea for the boats and their masts. Boats of all shapes and sizes, and the place was fair buzzing. I wouldn’t say it was full on land, there are plenty of cafes and tavernas and never enough visitors to fill them all of course, we could always do with more tourists, but there were lots of people about.

The bank machine was issuing money with no hassles and locals and visitors alike were enjoying a warm evening. Pat and Hazel’s birthday boat went out at 7.30 and Neil took his customary group photo. We usually get this on the return journey but as we weren’t going, due to family arrival, he took it before they set off.

We then dashed to the corner souvlaki shop for a healthy dinner of processed chicken slabs, multiple carbs and salad (that’s the healthy part) before meeting James at Pacho’s, where we also met Jenine. A chat there and a cab up (Neil and the other James walked while I was a gentleman and escorted the lady) and a quick hello to Yiannis on the way home. So, that got his holiday off to a good start.

Now then. ‘Greece as it happens.’ I’ve had a few emails in from people asking what it’s like here at the moment, even some phone calls, and all I can say is that, sorry to disappoint the press desperate for desperate times, but it really isn’t desperate here. Everyone’s getting on with things, many are looking forward to a change in currency no matter that it will bring some pretty dire consequences with it, if it happens, and others are worried that this government will bring the country down and cause all manner of hardships, with no real way to get itself out of the mess. But that kind of high-level discussion I leave to the people who really know what they are talking about i.e. most people on Facebook.

That seems to be a bit rife with people all saying what’s best for Greece at the moment. Some folk have been getting very uppity about their point of view. ‘Leave the Eurozone now!’ is one cry – okay, and have you really thought out what that would mean? ‘Get back to austerity, we were nearly there!’ is another one. And yes, but have you realised how little of these loans go to the people and how much this is all about financing banks? And ‘There must be a middle ground!’ is another rather obvious one that, I think, more and more people are signing up to.

But still. You know I am about as politically well informed as my cat, and as good a representer of the facts as certain British newspapers, so I won’t dwell on what I don’t completely understand, and can do nothing about, which is a good way to be I reckon. I will leave the last word for today with the writer of the excellent piece that was in the Guardian. ‘Want to help Greece? Go there on Holliday.’  “The weather is just as stunning as it ever was this time of year; the archaeological sites just as interesting; the beaches just as magical; the food just as heart-healthy. The prices are significantly cheaper than usual. It is one of those rare everybody-wins situations.”

Share on Facebook

And, as it happens, we went out on Monday night, a bit of a treat from Tina for her visiting family. And what a great evening we had. Thank you, thank you! Okay, so it went like this:

Neil was at work, and I was at home working on ‘Straight Swap’ the next comedy novel – now with only two chapters left to go of the first draft and at 120,000 words – so feeling pretty excited about that. Having done a quick interview with The Times (they’d rung Neil who was working so he put them onto me) where I gave my views and experience of: Greek banks – still giving out money and in €60.00 withdrawals last time I saw. Tavernas? Doing fine so far but we could all do with more tourists. Food supplies? Fine, markets gardens in Rhodes, the Tilos veg man, local meat and so on… Having done that, I nipped down to the bar to recover from a 7,000 word writing day.

Then we nipped home to collect camera and things for the evening ahead and nipped back to meet Jenine.

We headed down to ‘Kavos’ in Harani for the evening, some of our party stopping to take some money out of the National bank and others out of the Alpha back en route, no problems there. The harbour was busy. The south side was full with gullets and smaller boats and the north side full of bigger yachts and fishing boats. A great sight to see.

Our table was right next to the water, which made standing up a bit of a trial, I mean, put the old man with vertigo right on the edge why don’t ya? No, it was fine and, I think, the first time I have had dinner on the water’s edge for many years. The food at ‘Kavos’ is traditional Greek, everything was on the menu and we ordered various mezethes to share and pass around; tuna fish salad, souvlaki, patatas, octopus and some other seafood things I don’t go near, keftethes, roasted vegetables, and some completely acceptable local house wine.

Later, after missing the intended 23.00 bus back up, we walked back around the harbour where the boat party was still going on, though not overly noisily so, and some of the party bought ice creams. There was some mild dithering about waiting for a taxi as it looked like only one was still running so some of the group leapt in that, others waited for it to come back and some of us walked up. And up, and up, and walked off the mezethes via the ‘Lazy Steps’ (misnomer, as I’ve mentioned before), the slope past the school and then the killer steps past the old shop.

A final and quite unnecessary nightcap at Rainbow and home. No sooner had we walked in than the cat ran out and headed off into the wild for the second time in a few days. I reckon he is bored with this house, there’s not enough fight action for him, and he can only get out if we leave the gate open. Or if, like on Monday, he sees us come in and gets out before we have a chance to close it. Tuesday midday and he’s still not back. But if he wants to go and explore and have a few days away, we can’t stop him.

And now to Tuesday – well yesterday as I write. We are expecting Neil’s brother to arrive this evening, and we have been invited to two parties, neither of which we can make. So happy (belated) birthday celebrations to Pat, Hazel and Michelle. Neil’s brother, James, has a friend arriving on Friday, also called James. Neil intends to take a photo showing James, James, James and our hoover, also called James. There that’s something to look forward to.

Don’t forget, if you like these Symi views, and photos, you can check out the three books about living on Symi. The links are over there on the top right. ‘Symi 85600’ the first five years of living here. ‘Carry on up the Kali Strata’ – articles and stories about living here. ‘Village View’ – the collected blog posts from 2013. Enjoy!

Share on Facebook