Sunday morning, Symi, blog, doing it now so I can have the rest of the day off. Just checking up on the news and found a report from Greek Reporter about the ‘migrant’ situation as they call it.
“The problem is just mounting on a daily basis. On one side, you see refugees queuing for registration; on the other side, you see Greeks queuing at cash points for their 60 euros a day. It is a perfect storm,” said David Morrissey the actor from ‘The Walking Dead’ (and many other things) who has come with UNHCR.
We were in Yialos on Saturday and though there was no queuing for the ATM, on the way back in a taxi, saw the latest group of refugees on the south side of the harbour, finding shade as best they could. They will probably be waiting for the next Athens ferry, which is not due until Wednesday; meanwhile they must rely on whatever money they have for food and water, and the police station for shelter, and generous restaurant owners such as Pandelis who offer what free food they can after service.
The other thing that we did on Saturday was get some money out of the bank in order to put it back into the bank during the week. Apparently the banks are opening again from Monday, or Tuesday depending on what you read. If you’ve a Greek account you can still only take out €60.00 per day but there is talk of letting you take your weekly allowance in one go, to save you having to return. And some places have reported that at €300.00 per week, which is clearly wrong, as it should be €420; unless they mean €300 over the counter for five banking days and then another two visits to the ATM at the weekend. Some are reporting that it’s the full €420. Still, at least they should be open, and that means we can pay our income tax bills and put the country on the road to recovery. More on this story here.
Another thing we did in ‘town’ was to buy another plant for the courtyard and some clippers on a pole so we can reach the vine. All that should be delivered today, Sunday, or tomorrow, Monday, which is today as you read this, unless you are coming back to it at the end of the week for a catch-up in which case you can work out what day it is for yourself. But for me it’s Sunday and I am looking down on Harani and can count 11 boats of various breeds in the water, waking up slowly as it’s still only half seven. I’ve been up since six, thanks to a Zak Effron film sending me to sleep very early last night.
After sorting through my photos of Saturday and posting this I intend to spend the morning with the second draft of the latest novel and get to the end of my read-through. (Sounds so pretentious.) Then all I need to do is write in the rewrites and send it out to my ‘beta readers’ for spelling mistakes and the like. And that is all I have planned for the rest of the day, that and keeping cool as the temperature continues to climb, and the breeze to stay noticeable by its absence a lot of the time.
Other pans for the week ahead? Well, none really apart from going to Rhodes on Wednesday to see about health insurance. My state IKA scheme comes to an end early next year now that I am not working for a Greek business, and I need to get some kind of private health cover in place. I have two people to see, the first of whom has offered to collect me from the boat and drive me to the office. There’s service for you. Though seeing as it’s an insurance salesman I also feel like I might be letting myself walk into the lion’s den. But they both sound very nice in the emails and messages, so let’s hope it’s only a question of having questions answered and there’s no hard sell. I am sure there will be more on this in due course.
Ah well, back to my view…
