Morning Sounds
I love the world when it's waking up. Each little corner of this wonderful world which I have had the privilege to experience this holiday has had its own morning chorus, but the murmurings in these villages of stone have a special gentle sound.
This morning it was the sound of the donkey hooves on the paved alleys around the hotel, and the sweeping of pine needles from the paths.
Hydra is a little horse-shoe shaped port, surrounded by high rocky mountains - another reason for the sound effects in the town, I guess.
It's really odd being in a town where I don't understand any of the language, it is reflexive for me to thank people in Croatian. The word for 'thank you' in Greek is efcharisto, but I've only managed to say that a few times and probably so hesitantly that it wasn't registered. I do think it is important (respectful maybe?) to give it a try, even if it is the only word I know. Of course, everyone in the service industry speaks English, but it's worth giving it a try, even if you get it wrong.
It is hard working here (as it is in Croatia). The taxi driver who took me from my hotel in Athens to the port had not had a day off in 2 years, and he worked two jobs to survive. It is the end of the tourist season and the people we are meeting are exhausted. In Croatia, the chances are that the waiters and cafe staff will be unemployed for the next 5 months, having been paid about $500 a month.
We need to acknowledge them as people with lives, not faceless people and give them the courtesy of eye contact and 'pleases and thank yous'. Seems dumb saying this, but I say it because I notice that not everyone does it.
I can hear the school kids heading out now - what an incredible playground this must be. I watched two little, I'm guessing, but maybe four year old boys playing outside my balcony yesterday. The deal was that you climbed up the park bench, hoisted yourself onto the power box and then jumped. It was pretty high too! No one freaked out or panicked, in fact one neighbour came by and watched and gave the boys a 'high five'. So here's the thing.
There is a lack of security blankets everywhere - no signs warning people of slipping, no railings on banks or steps leading down to swimming places. The first restaurant that we sat in here had the most incredible stairs sloping to the water - no railing, nothing. Just common sense I guess, given that we are grown as adults. Will this mean that the kids will grow up more resilient, more capable of making risk assessments of situations? The parents last night as I sat with (another) cocktail didn't seem fazed by the kids racing around on scooters near the edge of the port (no railings) - I'm sure that an eye was being kept on them, but then don't kids learn their own boundaries?
Maureen commented that one fall by an American would solve that as someone would get sued... it's a brave world here. And talking to Maureen, it takes courage to be American in these Trumpy times.
Another donkey clacking along outside my window..
(And a few more donkey photos - and yes some of them are horses).
This morning it was the sound of the donkey hooves on the paved alleys around the hotel, and the sweeping of pine needles from the paths.
Hydra is a little horse-shoe shaped port, surrounded by high rocky mountains - another reason for the sound effects in the town, I guess.
It's really odd being in a town where I don't understand any of the language, it is reflexive for me to thank people in Croatian. The word for 'thank you' in Greek is efcharisto, but I've only managed to say that a few times and probably so hesitantly that it wasn't registered. I do think it is important (respectful maybe?) to give it a try, even if it is the only word I know. Of course, everyone in the service industry speaks English, but it's worth giving it a try, even if you get it wrong.
It is hard working here (as it is in Croatia). The taxi driver who took me from my hotel in Athens to the port had not had a day off in 2 years, and he worked two jobs to survive. It is the end of the tourist season and the people we are meeting are exhausted. In Croatia, the chances are that the waiters and cafe staff will be unemployed for the next 5 months, having been paid about $500 a month.
We need to acknowledge them as people with lives, not faceless people and give them the courtesy of eye contact and 'pleases and thank yous'. Seems dumb saying this, but I say it because I notice that not everyone does it.
I can hear the school kids heading out now - what an incredible playground this must be. I watched two little, I'm guessing, but maybe four year old boys playing outside my balcony yesterday. The deal was that you climbed up the park bench, hoisted yourself onto the power box and then jumped. It was pretty high too! No one freaked out or panicked, in fact one neighbour came by and watched and gave the boys a 'high five'. So here's the thing.
There is a lack of security blankets everywhere - no signs warning people of slipping, no railings on banks or steps leading down to swimming places. The first restaurant that we sat in here had the most incredible stairs sloping to the water - no railing, nothing. Just common sense I guess, given that we are grown as adults. Will this mean that the kids will grow up more resilient, more capable of making risk assessments of situations? The parents last night as I sat with (another) cocktail didn't seem fazed by the kids racing around on scooters near the edge of the port (no railings) - I'm sure that an eye was being kept on them, but then don't kids learn their own boundaries?
Maureen commented that one fall by an American would solve that as someone would get sued... it's a brave world here. And talking to Maureen, it takes courage to be American in these Trumpy times.
Another donkey clacking along outside my window..
(And a few more donkey photos - and yes some of them are horses).
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