Meandering Snapdragon: North Americans Abroad

I decided to leave Papigo for a few weeks in order to see more of Greece and meet some new people.

I had been communicating with a man living near Ancient Olympia about his family farm. He has olive trees, grape vines, and bean fields. My plan was to stay with Vasillis for about 2-3 weeks and take a small tour of the Peloponnese. Upon arrival back in Ioannina,I hoped to rent a car for a few days and see other villages, Meteora, and whatever other places I could find in suitable day-trip distance.

On February 21^st I left Papigo, had coffee and dessert in Ioannina with Katerina, and took a bus to Pyrgos. It just happens that the 21^st is Ioannina’s Independence day from the Ottoman Turks, so 1) it’s a miracle Katerina found me in the crowd and 2) it was cool to see. I even went to Café Trois and said goodbye to Nikos (my last minute Valentine whom I met on said day at said cafe. I got wine and a balloon).

The building is something official - there is military stationed at the doors regularly. These guys were marching in a parade of sorts - the large crowds are up ahead but I had trouble getting through with my backpack...never mind a camera!

Keepsake...fantastic cafe, by the way. Cafe Trois.

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Buses are the way to get around in Greece. While they can be tedious and long, at least Greece offers some stunning scenery. The ride to Pyrgos was almost 7 hours.

Vasillis was waiting for me at the bus station – tall and lanky, he was quick to whisk my backpack away and carry it to his car for me. Awesome. The ride home was not so awesome – holy smoke. Literally, smoke. Chain smoker extraordinaire, it seemed his car was really an ashtray with wheels. We did some shopping, stopped by the butcher (a good friend of his and during my stay I realized how strategic and delicious that could be), drank some tsiporou, and headed home for dinner. He has two dogs at the house, both puppies - Hermes, a 6 month old white and black pit bull and Hera, a bouncy, hyper Belgian Shepherd.

Two puppies who love to play!

Regardless of his smoking and cleaning habits (inside the house, not personal), Vasillis is an amazing cook. He loves the food he grew up on and wants to share it with everyone he encounters. He uses his own olive oil and we drink his wine at meals. His oil is sublime, all organic, and cloudier than most as he does not strain all the particles out - its unfiltered. His wine is far better than I expected – a white variety of grape that apparently yields less than most but is better for taste. It was sweet, not too dry, and went down easy! I became the salad prep girl and find myself wishing I had taken photos of his finished dinner spreads.

Making dinner in the fireplace! Better than a grill and the house smells amazing, too. Beefteki (essentially a kafta kebab or Mediterranean spiced, grilled meatball) basted with olive oil, oregano, and lemon. Best dinner ever....until the next nights!

Just a simple lunch....chicken slow cooked with potatoes, salad, and wine. The chicken was crazy tender and juicy.

The next day a couple joined me at the farm, Saffron and Talenn Shaffer, newlyweds from British Columbia, Canada. They are on a 6 month honeymoon trip that began in Israel and will end in Germany. We became fast friends. Work with Vasillis consisted of trimming olive trees, piling and burning the trimmings, clearing bean fields (ripping up the plastic, old vines, and tilling the fields, laying fresh plastic), planting the seeds in the greenhouse and planting them a couple weeks later, and dishes. We provided our own breakfasts for the week, cleaned the dishes, and Vasillis stuffed us full between morning and afternoon work.

The view from the bean fields. The sheep came in around 11:30 and grazed for an hour or so...some of the sheep make very scary noises. Yet it is so idyllic.

Hanging out in an olive tree with Hermes!!! Climbing and trimming the trees was really cool. Olive trees are cool.

The work was dirty and sometimes frustrating but certainly gratifying. We were sights to see at the end of the days and after showers we usually walked to the village or beach (both about a 30 min walk).

Saffron found a gigantic earth worm in the field! Actually, she found many but we think this is the largest.

At the end of the day we were very dirty...our hands, and boots, and clothes are caked with mud. I feel I have grown as a person because I saw that I was sticking my hands into bug and spider infested dirt...and I never flinched.

Saffron and I both battled smoke headaches in the house and dealt with discomfort at the Mediterranean (southern Greece? Small village full of older men...? Likely) lack of personal space. It helped not being the only girl. Talenn scared Hermes the dog, became an expert Greek coffee maker (Nescafe and a little blender) and we all played lots of cards! Vasillis taught us a fun game called Biriba (or something to that effect) that none of us will ever be able to score correctly and that requires 4 players. We taught him Crazy Eights. Saffron got me addicted to “The Walking Dead", and I caught up on "Revolution".

A stop along the walk to the beach!

We had hoped to find a field of red poppies...and there were some but not in abundance. These weeds make beautiful fields of flowers! Saffron and Talenn.

Beach!

Vasillis has 700 olive trees.

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Saffron, Talenn, and I left the village area of Skafidia together and I decided to join them on their trip to Delphi. Even though there were other places I wanted to see in Greece and even though I have seen Delphi numerous times, the idea of passing on the companions I had made seemed silly.

While my time in Skafidia was sometimes strained, I still enjoyed the work and my knowledge on the subject has increased drastically. I had a lot of fun with the dogs and meeting Saffron, Talenn, and Vasillis. One thing is for sure, he will introduce you to everyone! And being a close friend of the butcher has its perks – we ate the best meat and homemade sausages I have ever had. They are generous people who want you to learn and integrate into their culture.

καλή όρεξη - Kali Orexi!