Back in Tripolis
Posted by Joe Hallwood - 16:20 on 23 July 2009
Coming back to Tripolis it's clear that some things have changed, some have remained the same and some I'm just not sure about. But being back in the town I lived and worked in for 6 years is like coming home.
The toilets are better. I remember my first toilet in Greece 16 years ago. It was a large hole in the ground and was difficult to get close to without coming out wearing more than when you went it. Now though, they are wonderful, a pleasure and clean. And something else, they are air-conditioned! We have had temperatures of up to 40 here. Everywhere has aircon, blissful. Though it never used to be like that. It used to be impossible to escape the heat. Most wise Greeks go to the beach and sit in the sea. So we did that too.
After having all our cards and driving licences stolen, hiring a car was a little tricky. That is until you get out of Athens. Here in Tripolis it's a case of who you know. A Greek friend of ours knew someone who hired cars. Bingo!. Driving licences were suddenly immaterial. I like driving in Greece. The hotter it gets in Greece the slower people move, which makes sense and the same seems to go for driving. You amble along stop in the middle of the street when the desire hits you and basically you don't get stressed out. When you have another car looking like it might want to be where you are then you take your time and it just kind of happens. No fuss, no stress. Driving most roads in Greece involves mountains, narrow windy roads and huge oncoming buses, so you take your time. Overtaking is easy if you feel the urge, the car in front drives half on the 'hard shoulder' and half on the road. No problem. Motorbike riders like to drive fast though, even when it's 40 degrees. But they do slow down a little to speak on their mobile phones. No one wears helmets here, especially in summer.
They have a phrase here called 'English time'. Used for those rare occasions when you turn up at the time you said you would. We were organising some filming at the local beach village of Astros. Me being ready and at the appointed place bang on 10 was 'English' and pointless. But that's ok, I remember that the Greeks aren't anal about time. We met up with the director and cameraman, but then had to go for a coffee. It's the top of the list every morning. Coffee can take while, there's always plenty to talk about when frappes (Iced coffee) are on the table. We were now only 2 hours behind schedule. Then the director had a few jobs to do and would meet us in Astros. We left 3 hours late. We arrived, went swimming, drunk more coffee, and then went for lunch at 5. We then felt ready for filming. Punctuated by visits to friends, we finished the last shot just as the sun was setting behind the mountains which overshadow the beautiful fishing village of Astros. You see, things do get done. Just not in the time you expect.
We have been given a lot of food, mainly cakes. It's a tradition in Greece. You arrive somewhere, they give you cakes. In fact, they give cakes for any occasion. It's your name day, birthday or just bought a car, you give cakes. This partly explains why there are so many cake shops around I guess. I'd forgotten that when I first moved here I was given not just cakes but food, great pans of beef stew. I guess it was thought that the English teacher couldn't cook, they weren't wrong. Food is at the heart of it though. And is the most common way the Greeks express their generosity.
One disasterous change is the demise of my favourite watering hole, the Magic Flute. A sign of the times: there has been a lot of building in the last 10 years, a university has appeared plus countless blocks of flats. So, the rickety old Magic Flute, on the edge of a field is now a 4 storey mass of brightly painted concrete. There must be at least double the number of bars here in Tripolis, not surprising since going out is a full time pursuit for many.
I met a couple of old students in a bar. They hadn't changed a bit. I recognised them as soon as I had seen them. It's amazing. I would have thought that a 15 year old would have changed just a little bit in 10 years, but no. One of them is studying her masters in Brighton, her English is excellent, a lot better than when I taught her. The other hadn't left the country. His was rusty, but still really good. Amazing that he could remember after all these years. It was great to see them after all these years and a real reminder of the times I had teaching English in Tripolis, Greece.
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