EVS KALAMATA: MIRELLA KA: THE VOLUNTEER'S KARMA

Dear all,

I’d like to share with you the gifts that the Universe*** gave me for my first weekend in Kalamata.

Friday nights EVS volunteers normally gather in a nice place to have some good time, while enjoying Greek foods, drinks and music and discussing ideas and projects. Last Friday the chosen place was Σταθμός (Stathmos).

It’s amazing how lucky we were to go there and realize that a nice exhibition is taking place, and not only the title and the idea are very interesting “My other self” , not only the artworks are with strong messages and made by diverse technics, but the Curator himself was there and made a special tour in English for us! Thank you so much Mr. Vasilis Karizonis! Σας ευχαριστούμε πολύ τον κύριο Βασίλη Καριζόνη!

WORLD, I wanna show you WHAT VOLUNTEERS’ VIBES
(energy, existence, life, philosophy, whatever....) DOES LOOK LIKE...
I met these girls less than a week ago...
they are gorgeous and I already love them!

After this experience we choose the biggest table in the restaurant and we opened a menu, which we could use in some time, but for sure not now! No English version of the meals… So we really needed help. And we got it! From two very nice gentleman – one of them cooking and one serving, explaining us what is what. It was a funny moment when one of the girls explained she wanted something without cheese, tomatoes and olives. And then the guy laughed: “But that’s half of the Greek kitchen!”

Something that I really love about Greek restaurant service is that water and bread are for free. Olive oil which is like brilliant, as well! As proper Greeks, the guys from Stathmos restaurant showed us their hospitality and generosity – regularly offering us between our own orders some wine, some local cheese (different than Feta) and some dessert… then wine again… 😊

When we were ready to pay and leave, something happened that changed the direction of our conversations and made us stay for one or two more hours! It was a simple thing like one of the guys from our company asked the Cook why he is wearing on his T-shirt the logo of some Water Sports Club. Then the guy explained he is the President of this club and on Sunday they are organizing an open event with different activities for free. This conversation lead to another one… and another one… we were talking about the social-cultural life of Kalamata, the Stathmos guys were showing us photos and videos from previous projects and events they were organizing. They even filmed some songs that are taking place in the same restaurant and on the same streets that we are walking every day. They were also curious to know more about our projects and ideas, they offered us cooperation for future happenings.

For me personally it was very interesting the getting-to-know the other volunteers who has been living in Kalamata for some months already and who made me think about the fact that going abroad for a long term volunteering makes you become something very particular “a mixture of a tourist and a local”.

Going to bed on Friday night I was so happy and fulfilled after this inspiring and productive (very spontaneous) meeting in Stathmos Restaurant.

The next experience which was another gift from the Universe was going to ΠεριβαλλοντικηΕκδηλωση στον Ποταμο Αρι (Environmental event on the river Ari).

We received a special transfer from Stathmos restaurant to the event by a car from the organizers!

The first minute we arrived, all of us, we jumped to a canoe and a water bicycle. It was like encouraging act for the other visitors to take action and try the attractions as well.

I think 11 months will be too short for me to admire and enjoy enough the view of the mountains around Kalamata. And the feeling to stay in a kayak in the river watching this beautiful scenery is priceless!

It was so enjoyable the combination of perfect weather, traditional Greek food and traditional Greek dances – χορό, which remind me so much the Bulgarian horo. Then I read that there are actually hora in plenty of other countries! *Hora, also known as horo and oro, is a type of circle dance originating in the Balkans but also found in other countries - Romania and Moldova, Bulgaria, FYROM, Montenegro, Turkey, Israel (horah), Klezmer music (horah).

The dancers were dressed with Traditional Costumes and they were so beautiful!

There was a funny moment when I only remembered the Greek word for “wine”, but I forgot how “red” is and I ended up having a glass of white wine, which I don’t like so much, so some of the girls were happy with an extra dose.

Something that I’m excited about is that for first time I tried riding a horse! It’s a nice feeling to share energies with such a noble animal.

I feel in love with the Greek talent of having fun and enjoying to dance. Yesterday during the event I’ve noticed a lady dancing, then I couldn’t stop any more watching at her… or staring at her with the biggest smile my happy face could produce. I was only thinking I love those people so much, I want to hug them all…

After her dance, the lady came to me and started: “κορίτσι μου”…… bla-bla-bla, something in Greek, so I only told her “δεν καταλαβαίνω”. Then she went to her daughter asking her for translation and came back to me telling me “I love you!” and hugging me. My answer was hugging her back and “κι εγω σ’αγαπω!”

*** For some time now I’ve been practicing in my life the belief that Universe is my best friend and actually it helps me a lot to enjoy life on Earth. Steps are easy: