A Rich Quality of Life

We're only seeing a subset of a subset, when we're dealing with the town's people of Kerames, on the Greek Island of Crete. But we find them interesting and probably representative of the rural Greek population. There's only a couple of hundred Kerames residents at most; some elderly, lots of middle age, a handful of young people, and a few kids.

Given what we've seen, they're of modest means. Most of the vehicles are small older cars and trucks. Most of the homes appear minimalistic compared to many in North America, but were well maintained and adorned with brightly coloured flowers and bushes. When we did a Saturday morning walk through the narrow village streets, many people were busy fixing this or cleaning that. When we greet them with ka-li-me-ra (good morning) and a smile, they responded in kind. When we greeted the old guys sitting at the outdoor Cafe, they responded in unison. Life here appears to be simple, and the pace slow.

Even though some are not financially rich, our sense is they have a rich quality of life. They have a connection to their neighbours and the town as a whole. There are no street names or numbers. They know where they live, work and play. Some stores don't have a sign. The church doesn't have one either; it's just their church. The bell tolling every half hour reminds them it's a central part of their life, and the role it plays in the community.

Even though these folks live in town, many are also connected to the land and the soil. Just outside our door, there are small garden plots that they walk to. They tend them in the morning and evening, avoiding the heat of the day. Beside the garden closest to us, there is a pen with 3 goats, while some others have chickens or hens. There are orchard plots too, with olive, pear, fig and pomegranate trees, with some of the olive trees appearing maybe 100 years old or more. Here and there, the fences are covered with grape vines speaking to their love for wine.

The people are connected through language; most only speak Greek. To meet them on their terms, we use our Greek language book to learn a few basic words and phrases, like thank you, good morning, good afternoon, ...... Sometimes the response is more engaging than we can understand, and we're at a loss for words. At other times, they may try to greet us in English, but are also lost for words if we engage them further in English. In the end, we default to a smile, and go on our way with a pleasing feel of acceptance.

These folks are truly rich; they live a rich quality of life under the Grecian sky.

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