Mytilene

On Monday I exited the ferry at 8:00 am.  In the harbor there were dozens of life jackets floating around, I assume the drifted down from the north about 40 miles away.

I had my large suitcase and an extra large duffle bag in tow behind me with a backpack on my back as I made my way around the harbor in search of a place I could buy a SIM card for my phone.  Cobble sidewalks and parts that were not wide enough to get through without picking up one of the bags made me a bit of a spectacle.  Finally found a Vodafone shop and purchased a SIM card.  Even though the lady banged away as the computer for a solid 10 minutes to do the setup, she beat the service at ATT which takes 1/2 hour, while the person waiting on you talks about sports and everything else under the sun.  Now that I had a phone I called up to the team coordinator in the north, since their was some confusion on whether I should get a rental or have someone pick me up.  She said the driver would be there at 2:00 if I wanted to wait.  I had some folks to visit so I decided to hang around Mytilene.

First I stopped into a tour office to ask where I could find a place to store my bags for 5 hours.  They said just leave them here.  I then went in search of the gentleman who owns a shop where he makes hats.  I had bought one from him almost 2 years ago while visiting the island. How is it possible that you can establish a connection to someone after only 20 minutes, when they don't speak English and you don't speak Greek?

I have thought of him often as representing something old world as he showed me the various equipment that he uses the make the hats.  I was not sure where the shop was, I showed the label in the hat to several other shopkeepers who gave me directions that eventually I ended up in the right neighborhood.  One gentleman finally stood up from drinking coffee with a friend and told me the person I was looking for died 1 year ago, he was 91 at that time, so I assume he was 90 in the picture above.  I suspect those that I talked to earlier might have been reluctant to give me this news. He led me to where the shop was, down an alley where all the shops looked abandoned.  He then said his son-in-law owns a shop on the street where we started.  He offered to lead me there.  I went in and showed the lady the hat and label.  I saw she recognized it and I surmised from her reaction that she was his daughter.   I told her I was sorry to hear about her father.  Told her he was a kind and gentle man.  As I talked I was not sure how much she understood, but she got very teary eyed and expressed appreciation for me stopping in.  

After that I grabbed something to eat, a large bowl of yogurt mixed with Apple pieces and topped with banana, walnuts, raisins and honey.  Those were the ingredients I remember.   When the server explained it to me, I thought he described 2 dishes.  I went over to sit by the harbor later hoping to digest what was in my belly.  After an hour I walked up the hill to the Pyrgos Hotel.  I greeted the manager Katerina who we got to know 2 years ago.  She was happy to see me, but was a little disappointed I didn't have my better half with me.  She told me to sit in the common room while she got me coffee and some little cookies.  

I met a young woman from LA that was working in one of the camps.  She had been there for about 4 weeks and was taking a break by staying at the hotel.  I also met 2 young ladies from the UK that were part of a medical organization.  One was a surgeon.  Not much use for surgery so she was the supervisor for her group.  The other was a medic.  Both of them were Muslim.  

Have to cut this post short the editor is acting funny as I type on the iPad.