Starting one’s day obviously entails waking up, coffee, and bread.
Then a quick walk to the Museum I’m volunteering at in time for 0900. The walk can be hazardous. There are pigeons everywhere. Smiles and calls of καλημέρα (“kaleemEra” good morning) make for a pleasant walk. If I’m early I may stop in for a frape, basically iced coffee. This is explained to me by my dear Museum supervisor who notes “I know Americans don’t have this”. One may believe her if you only ever heard Dad call it a “frappy” this was mostly in order to then ask upon receiving one if it was a “crappy frappy”. The Dad jokes know no bounds.
On arrival I usually do one of the following: Cataloguing. This is much of what we do as we check what the museum says it has and what it actually has. Hopes versus reality really. Rosetta Stone versus neolithic bowls. This and checking everything is in the right place such as the old maps. In addition I check that the English descriptions are grammatically correct and the spelling is right. Now, I can do one of the previous very well. Grammar is my thing, you don’t really get a choice having studied ancient languages (also note: Ancient Greek and Modern Greek are not the same). Spelling is not my thing, it never has been. But with the advent of the internet it’s rather easy to check various words. But shhh, I’m a vital resource to the museum, they can’t simply replace me with a machine! Can they..? There are also young things. They are on educational trips and partake in activities including historically based arts and crafts and pretending to be archaeologists. Less the snakes and whips of Indiana Jones, more the shovels and find excitements of Time Team.
Lunch.
Now the interesting thing that I kind of knew about the Mediterranean but never really understood is the relaxed nature of everyone. My supervisor has me take the afternoons off. She even says that I don’t have to say if I don’t want to come in one day. Wow. My ancestry made up of staunch hard working, Northern European Calvinists are screaming at me. It’s weird. It’s too hot to work, even in air conditioning. And it’s not even August, that’s when the real heat sets in. The general feeling in the museum is: you’re helping, you don’t have to be here, go have fun. Go to the beach. In fact I’ve mostly been advised to go to the beach.
But Pa and I take the afternoons to go explore. More posts will follow with our activities so far. Walks, attractions, museums, and day trips mostly. There is even a place to rent a bike. Never fear though, there is no risk for this turning into a bike touring blog.
attempting residence 