Lesvos, Day One
So here we are, on Lesvos, Finally! We arrived at night after a long and tiring trip. The challenge now is how to fit ourselves along with the luggage into our super tiny red Suzuki. With squeezing and gymnastics, we made it!!
The darkness of the night hid almost all the features of the island, anyway it would have been difficult to process anything given our fatigue from the journey.
When the sun rose on the island, it revealed it’s splendour. The view from our new home was surreal. So much so that you simply can’t get a bad shot, it’s just impossible!
The island has a lot to offer: mountains, greenery, the sea, and it is the only place in which I have seen so many chubby clean happy cats! It is a perfect place for tourism, yet it has almost run out of tourists.
Due to the refugee crisis, the highlight of the news was only that. It is portrayed as a problematic area with the crisis over shadowing all of its allure. Lesvos news is about how many refugees are arriving, the number of deaths from the displaced trying to reach a safer place and the environmental crisis caused by the lifejackets and dinghies. One can’t help but create a bad image of the island. I myself was guilty of that. But, reality this time is better than expectation. The beauty of the place is matched with that of the people. They are warm, courageous and understanding in spite of their sorrows.
We talked to a couple of shop and cafe owners on Lesvos. With a drop of tourism by more than 80% their businesses are suffering. It is amazing however, how they didn’t turn this suffering into hatred or anger towards the refugees, in the contrary the majority have been understanding. What frightens them is that with such low tourism, they themselves will become the next refugees.
The resilience of the islanders is allowing them to think in innovative ways. One of the cafe owners is using the wood from the boats to create furniture. The dinghies are being used to proof the ceiling of storage places on some farms.
Tomorrow is going to be a big day, we are volunteering to clean the beaches at Lesvos at shallow water. This is going to be new experience for us all. At the shores of Lesvos, this is were it all begins.