“Do you
travel for work or vacation?“
“Work.” I answered to the asking man after a little
doubt.
„Are you
a photographer?“
„No.“ I smiled down on a camera, laid down in my lap.
„I am not
a photographer.“
After this short conversation
with the man from a plane I first started to wonder about the real purpose of
my journey to Athens. I would not name it “business”, however it was not a
vacation. I flew there as a volunteer for the meeting of partners of I’mappy
project.
Let me explain that. It is a
project of 6 partners, from Greece, Turkey, Lithuania, Sardinia and Slovakia,
who are trying to create a map and an application, designed for young refugees.
ADEL Slovakia is there as a Slovak partner and the one, which through I got to
the project.
This is the short description: IM’MAPPY is an
integration map especially for young refugees. Project is made for young
refugees who don’t have access to social and basic information about the asylum
country or has no parents or families. IM’MAPPY will pin Youthwork
organizations that shall provide social and basic information to young refugees
as well as able to provide language lessons.
Do you want to know more about
the project? – (I am working on the article ;) )
And if you are interested in my
trip, continue with reading.
I arrived something around 8:00 PM
my time. That means 9:00 PM in Greece. Count with the time I wasted by finding
my way from the airport, it was pretty late when I finally got to the hotel
Zafolia. Nevertheless, ADEL girls were waiting for me in the entrance hall,
prepared for the night out.
I met the other participants of
the project that night. I also found out, that people live during the night and
wake up in the lunch-time in Greece.
The next day had a truly work
spirit. Do you know how much a head can hurt after the 9 hours long meeting?
Especially if you are a little over motivated person. Anyway, there is not a
thing that the roof-pool would not cure. And the view was definitely worth it.
And as far as we were in a Greece, the day was just about to start.
Do you
like the seafood? Yes? Then you should visit this place. It is located in a
port de Piraeus. There is a ship and a Greece writing in their logo. It says: ΥΠΕΡΩΚΕΑΝΕΙΟN.
Don’t you know what does it mean? Me neither. One of our Greece companions told me
it means “the big big ship” and the translator says: “superior”. It is a typical
Greece tavern, with a huge variety of sea things. We tried all of it. I may be a
shrimp lover, but I don’t consider myself to be an expert on the octopus and so
on. Anyway, judging from the smiles on Greece-girls faces, it tasted exactly
like it should have.
We were suppose to visit 3 centres working with refugees,
during our stay. 2 of them cancelled our
visit because of a growing flow of the people they had to take care in that
very moment. So we went to the last one the other day. We were welcomed by a
young woman called Ariana. She was skinny, tall and I noticed four golden
circles in her left ear.
„We
provide accommodation to the people, who were not given the “refugee” status by
now. We are helping them to fit to the society, to find work or education and
in some cases, to get out of this country. If someone does not gain the
permission to be moved to somewhere else during first 3 months, he is stacked
in Greece forever. That is how it works.”
Why not to stay in Greece? It is
such a sunny place.
„We have
no money in Greece. We basically live from the European Union foundations. It
is not the ideal place to raise a family.”
Yes, that sounds reasonable.
„Usually,
it is the woman with a little child who travel the first. Most of the time they
just walk. It is easier for them to get across the borders. Once when they
reach their final destination, they start sending applications to get their
husband there. We had a few families here that just walked away like this and
they keep sending us photos from abroad.“
Ariana was speaking about the
other possible accommodations for refugees in Athens, about all the paperwork
that has to be done for every single person and also about the normal day in
their center.
„They mostly
complain about the ban to cook their own food. All these people are given the
food in a canteen. They are suspicious about everything, which is not red. That’s
why we add the spice to every meal.”
I could not help myself but that
remind me of prison. Especially the rule that main door have to be locked
during the night. I knew that Ariana and others are aware of the fact, but they
could not do anything about it.
While she was answering the
questions, a few silent observers entered the hall next to us. They were
watching from a distance. A little girl in a yellow shirt dared to get closer.
She could not speak English, but even though, she tried. Her black curls moved
every time she hopped. Observing everything with her dark eyes, she obviously
did not see any difference between us and herself. She did not know that she
have any status or that there is a border drown by man, telling her what she
can or can’t. Right now she was trying
how far she gets before some of the adults call her back.
***
My
last afternoon in Greece. It is impossible to see whole Athens in a tree days,
but I did my best
street markets
Tzystarakis
mosque
two really nice musicians
Russian girl working part-time in
a souvenir shop
Plaka
After a few hours long tour
around the city I finally gave it up. I agree to follow my college Lucka, two
Turkish girls and our Greek guide Joanna. Joanna draw us all the best bars on
the map. The bars that are secret for the normal tourist. If you are planning a
trip to Athens, I recommend these: The Clumsies, Baba au rum, 7 Jokers ... or you can
also try the ones that we didn’t manage to go to. Drunk Sinatra, La Pairidaeza or
Booze Cooperativa ;)
Baba au
rum
The Clumsies
7 jokers
