What a day!!!! Today our sleepy village awoke with a mission. A day filled with variety, with all our senses on alert, we all flocked our way to the village square to greet the film crew of one of the State owned channels, ERT 3, who were filming an episode of a regular Sunday afternoon programme "Sunday in the village". The crew had been here for three days filming the beaches, the nature reserves, the archaeological sites and many other things, but today was different. The village square had been transformed into what seemed like the set of a film. Traditional taverna tables and chairs had been set up to seat the village spokesmen and women, on one side of the square. On the other side, housewives displayed the local gastronomical delights they had made specially for the day. On each corner dance groups from the surrounding area, and our own, were on standby to show the local dances and in the centre, the orchestra was ready to start the day of festivities. The smell of the different meats cooking on spits filled the air. It was a day to be proud, a day to help, to be part of a community to show who we are to the rest of Greece. As I stood by, waiting to see my daughter dance, I found my feelings to be mixed. I have always been an active member of this community, someone who loves to see people unite in the name of tradition or culture or re education, but as an onlooker, I felt some disappointment. It seemed to be a question of being seen. People who rarely ventured from their homes, who rarely become united, who seldom take part in local activities, and hardly ever show community spirit, were now "showing" the world who they were. This was not negative , though...no...This was the good part, the part where people showed that when need be, they could become one. This was our day, a day in our lives, where we could say, look, we are part of Greece too. Look at the views here, Look at the deep Ionian see which lightly touches our sandy shores. Look at our fisherman, our farmers, our families. Look at what we offer. Yes, dressed in their Sunday best everyone turned out for the cameras. Everyone was there. Then I knew what that feeling was ...disappointment... knowing that tomorrow everyone and everything would be the same as yesterday.
