Why I like Village Life
* You know your neigbours and often you can rely on them when you need help.
* It is not far to drive or walk from your house to the butcher, the
doctor, the newsagent, the café and baker.
* You meet people you know on the Main Street.
* There are social clubs, elderly citizen clubs, health clubs, nearby and
filled with people you meet on the main street, and at other events.
* The local shops often stock local produce
* You get to know the best places to go for a walk and even if you don’t
meet people you know those you pass greet you and stop for a chat.
* Then all villages have their specialities.
Australia
Sitting in our village bakery and care in Australia we find ourselves
surrounded by locals, though there may be some tourists there as well. On the
whole thought these are the people we live amongst. At the tables they are
chatting in small groups, the coffee machine is hissing, the take-away people
lined up and the girls serving them. Some of the folk at the bales are
chatting, some are glancing and one of two Victorian papers, each with a
different political bias. Some have rowdy children others are grandparents
trying to instil manners into their grandchildren. Some are talking about stuff
I would find frivolous others about things I would disagree with, if I was
sitting at the same table. But, what is good about this is that here we can all
enjoy our caffe latte’s together, alongside each other. This is our community.
Greece
The Greeks enjoy village life and have perfected ways to make sure they
keep on enjoying it wherever they are.
On a Plane in 2002
I’ll never forget my first journey on Olympic Airlines from Australia to
Greece. First I watched while they endeavoured to smuggle on board all kinds of
sizes and shapes of packages, and then on the flight I could not believe the
familiarity of passengers who wandered into the ‘kitchen’ areas and asked the
airline crew for drinks between meals, and if one got a privilege they all soon
found out and wanted the same. They talked all night, standing in aisles. And
in Singapore, huge number demanded wheel chairs for the long corridors. Takis
says I exaggerate, but I’ve watched in amazement, on more than one trip as Singaporeans
produce fifteen or more wheelchairs for these flights.
On a Ferry in 2007.
‘You’re not long on board a Greek ferry before life
begins to take on the aspects of a Greek village. Large gossip groups arrange
themselves, and smaller card-playing groups formed, the boundaries between
these organised activities continually breached by children playing chasey.
Soon everyone, or so it seemed, began smoking, even in non-smoking areas. We
found chairs but soon someone came up and asked us to move, so that they could
sit closer to their relatives. In the end we had to sit on upright chairs in a
passageway.
Nearby an aggressive young couple had claimed a
whole bench, with bags spread out on either side of them. When the guy wandered
off Takis enquired about the seats each side of the glorious, dyed-blond young
woman. She answered that a crowd would be joining them later. She then slowly
removed her shoes, slipped into something more comfortable, arranged a few bags
for pillows, and lay down, sleeping nearly all the way to the next island.
Finally, when there seemed no chance that she would be challenged, she wandered
off, presumably to fix her hair in the ladies. She came back to make a few
phone calls, still with no-one else coming to claim all those nearby seats.’
Each Small Community is Special
We're lucky, we move from one village to another, and we are resident long
enough in both to get familiar with the people and events going on there.
In one of our villages there is a tourist steam train passing through.
And it is your obligation to stop at the crossing and wave as it passes by.
In the other village in Greece there are special saints days, and everyone arrives to
party and meet each other the night before.
But my Friends are also My Village
Even if you don’t live in a village and would like to, like the Greeks you can take it with you.
For instance, I often say my friends are my village. They are my special
people. With them I sit and chat over coffee, we have our own favourite places to
go to and I know I can rely on them if I need help.
Hello Julia,
ReplyDeleteA lovely post, interesting about the seats being taken and nobody turning up! They do say it takes a whole village to bring up a child, we need people around us even though I do like the peace and quiet. It is interesting sitting at a coffee shop and listening to people's conversations.
Happy days.
Bev.