Showing posts with label Mani garbage disposal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mani garbage disposal. Show all posts

Thursday, August 12, 2021

Greece: The Good, The Bad, The Reality

'It' began about two weeks ago when a heat wave coming from Northern Africa, blanketed Greece, taking temperatures in some places to new record-breaking heights.  

Hillsides are tinder right now in our area

Then just more than a week ago, 'it' seemed as if our adopted country had gone up in flames as at one point there were more than 150 wildfires threatening historical sites, forests, agricultural land, animals, olive groves and homes. 

And if that wasn't enough, three bank ATM's in our area were bombed. Yes, the blown-to-bits kind of bombed that your read about happening 'elsewhere' . . .'it' is the kind of thing you don't expect to happen in your own area.

Burn bans are in effect every summer - simply too dry here

Then this week - just as we had thought we might make it through this 'tinder' season with a continuous water supply-- 'it' was apparent that our reserve tank was precariously close to empty. Not a good thing with the surrounding countryside literally 'crispy dry'.

'It' --  is the reality of life. Those experiences and events, both good and bad, that can happen anywhere we live, even in The Mani, a place that most the time it feels a bit like paradise. So many of you have written asking about how we are doing and/or sending good wishes, that I am using this week's tale to update you on life in Greece:

The Wildfires

For days we watched firefighting efforts

Unless you've lived on the moon or had no access to media in recent weeks you have seen the horrific images of wildfires sweeping across Greece. They are not exaggerated. It has been, and continues in some areas, to be horrific. 

Some of the most severe blazes were/are on the island of Evia and others north of Athens and here. . .just down the road from us in the Peloponnese.  We spent several days watching fire fighting planes and helicopters travel back and forth to the Messinian Bay for water which was dumped on blazes to the east of us.
Milea village in January

The fire closest to us threatened a large monastery on a hill above Milea, the small village, about 10 miles from our home. Fire fighters got it under control last Thursday but it came back to life on Friday and appeared to be heading our way.

'Don't know if you are home but there is a big cloud of smoke rolling over your hill. What's with that?' texted my fellow American expat friend Jean who lives down the hill from us.  She had her 'go bag' packed shortly after sending that message! But before I got ours ready, the wind had kicked up and turned the blaze towards the port city of Gythio.  You might recall, two weeks ago I told you about setting off for Crete from Gythio, about an hour's drive southeast of us.

Fires in the Peloponnese - FB photo

Residents and tourists in Gythio were evacuated Friday night. Luckily it was brought under control before reaching the village and their displacement was short.

By Saturday it had turned again and was headed towards Lagada, the village about a 10 minute drive south of us.  Our volunteer fire fighters (well, trained and devoted) put out a call for help to build a fire line and stop the flames. More than 120 villagers responded to save the town.


Gythio, Mani - photo from FB

Sadly our Greek headlines are reporting a number of individuals have been arrested in the country and are believed to have set a number of these fires.  A special prosecutor is organizing an investigation into the fires and possible arson links between them. 

Today, thunderstorms, instead of bringing much needed rain,  are starting new blazes to the north and east in Greece.

The Heatwave

Even the cats laid low during the heat of the day


While its not completely unusual to have temperatures soar in Greece this time of year, the duration of our high temperatures sucked the life out of us.  Chores and errands were done in the morning and we retreated inside to the air conditioning until sometime in the evening when we ventured out again. It is hot - very hot - in Kalamata when the temperature hits 110F.

In the good news column, tourists continue to flock to our area though and the heat didn't deter them from enjoying the beaches.  A number of  'tourist sites' like Ancient Messene closed in the afternoon when temperatures got too high.

The Attack on the ATM's


Remains of an ATM in the Mani

One thing that has been completely out of the ordinary this year is the recent bombings of three ATM bank machines in two nearby villages.  We aren't talking a simple break and enter, but a blow-it-to-bits kind of bombing.  Two ATM's were hit a few weeks ago and the third last weekend.  Law enforcement is investigating and we locals are shaking our heads, as this is one of those times we'd like to say, 'never happens here'. But then it does. . .  proving again that bad people do bad things everywhere, including in our slice of Greece.

Water Woes

Filling our near-empty tank with water, a summer routine


With wildfires being the main focus these days, the last thing we wanted was to run out of water this summer, as we have in the past two years.  But as fire fighting efforts continued there were scattered reports of low water and no water throughout our area. By this week we were among those who had no municipal water flowing into our water tanks.  We finally resorted to buying a load of water but it appears (knock on wood) that our drought was a temporary one and we have water flowing again. 

And, the Good News

Just off the main highway near homes - last year.

I saved the good news for last!  About this time last year I wrote a post critical of both water supply and garbage disposal in our area. Trash collected by the municipality from our community dumpsters was being dumped on private land and mountains of trash had been allowed to collect there.  That mountain is gone this year. The municipality stepped up to the plate and took action.

The Green Corner - a good news happening here!

And a group of dedicated volunteers - Greeks and expats -  have gone to work creating a recycle center, staffing it and making it work.  What a joy it is to make a weekly trip to the Green Corner as it is called knowing that our trash, separated into various categories, really is being recycled!

Thank You!

So our thanks to those of you who've contacted us asking if we were safe or sending good thoughts our way.  It is so nice to know we have such a network of friends out there!  We are safe. And aside from some smoky skies and maybe a moment's pause here and there, we were untouched by the nearby fires. We are saddened for all those who have suffered as result of the fires. And we are thankful for the more than 20 countries that sent assistance to Greece in way of equipment and man/woman power to fight the fires.

The Scout has been scouting out another adventure for us, so we are off again soon.  Hope you'll be back with us for another tale or two of  travel and life as boomer American expats in Greece.  Stay safe and well ~

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Thursday, August 6, 2020

Greece ~ Beyond the Bougainvillea

 'You are living a charmed life,' commented a friend on a recent Facebook post of mine.

The Stone House on the Hill 


The comment was in response to this photo of bougainvillea on our Stone House on the Hill. It does show the serene side of life here. And I'll admit I prefer to write about and photograph the best parts of life here, often times omitting -- both in this blog and on social media -- the more negative realities of 'living differently' in a foreign country. 

We live above Agios Dimitrios


The last three years we've chosen to make our home in a rural area of the Greek Peloponnese, a place that reminds us of  those vast empty lands of the American Southwest. In the Mani, as our area is known, the sweeping and sparsely-populated wide open spaces are bordered to one side by towering peaks of the Taygetos Mountains and the Messinian Bay on the other. Small villages and isolated churches  are scattered randomly about the rugged landscape as if jigsaw puzzle pieces waiting to be put together. We are among a couple dozen expat Americans and several hundred expats from countries on this side of the Atlantic..

Most of the time our expat life here, while not always 'charmed', is a good one.  But we've learned that life in this Grecian paradise isn't always as perfect as I am guilty of leading you to believe it is.  So this week I'm focusing on the back story - life beyond that bougainvillea.

High and Dry

On the other side of the wall on which the postcard-perfect bougainvillea clings is our master bath. Its shower pan is lined this summer with rather unsightly mismatched plastic buckets - our crude attempt at recycling gray water. 

The Stone House on the Hill

When we bought our Stone House on the Hill and naively asked about its electric, water and sewage we learned that tap water was provided by 'the Municipality', DIMOS as it is called. It didn't occur to us to ask about the source, strength and guarantee of that water supply. 

We did ask those questions the following year when we turned on the taps and no water came out. 

The reserve tank is hidden by bouganvillea and oleander bushes


That was our introduction to water shortages in Greece. One of our first home improvement projects was installation of a 2,000 liter (528 gallon) reserve tank to provide back up to the 1,000 liter tank on the roof.  (Most homes being built now days have one or two reserve tanks, another for rain water and some even have gray water tanks. Fifteen years ago when our home was built that wasn't the practice.) 

Nevertheless, our reserve tank has served us well. It has been drawn down as the water supply diminishes in the summer but seldom did we go completely dry.  Well, that was until this year:

Our plumber and assistant  work on our water tank on the roof


With little or no snowpack in those towering Taygetos and little rain (which did make for a rather 'charmed' winter) we are experiencing one of the most severe water shortages to hit this area in recent years. The standard routine for DIMOS during scarce/low water times is to ration water by turning off the source of off water to one area and providing it to another for alternating periods of time. This year the balancing act of sharing water has been put to the test.  Many times there has been little if no water in many areas.

Adonis, our modern-day Water God


As I write this post we are waiting for the water truck to bring a supply of water. Our taps were dry again this morning. It will be the sixth truckload of water we have purchased from a private vendor in as many weeks. We've severely curtailed our water use this summer - taking dash-in-and-out showers, doing laundry less frequently and setting up a makeshift system of collecting gray water to use on desperately water-starved plants. I've let most of our garden go - tomato plants and sunflowers are withered and dead. Flowering plants are struggling.  The small amount of gray water helps keep the remaining plants alive. 

Water from our reserve tank passes through this filter to the house

Our lives seem focused on water or the lack of it.  I ask The Scout, 'Did you check the tank this morning? Can I do a load of laundry?'  Since learning one toilet flush uses 10 liters of water we flush judiciously. And let me tell you that COVID 20-second handwashing can use a ton of water!!

DIMOS released water 10 days ago for a day allowing our tanks to fill.. Today we again wait for the water delivery.  We've realized how much we taken this precious resource for granted. 

Refilling the water bottles at the drinking water faucet

Our drinking water comes from community fountains, believed to be spring-fed, located throughout the villages. Those community faucets provide water for drinking and cooking. This year as if the water shortage wasn't enough some residents began questioning the quality of the potable water. Water tests showed high levels of bacteria and no levels of chlorine. They've called on DIMOS for answers and help.

We went to fill the drinking water bottles today in the village and found the water taps there were also dry.

A Widespread Problem - No Solutions in Sight

Greece is known for the sea that surrounds it


An article highlighting the water problem in Greece appeared in National Geographic, May 2020. It carried a dire prediction by experts that unless some new sources of water are found (desalination plants are among the suggested solutions) Greece is going to find itself high and dry in the not too distant future.  The article points to a number of Greek islands where water demand is outstripping the supply. Seems like the same is happening on the mainland as well from our point of view.

In Greece, according to this report, households account four 14 percent of water consumption. It is one of the highest water users in the European Union with nearly 40 gallons (177 liters) being used per person, per day.  I can assure you not that much is being used by us this summer!

What A Bunch of Garbage!

Another less-than-charmed side of life is: garbage. Piles and growing piles of garbage.  

Do-it-yourself-garbage hauling is the practice here


We don't have curbside garbage collection in this rural land for several reasons: no curbs, narrow roads and homes scattered in such remote areas that it would take months to complete the pick up.  So we take our garbage to communal bins, usually located on the outskirts of villages and along highways.  We know when 'tourist season' is about to start because bin area is pristine.  But DIMOS seems unable to keep up with tourism's impact on the community's infrastructure and often garbage overflows the bins as it has been doing this summer.


Welcome to Agios Nikolaos - a contrast with my normal photos of town

A visitor to our village, Agios Nikolaos, will pass this garbage collection site on one of the roads leading into our village.  A sharp contrast to the beauty of the village itself, don't you think? We often wonder what tourists think as they drive into the village for the first time. We 'locals' don't like this sure sign of summer but protests and complaints to elected officials continue to fall on deaf ears.   

After the garbage bin welcome you arrive in Agios Nikolaos


We'd given little thought in the past to where the collected garbage was taken. We'd believed it was to a 'landfill' or dumping ground out in a remote area of the region. That was until a cry went up for help a few weeks ago went up from residents living just a few miles/kilometer from us alerting the entire area to a disgusting dumping ground a few hundred meters off  the main road and a residential area. 

Mounds of filth just meters from homes in our area

While nearby residents and other concerned citizens take their pleas for help in cleaning up and removing this dumping ground (alleged to be private property leased to DIMOS) through various levels of bureaucracy the putrid smells it generates are matched only by the thousands of flies that swarm among the piles of rubbish.

'Mounds of filth'

Our local landfill spills out beyond the fenced property on which it located

Again it isn't just our area of Greece, waste disposal seems a major problem throughout this country.
Back in 2013 the BBC News did a story on Greece with the headline being, 'Mounds of Filth'.  I suspect the tourism folks weren't pleased! From that article I learned that Greece buries 80 percent of its rubbish - and back then, that accounted for twice the European Union average.

The article went on to say that in 2005 the European Commission took Greece to court to force closure of 1,100 illegal landfills but eight years later 70 of them remained open.  Brussels launched a second case against Athens threatening a daily fine of 71,000 euros.  I suspect from the size of our local 'dump' that the threat of fine had no impact on behaviors.

Just this week a report appeared in the Greek City Times saying that by 2022 the island of Santorini plans to close 14 landfills and is opening a recycling facility.   Let's hope the idea catches on elsewhere. . .like in The Mani!

Beyond the Bougainvillea

Bougainvillea, oleander and olive trees icons of Greece

So as summer moves into its third and final month, tourism is picking up in our area. Home construction continues to boom with at least a dozen new structures visible from our Stone House on the Hill.  Business is picking up after the COVID lockdown and it appears at least a portion of the tourist season will be saved.   

Our bougainvillea and side deck


Parked cars line the beach access roads now. The temperatures are in the 80's and the sky is blue. Life is good in Greece for tourists and residents alike. . .but it isn't always charmed. I will continue to tell you of the wonders of life (the good does outweigh the bad) here but every so often I plan to provide a touch of the reality as well.  I know a number of you reading this are planning to move to Greece as soon as the world's situation allows.  You've asked our advice and today I offer one more piece of it: look beyond the bougainvillea.

Next week we are back to travel. We've got a palace just a couple hours away and I plan to take you there! Until then, thanks for the time you spent with us and where ever you are in the world: stay safe.  

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