Coming Home to Greece, Island of Kefallonia

I took a relaxing stop at the Greek Island of Kefallonia on the Ionian sea. Here I was a guest of Paul and Heather Mansour, friends from Scranton who were renting a house on the island with children Sam and Sofia. Paul and Heather are no strangers to playing fabulous hosts, and this was no exception. Other guests included Steve and Miki from the UK, Heather's mom Lynn and sister Amber who were superb in the baby caring role, and the Kakoulides family. Vasili, Demetra, their children Socrates, Maria, Joanna, Joanna's husband Philip and their daughter Isabel. This was a full house. Paul kept infectious enthusiasm high for either hikes, swims, eating events (as meals become in Greece) or day trips to different sights on the island. Heather, with another child on the way, was astonishingly calm and graceful in simultaneously interacting with adults and children.

Paul's decision to come to Greece was the product of collaborating with Vasili several months prior with some ouzo. Vasili and Demetra are from Greece and moved to the states years ago, where they raised their children on Long Island. Vasili owns some Souvlaki and Camera shops in the NYC area. I had known Paul for a while, he and his brothers and sisters now all live in Scranton. The first night Vasili was in Greece gave me the opportunity to hear about how they met.

Paul's father died when he was young, and he and his siblings were not enrolled in school, being homeschooled by their mother before there was a word for it. Paul met Vasili through his mother, and from the age of 12 worked, Full Time, at one of Vasili's camera shops in NYC. It was there, Paul said, that he learned alot from Vasili. The work ethic, how to run a business, how to be successful. These are all traits of Paul's that he credits Vasili for instilling in him. The two recounted stories of working together, how Vasili criticized Paul for knowing too much about the cameras and trying to teach customers instead of selling to them. How Vasili would fall asleep on the train home and ride it back and forth several times before waking up. Vasili talked about how proud he was when Paul took the SATs and decided to go to college, it was as if he was talking about one of his own children. This was their first time in Greece together, and Paul was obviously excited that he could share his time here with his good friend Vasili. Vasili equally excited to be in his homeland and sharing it with Paul and his family.

The island is very steep and mountainous, it has clear seas, sandy beach coves and heavy scents of flowers and herbs. And the whole time I sat and watched interactions, the most beautiful thing about my time there was seeing the human bond between Paul and Vasili and their families. One saying I had heard to inspire my travelling was something like "you can always lose your money, but you can't lose your memories". Paul and Vasili and Family had shared plenty of memories together, and now creating these new memories in Greece is something that will forever be special to these families.