November is the start of the olive picking season in Greece and having olive fields in Chalkidiki, me and my family are also involved in this. This year I invited more people to come volunteer and participate in the olive picking. Marco from the Netherlands, Heloise from France, Cam from Australia, Fam from Norway and Dimitris from Greece joined me, my sister Villy and my mother in the olive picking process. The weather helped in making it more enjoyable as it was unusually warm and sunny.

• Photos taken during the weekend
• Invitation for the event

Labels: Experiences

The second SCI workcamp I have ever participated in was once again in the Netherlands. It was in a center for a special kind of Yoga, Okido Yoga, in Laren, Gelderland. I was very excited right from the beginnng when I expressed my interest to become a coordinator of the workcamp in a meeting of VIA (the dutch brunch of SCI where I am active in). I thought it would be a unique experience, especially as I would get to know more about a different culture and way of life.

14 volunteers, all from different countries and from different age groups were there. Jasmin from Uk, who had been in the center 15 years ago was coordinating our work, Donja from Netherlands and me from Greece were workcamp coordinators, Rita from Australia, who had introduced the center to SCI, Mojca from Slovenia, Peg from US, Sabina from Croatia, Leena from Finland, Slavo from Poland, Damiano from Italy, Merve from Turkey, Anita from Austria, Sanna from Sweden and Sarah from Ireland. Mizue from Japan was responsible for the center and Yoga classes and Yunko was our great cook and massage specialist.

We had a great time during the workcamp doing garden work and , but also learned many things: ways to take care of our body, do exercises the right way, Shiatsu massage, health, nutrition, eastern culture and food. The work in the garden we were mostly busy with was also interesting, as we saw innovative ways of recycling material, making compost, creating brick steps, doing cement work, and making a pond and a little hill. But most importantly we got to know new people plus did many things together including the trip to Amsterdam and Zutphen, playing games, dancing with locals and sitting around the fire in the evening and a bicycle trip that I missed.

A report about the workcamp in the local newspaper (in Dutch)

Labels: Experiences

I have been participating since May 2007 in Couchsurfing an internet community for hosting people and being hosted. Through this amazing community I got the chance to get to know many people from all over the world.
One interesting experience I had was participating in the creation of a short reportage for the German TV Channel RTL prepared by Mirjam. I hosted Ulf from Köln in my house in Amsterdam and was filmed.

Other couchsurfing Videos:
Mega Channel Morning show (Greek)

Labels: Experiences

As most of my friends know, my relationship with cycling is quite special. Many Greeks consider it weird that I was using it as my main means of transport in Athens. I was also participating at Podilates cycling community in order to promote cycling as a means of transport in Athens.
I was also very excited when Evridiki asked me to contribute with a mini-interview (pdf) at Kathimerini's weekly magazine "K" in her article on Cycling in Greece. (also available in English)
Having moved to Amsterdam, a paradise for cyclists, I decided to start a "Cycling Report from Amsterdam" blog (in greek) in order to communicate things I see here that might be interesting for the greek cyclists. Stay tuned...

Labels: Experiences

This is my last week in Athens. In 10 days from now I ll be living and working in Amsterdam. I am not sure I have realized that. I am flying on September 11th - watch out terrorrists! Don't ask me how long I 'll stay, time will show. I feel excitement for the new life but melancholy for what I am leaving behind, mixed with some stress for the last minute arrangements.

Labels: Experiences

This year I had the chance to visit 4 islands in Cyclades, Greece (Sifnos, Folegandros, Antiparos, Amorgos) as well as pass by 3 more (Naxos, Paros, Despotiko). Here are some tips if you are interested to visit them.
Sifnos: Accommodation and bike/car transport is hard to find at high season. Be prepared and book in advance. Nightlife is lively with many bars for most tastes. Watch out for a great sunset at the port.
Folegandros: The camping is nice and quiet even on August 15th. Don't miss the great beaches Katergo and Aghios Nikolas as well as the paths that lead to them (alternatively you can reach them by boat). The main village (chora) is cute and cozy. If you 're lucky as I was, you might run into the festival with live music in the main square.
Antiparos: The cave is very fascinating, 90m deep in the ground. Boat trip to Despotiko island nearby is a must there are some surprises on the boat waiting for you as well as a great sandy beach. The camping is noisy, cool and funky. Having a vehicle of your own (bike is all right) will help to explore the island.
Amorgos: You will enjoy it if you like calmness, . The whole island is about views but the view from the monastery is amazing! The beach of Mouros is probably one the best ones I have ever seen: Great waters and so many caves you can swim from one to another. Distances are quite large and a car might be more preferable than a bike. There are also many paths for walkers: There is a path practically to every place on the island. The main village is also cozy, traditional and not too touristic.

Labels: Experiences

Greek newspaper TA NEA included recently an article titled "Getting to know the world through volunteering" which included experiences from Greek volunteers volunteering abroad including me (pdf)! I talked about my participation in a cultural workcamp in Nijmegen, the Netherlands some years ago through SCI .
Other journalists found the idea interesting and I was given the chance to talk in the National Greek Television NET which made a similar report on this in the central news, interviewing 2 volunteers and the coordinator of SCI Hellas, as well as SKAI (ΣΚΑΙ) Television which invited me, representing SCI Hellas to a morning show to talk about volunteering.

Labels: Experiences