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| Corfu, Greece |
Kelly and I left Kefalonia for Corfu, where I am writing from. We took the Dolphin, which is a fast boat that looks like an airplane fuselage someone plopped down on the ocean. I should have taken a photo. Anyway, it must travel 30 to 40 mph along the water, the fuselage lifted above it by huge underwater fins. The ride is very similar to an airplane in turbulence; it bumps, dips, and jerks from left to right. In contrast to my fraidy-cat reaction to plane turbulence, however, I liked the Dolphin ride. There’s something comforting about knowing you can only drop the height of one swell.
In Corfu, we found a taxi at port and told him to take us to Paleokastritsa, a cute beach town Kelly had been to previously. We told him we were looking for a room to rent. In the Ionian Islands, and elsewhere I suspect, a room for rent (or let) is its own entity. It means a modest room for rent with no hotel amenities like a reservation system, concierge, or window screens (Kelly currently has 21 mosquito bites…she counted. I’m not too far behind). Because the rooms have no advertising, the taxi drivers take you to the places that give them a kickback. Our driver took us to the rooms of George Mikalas. George met us by poking his head through the cab window with a huge shit eating grin on his face: “Where you fruuuuum?”. When we told him California, he said, “Ameeeeeerica! You are from Ameeeerica!” (Other gems came later, such as “You know why I like Biiiihll Cliiiihnton? Because he likes too much a tha wiiihmen (big expectant laugh).” George proceeded to hard sell us (his view - sweet talk us) into taking a room from him for a few days, but tell the taxi driver we would only stay one night (so the required kickback would be less for him). Somehow within 15 minutes of that, we ended up prepaying for 4 nights of room rent and 3 days of car rental. When it was over, Kelly and I felt a bit violated, but it actually worked out very well; we got great deals on both and it’s worked out great. You can see the picture for yourself…my best way of describing George is a drunk, Greek John Malkovich. He’s got that same uncomfortable, lingering stare of a serial killer. He’s controlling and overbearing, but he’s actually a pretty nice guy who owns half of Paleokastritsa and waves to everyone who drives by.
Kelly’s mission on our trip is to save every stray animal. This is done largely with food. She bought a large bag of cat food that she puts out for every hungry cat she sees. One such cat was outside our room in Paleokastritsa. She ate about a third of the food, then walked a few steps towards a tree and started meowing. It was a determined, non-random cat call. No cats came, so we were puzzled, until a further inspection of the tree revealed three tiny kittens hiding in and about the tree roots (Swiss Kitty Robinson style). Okay, even I thought it was ridiculously adorable: a cat calling for her kittens to come eat, and they’re too frightened to leave the tree. The mother looked so relaxed after she had eaten and knew her kittens were eating. Kelly left the whole rest of the huge cat food bag by the tree. See the pictures for cuteness proof.
So that’s the cats, now on to the dogs. There is an organization called Care Corfu that Kelly had contacted about volunteering. They rescue abandoned dogs and house/relocate them. There we met Chip, who is a very nice German fellow who cares for the dogs by himself part time. Seventy dogs, one guy part time. You can imagine it’s not quite doggy daycare. The dogs were in 10 cages, about 6 to a cage, give or take. The hill to the compound walks right by all the cages. I felt like fresh meat arriving at a prison. The dogs went crazy from within their cells, inciting each other to more and more violent barking. One even whispered that I smelled pretty…I was a bit scared. Most of the work involved is feeding them and cleaning their shit, so that’s what we did. I was on shit hose duty. Their shit is super mushy and runny due to the food they’re given (which is actually very expensive and supposed to be very good for them, despite the side effect). Anyway, it hoses easily, so while Kelly and Chip let the dogs out of their cages to give them some attention and feed them, I sprayed the shit out of the cages. I discovered I’m quite a skilled shit sprayer. I already had the natural ability, but now I’ve got the experience behind me.
Most of the dogs are flea and tick ridden, some are painfully skinny or sick, and all are running around in their own filth. Minutes after I had cleaned the cages they were again filled with poop. It was incomprehensible. I’ve never seen dogs poop so much. Among 6 dogs in a cage, they achieved like 0.5 ppm while we were there. Despite having no bowel control, the dogs were all amazingly sweet. Their barks were large, but they just wanted a chance to show their love by jumping up on you or licking your hand through the cage. The organization is very successful too. I was getting depressed until I learned they turn over the dogs quite aggressively. They are shipped by the dozens mostly to Germany, where owners there fix them up and adopt them. Many left or were about to leave in the two days we were there. Unfortunately, Greeks treat their animals like things. The animal pretty much exists for human purposes and nothing else. The impression we got is that there aren’t many Greeks coming in to adopt the dogs. But hooray for the Germans. Their model of dog treatment should really expand and become the dominant culture in all the worl…um…maybe not.
On our second and last day of volunteering, we arrived too late to help feed/clean, but we brought 40 bones and 9 balls as a treat for the dogs. Chip thanked us and assured us he would ration them out the next morning (Kelly and I agreed we would let Chip give the treats to the dogs, rather than be the heroic Americans that come parading in with goodies one day, and Chip’s still just the guy that cleans their shit every day). Doggie volunteering was clearly Kelly’s interest from the get go. I found it rewarding as well. It felt good to give the dogs some attention (and treats), and also to see how a non-tourist part of Corfu works. Makes me feel we are traveling and not just vacationing.
A main draw for coming to Corfu was to visit Kelly’s friend Elisa, who just gave birth to a baby boy. We visited with her and little Ermano (who is very small and cute), her husband Costas (whom she met here and who inspired her to live here ever since), and the rest of the extended family that are visiting. The company was great and it was very nice to be in a real house, it’s been a while. See requisite baby pictures on the photo site.
Kelly and I also chatted (at length) with our first English-speaking couple, Gary and Mandy (man I hope Mandy’s the right name, I was really drunk). They summoned me over to their table at dinner while Kelly was in the bathroom. It took three tries to pry me out of my food and drink coma, but eventually I made it over. (We had exchanged niceties with the couple a few nights before, when we were both feeding the cats at another restaurant as the waiter shooed them away). They’re from Nottingham (England), and were extremely friendly. It was very refreshing to have a conversation that didn’t start with me imitating a washing machine or cat (in an attempt to find a laundromat or cat food).
Today is our last day here, and we visited a castle I wanted to see and went to Aqualand, the local water park. Pictures from the castle were impressive, with views of crystal clear (deep) water very far below. The waterpark was very fun as well - we ate ice-cream and had an enema, courtesy of the steepest waterslide. Tomorrow we ferry to Brindisi, Italy. Greek food has been very good, but we’re both eagerly anticipating Italian food…and scenery…and ambiance.
