DAY 14 - near ARKITSA

14) MONDAY, 11 JULY 1977 : 0 KMS. - BEACH NEAR ARKITSA

The weather today was very different  from  yesterday .  A breeze blowing from the sea let us feel more comfortably as I didn’t feel  having headache  and skin burning like yesterday . So we decided  to stay for another day here, I then had time for my diary noting and cleaning.

Before having the rest of  watermelon instead of rice for breakfast, I rushed to the open-air toilette, near oleander trees on  the other side of our campervan.  There was overgrown shrubby and  it was out  of sight enough.  We had the important equipment needed for this trip – a foldable shovels for digging into sand as to help freeing  the wheels  if our campervan got struck and for other purposes as well.

Photo : Bing images search

We went swimming in the sea to cool down a little bit after lunch. It was windy  today and very big waves that also brought along many  red jellyfishes to the beach.  I saw them floating and was careful not to let them touch my skin and kept warning Tilo and others for attention. Unfortunately it touched my legs accidentally and caused burning and itching, I had to come out immediately to wash my legs, presently full of swelling and itching rashes.  With the help of medicated ointment  against poisonous insect bites we brought along I applied it over rashes on my legs.  It was very effective, I used it once when I got stung by a bee blown inside our campervan through the window. This medication helped to kill the pain immediately. It also helped me effectively this time.

Kedros beach, ARKITSA - Photo : Bing images search

Under water in this area, there were small  water plants growing on the rocks. They were pale pink, almost white  ( completely white when dried up),  strangely attractive. In a way, they looked like many white threads of stone attached to the top of rocks,  spreading out like a group of tiny umbrellas. I collected some but they were  very fragile and breaking apart. On the beach  there were also pretty small pebbles.  After jellyfish incident, I walked along the beach to seach for beautiful pebbles and could collect a large pile. I selected to keep only some unique pieces. In my deep thoughts,  if every stone is gold, it would be worthless as they are everywhere covering the beach.  I saw also natural sponges on some parts of the beach, but they were contaminated with sand in it everywhere. 

Gypsy caravan - Photo : EUforum / Bing images search

In the afternoon, gypsy caravans (most having no fixed residents) with motorcycles came to camp under olive trees, growing all around the area from the main road to the beach.

Gypsy -  Photo :  EUtimes / Bing images search

Gypsy children looked a bit ragged, gradually came closer to have a look at our campervan. Without talking to us as we did not speak the same language, I gave them some sweets that we have. They ran away after having got some sweets.  I thought that these children did not have much contact with other people, they had strange gestures with puzzled eyes.  In a negative way (may be not fair and accurate),  I did not trust these Gypsy children and feeling to be careful  as we left the back doors opened while sleeping at night for fresh air and better ventilation.


 SPECIAL NOTE

 "Romani people"
From Wikipedia.org, the free encyclopedia

The Romani are an ethnic group living mostly in Europe. Romani are widely known in the English-speaking world by the exonym "Gypsies" (or Gipsies) and also as Romany, Romanies, Romanis, Roma or Roms; in their Romani language they are known collectively as Romane or Rromane (depending on the dialect).

Romani are widely dispersed, with their largest concentrated populations in Europe, especially the Roma of Central and Eastern Europe and Anatolia, followed by the Kale of Iberia and Southern France. They arrived in Europe from the Middle East in the 15th century, separating from the Dom people; the ancestors of both the Romani and the Dom left the northwestern Indian Subcontinent roughly 1,500 years ago.

Painting by Vincent Van Gogh "The Caravans Gypsy Camp near Arles"

Since the 19th century, some Romani have also migrated the Americas. There are an estimated one million Roma in the United States; and 800,000 in Brazil, most of whose ancestors emigrated in the nineteenth century from eastern Europe. Brazil also includes Romani descended from people deported by the government of Portugal during the Inquisition in the colonial era. In migrations since the late nineteenth century, Romani have also moved to Canada and countries in South America.

The Romani language is divided into several dialects, which add up to an estimated number of speakers larger than two million. The total number of Romani people is at least twice as large (several times as large according to high estimates). Many Romani are native speakers of the language current in their country of residence, or of mixed languages combining the two.