My Virtual Reading Room

Asbestos Gelos

“My Cretan connection began the summer I was wandering around Europe
alone while waiting for my wife to finish her medical residency.  No
particular agenda just doing what came next.  I went to Crete to see the
famous archaeological digs at Knossos and to look in on a graduate
school program at the Orthodox Academy of Crete.  When I was ready to
step off the paths beaten down by tourists, I went to a small village at
the western end of thee island- a fishing village at the end of the
road: Kolymbari.

      I found a room for the night and rose before the sun the
next morning to go running.  The day was already hot, so I dressed only
in black running briefs and shoes.  (It’s relevant to the story to note
there that my hair and beard were white even then.)  My route took me
past the main kofeneion (coffeehouse) of the village where men sat
outside socializing.  They ignored me.  I was surprised.  They seemed
surly, hostile, and unwelcoming.      Later, when I mentioned this to my landlord, he said, Oh
no, Cretans are very welcoming to strangers- it is an old tradition –
philoxenia.  But in your case the men at the kofeneion did not know what
to make of you.