Thomas spotted me as I passed through the town square, got up, shook my hand and gave me the two cheek kiss. Emily and I used to stay at his dad's apartment-hotel on our first and second trips to Patmos, which is how we know him. Thomas is the second of Nicholas' two sons and became the middle child in his late teens when his parents had a late-in-life baby named Anastasia – who herself is now in her 20's. Thomas – a friendly, good-looking guy with good English has a jewelry shop near the front of town that caters to tourists.
To his parents' relief he lives in Skala unlike his older brother Yiannis who married a girl from Kampos (a beach area about 10 minutes north) and lives out there – making it so they see him "less". You would think Yiannis moved from Los Angeles to San Diego.
Not one is the Kamitses family special to our family, but they are great sources of information and guidance. When Emily and I considered buying a house here in 2019, Nicholas told us not to buy from the sellers and that it wasn't the right house for us. He told us they are his cousins – so he knows what he's talking about.
Thomas and I usually chat in the evenings when I pick up dinner to-go or stop by the Christopolous Bakery near his shop, although this time I caught him at the Serampelou wine bar chatting with his friend Michaelis who owns the place. Thomas is part of whatever they call they the chamber of commerce of Patmos and as a result, he knows the number and composition of cruise ships coming on any given day, the total visitor count of the island, any proposed projects – all of it.
Thomas like most Patmians has a conflicted relationship with August. Patmos has a shorter tourist seasons that larger islands like Rhodes, Crete, Corfu, Santorini and Mykonos – all of which have airports. Patmians value two things that work contrary to one another – their small-island lifestyle and tourist money. Keeping Patmos what as-is means no airport -not that the island could handle it, though talks of seaplane flights have come up. Patmos has to remain inaccessible enough not to become overrun Santorini. As a result, for all those who want to make a year's worth of income in three to four months – which seems to be most of the island – late July and all of August are crunch-time. Only no one likes crunch-time. What Patmians seem to want is a steady, easy stream of visitors from May to September that yields the same amount of money or more than what they currently make.
I commented to Thomas how nice things are now with not too many visitors right now. The weather is great, the evenings are beautiful and the businesses seem busy – but not crazy.
"Yes, it's very nice right now," Thomas said. "It's great until we get to August, then [insert annoyed facial expression and shudder]".
I told Thomas how nice it is right now that so many of the tourists are domestic Greek tourists. I find them much calmer and pleasant than the Italian crowd in August. Thomas quickly corrected me, "Italians are much better guests than the young Greeks who come in August. When you rent to Italians, they check-in and you hear nothing until they leave."
Apparently, Italians are also kind to the rooms, apartments and houses they occupy. So while I may find their cigarette smoke and loudness on the beach a turn-off, lodging operators value Italians. Thomas explained the French and British guests that make up most of the international population right now are also great.
I asked where Americans rank.
"We don't get a lot of Americans," Thomas explained, paused and thought. "When we get them, they are also very nice. But you might be the only American I know staying right now."
Not that there are plenty of American voices walking around town – it's just that most come from the smaller-sized cruise ships that visit. Thomas said they make good customers but Americans and Canadians just don't stay as much these days.
Eirini and Alessandro who own Nectar, a Greek products and natural foods store by my house deal heavily in American cruise passengers. High quality olive oil in convenient-to-transport metal containers make up the largest section of their store. Like a lot of other Americans, Michelle wanted to bring Greek olive oil home as gifts and went to see Eirini.
"No, Americans do not like that olive oil," Eirini said as Michelle perused a bottle. "You have to know each nationality has its taste. Americans like light olive oil – that is too strong." Eirini guided Michelle to the most appropriate choices for Americans – which were indeed good, although I actually like the strongest olive oil that is more popular with Greeks.
Eirini – who along with her Cuban husband Alessandro are my favorite neighbors – is a great person to talk with anytime. Like Thomas, she knows many things and isn't afraid to share her perspectives. Also like Thomas – and just about everyone else – Eirini hates August except for the money it brings. She's already feeling the pressure increase as we enter July.
"It has been such a long day, you should see how early we started today!" Eirini exclaimed last night as Michelle was buying gifts for her cousins.
"Why? Were there early cruise ships?" I asked.
"No, it's not the cruise ships. Now our regular customers have arrived! They want everything and we come in early for them!"
Always the mixed relationship with financial success and having their lifestyle interrupted. I could go on for example after example.
Turning to the other side of that story, Michelle isn't ramping up for Patmos' busy season – she's preparing to leave. Today is her last day on Patmos. Tonight at 1:10 am we take the Blue Star ferry to Athens. We'll take a few quick hours for Michelle to see the Acropolis and then get her to the airport for her late afternoon flight to New York – from whence she'll go see cousins in Connecticut. Tomorrow night, the Blue Star leaves for the Dodecanese at 11:55pm, so I'll return the same day I arrive and avoid an overnight in Athens.
Michelle has spent the past two days mapping out all of her "lasts" and "finals" before leaving. For a small island, it's amazing how many experiences and places one can want to revisit before letting go.
Still, one important not yet done thing was nagging at Michelle – de-worming the cats in the yard.
I have been planning to save discussion of the group of cats who think of my house as theirs for another post once the kids arrive. After all, the kids were the ones to "discover" and name the cats last year and these cats are very important to them. That said, Michelle – who is a cat person – has taken to the group of three to six (depending on how you define it) cats that live in the front yard. Michelle classifies three cats as "the residents" because they are always at the house and a group of several more regulars as "the visitors". This is a finer distinction than any of us made last year, but then Michelle is far more involved in the cats' social world and daily happenings than any of us were last year.
Michelle spends significant time with the cats and really knows all of their personalities and habits. When they occasionally fight, Michelle steps outside to discuss the situation with them. She once asked one cat – a visitor with a bad attitude – to leave. He was allowed back the next day, but had to behave himself better.
Unlike last year, there are now enough bowls for each of the residents. Michelle felt this would reduce strife and jealousies and it probably has. Moreover, Michelle has befriended one of the volunteers who helps the welfare of the many stray cats around the island which includes sterilization, feeding and relocations.
Last week Michelle surmised at least two of "the residents" have worms. She did some detective work and learned one of the volunteers not only works at the pharmacy at the back of town, but that pharmacy sells cat de-worming pills. Last night Michelle bought a pack of pills and a few cans of wet food. She expected to get up this morning, feed each cat some wet food with a pill in the center and to be done. Instead, at about 2pm, she finished de-worming "the residents" and two "visitors". One very regular "visitor" refused the pill irrespective of vehicle: wet food, cream cheese, peanut butter, hollowed-out cat treat, sliced turkey and canned tuna.
The morning involved trips to the nearby grocery, pet shop and pharmacy – both for Michelle and me. Many bowls, plates, utensils and feet of aluminum foil were used in the course of five hours. One cat ate half a pill's worth of medicine and then retreated to a spot just outside the yard where she thought Michelle's attempts to continue feeding her pill-laced wet food was a game and batted at Michelle before she decided to eat. Another cat took multiple rounds of feedings and various treats to get a full-dose into. All-in-all it was different foods for different cats to get the job done, although apparently they all agreed peanut butter is bullshit.
While Michelle can now leave feeling good about the mitzvah she did for the cats – resident and visitor populations – she seems to regret it took so much of the day. My thought is she'll remember the accomplishment of helping these cats she has befriended much longer than an hour at a beach she's been to many times already. Then again, I'm the guy who after picking up a few things from the grocery and pet shop, retreated to the kitchen to eat my spanakopita and write in peace.
In the end, leaving Patmos is never a desirable position to find oneself. I like to focus on the really great time we've had the past three weeks which have felt both incredibly fast and cumulatively long. It's been a lot of good time together we would not have had at home. Moreover, Patmos is like some other magic universe. Being here is stepping out of reality and getting to live simpler and freer. Michelle often says she walks around and can't really fathom this place – sometimes it feels like a movie set. That's kinda' true – especially the area around my house.
Deciding what a time period meant is a big job and not one I plan to take on at this point. I can just say it was really good and will look forward to seeing what comes of it.
I can also say that as sad as I am to see Michelle go, I'm glad my time here isn't over. Another week until my mom arrives and I head home to get the kids. While time here alone, followed by the time here with my mom and kids – and then just kids will be very different than the last 3.5 weeks, each will be periods with their own value and joys. In a sense, it's like having four summers in one with enough time to enjoy each version.
I can only imagine it from the cats' perspective.
