Mission completed

We've moved shop! It took us 14 hours,10 people( four men to move the furniture, one to dismantle them, three people especially there to move the plants-each plant pot weights around 70 kilos!-two drivers, my brother in  law and my three oldest kids et moi to tackle the whole thing in just one day

my kids helped a lot

Enjoy the Ride

In life we do things, some we wish we had never done. Some we wish we could replay a million times in our heads. But they all makes us who we are and in the end they shape every detail about us. If we were to reverse any of them, we wouldn't be the person we are. Just live, makes mistakes, have wonderful memories, but never ever second guess who you are, where you have been and most importantly where you are going.

                                                             
                                                            Love, peace and enjoying the ride
                                                                              Eirini

Lessons in Compassion

    

 "As you have done it to these the least of my brethren, you have done it unto me" (Matthew 25:40)

"It is a lonely existence to be a child with a disability which no-one can see or understand, you exasperate your teachers, you disappoint your parents, and worst of all you know that you are not just stupid."
-- Susan Hampshire


About five years agoI had my first teaching experience at a school for teenagers with mental disabilities. It was during my brief career-one and a half year before I handed in my resignation, to be precise - teaching in a state school. I was still on maternity leave after giving birth to Achilleas,my youngest, there was still a three week time to go before I'd be due to teach in a regular high school. But the district supervisor called me in and said they were short of stuff and really,couldnt I just help for a while by cutting my maternity leave short?

 I was asked first because of the nature of the job, which would have to be chosen and not imposed. It was really a matter of four weeks, he said, no more than that , until this other regular teacher that was on leave would return to her post. Then I'd be able to go teach in a 'normal' high school in my neighborhood ( there was this law that stated that teachers with more than three kids had the privilidge of teaching in their own town).

I thought it would be an interesting experience.Teaching English to teenage kids with mental disabilities? Why on earth not? I had no experience or training whatsoever in teaching kids with special needs, but it seemed this was not a prerequisite. I was told their mental disabilities varied,that it was deemed of not the severe kind, whatever that meant. I just said yes,because I am all for trying new things and because frankly I like teenagers, they're my favourite group of kids, with or without disabilities.

So it is my first day at that special school. I am at the headmistress's office. She is kind and smiling. She's showing me a notebook where the previous teacher wrote her lesson plans. It read: 'The alphabet ,The numbers,Countable-Uncountable nouns'. A sigh of relief on my part. So they do know something after all. Suddenly the song I've prepared for that day seems inadequate but oh,well,I'll improvise. Somehow.

Then the nice headmistress hands me a key. I ask what this is for.''To lock yourself and the kids in your classroom'',she explains matter-of-factly. I stare at her, blank expression of incomprehension on my face. She goes on to explain how some of the kids have this tendency to sneak out of the classroom in the middle of the lesson, stroll in the corridors or even end up in other people's classes. No amount of scolding, rewards or punishment works, simply because they are not lacking in good intentions, they are lacking in concentration and impulsivity management skills.

 I take my key, my cd player and my own good intentions and head for the classroom. Walking down the corridor, my inner little devil whispers in my ear, in a cartoon-like manner:'' So is this why you left your precious school in other people's hands, to spend your days locked up in a classroom with a bunch of retarded kids? Well done,Eirini....''

I determinedly brush the little devil aside and walk on. A bunch of boisterous kids are waiting for me at the end of the corridor, curious faces beaming at me. They let me in and as I go on to lock the door and introduce myself, 14 teenage faces (9 boys and 3 girls) eagerly look on, submitting me and my attire to the strictest scrutiny. While we are in the middle of getting to know each other's names, the two tallest kids at the back start fighting, first they exchange verbal abuse then it's on to real action. I rush to the back of the classroom to keep them apart, while a boy warns me ''let them be Miss, they always do that''..

When they are done fighting and I get back to my desk,a whiny voice complains loudly about having misplaced her notebook while another boy shouts a swear word at noone in particular, then grinns at me sweetly. Then another girl comes up to my desk and loudly announces that she needs to go to the toilet,  right now or else she'll do it in her pants. I look for the door key to unlock the door and escort her to the toilet, but the damn key is not on the desk next to my books where I last put it! No doubt smuggled by one of the little rascals. The sweet girl that has to 'go' says 'Its OK, Miss, I'll waaaait''.As another fight seems imminent at the back of the class, I try to distract them by playing the song I have chosen for today, but when I try to plug in the CD player I realise that all the sockets in the classroom have safety plugs and to unplug them I need a special key from the headmistresses office, as I am informed.

Then it dawns on me: ''Oh my gosh, I am in charge of a class of toddlers on their first day at daycare! I'll never be able to teach them anything, let alone any English..'' As the fight at the back is raging on, a tall boy starts walking to and fro 'to stretch his legs' as he says, the girl that needs to use the bathroom starts whining again that she can't hold it any longer and in the middle of all the noise a sweet girl with Down's Syndrome smiles like a cherub at me at the front row. I stand there hopeless, then my eyes mist at my inadequacy and tears of helplessness start rolling down my cheeks, which I try to hide by fumbling with the CD player.

But the boy who is strolling up and down the classroom is more perceptive than I reckoned. He comes closer, leans over me and announces ''Hey, she's cryin''. Slowly the class gets quieter. The girl that has to go comes to my desk herself. ''Why are you crying, Miss?''. No use lying. ''Because it is my first day here with you and I so wanted to teach you stuff but it seems that I am not good enough for you''.  A boy suggests'' ''Try shouting at us or sending one of us to the headmistress's. It works''. ''But shouting gives me a headache'', I admit ''and the headmistress will think I am not a good teacher if I send one of you away on my first day here''. 'Have you taught any other kids before? '' asks the girl. ''Yes I 've been teaching  for 15 years at private schools and at my own school. But it seems I am not a good teacher after all, not for you''. Dead silence.The tall boy says, tentatively ''Maybe you should try more, maybe not give up right away.'' Then, in an act of magnanimity and before I realise what's going on, he unplugs one of the sockets by using a plastic pen of his own, another boy announces that he just 'found' the classroom key on his desk and hands it to me and the girl that has to go reassures me that she can wait until break.

Then we listen to this song . Eight times in a row. And on the eighth time,we're all singing at the top of our voices.

Then the bell rings and I unlock the door. The girl that had to go, comes over and says:

'' Next time we'll try more''.

Then she grinns and off she goes.

                                                         Love, peace and compassion
                                                                     
                                                                            Eirini

On Love

In both ancient and modern Greek there are three distinctive words for love: έρως,φιλία,αγάπη=eros,filia,agapi.

The following extracts are from  Martin Luther King, Jr’s teaching on love:

“Eros..a romantic love for your mate. It’s inevitably a little selfish. You love your lover because there is something about your lover that moves you. It may be the way he talks or the way he walks or the personality or the physical beauty or the intellectual power– but it’s always based on that there’s something that attracts you.”

“Philia…intimate affection between personal friends. These are people you like. It’s reciprocal love. You love because you are loved. You love the people that you like. People that you like to sit down at the table and eat dinner with. People you dial the phone and talk to. People you go out with. This is friendship.”


“Agape…is more than romantic love… more than friendship…it’s understanding. It is creative and redeeming good will toward all men. It is the love of God operating in the human heart. It is the overflowing love which seeks nothing in return. And when you rise to love on this level, you love people who don’t move you. You love those that you don’t like. You love those whose ways are distasteful to you. You love every man because God loves him.”

For me there are only two kinds of love. One is a selfish, mean, grasping, egotistical thing which uses love for self-importance. This is the ugly and crippling kind. The other is an outpouring of everything good in you—of kindness and consideration and respect—not only the social respect of manners but the greater respect which is recognition of another person as unique and valuable. The first kind can make you sick and small and weak but the second can release in you strength, and courage and goodness and even wisdom you didn’t know you had.

If you are in love glory in it  and be very glad and grateful for it. That’s about the best thing that can happen to anyone. Don’t let anyone make it small or light to you.



                                                        Try to live up to it.

                                                                      Love ,peace and light
                                                                                   Eirini

Vegeterianism and other ethical questions

''Only mediocrity is safe. Get ready to be attacked, and be the best''

Paulo Coelho

This is part of the view from my school balcony.You can also see a dead plant in my flowerbed right after my first unsuccesful effort to uproot it.

Given the fact that I love my plants and personally take good care of them, I was understandably upset about it. More so because I couldn't understand why on earth this particular one withered and died when it received the same amount of care as every other plant and all the rest of them are thriving just fine.

When I tried to uproot it -to plant a new one- I found out why.

As soon as I got hold of the root,myriads,legions of ants started crawling all oner my hands and arms, biting, yes biting me viciously. You see they had built their nest directly underneath the roots of the plant and I was about to expose their evil, destructive plans.That was what caused the death of the plant.They chose the poor shrub to serve them in the multiple role of cover,shelter and food .

They, of course, had every legitimite reason in the world to do so,their survival depended on it. But the fact remained that they killed another living thing, my plant, in order to do so, right?. And I am sure that if I let them, once they were done with it, they'd move on to the next one. And then the next. Until my entire flower bed was completely ruined. A flower bed that I have paid money for and devoted time and care for.

So of course the decision was easy.I uprooted the plant, unearthed the soil along with the ants and their nest in it and threw it away. And saved my flower beds from doom.

See, in all of nature the same pattern is repeated over and over again. Eat or be eaten. The survival of the fittest,etc etc. The ants kill my plant. Spiders or me kill the ants. Hell, I kill spiders too, but spiders, in their turn, might kill me. Certain people can't or won't kill spiders, just as certain spiders can't or won't kill me, but others can and would, if I let them.

So, what is my point here? My point is, God/nature could have made us self sustained, like, being able to feed and take energy directly from the sun and earth and water, no need to rely on other organic forms to provide food for us. But that's not the way it works. It never was and it never will be. Some animals eat plants, then they are eaten by other animals who are eaten by other animals. There are even certain plants that kill each other on their quest for survival. A never ending circle.

Now here comes the tough question:

What justifies my eating plants more than my eating animals?

First off, before I go on with my argument, let me begin by saying that I admire vegeterians./vegans Really, I do. Not because of what they eat, though. I admire and respect them because they have the courage of their convictions. I admire and respect them for their willpower, for the consistency between their beliefs and actions, for their compassion for the animal kingdom,etc. I love animals too. I fight for fair and humane treatment of them. I am as much appalled and opposed to the cruel and unnatural mass production of them in those farms of horrors as anybody else. Experimenting on animals is another issue that makes me seethe with anger and indignation.

So why am I not a vegeterian? I sure do fit the profile, after all. Actually, there have been many cases that I posed this question to myself: shouldn't I become vegan/vegetarian? Isn't this the obvious, ethical thing to do? 

Invariably the question was met with unease and opposition from my higher self, or soul or whatever you choose to name it. Having learnt to trust those gut feelings, I faithfully obliged, telling myself that not everything is for everyone. But this last time-a couple of months ago actually- that I asked the same question to my (shamelessly carnivorous) higher self, I received an explanation along with a 'No' and it felt right to share it with you, not because I would like to convert anyone to my way of thinking or justify my choices, but because I hope that maybe someone might be inspired by it and use it as a starting point for their own quest towards truth.

So I pose again the same guestion here: 

What justifies my eating plants more than eating animals?

What makes the life form of a plant less sacred and more worthy of destruction (and consumption) than the life form of an animal?

Is it the fact that the animal has more self awareness than the plant the deciding factor? But if awareness is the deciding factor, then would killing or abusing a severely mentally handicapped person who totally lacks self awareness and has no touch with reality be OK with you? I mean, why not? If the amount of awareness a living thing is capable of having decides their fate,then is killing a fish more justifiable than killing a dog, since the latter is more self aware? And what makes you thing that the fish is less self aware than the dog or that the plant, also a living thing, is lacking in self awareness more than both the fish and the dog?

''Oh, but the plant doesn't feel any pain when killed or abused'', is your next arguement. Well, to begin with, how can you be so sure of what a living form so totally different to your species feels or is capable of feeling or how pain is registered and felt by that form of life? For those of you believing in aliens,would you consider eating an alien or their offspring, dead or alive, if their life support systems and their ways of registering pain and feelings were totally different to yours and if they couldn't communicate their pain to you, just as the case with a plant (or its seeds) is? 

Did the ants in my flowerbeds suffer more when they died than the plant suffered when the ants were killing it? If you honestly think so,what evidence is there for you to support it beyond  the data of your own senses which are specific to your species and not to the plant's? Is boiling a lobster alive more abhorrent to you than having a radish uprooted and chopped up while it is technically still alive?

What's next? Eating flesh is barbaric and not at all befitting to a human being? One of the classic vegan arguments is that we have superior intelligence. With our consciousness and our intellect we should know better than to eat another animal's flesh. The fact that predators eat meat is because of their barbaric animal instincts, they claim. Opinions about taste,of course,are highly individual. Some Hindus who will not eat animal flesh readily drink their own urine for the sake of health. Whether each of the above mentioned activities is more degrading and disgusting than the other or any other is a matter of opinion. And as for the barbaric aspect of killing an animal, the fact that most prey are eaten while they are still alive testifies to the heartlessness of nature (compared, say, to the slaughter house, where death is comparatively much quicker). Also, to suggest that our higher consciousness makes us more superior to flesh-eating animals is clearly hypocritical, as it negades the very same animal kingdom worth that it supposedly tries to elevate.

The notion that humans are designed to be vegeterians rather than omnivores is not supported by scientific data, either. Here's a relevant study, to start with. Or if you' d like to investigate the ethical and planetary implications of being for or against vegeterianism/veganism,  this link   is a good starting point.

So for me,it's that simple:

On this planet every living creature, from the microbe to the human being, needs to feed by destroying and consuming another living thing, be it an animal or plant or another form of life. Usually,ruling out cannibalism, a species won't feed on members of its own species, purely for biological and survival reasons. Aside from this exception, the argument about what kind of life form should be consumed seems not an ethical one but a matter of individual taste, after all. Death is inevitable for all living things and part of life as we know it here. 

Treat every life form around you with respect and humanity. But please understand that when it comes to food, nature dictates that all is fair in love,war and feeding..

Love, peace and sharing

Eirini