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The main thoroughfare on Hydra has a grand name, but most people refer to it as 'Donkey Shit Lane'. There is no mistaking why it is called this - the sight and the smell of donkey poo give it away. However, no one complains. The donkeys are the engines of the island as they carry food supplies, building equipment and baggage up to the houses that throng the hillsides. And to give the donkey men full due, they try to stay on the poo, sweeping it up whenever they can. However, if they are leading four donkeys laden with supplies and just one of those creatures shits, and another donkey train is heading downwards, with another one just behind, no one wants anyone to stop and sweep up the excrement. 

But Donkey Shit Lane is more than a transport link. Its rugged steps are used by those heading to school, work, shopping trips or just down to the port to meet friends. In the morning it rings with the Kalimera Chorus. Everyone calls out Kalimera, even the school kids hail each other. I love my morning walk down the steps and call out Kalimera with as much gusto as everyone else.  

I've lived in places where people barely say 'Good morning' as they trudge out to get the morning paper. And worse, they don't even give eye contact for fear that you will want conversation, and that might lead to a coffee, and then you may want a dinner at their home. They appear genuinely afraid that a glance is a commitment to so much more. 

So the Kalimera chorus is one of my Hydra joys. It is also one of the few Greek words I can call out and the locals understand me. Occasionally, I try a 'Ti Kanete' and I know how to answer if the phrase comes back my way. Sometimes, I grow adventurous and actually spout a Greek phrase I've constructed from my basic vocabularly. However, the recipient often looks at me blankly, hearing only that I've emitted strange sounds that resemble nothing they have ever heard before. What follows is an awkward pause as we look at each other, my Greek words on the floor between us. 

For now, I'll stick to the Kalimera chorus.



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