Workcamp Novice

It was a bit of a leap in the dark, but I had seen the Kalikalos brochure last year, and had thought then that a week or two working in the sunshine with congenial people would be just the thing for me. Due to pressure of work, I had to cancel my trip last year, and so when invited to come this year I jumped at the opportunity.

I had heard that the Pelion (or Pilio) was beautiful, but nothing prepared me for the scenery as Jock drove me up from Volos and over the mountains to the east of the peninsular where the two "campuses" that make up Kalikalos are situated, in two mountain villages, a couple of miles apart.

I went first to Anilio - a wonderfully rural setting on the edge of a village that straggles along the road, houses clinging to the hillsides, which are clothed in forests of chestnut. I arrived, as I so often seem to do when I go on holiday, on a cold wet evening when I needed all the clothes I had bought from England. The villages are quite high (500 metres or so) and so have a milder climate, with rain at times. Over the next few days it warmed up and we set to work to finish the jobs outstanding before the first group of workshop attendees appeared.

This meant building a shade out of timber and bamboo matting outside one of the buildings to give some more shade for when the heat of summer comes. We also worked to bring the group room into shape - which involved putting back in place the roof, walls and floor that had been stored away safely over the winter. The result was a beautiful space big enough for dancing and movement, and with one side open to the forest.

I've now moved to the other part of Kalikalos at the village of Kissos. This is on the edge of the village centre, and one is much more aware of the community around the centre. The same daily rhythms of breakfast, meeting, work, lunch, beach, work, dinner apply as at Anilio, with lots of delicious vegetarian wholefood cooking. I am sure I have lost weight on the trip, and feel a whole lot better than I did a week ago. This is a great place - I hope to be coming back again some day.

Rob

May 2010 2 week work camp

The first group arrived in the two centres last week to get the places organized for the workshops that start in June.

The places are closed over winter so all the gardens have to be replanted and rooms opened and cleaned out. The tents and yurt need to be put and the kitchen reorganized and cleaned.The big project going on here is rebuilding the roundhouse where most workshops will be held. Lots of cleaning and unpacking are needed.

Then there is the daily rhythms of cooking, buying food and cleaning up that must be done alongside getting the place ready.

All this is done by a group of people from various parts of the world who for the most part do not know each other. There is a mix of ages from 19 to sixty.

An important part of the daily rhythms is to have a morning sharing to keep us connected to each other and to our own inner emotions. Its a time for planning the day ahead and dealing with practicalities as well as clearing tensions.

We also gather for meals holding hands for a moment to be present to the group and the food and gratitude for being here.

Of course there are the rhythms of socializing. Most days include an afternoon at the beach and socializing over meals. I especially like it when the 2 houses get together for a meal which leads to guitar playing and singing. We also had an evening meal out at one of the lovely seaside retaurants.

This place is set in some spectacular mountain scenery that overlooks the ocean. The bus ride in was long and very winding but stunning in its beauty. The tiny village is quaint with its fountains and cobblestoned road and square. Roses are blooming everywhere amidst the greenery. The weather has been sunny and just hot enough to be comfortable.

I wait for the next week to unfold.

Sharyn and daughter Kylee from New Zealand

October Workcamp: A Picture Potpourri by Anna

Erholungsparadies

Als ich 3 Tage vor meiner Ankunft einen Lastminuteflug nach Thessaloniki buchte, hatte
ich keine Ahnung, was ich eigentlich 3 Wochen lang in Griechenland machen soll.. ich
hatte blos diese gewisse Sehnsucht der stressigen Grosstadt, der herbstlichen Kaelte
und den unfreundlichen Berlinern zu entfliehen..

Ich suchte nach wwoofing farms und aus irgendeinem Grund war Jock der einzige, der mir antwortete. Das war mein Glueck und das erste mal, dass ich sagen kann " gut, dass ich nie rechtzeitig plane.."

Als ich in Thessaloniki ankam, war ich mir nicht mehr so sicher, ob es das wirklich war, was ich gesucht hatte. Doch auf dem Weg von Volos nach Kissos verfluechtigten sich meine Zweifel Stueck fuer Stueck. Die kleinen Doerfer sind wunderschoen- kein
Vergleich mit den Staedten- und von den Bergen aus schaut man auf tuerkises Wasser.
Der Busfahrer und all die Dorfbewohner, die er auf seinem Weg aufsammelte, waren
freundlich und offen.


Als ich schliesslich den Weg durch Kissos nach Kalikalos fand, wusste ich, dass es das
war, was ich gesucht hatte- mehr sogar!
Zwischen Rosen und Haengematten im Apfelbaum schaut man aufs Meer und kann den
wunderschoenen Sonnenuntergang beobachten. Es ist eine Mischung aus beruhigender
Stille und lebhafter Freude, die diese magische Atmosphaere ausmacht.

Die Gegensaetze von Gitarrengesang am Lagerfeuer und Trinkspielen in der Taverne, Meditation am Morgen und Capoeira am Abend, gemeinsamen Lachens und gemeinsamer Problembearbeitung, Schlafen in der Haengematte, Entspannen am Strand und Gartenarbeit sind es, die diesen Ort zu einem besonderen machen.

Vor allem die wunderschoene Natur und die intensive gegenseitige Wahrnehmung, die
jeden einzelnen von uns zu einem festen Teil der Gruppe machte, haben mich begeistert.

Traumhafter Strand



Anna Steger, Berlin

The Jeff Foster Week

The buzz around here had been, for several weeks, that the end of September was to be something special. The Jeff Foster Week was highly anticipated by staff and guests alike who had arrived even a week ahead of time. Billed as a discussion workshop on non-dualism, Jeff's seminar drew the largest number of participants this year and of very diverse nationalities. The eclectic group congealed wonderfully and truly fortified the Kali Kalos mission of community.

The discussions themselves included significant insights into the singular nature of existence, lively exchanges of Q&A, deeply emotional introspection and even periods of silence, pregnant with the wisdom to which the group was collectively awakening. The tenor of the week was one of unity, even as guests were divided between the Kissos and Anilio campuses, which resonated throughout the group meals (both in preparing and eating!); evenings of song and poetry around the fire and exploring together the nearby hills and beaches. The final evening brought out a joyful celebration in spite of the goodbyes as the family sang and danced together and enjoyed a delicious spread of home-made, whole wheat pizzas!


It was a wonderful week-long event that underscored the potential of KaliKalos to create and facilitate a space where people come together in the name of spiritual study and find something even greater in the common spirit of the whole. Unforgettable!

Adam Asplund, Arizona

P.S. This is me making pizza at the Workcamp the following week!

Pelion Fruit paradise

One of the delightful qualities of this wonderful area where we have the Kalikalos living-learning Centres is the abundant fruit that is everywhere for the picking.

When we arrive in mid May to open up our Centres and erect our outdoor group spaces, there are apricots and plums. Then in mid June come the cherries. First the amazing black ones and then the red-orangish ones. Until you have had a big plump black cherry from one of the Pilion cherry trees which abound in the Pelion forest, you havent really tasted a cherry. Round about mid July the cherries are finished and then come the peaches and nectarines soon after joined by plums and then pears. And all through July and early August our mulberry tree is producing in quantity. I'm always amazed at just how much fruit one tree produces.



We sited one of our yurts right under our mulberry tree, not realising that the mulberries dropping would stain it royally. They did, but we now have a net for catching the mulberries and guiding them down into a bucket where we can go out at breakfast time and scoop them up, wash them and eat them on Greek yoghurt with honey. Food for the gods! As I child I sang "round and round the mulberry bush", never knowing that actually there was such a thing as a mulberry and it grows, not on a bush, but a solid shade tree. Wish we had more of them. They taste a bit like a black raspberry, but sweeter and juicier.

Around mid August the figs are ready. We have both green and black (dark purple actually) figs in this area. I prefer by far the black ones, and generally on my way down to the beach I gorge myself on them from the many trees beside the road to Ag Ioannis.

In early September the figs give way to the grapes and apples. Pelion is the main apple growing area for Greece, but I'm sad to report that the farmers confine themselves to just two species: a red delicious which is anything but, and a green apple, also nothing to rave about. Some enterprising person could introduce the Cox orange pippin, the Macintosh and the Bramleys to Greece and make a packet.

The grapes are prolific. I planted a few vines to climb up the roof of our covered patio at the Anilio campus in 2004 and this year there are so many grapes that we have had to prune heavily the vines to keep them from snapping off. Wish we had a juicer, we could have had buckets of grape juice. And if only we knew how to make wine.

The patio at the Kissos campus is covered with Kiwi fruit--yes they do grow well in Greece. However, they dont ripen till November, by which time we'll have closed up shop for the season, and somebody else will be enjoying them.

What amazing riches of fruit we have here! I wish I had photos of more than just the three trees you see above. I could show you more photos of pear, fig, grape, plum, cherry and mulberry trees laden with fruit. The area is truly a fruit paradise!

Jock Millenson, Kissos Focaliser

Kalikalos - Roses and Pears

I have only been at Kalikalos for a few days now but already feel very much at home here. The weather has been cool and sometimes wet but this makes me feel very cosy when we're all gathered inside for our meals.

The view here is beautiful... the blue sea stretching into blue sky - when I first looked I couldn't find where the sea and sky met...This morning, watching the sun rise through the clouds, we could see pools of molten gold floating on the water where the sun reflected - a lovely way to begin the day.

The roses are in bloom and all the plants are so green, every branch seems to be laden with fruit! Hernan and Susan have harvested the ripest pears and Ali has used some to make pear chutney and a yummy pear crumble...(just what we need for this kind of weather!)

Yesterday a group of us walked down to the beach to catch the sea breeze and take a walk by the sea...once there, a few were inspired to have a swim - (the water was actually quite warm). I felt like a dolphin diving through the waves! What amazed me most was how clear the water was - you can see right to the bottom, it felt like you were in a life size aquarium.

We are still hoping for the sun to show her head and have been invoking the Greek God, Helos (god of the sun) to send a little more our way...(but I must admit, for me, it's still quite nice to feel the seasons changing) - I'll keep you posted!!

Natasha

The photo: Hernan and I singing a very soulful song!...:)