Monday Monday..

 Monday 27th June  - Hora 

So last night the wind picked up and was the same this morning. So I put the radio on, R4 courtesy of BBC Sounds and I started to get little breaks in the broadcast. I think I have been told these islands use line of sight internet connections and in windy times, they can be unreliable. Anyway after a while it went dead and yes the internet was down. It was a bit early so I decided to resort to the book I brought with me, Life after Life by Kate Atkinson. I ended up finishing it off. I could see I had a wifi connection but that’s as far as it went. I was not sure how the internet is plumbed in here, but I knew there was some kind of coaxial cable upstairs in the bedroom, and some little box thing which is just plugged into the mains. So I did a hard reset on both, no go. Eventually the internet did come back, it becoming unusable reminds me, I need to think about what I would do if that happens! It’s worse at the moment as I am being told to stay inside..,

So it was time to walk to the medical centre and have my check up. I do think the sunburn is easing, which is good of course. Alongside the road, there were these fir trees, they were in the open and were all bending towards the left, which I reckon is South. We know from the Serifos information that the winds they get here are from the North so that checks out. A bit further on there were another two trees, in a sheltered spot, these had grown vertical and true. 

So you will want a microscope for the next photo. What you can hopefully see is the wash house mentioned in the guide again. I have to say it’s not in a very convenient place. You can hopefully see that from the photo. You can also see where the water  runs down the hill behind the washhouse. I must admit I wondered what they would do in summer where clearly no water would be running down.

The last photo for today is the bottom of the valley from the washhouse. You can see lots of trees, there are some canes down there, it looks like it might be moist. This brings me neatly to the question about drinking water on this island. After waiting my turn, I got to see three doctors, I saw Merope and what might have been another junior doctor and clearly a qualified older one. They were happy with my progress, keep out of the sun, and you will be much better in a few days. So after this, I asked about bottled and tap water on this island. Well it turns out, this island gets all of its water from the rocks. There is no industry or agriculture that could pollute the water. So it is perfectly safe to drink. The other thing is Serifos doesn’t have the same population explosion as more touristy islands. The doctor also said this was really the only island that he would say the water is ok to drink. But on Sifnos, he said you have to be more careful as some of it can be desalinated. I know Hazel and Mike do drink the water but they filter it with two devices. So when I get here I won’t be buying bottles of water anymore. The doctor said it’s all about trust and faith with the corporations that supply things like water, vaccinations and so on…

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