FAMILY IN GREECE

Moving to Greece With Children: The Preparation

How everything was put together in two months, after six months of unavailing efforts

It seems to be just incredible, but it’s true, even the car was bought three weeks before leaving from France to Crete, for a one-year life project with children. Believing in our project was the most important thing, and trusting in life brings its own rewards. I presented the origin of our project in my first publication, let me tell you now the adventure of the preparation.

Before we reached the point of decorating the boxes neatly stowed in the car, we had to have a mind of steel to see our project through. As a matter of fact, all the efforts deployed over six months have been swept away by “lucky breaks” in the last two months before our departure.

Although the six months of preparation were unsuccessful, they were not sterile in the thoughts they allowed. It was an opportunity to reflect on what was really important to us, our desires, and above all, our objectives. Our thoughts focused on the deep aim of this project, its present and future difficulties, and the reality of life in Crete.

Find the place

In our project, we had mainly three constraints.

The first one was to find a place where kindergarten and primary schools are present. We wanted our children to go to Greek school, preferably on foot, to limit our carbon footprint. However, since the euro crisis, budget cuts in Greece led to a reduction in the number of teachers. As a result, many schools have been closed. In the countryside, villages with several schools are rare. That’s why this constraint has been the main one.

The second one was to be in town or the area of pediatric hospital care for our children.

The third one was to allow us to accommodate ourselves within the budget.

Finding information online regarding schools is difficult when you’re not Greek. The location of schools on mapping sites is often incorrect, and unless you go there to check whether the schools are up and running, it’s almost impossible to prepare everything remotely.

So, we had to go to Crete twice to identify suitable locations and get information concerning school registration. Both trips were a source of deep reflection, enabling us to better define our objective and avoid the mistakes of idealizing a place.

Our first search stay in Crete

During our first search stay, we identified two spots: the first in Rethymno and the second in Plakias. We chose these spots especially because of the central position in Crete.

We knew Rethymno but not Plakias. However, we loved the environment of Plakias and the proximity of Preveli, our favorite place in Crete.

Unfortunately, the two target locations, Rethymno and Plakias, didn’t convince us.

The charm of the school in Rethymno’s historic center won us over, but the incessant noise of this touristic town put us off. It is of no importance while on holiday for some days. But it’s another matter to live there. We realized this place wouldn’t fit us.

Although Plakias is gorgeous, I didn’t find the Cretan village soul I’d experienced elsewhere, and the kindergarten was in another village. It was a sticking point for us, as we were keen to walk our children to their schools in the Cretan village we hoped to find.

But what probably subconsciously turned me off in Plakias was the condescending, even disrespectful, welcome we received from the accommodation manager. I hadn’t expected such behavior in Crete, and at that moment, I started to see the post-COVID effects. The less-than-honest behavior of sailors and restaurateurs on the Sfakia coast made me realize that the Crete I had known long before COVID was not the same anymore.

We have been to Crete three times and never had a bad experience. Quite the contrary. But in two days of our fourth stay there, we were three times severely disappointed.

The deep aim

At that point, I began to doubt our project’s appeal. Was it too late? It has been ten years that I was dreaming about it. Time has passed. Maybe too much time.

Then I got to think: what motivates me more than anything else in this project to go and live (for a year or more) in Crete?

Of course, the Cretan welcome was the driving force, but that’s not the objective. This made us love the Greek language more than all, and that has been our guiding principle.

The Cretan mentality may be changing, as it is everywhere else in the wake of COVID. And even if I didn’t expect such behavior, I can’t reduce the Cretan mentality to these few unfortunate encounters.

A part of me may also have idealized this culture. In a project like this, pragmatism is as essential as taking a step back.

The Cretan kindness, especially towards children, is still there, and I knew this was the environment I wanted to offer my children. Moreover, allowing them to learn Greek and be bilingual was something close to my heart.

Back home, we started to look for other places and thought about the region of Apokoronas. We’ve already been there and loved the place. We decided to focus on one or two places during our second search stay: Vamos and Vrisses, places I was sure to find both schools.

Our second search stay in Crete

Back to Crete for our accommodation search, four months before our intended departure, we fell in love with both schools of Vamos, kindergarten, and primary school. And, cherry on top, we could find an apartment. All seemed to be perfect.

Unfortunately, whereas we planned to sign the contract for the accommodation, the kindergarten’s director told me there would be no place for our daughter because they intended to have too many children in September. She advised us to seek elsewhere.

Elsewhere?!

It was in May; we should leave in August!

Chaos returned to my head. We had three days to find a solution while being in Crete. This meant finding another place with both schools and a suitable accommodation.

That’s when we met incredible people.

I slept very badly the night after the news about the kindergarten. But I should know this island has the power to give us incredible encounters, as the one at the origin of our project — the “yiayia” of Damasta.

Another story of encounters

The day after, as we were looking for year-round rental accommodation, locked in our cars, our heads down on our smartphones, somebody knocked at the door and asked if we were okay. We told him about our search, and he replied he’d been living here for fifteen years as an expatriate.

What?? I jumped out of the car: this one will help us!

“Hey, are you cops?” he said, sounding half worried, half amused.

I explained our need to him. Then, we started talking, and he offered us to come for dinner and take the time to discuss and answer our questions.

He and his wife gave us lots of advice. Even if we had no solution at the end of our stay, their advice enabled us to make a good decision. Indeed, they suggested taking the risk of not having a place in kindergarten. They considered Vamos the most suitable place for us, looking at our needs and wishes.

Another encounter helped us a lot. Her name is Theano.

It was before coming a second time to Crete for preparation. I contacted her some weeks before coming, and she convinced me to visit Vamos. She recommended it to us not only because she lives here but also because of the city’s family-friendly environment.

Theano was of great support while preparing for our second search stay. She gave me lots of information and encouraged me as well. When we met, she supported us by listening to our deceptions and giving us hope.

It was not words of hope to help only but heartily care and belief in our project:

If it has to be, it will.

We also received support from an expatriate couple from our country, now based in Plakias (coincidence?). Their help was perhaps the most important for me, while my parents didn’t support us in this project and tried to discourage us. (I can understand that it’s not easy for parents to see their children leave the country.)

With extraordinary care and energy to spare, they helped us to make the most of our six months of thinking.

Determination

Back home after our second search stay in Crete, I was totally lost in what to do. Which place? How to find an accommodation?

I thought about everything the people we’d met had told us. I’m usually a quick decision-maker, but I couldn’t be so.

The only thing I knew was that we would leave in August.

I was determined. Nothing could discourage me.

It is a project we started ten years ago. It was the perfect opportunity to make it happen. Learning Greek has become a necessity in my heart. Enabling my children to experience this adventure as a family was also my goal.

Thanks to these experiences, I got rid of my unconscious expectations and allowed me to be open about what I would live there. I suppose it is what people need to adapt to a new country.

Then, I knew that the only thing I had to keep in mind was the objective of the language. Anything else would be a bonus.

Considering all the discussions we had with the people there, we finally decided to take the risk of not having a place at school for our daughter. The risk was small, however, and we could deal with it on the spot if need be.

So, we continued looking for an accommodation by contacting people remotely.

The lucky breaks, at least!

After some calls, we could finally find one that fitted perfectly our needs, whereas our on-site search was in vain! Funny!

We had accommodation at least! It was a great weight off our shoulders.

It was mid-June.

That’s when things started to fall into place.

As we were looking for a car with a large boot to replace our little city car, not easy to find, we found a great deal. But someone was on the lookout. Thanks to my husband, who insisted, we got a favorable response and could buy the vehicle. A very great deal indeed! I couldn’t believe it. What a relief!

It was at the end of July, three weeks before our departure.

Then we could buy the boat tickets (we needed the car information to book) from Italy to Greece, and from the port of Athens to Crete.

At the same time, I was sorting out what to take with us that would fit the boot’s size, and anticipating as much as possible for the whole year. Storing the boxes in the car was like playing Tetrix, adding consideration of weight. We finished packing the day before departure and put the car in the morning.

And so the great journey began!

But this is another story…

It took a lot of courage for us to bring this project to fruition, but probably not as much as you are reading this long story! And for the brave, you’ll find my stories about our expatriation to Greece in the list below. Thanks for reading!