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A Day in the Life of a Student Researcher in Geraki
On the morning of Jun 2, 2024 we awoke in our hotel rooms in the Ξενοδοχείο Νικίας with the morning light glistening the Laconian mountains nearby. Caffeine is the engine of creativity, and so we began our day at Elatte, a punny name for a coffee shop combining the Greek expression έλατε (come in) and latte. We immediately continued our work from yesterday, with Sofia Pitouli, Nicolyna Enriquez, Catherine Volmensky, and Chrysoula Stamatopoulou, trekking through the local village streets to plot more points on the map. To our immense relief, one of the houses had even more kilims for us to record, adding to our ever-expanding catalogue of weavings. Constantina Christaki even showed us a cross-stitch guide which informed some of the patterns of one of the larger kilims (see image). With all the data we collected, we were finally able to sit down and map out over forty of the data points collected.
After stopping for lunch at Kosmas, a picturesque Arcadian village only 20 minutes from Geraki, we returned for another promising lead on even more kilims. After two days of data collection and processing we sat down at the plateia to enjoy the sunset με λίγο κουβέντα. Sofia and I chatted with some of the local residents, including a member of Geraki's Pakistani community, who shared with us their story of how they made it to the village, their work in the olive industry, and the poetry they write. With the sun setting behind the mountains, we discussed our plans for the rest of the week, especially our sheep shearing excursion in the next few days.