Our cruise ended its course in Athens, Greece and Steve and I were one of the first ones off the boat. We hurried to get to our rental car and make the 3 hour drive west to Sparti (Sparta) where we were meeting with my moms cousin Atha.
On the way to Sparti- We got lost... even with a GPS. Little did we know that the dotted red line is a construction rode.... making our 2 1/2-3 hour drive a 4 1/2 hour drive....
This is where we ended up:
We finally made it to Sparti, and met Atha. He was amazing!! He wasted no time in Sparti and took us straight into Geraki- 40 minutes east.
GERAKI!!!
Before we met up with family and spent time at my mothers house, we tried to find something to eat- but just like in Spain..... everything was closed for seista!
A few pictures of the town:
Geraki is one of 3 villages in the state that have a castle:
The first stop after trying to find food was to meet my mothers cousin Georgia. We walked up to her house- spent about a half an hour there before leaving towards my moms house.
My cousins Georgia and Atha:
Nick- Georgias husband, Georgia and Atha
The church!! This is where everything happened-church related. This is where my mom was baptized and christened in, went to weekly for services, and eventually adopted out of:
While walking up to my moms house- Atha pointed out his house he grew up in.
The top part was his:
We then stopped to meet my mothers Uncle Peter. Peter lived next door (duplex style home) to my mother while growing up. He is 99 years old!!
The house where Peter lives: (the woman on the right is his care taker)
As we continued our walk toward the house... we were able to see the cemetery where my grandfather is burried:
THE HOUSE!!
This is the place I have wanted to visit my whole life!! What a surreal moment in time.
Although this is the back side of the house- it is also their front. My mothers uncle lived on the other side that is on the street. To get to their house- you need to walk around on the rocks-dirt to get there.
The little tiny house with the red roof on the left was my grandparents first house. That is where they lived while this house was being built and where my Aunt Koula was born. The second floor was their bedroom. All 4 (and eventually 5 for a few months) children and my grandparents shared one room. The very right side of the house (one story part) was the ktichen, dining room and living room- which is also only one room. Under the bedroom- is an empty space that my grandfather was making into a larger living room. He died before it was completed- so it stayed a storage room.
The bedroom: (The second floor was not connected on the inside).
While spending time in the room- looking around and taking it all in, Georgia went down the street to tell another cousin of my mother that we were here visitng. I could not believe how much she looked like my mom-
Angelica and me
All houses in Geraki are passed down to the first born son. The top initals are my grandfathers and the one on the side is my Uncle Michael's
We were able to look inside the bedroom to Uncle Peter's house. Inside there was a picture of my grandfather, his brothers and parents. My grandfather is on the far left:
The front door:
No one has lived in the house for over 30 years but a few things were left behind. I wish I had more time to box some of the items up and ship them home to share with my mom and siblings!!
Kitchen, dining room and living room:
Chopping block and a bowl:
Inside the storage room we found all kinds of old items.
In this large bowl- they made all of their dough and mixed food:
One of their many almond tress right out thier front door....
While walking back to Georgias house- we stopped to pick some figs (off someone's tree- which apparently is not a big deal)
We didnt get to far before this cute little lady came walking up to us as fast as she could. Nick told her who we were and she could not believe it. She is my Aunt Julie's (my mothers youngest sister who was less than a year old when she was adopted) godmother. She kept hugging me, crying and saying she was so happy that we came to visit. She cried even more to hear that all three of the Marvo-Gaines girls who were adopted were happy and okay.
After grabbing a drink and snack at Georgias, we headed to the school. This is the only elemtary school in town- 1st-3rd go up the stairs to the left and 4th-6th on the right.
After the school, we headed to my mothers Aunt Helena's house. She is 97 years old
The church at the school- Atha said they never used it and he really does not know why it is even there.
Great-aunt Helena and her daughter Helena. Helena is the same age as my Aunt Georgia (who was adopted to the Fairbanks family with my mother) and used to play with her almost every day.
Great-aunt Helena was not able to talk but she knew who we were and cried the entire time we visited. Helena (her daughter) was also very emotional and so grateful to see us come visit and hear that the 'sisters' were okay and happy.
Steve and I could not believe how much everyone looked like my mother and her sisters.
Everywhere we went, we were served these as a snack.
I would go back just for that!!
When we were walking back to the car from Helena's house, these women came to see who we were. Sophie (on the right who is my third cousin but I am not sure how... she told me but it was a long list of people) lived in Austrailla and knows Atha. I was able to explain to her who we were- why we were there and about everything we had done so far- who she then told her aunt Helena. Helena (on the left) was my mothers best friend. She sat at the desk with my mother and remembers when my mom was taken from school and never came back.
We finally made it to dinner- and were starving!! Georgia and Nick met us there along with their daughter.
The following day we met Atha in Sparti. He told us that we were going to meet my mother's other cousin- Georgia's sister Katarina.
Katarina and me:
All of us at brunch:
Bill (Atha's wifes cousin), Atha's wife (I do not remember her name), Katarina, Katarina's husband), me, Sophie, and Atha- Steve was taking the picture.
Steve, Atha, and Bill
It was so hard to leave- we wanted to stay at least another week... but we were really excited to see the kids again. I am so grateful for the opportunity to meet all of these family members, spend time with them and see the place where my mother is from. I hope and pray I will get the chance to go back with the kids and my mom to expereince it again!!
