After a good night's sleep and an adequate breakfast I am out in the porch next to the jasmine checking e mails and getting in touch with family members, relatives and friends . The morning sea breeze, the smell of the garden flowers together with all this oxygen and the beauty of the round area makes me feel so privileged but at the same time feel kind of guilty and sad when I think of Mum being in hospital and me out here in this paradise.



I know, I am told of rumors and even my best cousin advised me to forget the whole trip, cancel the hotels and places I am visiting and stay next to Mum until she recovers. I do know these people love me, but for one reason I believe they don’t understand that I am here because what I am really doing is actually my new job which I love so much. I am not here just for fun and probably what bothers them is the fact that there is a combination of fun with new experiences as I find on every single trip I have, and many relatives would actually think that I am on non stop holidays. Of course it is not, because it is truly much work and responsibility behind all this, and hours behind a desk after each trip .

The fact that they know that I don’t earn a single penny out of my work and I do everything because it pleases me, does not make sense to some relatives. Besides, after the Mission Trip to Kenya I had last year I set priorities and decided that I can live with the least and still be satisfied and happy. I do feel privileged with everything I am doing and what I have, and as I write this paragraph my friend Gregoria the owner of the hotel drops by to ask if I need anything and I ask her to sit with me for a while. I truly believe she chose to come the right moment!



It is 9:00 A.M. and I am out at the beach swimming. Some kids disturb the tranquility but I enjoy watching them as they play and splash in the waters. Seagulls try to catch the fish thrown by two fishermen who throw the smaller fish back in the water. It is fun watching them as they dive one after the other to catch the fish .

The first people arrive carrying their towels and beach accessories and I notice them walking pass the umbrellas and sun beds and chose to settle somewhere very near the coast in front of the umbrellas. Normally these should have been given for free since we are staying at the hotel, and it is disappointing to be charged with 2.5 X 2.5 euro for bed and umbrella for a whole day. Luckily for me I am either swimming or walking and never sit under the burning sun.



The water is so clear and I can see schools of fish all around where I swim. There are many boats scattered in the round area, yachts passing by, small cruise boats with tourists on and I can clearly hear their giggles of excitement and sound of music coming from the boat. In all, it is magic to be here early in the morning. I swim for 2 hours continuously and then decide to have a stroll on the beach and walk to the other end where there is a beautiful and very popular hotel I once visited 4 years back.

I have the eager desire to feel the difference of the 5* hotel and compare it with the one I am now staying. I walk through the gardens and see a few people enjoying the beautiful view, enter the hotel ….yes it is luxury here, but my conclusion is that I would change nothing in the hotel and the loving people I have met here, – the owners who are so warm and make each single guest feel as comfortable as home. Besides, it is not luxury for me but the warmth and kindness of the people that surround us that should count. This is what is important for me and I have truly found it here.