I wake up to the sound of cicadas and a rooster that is a little late even today. Even though I’m on vacation, it’s best to combine vacation with what you love. In my case, this is nothing more than my job. The day begins with gratitude for the past and for what is to come.

I read our words for our rehearsal and at the same time “extracurricular” book. I am proud of the show that we are preparing, because after 3 months of rehearsals I can say with confidence that we have something very significant in our hands. I know that I especially love this job, because reading words in my free time does not cause me stress, as usual. On the contrary, I enjoy it.

After swimming in the village sea, conversations with neighbors begin, preparations for dinner, in which, as always, there is something from childhood. Like Proust’s Madeleine, every meal cooked and eaten on my island takes me back to when I dreamed of where I live today. When I was eating watermelon on the beach and thinking “Will I ever become an actor?”…

“I take a short walk through the village and drive to Argostoli for the last preparations before the premiere. Compared to Athens, everything is so close, so much easier.”

I take a short walk through the village and drive to Argostoli for final preparations for the premiere. My shoes are from a cobbler, my skirt is from a dressmaker, compared to Athens, everything is so close, so much easier. Can I stay here forever? Of course. While I brought the theater, as I do with myself. That’s why I think again about how lucky I am that this marriage worked out so well this year. I thought we had a dress rehearsal today and got nervous for a moment. But I wouldn’t trade that pleasant stress for anything in the world. Who knows, he knows.

Our rehearsal takes place in the castle of Agios Georgios. At 7 the sun is still scorching and the road to the theater goes uphill. The archaeological service helps us in everything, and we are indebted to it. We lie on the grass and mud, look at the sea and at the same time talk about the refugees who arrived on the island in 22 from Pontus, Asia Minor and Eastern Thrace. Who would have thought that so much came from Ionia to Ionia. For now. In a documentary performance in the same place where the refugees were probably housed, we want to present the other side of the reception of refugees. We can remember our tough attitude towards everything that we feel invades our lives. Fear and suspicion. So it’s all in vain. People must understand that we can only move forward together. Everything else is inevitable, because circumstances rule out another twist. A person’s survival instinct will push him to move if he can’t stand it, he can’t, he can’t otherwise. And this is good. I think about immigrants from Syria, Iraq, African countries, and now about Ukrainians. We dedicate our show to them. With an apology. Here’s how I see it.

We have finished the dress rehearsal. And we collect things. We clean the area and go down to the villages. The fatigue is great, and the expectation even greater. I look at the sky and the stars that are so clearly visible here in Kefalonia. I think of my father, how happy he would be if he saw me play in the castle. Although he also left, my thought is a tribute. It is important to talk about important events and important people of History and our stories. Somehow I returned with a sense of satisfaction to the village. The rooster crowed wrong again. insists. May I have everything that I live these days and in Athens, and may the cock of my history raise its head.

Amalia Arseni participated in the play “The Asia Minor Refugees of 1922 in Kefalonia and Ithaca”, which was presented on August 9 in Lixouri, on August 10 in Argostoli and on August 13 in Makriotika Sami, as part of the institution’s program for 2022.” All Greece is culture” of the Ministry of Culture and Sports.