Throughout my time as a student and a traveler, one thing stays constant: What hangs in my mind is always the experiences I’ve had. Even now, that sentiment is holding its own and growing new roots on this tiny, Mediterranean island that barely has the same square mileage as Indianapolis within I-465. Today alone, I had three experiences that all hold different values.
Our first trip today saw us driving out to meet a long-time contact of Albert and Thomas by the name of Pandelis Zoumis. Pandelis is a sustenance farmer by nature, but also has a lot of other incredible tricks up his sleeve. From blacksmithing to winemaking, Pandelis is an incredible master of many skills. Immediately after we finished interviewing, he disappeared for a few short moments and reappeared with a stringed instrument in tow. He played a wonderful set of tunes for us (which will be used in our documentaries, so stay tuned!) Afterwards, we went up to his house and he was gracious enough to give us a tour. Though it was only two rooms, his house was very full, between his multiple other instruments, books, and even self-made works of iron. I was even allowed to hold a meat knife he made himself! Even after all of this, Pandelis surprised us yet again by playing more instruments and classical Greek songs. Overall, it was just an amazing experience.
After I grabbed lunch, Albert, Thomas, Renee, Diann, and I headed out to Yria Ceramics. While Renee and Diann went to conduct an interview, Albert, Thomas, and I entered the studio to do a 3D scan and 360 photos of every inch of their building. During this, I primarily did the levelling for the matterport camera. This is the only part of the 3D scan and photo process that doesn’t involve software and is just as important as the software itself. An unlevelled matterport camera can mean that your scans fail. This isn’t to say that I didn’t learn anything, though. I got to watch the software in action and learned how to do most of it.
Finally, the group of the five of us were able to ascend a rather large hill where we took photos of the sun cresting over the hills around us. We got to take some time to enjoy the view and talk about how we thought the day went.
Again, however, each of these incredibly unique experiences offered me different takeaways. Pandelis gave us music that we would never have been able to get anywhere else. Going to Yria Ceramics gave me experience in a new technology. Going up the hill gave me a view different from anything I’d yet seen on Paros. I suppose the meat of this blog boils down to never discounting an experience. You never know what you’ll find when you’re willing to go far.
Written by Hunter Keilman