For my CAS, specifically for service,I play the piano in an old people's home.Althought initially my intentions were purely to collect service hours,it turned out that this activity was much more than this.The whole concept is as follows:Me,sitting in a corner and playing the piano with my old keyboard,and some old ladies aged from 85 to 90(to 93 to be more precise) sitting on the couches and listening to the relaxing music.However,apart from the musical part, there are a couple of other things I would really like to talk about.The interaction between the old ladies and me is something that really fascinates me...When I went to "Love"(that's the name of the place.Nice huh?)for the first I was warmly welcomed by the owners,who are some really polite people you have devoted themselves to give the old poeple as much love as possible.When I saw the old people,I felt really sad.These people cannot obviously get to the outside world.They are bound to live in a building for the rest of their lives.Live in a daily routine where only passiveness and inertia exist.But then I thought:"This is life.We are all going to face this someday in various ways."I reached to the conclusion that what matters is to make these people's last moments as happy as possible.When I arrived,I also noticed that there was a general lack of communication,so I also tried to 'fix' this.An old lady was said to be mentally deficient because staff members couldn't understand her and thought she was talking nonsense.However,after a while I realized that that wasn't true.From some distance it is true that you understand nothing of what she says.But when I went close to her, I understood everything she said, by making allot of effort.Then,of course,we started talking naturally with some slight justifiable problems due to her age.It is true that many things she says are quite funny e.g.she calls all men John (Giannis)(including me) and all women Helen(Eleni).Of course,I wouldn't expect her to call me Athinagoras(lol).So finally,these conversations with not only Georgia(that's her name)but also with Mary etc are something along with the piano with which we all have a good time once a week.Finally,I would like also to say about Ioanna,who is an other lady somewhere around 80 years old and who really likes traditional greek music and loves singing,even at this age!Although this kind of music is not my favorite(what else would you expect from a guy listening to Dream Theater and Opeth),she makes me every week bring new songs and sing them with her while playing the piano :),which is something interesting because I had never got into greek music in the past and I think it is useful to know your culture and traditions.So,as you have understood,this thing is much more than two service hours per week.So,these are some photos from December 2009 when we were decorating the Christmas Tree and playing Christmas songs.
Me with Andreas(manager-friend)
Me
Some staff members.
The lady next to me is Helen.She is 90 and has an amazing perception for her age...
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This is Georgia from Crete
These are 3 videos of me playing the piano and talking to Georgia...
