Sex on the island

Last week in Athens, Vartholomeos, the 66-year old manager of Greece's biggest social security company (IKA) was found murdered in the hall of an apartment building. A few days later a 59-year old man confessed to the murder. He suspected Vartholomeos of having an affair with his 56-year old wife.

Not such a strange idea because according to research, Greek women over 40 become more sexually active. And believe me, that is not due to their husbands. According to this research, the sexual life of younger Greek women is pretty low scale. So no wonder that their husbands are always on the look out for an affair.

Especially on Greek tourist islands like Lesvos, these men have plenty of choice in the summer. Plenty of women from many countries. There are even women who come to Greece on purpose because they want to have an affair with such an Adonis. It doesn't matter if he is a simple fisherman or a well built doorman from a disco, the important thing is to get sex and that is what they get plenty of. Taxi drivers have many stories of women looking for men. They're even no longer surprised by a woman who wants to pay them in kind. Some women are that hungry for sex that they cannot keep their hands to themselves.

In the winter there are no tourists to conquer. However, nowadays even out of the tourist season men can seduce women, because there are so many women from Eastern countries to fulfil this need. Russian and Bulgarian women especially work in clubs where they charge for sex. The island does not have a Red Light District, but in most parts of Lesvos you can find such clubs. In Petra and Kaloni you can go to an erotic club and the night bars along the highway to Mytilini also provide women. No night life on the island? When you drive around at 5 o'clock on a Sunday morning you will meet all these people having a night out.

As far as I know there is no trafficking of women going on here. The prostitutes make their money of their own free will. Most of them are looking for a husband who will come with legalisation papers. Which means that the Greek women have another big group of rivals. More than once a Greek man has got rid of his Greek wife to marry a Russian or Bulgarian woman.

Some of these prostitutes then give up the oldest profession, some, married or not, just continue 'to make some extra money'. So the Greek women are not in a good position with all these merry man eaters. Not fair competition, because according to Greek culture women are not allowed to throw themselves alone into the nightlife and housewives should stay at home to watch the children. Another piece of research published recently in Kathimerini, a Greek English language paper, says that 4 out of 10 Greek women are unhappy and have no idea how to escape from this unhappiness. What it doesn't say is that Greek women aren't all saints.

Greek women also know how to get what they want. If you keep your eyes open, you will discover how they fool around: breaking into a holiday home to meet their lover next to the fireplace. And then they think nobody will notice, with smoke coming out of the chimney and two cars parked in front of the house!

A favourite place for people having an affair, or prostitutes who operate on their own, are the several hot springs on the island. This winter a friend of mine is taking care of the hot springs at Lisvori and you don't want to know what she sees going on. Not long ago she had to throw a woman out of the bath, who came regularly but always with a different man. She loved to stay for hours in the bath, while her clients had enough of it after about an hour. Then the men had to wait for her in the coffee room, where my friend was supposed to entertain them for hours!

The capital of the island is also a nice meeting place for people having an affair. In Molyvos when you see housewives with their shopping bags getting onto the bus to Mytilini, don't think all of them just go for the shopping. Some of them are met at the bus stop in the capital by their lovers...

Another piece of research published in Kathimerini says that Greek women spend at least 4 hours a day on housework. They say they keep fit doing this. Visiting gyms is not one of their favourite pastimes. They don't say what they do for the remaining hours. I have my own ideas about those hours...

It's often said that having an affair is the number one sport on the island. Didn't a former Greek prime minister give the best example by divorcing his wife and marrying a young stewardess? If you keep your eyes and ears open you will know that many a Greek marriage is not as good as it seems. On Lesvos you don't need to watch 'Sex and the City' on television. There's enough 'Sex on the Island' going around!

Copyright © Smitaki 2007