Don't try this at home

So we're driving home from a party at my brother-in-law's house. It's ~1am and we've exited off the freeway, about 1 mile from our house. I see a car just pulled over by the police. This, in and of itself, is becoming a more frequent occurrence I am happy to say. Police presence on the streets has greatly increased lately. I don't necessarily feel safer, but feel that people might just be held more accountable for their driving infractions. [I don't feel safer because I didn't feel unsafe to start.] Of course, there are drawbacks to an increased police presence, resulting in yet another parking ticket for me the other day. 40 Euros later...

Anyway, back to this evening. The car has just been pulled over and the driver gets out, heading towards the police car. He's gesturing and obviously not happy about being pulled over (who knows what the reason was for him being stopped). I mentioned to Vasilis that in the States he'd probably get shot if he did something like that. But the police were gesturing/arguing back. This is what happens in traffic conflicts here. One can obviously be in the wrong, whether in an accident or near accident, but the rule is to take the offensive. Never give an inch and certainly don't admit wrongdoing. At least not at first. I hadn't thought about them taking this stance with the police though!

Having said that, there are always exceptions to the rule. Thankfully for us. Not too long ago, Vasilis was rear-ended just a few blocks from home. The woman who hit him was driving a loaner, as she had messed up her own car which was then in the shop. She arranged for her fix-it guy (the technical term, I believe) to fix our car and bill it to her. Although it sounded a bit dicey at first, it did work out that way. I took the car in, got a loaner myself (the same car that hit us, of course) and our car was fixed up quite nicely.

Regardless of the local custom, if I ever get pulled over, I am still American enough to stay in my car until told otherwise. Of course, I have yet to get a Greek drivers license, so subservience will probably serve me best in that situation (and a little bit of feigned innocence as well...)

Close, but yet so far away

Today was a strange day.

I knew that many people would be on strike (requiring me to drive to work as public transportation was shut down), and that many would be gathered in the Center, at the parliament building, to protest. Generally, strikes are no big deal in my world. I may have to plan around them, whether it means public transportation is shut down, or certain offices are closed. As stated by Kat Christopher, of guardian.co.uk, "strikes are as common as traffic at rush hour and regarded by residents as annoyances around which lives continue unimpeded." I completely agree.

Typically, I don't find myself near the Center. But today, going to meet a couple friends for coffee, I was driving down the street and noticed smoke up ahead. The view at that moment was directly towards the Center. I figured it wasn't a good sign for what might be happening related to the protests. After parking, and losing that view down the street, I didn't think about it again.

One of the great things about Greece is the culture of joining friends at a cafe, particularly in nice weather, to enjoy a coffee and stimulating conversation. It was one of those afternoons; great company and weather together. We were there for 2 hours, but I could have continued on for two more. Of course, the topic of the state of things here came up - all of us sharing mostly similar views. But we didn't really discuss the protesting itself, happening only 1 mile away from us (as the crow flies). It could have been 20 miles away for as much as I gave it thought.

As I was driving home afterwards, I was on the phone with my hubby who is currently out to sea. Rather than hear on the news, or in a buzz at the cafe, I heard from him that 3 were killed today as a result of the rioting that took place while we were enjoying our coffee 1 mile away. (Perhaps it happened before we sat down, I don't know the timing - but you get my drift). I am fairly certain that the smoke I saw while driving there was the same smoke that killed the 3 bank workers, stuck in the upper floor of their building. It is very surreal to know how close, yet how clueless, we were to what was taking place.

Greeks consider protesting as somewhat akin to an "inalienable right". As our Prime Minister said, "Everyone has a right to protest, but no one has a right to violence". It's not those who are truly protesting for what they believe in, but those who always tag along to protests simply to make trouble, who cause the damage and injury - and now death. I am so tired of Molotov cocktails and burning cars andgarbage bins on the TV. I am ready for this country to move on with fixing things.

And I am so sorry for the families of those bank employees.

Birthplace of democracy...

and the funeral plot for billions of euros.

Thoughts have been itching the back of my head for a couple weeks now, all surrounding our economic meltdown here in Greece. I have been getting myself all worked up reading readers' comments, in the likes of NY Times, about what they think about Greece and the Greeks.

I will be the first to admit that there are serious issues in how things operate here. Bribery, fraud, tax evasion, many public servants barely showing up for work and probably not doing much when they get there - all of these are clear issues and have been for some time. However, somehow many people have gotten the impression that we are rich in social programs, have high salaries and barely work. Not necessarily true. We'll get to social programs and salaries in a minute, but I know lots of people that work very long hours, many in positions that in the US would have paid overtime but nothing extra is received.

Yes there are some social programs that American's would drool over if they were offered them, such as 1 year of maternity leave for public employees, and earlier retirement ages. Then, there are other more antiquated programs and the embarrassing fact that they even exist. Unmarried daughters of military pensioners get their fathers pension when he passes away - regardless of her age and without limit to the number of years she receives the benefit. In a country where some form of "women's lib" took hold so strong that you have to petition to take your husband's name when you get married, you'd think they would have done away with such a benefit.

Well, it's gone now! Along with a lot of other things for all of us, not just those who reaped the benefits of years of standard practice.

Yes, I understand that we all need to play a part in repairing this country and I expect to pay a price - but the numbers are truly shocking to me as they start being expressed in ways that truly affect my bottom line.

Let me lay out some things for comparison. (All numbers have been converted from Euro's to $)

Between the 2 of us (him with 20+ years of service in the military and myself with a part time job), we make ~ $36150/year. Plus the regular bonuses that each working Greek is entitled to receive, we get ~$42400/year. No, not a lot for a couple with 3 degrees and 40+ working years of experience between them. So, can we safely agree that salaries aren't terribly high here? I should hope so.

With the recent "austerity measures" they've decreased salaries and bonuses so now we'll only bring home $37200 - a roughly $5000 loss. Let's look at some of the things we spend this paltry sum on:

Gas - $7.25/gallon, it has gone up nearly 50% in the past few months. --> I have started to take the bus to work...

Milk - $7.70/gallon. --> This I can not cut back on, I must have my morning cereal.

Rent - $920/month. This might seem reasonable to those of you in the Bay Area, or perhaps New York city, but when it's 30% of your take home, it's not so pretty.

Movie theater - $12.50/ticket (on the plus side, we can get a large popcorn and a soda for $6.50!)

I imagine there are some things we pay less for (such as .65 for a small bottle of water), but that just doesn't balance things out. Our VAT has jumped from 19% (not so low to start with) to 23% as of yesterday. "Sin" taxes have gone up 10% (alcohol, tobacco) and taxes on luxury items are being implemented, and goodness knows what else that hasn't hit my radar yet.

I know I am all over the place with this, but I am getting pissed off. Due to cronyism, favoritism, government mismanagement, and all the previously mentioned problems, we are in this current terrible state. Many, like myself, feel that the "common people" are paying the price and we don't see much to take a bite into those who've avoided paying into the system for years. The general culture of personal responsibility and accountability needs a serious re-haul, but I think it's going to take a long time and I'm not sure we'll be here to see it.

Strikes and failing economy

People have been asking how things are here in Greece, what with us being the red headed step child of the EU right now. Yes, we know that our economy is in trouble - and things need to change to fix it, not to mention ensure that we don't get to this place again. I personally feel that everyone is going to have to make some kind of sacrifice, whether that be in the form of paying higher taxes (we are going from 19% to 21% VAT - like it wasn't high already) or cuts in pay (depending upon where you work). Greece's public sector is waaay overstaffed (and still generally useless), bribes are the best way to get some things done, both at the hospitals as well when trying to get licensing to build or open a business.

At the beginning of this year, the tax rules were changed to now require that we get a certain level of receipts (as compared to annual income) for the goods/services we pay for. Not to prove we're spending, but to make sure those receiving the money will have to show it as taxable income. That's great, but when you go to the doctor and the payment options are in cash w/o a receipt (which means less money out of your own pocket), requesting a receipt is just not something that you are going to do. I am guilty of that on a couple of occasions. There are doctors in high rent areas who are claiming to make less than 15K a year. They couldn't pay the rent for their offices on that, much less live the life they are. There are millions of Euro's in uncollected taxes for this, as well as other hidden incomes/property values, that could help our coffers.

Not being anything near an economist, I don't have the answers - aside from making sure that every financial move is transparent and not paid in cash under the table. Of course, everyone blames the government as the leaders of the corruption, and the big money makers for not doing their share. Yet we, the commoners, are having to foot a large share of the bill to fix it all.

In a way, I am glad we're at this point right now - hopefully forcing the country to take some steps to right this. Will we become a country w/o corruption any time soon? Probably not, but we need to do something to head that direction. Perhaps our grandchildren will live in a different Greece.

Today is our 2nd big general strike in the past few weeks. Being away from the center of the city, I don't see the accompanying demonstrations first hand, so feel out of touch from the emotion that goes behind the decision to strike. I don't know all the details of what the government proposes that people are protesting, but I can't see the strikes as making a difference in what Greece must do to survive.

It's a little surreal, actually. We are all over the news internationally, and larger strikes are happening fairly frequently (with more to come) yet I don't feel in the midst of a crisis - at least not financially. No one I talk to does. The most noticeable effect so far is a jump in gas prices, up 20 cents in the matter of a week (and that's per liter, equal to over $1 increase per gallon). The strikes themselves affect me personally very little. I don't care that the tax office closes for two days, or that the museums are closed. Public transportation being on strike (busses and metro) can be a bother, but I drive to work most of the time. I do feel for foreign travelers when the airport gets closed down - it's not their fault but it becomes their problem. Oh, and the landfill closures are making for piles of garbage in some neighborhoods. Fortunately we're not seeing it on our street. There's a small blessing when the media strikes, as I don't have to deal with the news that afternoon (don't start me on the news...). I'm sure there are others who feel the strikes much more than I, especially those dependent upon public transportation.

Right now, I am just waiting for some changes to be implemented so we can buckle down, pinch some pennies, and start moving forward towards recovery for this mess. I am tired of Greece being in the news.

Sign of spring

So for the last few years I have watched in fascination as I come across lines of caterpillars such as these. Today, while out for a walk, I saw such a parade at the park by my house. I quick-like went home to get my camera. I've been wanting to take a picture of them for some time.

In doing so, I finally prompted myself to find out what they are exactly. It seems they are the Pine Processionary Caterpillar. I have learned that they can be quite destructive, although I haven't seen evidence of that. Happily, I also learned in my readings not to touch them - evidently contact with their little hairs can cause rashes and eye irritation.

More often than not, you see what's left of these hairy conga lines after they have been trampled. It's a bit gross really, their little bodies squished on the sidewalk or streets.

Here's a great video someone took of them, showing you how long they can string out. The group I saw today was a measly 33 critters.

Only in Greece

Firstly, a caveat. I am sure, given some time, I could come up with many posts that fall under this category. Lots of things happen here that you wouldn't find in the States. Perhaps I'll save up a list, but until then I have to share the story of our car getting rear-ended the other day.

The accident itself was fairly run of the mill. Vasilis was at a stop sign close to our house and the car behind him didn't stop in time (for whatever reason this is a terrible intersection, I have seen the remains of at least 5 accidents there). The woman who hit him (most probably on the phone at the time, thank you very little) was driving a borrowed car. Her's was in the shop getting fixed, presumably from a previous accident of hers. Essentially, it was a loaner from that shop.

Either she doesn't have insurance, or didn't want to bother with it, so it was arranged for the same shop to fix our car and bill it to her. There is some damage to the bumper and the back hatchback. It's drivable and the back door closes, but the indicator light remains on and has already drained the battery once because the back light was on and we didn't realize it. Anyway, we of course wanted to get it fixed.

The next day, I went to the shop to show him the damage, ensure he would take care of it and bill her, and arrange a day to drop it off to be fixed. We settled on a day, and he told me he'd have a car I could use for the duration of the repair.

So I go there yesterday (with a fever mind you, which didn't help things). I give him the keys, he says thanks and was about to walk away. I asked if he had a car for me. Him -"No" Me- "But you said..." Him - "Well, I have this one...". It was the damned car that hit us in the first place. I nearly declined, not wanted to take the chance of being accused of adding to the damage (although he seems pretty straight up, so my worry wasn't huge- but you never know). He insisted it was drivable, just has some damage to the front. Not wanting to walk home, and also not wanting to turn down the only option for transportation for the next few days, I took it.

This car is old and sad. I can deal with that, but it has no rear-view mirror, the driver side mirror is cracked and useless, and has no power steering. I am not a complete wimp and can manage without power steering, but this car seems a bit unpredictable and it's just one more thing to think about. My commute to work isn't far, but bumper to bumper at least 1/2 the way. In short, I feel much less than safe driving it.

At this point, I think it will remain parked in front of our home.

I guess there was one good outcome, I now have had the incentive to figure out the bus schedules to get myself to work. So now I am prepared if I ever find myself carless again, or simply want to give it to Vasilis for the day. And honestly, I do enjoy taking the bus. It's just that first test run to make sure I've got the timing right. Made it to work early today, so I've got that going for me.

To tell you the truth, I am a little embarrassed at the thought of pulling through the gate at the campus driving that thing. There's duct tape and string holding what's left of the front bumper together, and one of the headlights is shattered. I've got a rep to uphold, right? =)

2/11 update: On my way home today, another accident at that same intersection. Glad I was on foot. And, YEAH, I got my car back. The back end looks like new, so I should probably thank the woman who hit Vasilis. The guy at the shop even touched up a dent in the bumper that was there when we bought it (even though I told him it wasn't part of the accident).

Pharmaceutical Time Suck

From time to time there is a prescription I need filled that my regular pharmacy (at the Naval Hospital) can't fill. They send me next door to the Army Hospital. Unfortunately, this is not a good thing. For whatever reason, the Army hospital pharmacy is always busy and there is always a wait. Prior to last week, I had been only once. At that time I learned about the long wait, so last Wednesday I went prepared with my iPod, a book, and a banana. I had counted on waiting 2 hours or so. How I wish that it had been such a blink in time.

Let me explain the process a bit here. The place is only open from 8-1:30. You go in, grab a number and then find a place to hang out. (My preference is to avoid waiting inside, as the room is filled with people who are 70+, smell like moth balls at best and bad breath and B.O. at worst. Seriously, moth balls.) You wait until your number comes up, take your book (used for all prescriptions) to the pharmacist and then pay the cashier. Seems easy.

I got there at 9:15 last Wednesday knowing that at some point, depending upon the flow of the day, they stop giving out the numbers (today they stopped at 9:30). They were on 73 and I had 146. Yikes. Having sat for an hour and realizing how infernally slow the numbers were passing, I decided to hop back on the Metro and go further downtown to do some other errands. Returning an hour later (2 hours total having elapsed since my arrival), they were only at 103. Better dig in and relax. After nearly 5 hours of waiting, my number was up, only for me to find out that 1 of the 2 prescriptions I was there to fill (the one that I specifically go to that pharmacy for) could not actually be filled because it was more than 5 days old. Are you kidding me? 5 hours and I have to come back?!

Two days later, I got the prescription re-written and headed back down this morning. This time, I pulled my number at 8:05am. The room was already full and my number was 40 away from that currently being served. There's no winning. From listening in on some conversations, I get the gist that people start gathering around the door as early as 7:30 to get in. There must be 30 people waiting when the doors open, and if you've read my post about queing you'll know that it can't be a pretty scene. This time, instead of waiting around, I immediately headed for a cafe across the street for a cheese pie and coffee to enjoy while I read my book. (For this visit, I should have brought a second book, since I wasn't called up till 11:15 or so.) All of this only to find out that of the 3 drugs listed in this prescription, one is not in stock. Good lord. So I have to go back, hopefully on Friday, to pick it up. The only good news here is that I don't have to take a number but will be able to go straight to the cashier.

As with most interactions one has with the general public, patience is the key. Being prepared for the interminable wait is the key in avoiding homicide charges - or at least yelling at your fellow man. I have found that being an observer in this room of elderly and generally disgruntled population can be amusing once the attitudes start to simmer. I am surprised betting pools haven't started, with all the statistics I hear in conversations: "20 minutes for one number?", "6 people in one hour? We'll be here until 3 o'clock!" The poor pharmacists, it's not their fault that there are only two of them working. They plug away, staying relatively cheerful, ensuring that prescriptions are not messed up due to hurrying. Do those waiting recognize that? God no. Each of the 3 times I've been there, there is always someone heckling them to work faster. Then, invariably there is someone who's showed up after the numbers have been stopped, begging for special treatment because they are sick. Everyone in the rooms looks to be at death's door and there is no sympathy to be had from the "chorus" of waiting customers. You are likely to get harassed for just hanging out and hoping for the best. And god forbid you bring in more than one prescription book! A man today was getting prescriptions filled for himself, his wife, and granddaughter. What seems to me good time management and family support is just considered downright greedy and inconsiderate by everyone else. They were still haranguing him after he apologized to the room (more than I would have done!). Really, if both Vasilis and I need a prescription filled they expect us both to come down? Evidently.

Insanity.

Major props to one particular soldier/pharmacy employee who handles all the complaints in a fully professional manner. And he does this every day. Two days in one week of that atmosphere is plenty for me. Maybe I'll make Vasilis pick my stuff up on Friday!

Were it not for this particular drug, I wouldn't even go there - but I really feel for the people that have to. You can get prescriptions filled at the neighborhood pharmacies, but you'll end up paying much more. For those in the military branches, it is much easier to go to the respective hospital pharmacy as you are charged such a low amount. What worries me is that, after I have started my job, I'll soon be entered into the rolls of the public healthcare system and then have to learn the steps required for them. At least I know what I am dealing with now, even though a 1/2 day is usually called for to complete the task!

Side note: There is no "dropping off" of a prescription and then coming back at a later time once it is filled. Actually, you don't really get personalized prescription bottles as in the U.S. You simply get prepackaged boxes of the drug, sometimes requiring you to purchase a few more than you were actually prescribed.

A shame

One of the truths of summer is fires. That can be said of many
countries, but in Greece there are an unfortunate number started on
purpose, and we're not talking controlled burns. Land that is
considered forest can't be built upon. So, people burn said forest so
building can take place later on. A fabulous system, don't you
think? I get so mad every time I see a fire here, some people just
have no respect for their surroundings or the environment.

The pictures above represent two different fires within 5 days. The
first pics are taken from my balcony. The fire which generated this
smoke was many miles away, but with the high winds the smoke carried
over towards us. I first thought a sandstorm had blown up from Africa
(it does happen), but realized we had North winds blowing so was
confused. I had called Vasilis, out on his bike ride, to alert him in
case he wanted to be picked up. Turns out he was relatively near the
fires whose smoke I was seeing. Fortunately it wasn't affecting him,
so didn't need rescuing.

The last two photos were near a friend's house, an area which had
experienced a much larger fire a couple months ago. The picture I
took was at the beginning of the fire - when we returned a couple hours
later it had swept over a decent-sized area, sadly burning up a local man's
beehives perched on the hill to the right of the photos. I didn't
take the "after" picture, as the firefighters were just leaving the
area and I was a little shy about snapping shots.

Little of this and that

Apologies to start - for the 7 of you that read this (and that's aiming a bit high, I'm sure). I know postings have been rare, and maybe even rarely interesting at that. With it being summertime, and the damnable heat keeping my activities limited, my observations about life here have diminished a bit. Also, I am nearing on 2 years in sunny Greece, so less and less jumps out at me as different. I have a couple different topics for your perusing pleasure today.

Different levels of Greekness

It's truly hard to determine what makes a person Greek, in the eyes of the Greeks. At one point in time, it merely took being educated in the Greek way to be considered a citizen. Although certainly harder than that to gain citizenship, I understand that many people still believe that's what makes you Greek.

For those of us with Greek ancestry, which I am simply defining as having ancestors who came from Greece, there seem to be different levels to which Greek society looks at us. For instance Greek-Americans (or Greek-Australians or any other country), who are 100% or even 50% Greek heritage and born/raised elsewhere, don't seem to be deemed fully Greek. Fairly conversant in Greek upon their arrival here (and I am speaking of those who have relocated to Greece) and definitely more able to assimilate than I was (being nearly Greekless in vocabulary), they aren't quite Greek. I envied them, already familiar with language and customs that I had yet to learn, but they may have not necessarily fit right into mainstream Greek society. I can't speak to outright social distancing or mistreatment, I just know they are viewed differently by home grown Greeks.

Then there's me. Technically a quarter Greek (my paternal Grandfather was 1st generation Greek-American), I can visually pass as Greek much of the time (assuming I am not wearing my Teva's) but am really quite American. I don't usually identify as Greek-American here, since that may come with assumptions of my knowledge of aforementioned language and customs. However, when I say that I am a bit Greek and explain further, the response is typically "then you are Greek!." As delighted I may be with this pronouncement, I feel a bit of a poser saying it myself. But I have been proclaimed "Greek" quicker than those who have a stronger claim to "greekness" than I do. I am sure they are just being nice to me, since I am making no claims myself and no one really thinks I am fully Greek, but you see the variation in treatment.

Having said all of that, I had a strange encounter with a fellow American (who is 0% Greek) during the Inauguration last Fall. I had volunteered to help out at a party for the Inauguration and while watching the ceremony, one of the other volunteers was telling me and another that we didn't understand what a long hard road it was (presumably for Democrats) to get to that big day. Since we were all Democrats there, I wasn't sure why she was considering herself part of some other group, why I personally wouldn't understand this long journey. I asked her what she meant and she responded, "well, you're Greek-American". I cleared her up on that point, but didn't seek clarity for myself. Why would a Greek-American (assumedly raised in the States) would understand any less than a non-Greek American. She was already on my nerves, and asking for an explanation wouldn't have helped. ;-) Evidently Greek-Americans just can't win, not falling completely in either camp.

Slug Bug vs. Slug the Priest

For whatever reason today, as we were driving down the road, I remembered playing the Slug Bug game as a kid. You know, where you are the first to spot a VW Bug on the road (usually on long road trips, but really can be played anytime) and you slug the person next to you, claiming "slug bug!".

I told Vasilis about this game, wondering if they had something similar. They did, but it was when you spot an Orthodox priest (not like there are any others here). And no, they didn't call it slug the priest. In this essentially one religion country, where priests are abundant and obvious in their long black frocks, I can see kids bruising each other playing this game!

What is it, exactly?

I walk by this market quite frequently and have finally found myself in front of it with a camera.

Is it Maxi, or Mini?  Is it a market with identity issues?  It's really quite confusing.

It is larger than most of the markets you find in the neighborhoods, but is it the maximum size a mini market can be before it must simply be called a market?  It's certainly nowhere near a "super" market.  

Perhaps the sign was a deal, so they opted for the cheap and easy route to market naming.  Regardless of how fluent I ever get in Greek, I probably won't be asking the owners for clarification.

Puffers paradise?

Originally, I was going to put together a long thought out piece on smoking in Greece, it's prevalence, and the new laws coming info effect on July 1st limiting the practice of it in public areas.  Not only did I find the information the laws a bit confusing (which doesn't bode well for those who are supposed to follow them) but I also am not finding myself in the mood for thoughts "long"ly held.  

Mostly, I love that cigarette packages have this message.  Although the picture itself is a bit fuzzy (taken from my unfocusable cell phone camera) the message itself couldn't be more clear.  I think it should be adopted worldwide.

This particular packet is probably from the UK, but those packaged in Greece have a similar message "Smoking Can Kill".  As I stopped to think about it, I felt it a little odd that the countries that are considered to have a higher incidence of smokers also have a much stronger message.  Is that because they feel something stronger is needed to curb the habits of all these smokers?  Or is that they don't have a strong Tobacco industry fighting for something a little less severe in the wording?

Regardless of packaging alerts, things are certainly a bit more loose here when it comes to smoking (little surprise there).  What topped it for me the other day though, was seeing a young girl of approximately 6-7 years old walking out of a mini-market holding a couple of packs of Marlboro's.  She was certainly buying them for an adult, and perhaps the person selling them to her knows said adult, but come on!

Although I am happy that Greece has taken the measure to establish laws around smoking in public places, whether it is actually enforced will be a whole different question.  There are plenty of laws in Greece that are ignored on a daily (hourly) basis, and I have a feeling this is one that will fall into that category.  I can only hope for people like myself, who can help urge those infringing upon the laws to change their ways.

  

Greek Orthodox Easter

In the spirit of continuing with the Greek holidays, Easter certainly shouldn't be left out (no matter how lazy I feel about blogging at the moment).

Easter is easily the biggest family holiday, surpassing even Christmas, here in Greece.  It's a time when the cities empty out, their inhabitants making an exodus to the country, either to the village of their family or that of a friends (which we did last year).

People really start gearing up for Easter during Holy Week, beginning the previous Sunday. The days of that week are even referenced (even when announcing movies that will be on TV during the week), as Holy Monday, Holy Tuesday, etc.  There are special hours for shops to be open which are noted in the papers ahead of time.  The majority of people (those not working in the shops/service industry) have Holy Friday through the following Monday off of work.  Of course, schools are closed down for the week prior and after Easter, giving me the perfect time to entertain my visiting friends!

The spurt of religious activities begin on Friday.  We sat at the square outside the local church that Friday, for a coffee, and were serenaded by the priests singing/chanting for the morning services.  In the afternoon/evening, the Epitaph begins (you can see a video of it here).  It is a procession representing the dead Jesus.  The video does a better job of describing it, as I have yet to see it.

On Saturday is the resurrection mass, which ends at Midnight.  Many people will go to the church 15-30 minutes before midnight, to join others to light a candle at midnight (often in the courtyard outside the church as it does fill up!).  At Midnight, the priests exits the church and announces that Christ has risen (Χριστός Ανέστει - Christos Anesti).  Children and adults will light off fireworks, so you have to remain alert if you are in the crowd!  Then, everyone returns home to eat a large meal, which will often start off with Μαγεριτσα / Mageritsa (lamb soup).  Part of the reason for eating this soup is that the fasting is now broken and it helps ease your system back into eating meat after 40 days without it.  And trust me, lots of meat will be eaten soon.

After the midnight meal and some sleeping, you are back up to eat more.  Men of the household will probably have been up since 6am, starting the lamb (head and all!) and kokoretsi to roasting over the coals.  Of course, there will be many other dishes served with the grilled meat and one's stomach can be pushed to the limit!  You'll note the picture at the top, another Easter tradition.  Similar as in the States (and elsewhere I'm sure), they dye eggs here also, but mostly a deep red.  The eggs are then set to a cracking challenge, as two people take on each others eggs by hitting the ends of the other's to see who's doesn't crack.  No big winnings result from this, not even the proverbial wish granted as when one gets the largest break from the turkey wishbone.  But it is fun nonetheless.  Funny how competitive people can get with simple eggs...

This year, since we stayed in the city as I had friends here, we went to a taverna.  It is our favorite taverna for good meat and they did not disappoint (Μαγγείνας στο Μαρούσσι for you locals).  It's not quite the same as being out in a village, watching the lamb turn all morning and enjoying the weather.  However, from a culinary standpoint, and noting we didn't have to help prepare any of it, we were certainly pleased!

I did find one definite benefit to staying in town during this time, no one else was here!  The roads were virtually empty, as was the Metro, so made our touristy outings much easier.  My friends didn't quite get the experience of a "full" Athens, but that's probably ok.  They might then wonder what the heck I am doing here.

Dedication - and another ticket

I guess I'll start with the ticket, because without it today would have been different. (WARNING, this is a long one)

We went to The Mall last weekend to see a movie (loved Gran Torino!) and while walking to our car, Vasilis noticed that all the cars along the road (evidently a no parking zone) had been ticketed and the license plates pulled. This is the 2nd time we've been ticketed there (see previous related post). As before, we parked where dozens others did there, and thousands do every day in Athens - in an illegal spot. The Mall management is peeved that no one uses their parking structure, so they call the local police to get snappy in doling out tickets.

This business of taking the plates is a new move, however. With no plates you aren't supposed to drive. And to get your plates back, you must pay your ticket. Ok, bad move on our part. We'll never park at The Mall again.

So, as soon as I could, 3 days later when the post office was open again, I paid the ticket. The next day I went to the appropriate police station (driving illegally mind you, but I had no clue how to get there otherwise), to get our plates back. Fun news! They hold onto them for a MONTH. No way was I going to go without a car for a month. So I quick-like decided to play the helpless wife and plead that it is our only car (true) and how was my husband supposed to get to work? (he drives a motorcycle, but they don't need to know that). After joking a bit in Greek with a fellow officer in the room (assuming I didn't understand too well) the captain was kind enough to drop it down to 10 days.

The funny thing is that the ticket was issued on the 28th, but issuing officer's writing makes his 8's look like 6's so it looks like they've had our plates 2 longer than in actuality. Nothing like having incompetence work for you. Anyhow, we pick them up tomorrow. Thank god.

And why am I so anxious to get them? Truthfully, I don't mind walking to do most things here in town. But going to class can be another story. This is where the dedication comes into play.

Having missed two days already this week, one due to trying to sort out the ticket itself, and the 2nd essentially housebound due to the rain, I felt it was important to make it to class today. Usually, when I go to class w/o the car, it first involves walking about 25 minutes to the metro station. What with the hard rain keeping me in yesterday, I decided to more closely scope out the local bus lines so I can avoid that 25 min walk when necessary. (I usually walk because I enjoy it, not out of necessity.)

What with south winds blowing from Africa and bringing the Sahara with them, I figured today was a good day to try the locally running line. Great news, works like a charm and the stop is only a few blocks from our home.

However, to finally get to class today I took the one bus to the metro station, another express bus to the nearest open metro station, and then walked down the street hoping to catch what I hoped to be my final bus. Once at that next bus stop, I didn't see my bus listed, so hopped a different bus to get to the stop where I knew my bus was listed. So far, 3 buses.

I got to the last stop sufficiently early, and assumed my bus had not passed. After waiting 35 minutes (and not seeing it the other day either), I am starting to think that line isn't running any more. So I finally hail a cab to go the last few kilometers to class.

The return home isn't always easy either. I usually count on a classmate to drop me off at one of two metro stations where I can make my way back with metro and walking. No one was going my way today and I was not in the mood to take the only bus left to me (30 mins on that, then metro 5 stops down, then express bus, then walking). It being a Friday, with the Sahara continuing to blow over Athens, and me generally pooped, I hailed yet another cab to the metro. Took the metro one measly stop, jumped on the express bus to the metro station near our home, and Vasilis picked me up on the motorcycle.

To recap:
- getting to class: 3 buses and a cab
- getting home: cab, metro, bus, motorcycle

If I had taken part in the recent prison break via helicopter here in Athens, I would have nearly all modes of transportation covered!

Clean Monday

Clean Monday is the next day on the religious social calendar. Aside from giving everyone a 3 day weekend, what is it about? It is the beginning of Lent for the Greek Orthodox calendar - and the fasting begins. No food from animals that bleed, so no meat, poultry, fish, dairy products. What does that leave? The more expensive sea food like lobster and octopus, lots of vegetables and fruit, and bread. The ouzeri's (which traditionally serve sea food) make a killing in business on this day. While at the grocery stores, they are advertising sales on beef and feta. Ah, the deals a non-faster can get right now!

So what did we do to celebrate? Vasilis found out that our municipality was having a "do" at a theater up on the hill within walking distance of our house (if you don't mind hills). We hiked up there to find many people already gathered, eating the free food that had been supplied. You find that, aside from fruit/veggies, the allowed food is pretty colorless. They were serving a kind of bread that is really only made for Clean Monday (not sure why), halvas (it's made from semolina - there's a sweeter juicier version that is ok, but this I am not a fan of), pickled veggies and olive mix, and taramosalata (a sauce/dip made from fish roe - pretty fattening).

None of the food looked very enticing, which I suppose can be the point when you are fasting. We decided to go to our favorite ouzeri, handily placed on the other side of the hill. But first wee sat around a bit at the theater, waiting for the band to start playing. Unfortunately, they started with some modern music (I wanted to hear Greek folk music) and it didn't start well. So off to the ouzeri we go!

Thank goodness the band wasn't so hot, for the ouzeri was rapidly filling up when we got there. Thirty minutes later and we would have had a hefty wait period. One of our favorite dishes are small uncooked (marinated) filleted sardines, so we didn't quite make the fasting program. It's a bit odd to talk about fasting, knowing how full I was when we stepped away from the table!

After a delicious meal, sipping some ouzo in the sun, we went back down the hill and to possibly buy a kite. For the day or so before Clean Monday you see kites on sale all over the city. It is practically the only day you'll see kites flown here. Not being impressed with the quality, and a little full/tired, we took a pass. We'd like to buy a nice kite in the States next time around - something you can break down and use again.

After enjoying a cup of coffee at our local square, we called it an afternoon.

I know a number of people that escaped to their family village home for the 3 day weekend, but for those that stick around our agenda is what many do. Happily we avoided using the car that day, for those we saw stuck in traffic looked to have all holiday spirit sucked out of them already. We were lucky to have had things to do locally that we would enjoy!

The smell of burning meat - Τσικνοπεμπτη

Last Thursday the 19th was Tskinopempti (Τσικνοπεμπτη), a sort of kick off for the Lenten season before the real fasting begins. The word Tskinopempti comes from two words, "tsikno" the smell of burning meat, and "pempti" for Thursday. This day is always two Thursdays before Carnival and Clean Monday (the beginning of Lent) and is celebrated with the eating of lots of meat. Since tavernas and personal grills everywhere are cooking up a variety of meats, the smell of burning (or grilled) meat is everywhere. And hence the name of the day.

Being a meat lover, this is easily one of my favorite religiously connected days. This is the 2nd year in a row that we've called up friends to join us for a meat filled meal. Reservations are a must at tavernas for this particular evening, otherwise there's no way you are getting in.

The place we went to this year is a little basement hole in the wall. It's such a locally known place (in it's particular neighborhood, not greater Athens) that they don't even have a sign outside. You can easily stroll by and not even know there's a restaurant there. They had the place all decked out with Carnival items and decorations stretched from lamp to lamp up above. All tables were given packets of streamers that we were welcome to toss around. By the end of the evening we had practically created a tent of them over out table.

As for the food, mmmmm meat! Some of the offerings were: kokoretsi (the innards of a lamb or goat, wrapped up in the small intestine and then cooked on a spit for a number of hours), paidakia (small lamb ribs topped with wonderful spices/herbs - pictured below), and pork in a variety of presentations. Of course, all of that can be served with delicious salads and other side dishes and followed down the gullet with your choice of red or white house wine (red please!).


After 4 hours of eating and talking (fairly evenly distributed) we were a full bunch heading out the door at 1am. After a night like that, you WANT to start a fast.

New Year's Day

Not so timely a subject, I know, but I decided the other day to put down my experiences during the various holidays. I give no guarantee that this is how things are done in every household in Greece.

Between Christmas and New Year's, the latter seems to be a bigger deal to celebrate here. I haven't actually been here for Xmas to see what happens in the neighborhood, so can't say for sure. I do know that prior to the holidays, you often see advertisements for holiday getaways for Christmastime. Lots of people I know are actually out of the country on the 25th.

What do they do here for New Year's you ask? On NYE things really don't get started until after midnight. Most spend the actual Eve with their families, ring in the New Year at midnight, and THEN head out to parties, bouzoukia, or bars. If you can avoid it, you don't want to be on the streets between midnight and 1. The same can be said for 4am and after, when these parties start wrapping up and no mention of designated driver has been had earlier. ;-)

We personally were in bed by 11pm, partly due to my jet lag as well as disinterest in going out. As for the family piece of the celebration, we were going to cover that on the next day. January 1 is the name day for both Vasilis and his mother, Vasiliki. (Name days are a bigger deal than birthdays. Many open up their house to friends stopping by, food and drink flowing through the day.) Wanting to make sure we have quality time with his mom, we planned a small get-together at our house with her and Maria who lives with her.

Part of the New Year's Day tradition is the cutting and eating of the Vassilopita. Saint Vasilis is the local equivalent of St Nick, and it being his Saint's day, the cake (Vassilopita) is named after him. The cake is cut, by the eldest person present, into enough pieces for everyone there, and 2 additional. One for St Vasilis and the other for Christ (I have seen listings including pieces for others, but this is what I know). Somewhere in the cake has been placed a gold coin. Whoever gets the coin in their piece of cake is supposed to have good financial luck for the year. Last year Vasilis found the coin, but this year no one did - except perhaps Vasilis's co-workers who we had taken the remaining cake to.

You can buy these cakes at a local sweetshop, which we did this year. As shown in the picture, it says "Happy New Year 2009" on it and came with gold coin already hidden somewhere. Unfortunately, they sell these cakes by the kilo and soak them with a honey mixture of some sort making them quite heavy and therefore expensive (20 Euros). The excessive honey mixture makes it too sweet to really enjoy much of. Next year we'll be making our own.

For a more in depth write up of New Year's traditions and celebrations, see this blog entry by a fellow American who's been living in Athens for ~15 years (and is a much better writer than I). American in Athens - New Year's in Greece

Street sellers

We spent the day downtown yesterday, Vasilis joining me after a morning meeting.  A friend of his joined us and we had lunch in the Monastiraki area.  Our outdoor table was sitting right at the intersection of two pedestrians streets, which turned out to be a good place for these African men to set up their portable sales.

You can see such arrangements all over Athens, definitely in the touristy areas but also near metro stations and bus stops.  Not all of them are selling their wares legally, and this particular group of "salesmen" usually aren't.  With a devilish desire for excitement, I was hoping the police would come along while we were at our table, so we could see the sellers bolt.  In the meantime, however, they were striking some interesting poses that I wanted to catch with my camera.

Of the street sellers, I think I like these guys the most because they don't get in your face to make a sale.  As you can see in the top picture, they keep an eye for those who might show interest (click on the picture for a larger version and better detail), spend time on the phone or chat with their fellow sellers in the downtimes.  Others approach you as you walk buy, or come up to your table, hawking their wares.  Sometimes they are useful items such as sunglasses or umbrells, others its simple little crap which makes me wonder who would ever buy it.

As you can see in the bottom picture, they are selling handbags, simply displayed on a white cloth.  In times of trouble (read: policemen approaching) they grab the corners of the cloth, wrapping up their handbags in one big package and running away as quick as possible.  I've never seen anyone get in any real trouble when this happens, so it's mostly harmless entertainment for those who witness it.

Luckily for me I had taken these pictures when I did, because only a few minutes later, confusion started as some of the street sellers started running - colliding with locals and tourists on the sidewalk.  At the first hint of movement, my nameless photographees made a quick grab and fled up the steep street next to them.  We couldn't even see police until sometime later, ironically coming from the direction everyone tried to escape to.  It was quite a collection of men who had ran away, one even dropping his stacks of bootleg DVD's and CD's.

Although they seem to be operating illegally, they don't have qualms about claiming what is theirs.  A purse or two was dropped when they gathered everything and a woman had grabbed one hoping to make a cost free acquisition.  The African man noticed her at the bottom of the hill and went to get it back.  There was a discussion with she and one of the policemen (it was obviously not her purse, still with handle covers and she already carrying one).  The African man's papers were checked, evidently in good order, and the bag returned to the rightful owner.  After things calmed down and the police left, they returned to their previously fled-from sales post to spread the white cloths out again.

Riots

A friend of mine, and follower of this blog, mentioned she had looked to it to check for my thoughts on the riots that began last Saturday (12/6).  Due to fortunate, or unfortunate depending on how you look at it, timing I was busy flying to the U.S. for the holidays when this mess started.

At first I wasn't too phased (aside from the fact that the young boy died, obviously).  Youths being unruly,  Molotov cocktails and localized unrest are pretty standard.  Pictures of police in riot garb are not new to me, and I've only been in Athens for 15 months.  This picture here (thanks to Getty Images) is very similar to sights I've seen on the news before.  When larger demonstrations are planned, Athens gets ready.  Of course, this was a bit different - anger at the death of Alexandros Grigoropoulos.

When it kept going on the next day, and the day after, I knew it wasn't about Alexandros anymore.  Often, demonstrations are hijacked by anarchists to make trouble for their own causes.  The government isn't very popular at all, with scandals and corruption popping up all the time.  The Greek Orthodox church has recently been a subject of scandal as well (and they wield FAR to much power/influence in Greece), so there aren't really many spots of brightness when it comes to those in power in the country.  There's a lot to be upset about and Alexandros' death became the matchstick to light the fire of these protests/riots.

There are calls for the government to step down, or at the very least to have elections (which aren't due until 2011).  The opposition party (the only real challengers to those in charge right now, there are quite a few parties) really isn't any different. This became more obvious to me by the fact that I (however remotely) have noticed no attempts by them to quell this situation, but have fed it more by not supporting the current governments attempts.  I could be very wrong...

Generally this makes me sad for the Greeks.  Both that there is the need to voice such strong issues with the way things are, as well as how they do it.  Destroying local businesses just hurts their fellow Greeks.  A common response to this kind of behavior is "well, this is Greece".  I feel it is an often used copout for Greek behaviors that are recognized as being bad but no one thinks will ever change.

I am truly sorry I am missing this.  Not like I would have gone downtown to be a part of this (capitalist countries are not a favorite of most of these anarchists and as an American it's best to play it safe and stay away), but I could have gotten a better look at how it plays out with the Greeks both in the news and on the streets.  

No one I know has been in any danger or even been near the action - so had I been there I would be as safe as I am now.  I do appreciate those of you who did drop an email to check on me!

TV time

There's a lot of good to be said for Greek TV - although most of it is due to programming in English.  Of course, my view is slightly biased because at best I can only understand their dramas and not very well at that.  It's surprising how much time one can spend watching english shows - not all good mind you - but your standards lower a bit when that's all you can understand.  I find myself watching shows that I would definitely change the channel on if I were in the states.

First, though, I'd like to start with what just gets on my nerves.  News programs.  The picture above is of a typical program where they have up to 5 different windows on the screen.  More often than not, most of these people are arguing (thereby making it more difficult for me to understand).  Sometimes 3 of the 5 people in the windows are in the same studio, but just get individual cameras on them.  It can be a bit confusing.  I really hate nothing more than a bunch of loud people arguing in my living room, in a language I don't fully understand.  It's very Greek.

On to what you can find in English.  

-- CNN is my main news source (aside from online).  At times I can get Euronews or Al Jazeera, but that's through our cable box which is testy and takes time to get booted up, so I usually don't bother.

-- Without fail there is a movie or two every night, usually good ones but sometimes there is a dearth of Jean-Claude Van Damme or Steven Segal.  Last night we watched "Spy Game" with Robert Redfort and Brad Pitt.  On Sunday they played "Alexander".  One can catch movies that were in the theaters much more quickly than they are put on air in the States.

-- You can usually catch "The Bold and the Beautiful" and sometimes "Days of Our Lives", but they constantly change the programming so you don't know what time or channel it will be on from month to month.  The episodes seem to be from about 4 years ago.

--- Lots of American series' and some British ones as well.  We got caught up in "NCIS" this summer, some others are "CSI:New York", "Friends", "Gossip Girl" and "Chuck" (what are those anyway?), "E.R." and many more.  My sanity saver during the summer was daily doses of "Frasier" and "Everybody Loves Raymond".  As with nearly every country on earth, we also have "Oprah" but it's dubbed.  It's very weird to watch Oprah and hear a Greek voice.  Just doesn't compute.

---  I almost forgot - they even carry the Bob Ross shows (you know, the painter with the big white man's afro).  Dubbed, sadly.  It's just not the same without his calm voice walking us through the canvas creations.

--- One of the state channels seems to have purchased the licensing for every non-animated Disney produced during the 60's and 70's.  They have that very tell-tale coloring and bouncy positive feeling to them.  Well known ones are the Herbie Love Bug films and just about anything with Hayley Mills.  Today I have caught The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band (1968) starring Leslie Ann Warren, with a great dancing scene by Kurt Russell (at ~16 years old) that made me burst out laughing it was just so goofy.  Seeing him at that age was funny enough.  Even Goldie Hawn has a part in it - perhaps that is how they met?

I must tear myself away from this latest Disney offering, and the computer, and get ready for class.  Maybe some time soon I can give a more even review of the Greek shows if I work hard enough in class...

Gas and strikes

This morning I was catching a couple minutes of TV while eating breakfast and before heading out to take care of some business.  I saw a Greek news piece showing lots of traffic on a particular street, with a gas station near the shot.  Trying to read the news line at the bottom of the screen, I couldn't make out what the subject was.  

I left the house, with plans to gas up at the cheaper of the two gas stations on the way to my destination.  As I was turning onto the main thoroughfare where those stations are located, I saw the traffic backed up to the lights I was waiting at!  Mind you, I am not often out of the house at 7:30am these days, but I didn't think this was morning rush hour traffic.  Turns out, cars were in line at the station 1.5 blocks down the road.  Of course, this was a BP and they always have higher prices, and the station I wanted to stop at, further down the road, wasn't open.  I had assumed as much, seeing the line for this one.

Not having clarity on the gas situation, other than some kind of strike was going on, I decided that I'd need to go wait in that line before I went home.  (I felt it was too early to call anyone who might have more detailed information and hubby was unavailable.)  We were pretty much on "E" and there were some places we need to go in the next few days.  Not knowing if this was a 24 hour strike (as many strikes are here), or if it could go on indefinitely like the last time this happened, I figured I best get some fuel.

I probably managed to piss off some people already in line, since it extended way beyond the intersection I entered it at.  I realized that a bit late and was low enough on gas that I wasn't going to try to correct my mistake.  No honking or yelling in my general directions, so hopefully no harm no foul.

While in line, I was trying to decide whether to fill up, or get 20 Euros of gas, just to get by for a little while.  That decision was taken out of my hands, I learned as I approached the pumps.  We were limited to a 20 Euro purchase.  Probably best, since this station is more expensive anyway.  So after about a 20 minute wait, I got ~4.5 gallons of gas for a little under $30.  Wow, that's the first time I've really made that conversion (gas in liters to gallons and dollars).  That's ~$6.50 gallon.  No complaining from you guys on gas prices!!!  Sure, we always have someone doing the filling up for us (no self serve here), and if he's in a good mood he cleans your windows, but that's just not worth the price difference!

My biggest weakness in having a hard time understanding the news is knowing when strikes are coming.  I'm usually lucky and stumble upon the information in a timely manner, except for the one time I walked the whole 25 minutes to the Metro, only to find the strike hours started about 5-10 minutes before I got there.  Nice.

We have all sorts of strikes here, and I had kind of forgotten about them as they don't really happen during the summer.  But I guess we have returned to strike season.  Time to pay more attention to the news.

UPDATE - just spoke with hubby and it turns out this is a Customs strike (I believe at the Port of Pireaus).  They aren't allowing in fuel and possibly other things.  I still don't know what determines which gas stations would be open for business today, but am doubly happy that I stopped to get my share!