10 December 2008
30 November 2008
NEW BLOG ADDRESS
Ladies and gentlemen, we are switching blogs. Blogger has served its purpose, but Wordpress is a much more stylish and practical way to blog.
It's pretty easy to get to:
http://grecoroamin.wordpress.com
I hope this doesn't throw anyone's RSS feed into chaos.
It's pretty easy to get to:
http://grecoroamin.wordpress.com
I hope this doesn't throw anyone's RSS feed into chaos.
26 November 2008
Thanksgiving
A very happy Thanksgiving to everyone! We hope you enjoy the holiday and find meaning in the festivities.
We've rented a car from Swift Car Rental in Athens and will be driving with one of our friends first to Delphi then to Meteora and then to Papigo. Delphi is the center of the world, Meteora is not for those who are afraid of heights, and Papigo is a quaint stone town near the Vikos Gorge, the deepest gorge (disputed) in the world. We'll return on Sunday after more than 15 hours on the treacherous roads of Greece. Scratch that: the roads aren't dangerous; it's the drivers who are treacherous.
We've rented a car from Swift Car Rental in Athens and will be driving with one of our friends first to Delphi then to Meteora and then to Papigo. Delphi is the center of the world, Meteora is not for those who are afraid of heights, and Papigo is a quaint stone town near the Vikos Gorge, the deepest gorge (disputed) in the world. We'll return on Sunday after more than 15 hours on the treacherous roads of Greece. Scratch that: the roads aren't dangerous; it's the drivers who are treacherous.
25 November 2008
22 November 2008
3 months
Today marks 3 months that we've been in Greece. The time has been quite full, and it seems like we've been here much longer.
It's a warm and windy day outside, 72 degrees despite the dark cotton clouds that fill most of the sky. We went to our local grocery store this morning to get ingredients for a soiree we're having tonight. I no longer dread going to the grocery store; I've embraced the confusion and just grab things now. I was proud of myself for figuring out 'gouda' in Greek: ΓΚΟΥΝΤΑ. The gamma/kappa combination make a hard 'g' sound; the omicron/ipsilon combination make the long 'u' sound; and the ni/tau combination make a 'd.'
The light fixture in our kitchen is out for some reason, and we can't figure out what to do. As a fix, we've brought a floor lamp in, but the problem is that there are only two outlets in the kitchen, and one of them is the fridge. This wouldn't be that bad except for the teeny-tiny annoyance that for hot water in our kitchen, we have to plug in a hot water heater in the kitchen. It comes down to the option of hot water for dishes and no light, or light and cold water. What would you do?
It's a warm and windy day outside, 72 degrees despite the dark cotton clouds that fill most of the sky. We went to our local grocery store this morning to get ingredients for a soiree we're having tonight. I no longer dread going to the grocery store; I've embraced the confusion and just grab things now. I was proud of myself for figuring out 'gouda' in Greek: ΓΚΟΥΝΤΑ. The gamma/kappa combination make a hard 'g' sound; the omicron/ipsilon combination make the long 'u' sound; and the ni/tau combination make a 'd.'
The light fixture in our kitchen is out for some reason, and we can't figure out what to do. As a fix, we've brought a floor lamp in, but the problem is that there are only two outlets in the kitchen, and one of them is the fridge. This wouldn't be that bad except for the teeny-tiny annoyance that for hot water in our kitchen, we have to plug in a hot water heater in the kitchen. It comes down to the option of hot water for dishes and no light, or light and cold water. What would you do?
18 November 2008
name dispute
You would not believe how irate people get about the dispute between Greece and Macedonia and the right of the latter to use the name 'Macedonia.' Nearly any Greek will tell you it should by called FYROM (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) and will vociferously argue that they're stealing a Greek word and name and blah blah. My response to the students who have baited me into giving my opinion on it is, "I truly, honestly could not care less." Remember how I've mentioned that tendency to cling to glories of the past as if they are glories of the present? Yeah, same mentality here. Alexander died more than 2000 years ago, so let it go!
17 November 2008
Help!
Okay, in case anyone still reads this, we need your help.
We're trying to decide whether to bring Maxx back with us. He's driving my family bonkers with his idiosyncrasies, and though they try to put on a brave face about the situation, their voices crack and tears of frustration can be heard across the miles. I'm fairly certain that my dear mother has acquired a new streak of white hair because of the little guy.
There are several things to consider before we decide to bring him over, but the one factor with which I need your help is finding a pet carrier. United Airlines, our flight from PA to DC to Berlin to Athens (a HORRIBLE schedule), are incredibly stupid about their dimensions for pets in the cabin: 17x10x10. Most other airlines have a 22x12x10, but apparently United only wants kittens on their flights.
I've found a few options, but most of them fudge the dimensions by 1/2 an inch to an inch. Help me find something! Maxx has those long dancer's legs, and the thought of squeezing him into a tissue box pains me.
Help us help my parents!
TAKE THE POLL ON THE RIGHT!
We're trying to decide whether to bring Maxx back with us. He's driving my family bonkers with his idiosyncrasies, and though they try to put on a brave face about the situation, their voices crack and tears of frustration can be heard across the miles. I'm fairly certain that my dear mother has acquired a new streak of white hair because of the little guy.
There are several things to consider before we decide to bring him over, but the one factor with which I need your help is finding a pet carrier. United Airlines, our flight from PA to DC to Berlin to Athens (a HORRIBLE schedule), are incredibly stupid about their dimensions for pets in the cabin: 17x10x10. Most other airlines have a 22x12x10, but apparently United only wants kittens on their flights.
I've found a few options, but most of them fudge the dimensions by 1/2 an inch to an inch. Help me find something! Maxx has those long dancer's legs, and the thought of squeezing him into a tissue box pains me.
Help us help my parents!
TAKE THE POLL ON THE RIGHT!
rainy days and Mondays
A dreary weekend of promised rain finally delivered in full this evening. It's dismal outside, and the rain that's falling isn't a gentle rain; it's a hard, cold rain that has turned the roads into rivers. It wouldn't be that bad to walk in if there were sidewalks in Athens, but the city has deemed sidewalks the perfect place to plant short trees at a shallow depth so their roots buckle the sidewalks and their branches make walking upright an impossibility. Truly a feat of civil engineering.
We were at a friend's apartment when it started, and I spent over an hour dialing different taxi companies to no avail. Their lines were so busy that it finally said the network was busy, not just the phone number. Finally, Miah and I decided to walk home. If she weren't in a long skirt, and if I weren't wearing black leather shoes, there might have been a cathartic joy in walking through the cleansing rain. Instead, we sludged along through the streetrivers which are cleansing the city of its filth. At one point I was so deep in water that it was brimming over into my shoes.
We got our tax IDs today! That is, we got the number. The paperwork itself still has 32 levels of bureaucracy and 6 shades of red stamps to pass through, but at least we have the number. I think the bureaucracy had actually begun to wear on the people at the school, quite ironic considering the tongue lashing we received last week about living by the laws of the land and being patient.
We were at a friend's apartment when it started, and I spent over an hour dialing different taxi companies to no avail. Their lines were so busy that it finally said the network was busy, not just the phone number. Finally, Miah and I decided to walk home. If she weren't in a long skirt, and if I weren't wearing black leather shoes, there might have been a cathartic joy in walking through the cleansing rain. Instead, we sludged along through the streetrivers which are cleansing the city of its filth. At one point I was so deep in water that it was brimming over into my shoes.
We got our tax IDs today! That is, we got the number. The paperwork itself still has 32 levels of bureaucracy and 6 shades of red stamps to pass through, but at least we have the number. I think the bureaucracy had actually begun to wear on the people at the school, quite ironic considering the tongue lashing we received last week about living by the laws of the land and being patient.
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