Off to the Texas of Greece

Trip Start Sep 07, 2008
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Trip End Dec 09, 2008


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Thursday, September 25, 2008

Sorry I haven't posted a blog update in a while. We left for a week-long excursion to the island of Crete. I didn't want to announce on the blog that we were leaving, lest some Athenian internet stalker seized the opportunity to burgle my apartment or hurt the students. And while we were gone, I was blessedly internet incommunicado. So what follows are descriptions of the adventures before and during the trip typed from the handwritten notebook I kept, divided into bite-sized vignettes.

Before we left, we had Greek language class with Gina. First we learned about name days. Birthdays are a relatively minor affair in Greece. But name days are a big deal. Your name day is set by a saint or a significant religious event connected to your name. On your name day, everybody contacts you and sends their good wishes, but they don't give you presents. You have to give THEM presents. Gina says this is why there are so many sweet shops in Athens, because the easiest present to give out on your name day are candies and pastries. My name day, or at least the name day for Eleni the Greek version of my name, is May 21.

Gina also told us a few things about Crete (which the Greeks pronounce KREE-tee). She said Crete is wonderful and she wished she could go with us. Because Crete is so much further south than Athens, it's a different region with its own accent that might be difficult for us to understand, Gina warned, and they all have guns. The street signs are full of bullet holes from their love of shooting their guns. Oh great, we thought, we're going to the Texas of Greece!
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