An American Abroad...But Not an Ex-Pat

Last Wednesday I went to a poetry reading at an American university here in Athens. The reading was to debut a book that is an anthology of poems by American poets living in Greece. I enjoyed the poems, especially because they were narrative and not just mumbly-jumbly words that someone thought sounded nice together. Yes, I admit, I'm not much of a poetry connoisseur. The part of the evening I didn't like, however, was the roundtable discussion at the end. Mainly, I didn't like it, because while the presenters were fine poets, this alone does not qualify them to sound off on any topic they wish. One guy in particular irked me as he consistently made political comments and referred to America as an empire. It wasn't so much that he said those things...hell, you're thinking, I say similar things on a regular basis...it was the position he was speaking from. Sure, he was an American, but he hasn't lived in America in ages. What right does he have to criticize, I couldn't help wondering. Why does he concern himself so much with it, having chosen to live somewhere else? I don't fault him the choice to live in Greece. I don't fault anyone the choice to live wherever they are most happy, as long as they are living there because that is what makes them truly happy and not just because they are running away from things that make them unhappy. We only get one life after all, so why not spend it being happy. However, I hate it when anyone from "the outside" critizes America. Actually that's not true, I hate when people mouth off about America. I can take thoughtful criticism. But I can't take off the cuff ranting that results in no positive action.

And that is why I will never be an ex-pat. I may travel abroad and even live abroad, but I will always be an American who returns home to America. I love my birth country and I think it is a wonderful place, but I believe it has the potential to be an even better place. And that's why I think it's important to stay in America. Seeing the problems and running away accomplishes nothing. Seeing the problems and working to change them has the potential to accomplish everything. The best citizens are the ones who do take a critical look at their country and its policies and actions...and then take action to make their country a better place, a country they can truly be proud of. The solution is not to shout loudly from a distance and then hole yourself up in your own private world. The solution is to act.

A Tribute to Liberators

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is hosting a tribute to the forces who liberated concentration camps during the Second World War on Thursday, May 27. My grandpa's infantry division, the 8th, is one of thirty-five divisions being honored. For more information, you can check out the museum's website. There's a lot of interesting World War II events going on in DC right now. If you're in the area, you really should check some of them out. With thousands of WWII veterans dying every day, it might be your last chance to express your gratitude to them.

Why You Gotta Hate?

When Kentuckians went to the polls yesterday, their votes were nothing more than formalities. The Presidential primaries have already been long over. In November, when we return to the polls, however, votes will be of utmost important. The fate of our country for the next four years is up in the air. But that’s not all. Kentuckians will also vote on whether or not there should be a constitutional ban on gay marriage. This is an issue that also deserves attention. For many people, it’s about a future that is more than four years long.

The debate over gay marriage is being fought coast to coast. San Francisco was host to thousands of gay couples saying their vows. Massachusetts just approved gay marriage. Bush is pushing for a US Constitutional ban on it. A Courier-Journal poll shows that 70% of Kentuckians support a statewide constitutional ban. I’m hoping that by the time the issue comes up for a vote, those numbers will be reversed and at least 70% of Kentuckians will oppose such a ban. It’s a matter of equal rights, folks. You might as well ban the right of blacks or disabled people to get married.

Gay marriage is such an issue because, although we live in a country where Church and State are separate, we are in fact a highly religious country. “Marriage” for many people has sacred connotations denoting it as a union between a man and a woman that is blessed by God. This is not truly the case, as it is already possible to have marriages at the court house or any number of other places where religion or God is not once invoked. Also, anyone who can look at divorce and domestic abuse rates and tell me that marriage is sacred is crazy. I’m not saying it shouldn’t be, but when over 50% of marriages end in divorce and when people get married one, two, three, four times, I must argue that a lot of people don’t take it as a serious sacred commitment.

Our fear of allowing gay marriages also stems from the homophobia, both latent and forthright, that is prevalent in our society. Many people still see homosexuality as sinful, as an unnatural choice that people make. Spend some time thinking about it and tell me why you think anyone would choose to be homosexual. People don’t set themselves up to be discriminated against and hated. Why would anyone choose such a difficult life? They wouldn’t. Gay people don’t choose to love people of the same sex anymore than I choose to love people of the opposite sex. Being gay is not a new fad. It’s not a rebellion against society. Since the beginning of time, there have been gay people…it was actually much more accepted then than it is now. Reference Roman baths as a very simple example. And yes, the joining of a man and a woman is necessary for the continuation of the species, but I don’t think homosexuality is going to cause the extinction of the human race. Nuclear weapons, war, and terrorism maybe, but not homosexuality. As for it being “unnatural,” there are thousands of examples of homosexual behavior among animals with no capacity for rational thought. They obviously didn’t “choose” to be gay, they just acted. And for all people who like to spout their Christian theology as a reason for opposing homosexuality and gay marriage, remember “Judge not lest ye be judged.” The next homosexual person you meet could be your daughter, son, sister, or brother.

So tell me now why you oppose gay marriages. Why are you unwilling to extend the same rights you enjoy to all American citizens? Gay marriages won’t devalue your marriage. Gays are not going to convert people to “their way”. Your lifestyle is not at all threatened. In fact, if you believe in commitment, monogamy, and all those other values that go along with your marriage, you should be all for gay marriage. How can you find anything wrong with someone willing to say that they will do their very best to spend their life loving, cherishing, and caring for another human being? If the term “marriage” still bothers you, change it. I don’t think that’s the main issue at hand. Call it civil unions. Gays and lesbians aren’t demanding that the state intervene and force religious institutions to allow them to have church weddings. They simply want the kind of civil service that grants them recognition as committed partners. They want to have the right to make decisions for their significant other should that person be in a life or death situation. They want to be able to go back into the hospital room of their significant other when the situation is “family only.” They want to receive insurance benefits from their partner’s insurance. They want to function as a married couple when it’s time to do things like sign a loan, open a bank account, buy a house, use a credit card, plan for retirement, etc. All they want are the same rights that those of us who happen to be heterosexual take for granted every day. What harm is going to befall you if homosexuals are granted these rights? If your son, daughter, brother, or sister were gay wouldn’t you want them to have these rights?

Before the time to vote rolls around again, please consider your stance on this position. We each only get one life with a certain amount of days to seek that which makes life worth living – love, joy, peace. Who are we to stand in the way of someone else’s chance at happiness? Vote in opposition to a constitutional ban on gay marriage.

Accessing Iraq

In a little over a month, the United States is supposed to hand over control of Iraq to the Iraqi people. Bush stubbornly keeps repeating that he has no intentions of changing these plans, but looking at the situation, I wonder just how he or anyone else expects this to happen. No, I don’t think we should keep ruling Iraq like imperialist conquerors, but after the mess we’ve created I don’t think we can just bow out either. Just yesterday the leader of the Iraqi governing council was killed by a car bomb. Who exactly do we plan to give power to, and do we really think they can lead a deeply divided and destroyed country?

This war was a huge mistake. I said that to begin with, and I stand by that now. In my opinion, it has done more damage to America than it has healed. Our reasons for going to Iraq were sketchy at best. The rest of the world saw that. They asked for convincing proof that Iraq was doing the things we accused it of – creating WMDs and training terrorists – and when we failed to provide it, they asked us to wait and consider other options. The world wasn’t disagreeing that Saddam was a horrible tyrant who everyone would be better without. The world was asking us to consider if uncompromising military action was the best way to create world peace. Of course, it wasn’t, but being blinded by hatred and revenge we failed to see that. Now, not only have we alienated those who were once our allies, we have bred extreme hatred for us among a huge percentage of the world’s population. We weren’t just fighting Saddam. We weren’t just fighting Iraq. We are fighting the world’s largest religion. In many ways, it is our crusade against their jihad. We went to Iraq naively believing that once we got rid of Saddam, the people would see us as liberators and rush to fall down at our feet. That hasn’t happened. Not because all Iraqis, Middle Easterners, or Muslims loved Saddam, but because they are afraid that we are trying to take away their way of life. Many of us hate certain things about our country. Many of us hate George Bush. But if someone attacked our country, we would fight tooth and nail to defend it. We would be fighting for ourselves, our families, our beliefs, and our way of life. This is what these people are doing. To have American soldiers, mainly Christians, telling them what to do and how to live, is a huge affront to these people.

But that’s not it. Us leaving wouldn’t solve the problem either. We’ve created a huge power vacuum in a deeply divided country. We’ve tried to solve this by establishing a constitution and a democratic governing body. The problem, again, is that we, and not they, established it. We cannot enforce democracy. Reference Vietnam and Korea. We can’t really enforce any form of government unless we remain as occupying powers. Reference East Germany and the former Russian bloc countries. What we’ve created is a country that is on the brink of a civil war. We’ve dramatically decreased the living standards of the people. While Sadam may have terrorized the people, he did also provide them with electricity, clean water, health care, and oil. We’ve yet to do any of that. At this point, the people are looking for anyone who can improve their lives at all, and they are dividing into camps of people supporting various people, very few of whom have any real interests beyond their own acquisition of power. While Bush may have declared last May while parading around in a flight suit on board a US destroyer that the fighting in Iraq was over, the truth is that it will last for years and years. No, Iraq is not the new Vietnam. Iraq is the new Afghanistan. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, look up some information on the USSR’s occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s. Thanks to September 11, we all know what a great country Afghanistan turned out to be. Scarily enough, Iraq is heading down the same path. Ironically, our war on terrorism has done nothing but breed more. Is the world a safer place now than it was before we invaded Iraq? I say no. Not only have we fueled the passions of thousands if not millions of enemies, we have also alienated our allies. In today’s fragile world, standing alone is not safe.

Do I know what we should do? No, I don’t. I hope someone does though, because we can’t continue down this path. I dread to see where it leads. Iraq is a terrible mess that we got ourselves into. Now we must find a way to get ourselves out of it without messing up the state of the world anymore. Going to Iraq was a mistake. But not our biggest mistake. Our biggest mistake was our failure to establish a plan for what we would do once we overthrew Saddam. Again, our failure was that we were unable to look beyond our own interests to see the rest of the world.

New...Not Sure About Improved

As you will notice, my blog has been changed. This was not intentional. I was contemplating it and playing around with it, but I decided not to change the template. So I just quit without saving any changes. Yet, the program must have saved it because I went to my blog and saw that it was different. Miraculously, I managed to save my comments. I also added in links, but as you can see, they are right next to each other instead of under each other. If you know how to fix it, please let me know. But let me know how you like it. I was going to change it back, but that would have been more work than just fixing it.

Public Service Announcement

I interrupt my regularly scheduled programming to bring you this very special bit of news (which shouldn't really be news if you have half a brain). Today is Matthew's 22nd Birthday! If you see him, talk to him, or know how to use the phone or email, send him some birthday greetings. Twenty-two years ago he entered the world - a bit messed up as we may all remember. Fortunately, most of the problems were correctable, and those that weren't...well we've learned to love the fact that he's a freak. Just kidding, Matthew. Happy Birthday! I hope you have a fabulous day.

Run Run As Fast As You Can...

In Greece, women don't really exercise. Sure, there are a fair amount of women who belong to the gym here at Athens College, but they don't belong for health reasons. They belong for social reasons. It's expensive to join the gym, so it's a status symbol to belong (as it is at some of the more exclusive clubs in the US). To really get the status, the women do have to come to the gym, but that doesn't mean they have any real thoughts of exercise. They come to some of the classes offered, march around in place a bit and lift a few weights, but all the while they're really just checking themselves and their fellow socialites out in the mirrors. They wouldn't dare think of wearing a t-shirt and shorts to work out in; instead, they wear matching designer outfits and snazzy shoes (often not actually athletic shoes). They have their hair fixed and their faces are painted with make-up. If their cellphone rings during class (which it definitely will), they think nothing of spending half the class chatting away to whoever is on the other end. After their workout, they head to the gym canteen for a coffee or piece of cake and hang around chatting with friends. If you're a woman and you leave the gym a bit sweaty, they look at you as if you have some kind of disorder.

The best, though, is running. Hardly anyone, male or female, runs in Athens. Kate, Despina, and I, however, go for a run four or five times each week. Any time we pass anyone, they slow down and look at us and then look down the road behind us, expecting to see someone chasing us. Why, after all, would you run if it wasn't an emergency of sorts? There are also people who seem to think that we must be in a race, because their reaction is to cheer us on. Bravo koritsia (girls)! we hear as we run down the sidewalk. On Wednesday, as Kate and I ran up the hill leading to the mountain (yes the one with the ants,)a woman in a car slowed down, rolled down her window, made eye contact with us, and gave us the "Bravo Koritsia!" yell. We're running for maybe thirty minutes, but these people act like we're in the last leg of a marathon. It's quite amusing. Without all the fan fare, I don't know if I'll be able to exercise once I return home. Afterall, I'm only in it for the glory.

fANTastic fun

With our last classes taught (although I still have fun Fridays at the elementary school), Kate and I have taken up a new and exciting hobby. We watch ants. That's right, ants: Phylum, Arthropoda; Class, Insecta; Order, Hymenoptera. It started innocently enough. We were lying outside on the sidewalk leading up to our front door enjoying the sunshine, when we noticed that we were right next to an anthill. Coming from this hill were thousands of ants, parading in an organized line across our front yard. The line actually branched off into two lines about a meter from the nest, and the ants seemed to instinctively know which line they were to merge into. There was no hesitation at the crossroads. They each knew their job and did it as best as they could. The ants would set off with nothing and return with bits of plant that they took down into their nest. Being the clumsy giants that we are, we accidentally killed an ant or two in our clamboring around. These ants weren't abandoned though; another ant would come and take the injured or dead ant back to the nest. That set Kate and I to pondering whether any animals besides humans could comprehend death. It's amazing the deep thoughts that ants can inspire.

This ant-watching started up a while ago, and we have yet to become bored with it. As a matter of fact, yesterday Kate and I went for a run and as we were going up a mountain by our house, we came to a dead stop. Crossing the path (about the size of a narrow two-lane road) was a huge line of ants. A colony was situated on the side of the road, and it had at least five or six different openings into it. Millions of ants must have lived there. It was a true metropolis. Anyhow, the ants were crossing the road and picking up bits of grain that they were dragging back to the nest. Each piece of grain was at least twice the size of the individual ant and some were much much bigger. Each ant grasped the grain in its mouth and trotted it back. One or two ants, with gigantic pieces of grain, were actually walking backwards, dragging the grain. To see how dedicated they were to their grain, I picked up one piece and found that the ant hung on for dear life. No saving itself. As a reward, I let the ant down close to the nest, and although it seemed a bit dazed for a while, it got itself together and got back to the business at hand. While the majority of the ants were carrying grain to the nest, some were just marching back and forth along the line. Kate and I decided these were the motivator and traffic-directing ants. They were doing quite a good job because hardly any ants got off task, and the ones who did end up a ways from the line (mainly thanks to a gusty wind) always made their way back. We did, however, witness a bit on ant hanky-panky, as two ants snuck out of line and proceeded to get it on (or at least that's our best guess for what happened). Another ant must have caught wind of the activities, because it headed out for a look, but the ants had separated by then and gone opposite directions, acting as in nothing at all had happened. Anyhow, we eventually left the ants to their work and made it back home, a number of times having to do some tricky footwork to avoid stepping on any of our new friends. You see, Kate and I have become so attached to these six-legged creatures that we hate to kill any of them, even the ones that are invading our kitchen. Walking itself has become a moral dilemma.

Anyhow, if you'd like to know more about ants I suggest you go to this website. There are lots of links to ant information, and you can join Kate and me in our fascination with this marvelous insect. Here are some nifty facts to get you started.
*Worker ants can live up to seven years, and queen ants can live up to twenty-five years.
*All worker ants are female. Yeah, that's right, the tough guys doing all the work are actually tough girls.
*Male ants have wings. They mate with the queen and then die. They really aren't good for much.
*Some ant colonies can have a million residents.
*Ants are some of the most successful insects in the world.

Fascinating, isn't it. Really, you should give them a chance. Watching them work is motivational. If they can do what they do, think about what we can accomplish. No, really, think about it. As a final note, if you need to buy either Kate or I a present anytime soon, think ant farm.

Reviewing Rice Athletics

The Rice University Athletics Department is currently under review by the Board of Trustees. Apparently such reviews occur every ten years and are not limited to Athletics but to all aspects of the University. I don’t know if that is true, but I do know that this review is getting a lot of attention, not just at Rice, but also in the media. McKinsley Co. was commissioned to review both the state of Rice Athletics and the state of the NCAA, and this review is being used to determine the future of Rice Athletics. The options being considered are A) Keep Rice at Division I-A. B) Drop Football and move down to Division I-AAA. C) Drop down to Division III D) Completely get rid of intercollegiate athletics. If you are at all interested in Rice Athletics or the state of the NCAA, I encourage you to check out the report at Rice Owls. After reading the report (or parts of it, since it is quite long), it would be great if you’d fill out the survey form to send your comments to the Rice Board. I honestly don’t believe that Rice Athletics are in serious danger, but it can’t hurt to let the Board know that Rice Athletics are important to you. You don’t have to be a Rice student, alumni or parent; you can simply designate yourself as a “friend of Rice.” Here’s my opinion on why I believe it is important that Rice retain membership in Division I-A.

The combination of athletics and academics is uniquely American. If you travel or study abroad, you will see that universities elsewhere are strictly limited to academic pursuits. There is no foreign equivalent to Homecoming Tailgates, March Madness, the Bowl Series, or the College World Series. As such, there are no real traces of school spirit. You don’t see students wearing sweatshirts with their university’s name blazoned across the front. You don’t find alumni getting together years after they graduate to celebrate their common allegiance to their school. Students go to school for their classes and then return home. There is no reason to be at the university in the evenings or on the weekends. Students in these countries don’t miss it, because they’ve never had it, but I couldn’t imagine going to a school that was without athletics or competed at such a low level that it made little difference if there was competition or not. Athletics encourages school spirit. It unites people who may not have many other common interests. For those alumni of a university who may not live near the school after graduation, athletics is a way of keeping in touch with your alma mater. It’s unlikely that you’ll make an effort to return to the campus for concerts at the music school, lectures, or other such academic events, but there is a good chance you might return for Homecoming Weekend. And even if you don’t return, it’s highly likely that you’ll gather with fellow alumni whenever your team is playing on TV. Athletics unites. Take last year’s College World Series for example. Rice may be an “academic school”, but the largest ever gathering of Rice alumni occurred at a sporting event in Omaha, Nebraska. It’s obvious where our interests and allegiances lie. I can’t tell you who spoke on Rice’s campus this year, what professors won prizes, or what issues student government addressed, but I can tell you how the Rice athletic teams did or are doing. Athletics keeps me connected, even eight time zones away.

Athletes bring diversity to universities. At some big schools with athletic programs that churn out pro athletes at ridiculous rates, athletes may live in a separate universe from the rest of the students. At a small school like Rice, however, athletes are, for the most part, integrated into regular university life. There are some athletes who choose to exclude themselves from campus life, but there are also some music majors, some drama kids, some science geeks, and some “regular” students who choose to do the same. You can’t regulate a student’s involvement in the school once they are admitted. Those who say that Rice athletes were impossible to get to know or had no interest in regular Rice life, obviously had no interest in meeting or being friends with Rice athletes. I wasn’t an athlete, but I knew many – basketball players, football players, tennis players, baseball players, track and field athletes, soccer players, etc, and I often ran into them at parties or Rice events. Most classes I took at Rice had an athlete in them; it just wasn’t always obvious that they were. That to me is a good sign that the athletes are pretty well integrated into regular university life. At a school like Rice, athletes brought much needed diversity. Rice has students of varying races, religions, cultures, and backgrounds, but as far as interests and abilities go Rice is pretty homogenous. It’s a “smart” school. As it is, too many students are already way too steeped in books and academic pursuits. But athletes have to divide their time between demanding classes and demanding sports schedules, and thus already have a broader perspective than the average student. And success in the “real world” really has very little to do with what your GPA was or what honor societies you belonged to. Success hinges on your ability to interact with and relate to people of wildly diverse backgrounds. Success depends on being able to look at issues from a multitude of perspectives. Success requires that you be open-minded and both interested and interesting. I am certainly not arguing that Rice relax its standards for admission or performance. Like all other students, Rice athletes need to be able to meet the challenges presented to them in the classroom. I feel, however, that athletes are often judged in ways that the regular student isn’t. While we all know that SAT scores are just one indicator of a student’s ability to perform college level work, they are often the sole criteria flung around when discussing athletes. Admission to a school like Rice is based on the sum of a person’s talents, abilities, and characteristics. Outstanding talent in one area can often compensate for lesser ability in another area. When someone with lower SAT scores is admitted into the Shepherd School of Music because they have an amazing ability to sing, compose, or play an instrument, no one blinks twice. It would be completely un-PC to even mention such a thing. That same standard does not apply to athletes. Yes, it is a disservice to both the university and the student to admit someone who can’t perform at the level demanded by the school. It is important, however, to remember that all students, student-athletes included, should be judged not by a single number or characteristic (either in a good or bad way), but instead should be judged on what he or she as a complete person can offer to the university.

Finally, what kind of statement would Rice be making by throwing in the towel now? Rice Athletics is on the rise. Last year, the baseball team brought home Rice’s first ever National Championship, and is again this year one of the top programs in the country. Men’s tennis is highly ranked and has the best men’s doubles’ players in the country. The women and men’s basketball teams both had good seasons with invitations to the NIT. They’re recruiting better players every year, and I don’t think it will be long until the invitation is to the NCAA tournament. (The women already made it two years ago.) Our three-year-old soccer program is doing well, and our swimmers are highly competitive. Athletes on the track and field teams are setting world records. And at the same time, Rice had the highest graduation rate for Division I-A athletes in the country. In fact, Rice athletes graduate at a higher rate than the average Rice student. I do believe that the NCAA, in general, is in a sad state. At many universities, athletics can hardly be considered amateur. Athletes are treated to special privileges, excused from regular requirements, and given superstar status. For many athletes, universities are simply holding grounds until they are eligible to go pro. This isn’t true at Rice. Sure some baseball players will leave after their junior year, but the majority of them still end up earning their degrees as witnessed by the high graduation rate. While some athletes are allowed by their universities to go ungrounded in their beliefs that they will make millions in the pros, Rice athletes are realistic in knowing that very few people ever make it as pro athletes. If Rice throws in the towel now, they will be admitting that NCAA athletics are a hopeless joke. That doesn’t have to be. What Rice needs to do is not only stay in the game, but take their game to the next level. Rice needs to make sure its athletes have the best facilities, best coaches, and best opportunities available. At the same time, Rice needs to continue to accept only the best student-athletes and demand excellence from them in the classroom. With the move to Conference USA, a better and more visible conference, Rice has the opportunity to be an example to other universities and to the NCAA in general. By improving on what we’ve been doing for years, Rice can prove to the rest of the country that academics and athletics can go hand in hand, without one having to be compromised. Rice can be the catalyst for reform.

If you feel at all similarly to how I feel, please fill out the survey that goes with the McKinley report. You can access it through Rice Owls.

Happy Birthday Mom!

My mom is celebrating the big 5-0 today. That's right, she has now officially lived for five decades. She's half a centenarian. I know you'd never know it by looking at her, but it's true. With hardly a grey hair or wrinkle, she's reached the landmark 50. I think she's had a pretty good time the past fifty years, and I'm certain she'll make the most of the next fifty. Soon enough all of us kids will be out of her hair, and she's going to let her true self shine through and spend every night partying like a rock star. Haha. You better not Mom! I like you just the way you are...no rock star mom for me. Anyhow, Happy Birthday to the best mom in the world!

Yeah, shut up, my mom is better than your mom and you know it.

Bombs and Such

You may or may not have seen the news, but three bombs exploded here in Athens early this morning. I didn't know until I read cnn.com, so I'm not any better informed than any of you all. The bombs exploded in front of a bank in the Kallithea area of Athens. The bombs were timed to go off over a period of thirty minutes. A newspaper was alerted ten minutes before the first went off, and fortunately there was enough time to evacuate the area and no one was hurt although the bank was extensively damaged. Experts feel that injuries were intended because of the relatively short notice. No one has taken responsibility, although some suspicion has been cast at the Greek November 17 terrorist group. Others say this group is dead, so who really knows. In case you were wondering, it takes me about half an hour to get to Kallithea, so it's not particularly close to me. I've been there twice, both times for the big flea market held there on Sunday mornings. While the 3 euro shirts are quite a bargain, the best thing you can get there are gyro sandwiches.

Interestingly, the bombings coincide with there being 100 days left until the Olympics begin. You can't help but think that there must be some relation. I am not sure exactly what the intent was, but the most obvious thing to me is that whoever did this simply wanted to display their power and remind us that there is no such thing as perfect security. No matter how much money is spent or technology is used, we can't guarantee safety and security. Life is inherently risky, and certain things come with more risk. Unfortunately it seems that these days the Olympics, which are supposed to be representative of international unity and peace, come with a warning of increased risk. Hopefully all the speculation comes to nothing, and the Olympics go off without a hitch, but regardless, I'm glad that I'm not going to be here for them.

As a side note, I must say that hearing about the bombs didn't affect me much. I hope that doesn't mean that I'm in any way accepting that bombings are simply a condition of modern life or life in a city like this, but I didn't feel threatened or anything like that. I was glad no one was hurt, and I thought it was unfortunate that someone would resort to such an action, but I didn't think about any risk to myself or contemplate changing my lifestyle in any way. It was news. That was all.

On a separate but related note, Despina, Kate and I ran over to the Olympic Stadium this weekend to check it out. We can see it from our house (it's only a few blocks away), but we've never gotten up close and personal with it. Turns out we weren't missing much. It's really quite a mess. The basic structure is there, but it's not at all attractive. Plus the area around it is absolutely filthy. I don't know what the plans are for spiffing it up, but there must be some. I'm quite interested in watching the Olympics on TV to see if they can manage to make Athens look nice and if so, how in the hell they do it.

A Bit of Pomp and Circumstance

Congratulations Matthew! Today is it. You've reached the end of the journey called college and are about to enter into the oft talked about but seldom journeyed to "real world". Don't worry. There are still plenty of ways to avoid fully entering this "real world," and I'm sure you are smart enough to figure them out.

In all seriousness, I hope the past four years have been full of challenges, excitement, laughter, discoveries, long conversations, lasting friendships, and instant memories. You'll take more from college than you can realize right now, and you'll be amazed by the things you'll remember and miss the most. I hope you've had a great four years at Dayton, but I also hope that you haven't had the time of your life. At 21 years old, the time of your life still awaits. And I know it will be an amazing time. You've got what it takes to change our world and make it into a far superior world than we have now. I expect nothing less from you. So take a well-deserved break and then get out there and start kicking some butt.

Springtime Magic

Flowers are the theme of the day, and not just in Kentucky where the blanket of roses is awaiting the 130th winner of the Kentucky Derby. Today is May Day. This day means little in the United States, but around Europe it is celebrated in grand style. To the people here it means that nice weather is officially here or at least on its way. Summer is not far off. Here in Athens the day calls for picnics, singing, dancing, and the creation of wreaths made of flowers. This isn't hard because I've never seen a country more covered in wildflowers than Greece. While the entire country is dusted in dead brown dirt for most of the year, a carpet of flowers appears in the spring and makes everything appear lush and dazzlingly alive. I've been told that Greece has more species of wildflower than anywhere in the world, and I think they may be right. There are poppies, daisies, lavender, and violets, but there are also a million other types of flowers I've never seen before. They even have the strangest dandelions. I swear Konstantinos and I picked and blew apart a dandelion that was two feet tall and whose poofy head was the size of a tennis ball. It was big enough to make lots of wishes on.

I know the flowers won't last that long, but I wish they would. I love walking through the vines of roses twisting all along the front gate, and I love the smell that floats in the air as you pass flowering bushes, trees, and plants. The other night Despina, Kate and I went on a walk as the night started to grow dark. We walked to a circle where a creek runs through. In the evening lights, the water twinkled. Overhead trees loaded with flowers released the sweetest fragrance, and a few loose petals drifted down around you like snow. It was like being in a fairy tale. Pure magic.

Call To The Post

A.B. "Happy" Chandler, former governor of Kentucky, once said, "I have never met a Kentuckian who wasn't coming home." On days like today, those of us who are transplanted Kentuckians feel that overpowering pull of home more than usual. Today is the 130th running of the Kentucky Derby, the biggest day of the year in the Kentucky calendar. Unfortunately this is now the fifth year in a row that I haven't been home for it. I hope to make it back soon, because Kentucky Derby time is the best time to be in Louisville. For two weeks, the entire city sports its finest attire. Louisville is a perfect southern lady, attractive, well-kept, gentle, smart, fiery, and full of surprises. Around 6 o'clock tonight it will all culminate in the Run for the Roses, a two minute dash into history or obscurity. Two minutes of yelling, screaming, jumping up and down, hat waving, neighbor hugging excitement. It's not a phenomenon that can be understood if you have not seen it. It's a horse race, you think. But it's not just a horse race. It is the horse race. And it's a horse race surrounded by fan fare that has nothing to do with whether you like horses. It's about whether you know how to have a good time. It's about vice and virtue. It's about victory and defeat. It's about about culture, heritage, history, and pride. It's an event that brings the common man and Hollywood's biggest stars together for a few days of celebration. On the first Saturday in May, Louisville is the place to be. How it got to be this way is unknown to me, but it is that way and that doesn't seem to be changing. Steinbeck in writing about his first experience at the Derby made it clear that you haven't lived unti you've been. If you haven't made it to the Derby yet, you obviously haven't made it yet. So start planning for next year. You'll be sure to have a good time. Louisville will see to it.

And just to put it in writing, I'm pulling for Smarty Jones this year.

Unfathomable

A girl I played soccer with in high school died yesterday in what can only be considered the most senseless of tragedies. She was hit by a bullet in the throat at a party at her own house. Apparently two guys got in a fight and one pulled a gun and aimed at the other guy and fired. The bullet passed through this guy's scalp and lodged itself in Jenna's throat. The guy lived. Jenna didn't.

She was celebrating the end of spring soccer season with her friends. She had everything in the world going for her. She was one of the best soccer players I've ever seen...a star in the Big 12 for the University of Nebraska, a member of the US Women's U-21 Team, and a possible player on the US Women's Olympic Team. Even though she was only a sophomore when I played with her, she was a team leader...always positive, always fun, always making you want to be better. On top of that, she was sweet, funny, well-liked, and very smart.

You have to wonder what's wrong with the world when someone like that is taken from it. It's an unfair world for sure. We all know that, but there are certain moments that make that brutally clear. And the most infuriating part of it is that we have the power to make it a bit fairer, to make it so that less people have to suffer through such unfathomable tragedies. Why in God's name did a 22 year old have a gun at a college party? Why did he have a gun at all? Why do we defend, defend, defend the right of people to carry guns when we all know that the purpose of a gun is to kill? You can talk to me all you want about our rights and self-defense, but I will never agree with you. I'm not saying that guns used for hunting are terrible. I'm saying that a handgun, which is specifically designed to kill humans, has no place in a civilized world. It's a tragedy waiting to happen. It's a tragedy that could be waiting to happen to someone you know and love. It's time we did something about it. Fuck the NRA. Fuck the people who claim that any kind of check on a gun is a denial of basic rights. Life...that's the one right that we should all be working to protect. Think about it. Think about how you live. And think about how you vote. And think about how that lifestyle and that vote could help or hurt the lives you care about.

There will be plenty of elegies for Jenna from people who knew her far better than I did. I won't pretend that we were the best of friends. I enjoyed the time I spent with her, and I am glad I had a chance to know her and interact with her on a daily basis for two years. The thought of what happened saddens and sickens me. Despite all our wishes, there is nothing we can do to change what has happened. I can only keep her family and friends in my prayers and ask that you do too. And in honor of her and all others who have been victims of such horrible violence, we must do all that we can to make our world a safer and more loving place. It's our responsibility.

Airport Tidbits

First of all, isn't tidbits a great word? It's cool like smorgasboard. By the way Mark, I ate from a real smorgasboard in Sweden. I know you're jealous.

I thought today I'd provide you with a thought or two more from my travels. Maybe it was just me, but I sure thought this was strange. When I was flying out of Sweden, our plane was delayed a bit by air traffic control, so we were just sitting out on the runway. I was trying to distance myself from the philosophers, so I was staring out my window and what do I see. First, let me tell you that I'm at the smallest, most ghetto airport I've ever been to. It was like a landing strip with an attached outhouse. Ryanair is the only airline that flies out of this airport. The whole thing is secured by nothing more than a chain link fence. This chain length fence is only about 50m from the runway. I think you could reach out and touch the plane's wing if you were standing by the fence. And that my friend is what people were doing. Not touching the wing, but gathering at the fence to stare at the plane. Twelve people. And they weren't just there by happenstance. These people had lawn chairs and binoculars. It was the day's big event for them I guess. "Hey hon, hurry up with that. The plane takes off in thirty minutes. We've got to get our seats. " It was kind of an eery feeling being on the plane with those people watching like something spectacular was going to happen. I felt like I was on the wrong plane and instead of going to London, this plane was going to take off and do some loopty-loos or barrell rolls. Fortunately for me it turned out to be a regular flight. Hope the people on the ground weren't too disappointed.

And as an interesting sidenote, I was looking for a sandwich to take with me on the airplane but without success. The things people eat up there are quite disgusting. Pickled fish??? I did find two interesting options though, both which were tuna. One sandwich was named "Moby Dick" and the other was named "Honky Tuna". I got a good laugh out of that. One Honky Tuna and a Coke please.

No I Don't Think You're Smart. In Fact, I Think You're An Inadequate Moron.

I’m not a big fan of flying. Not only is your seat tiny, but you are also practically sitting on top of someone else, who you most likely don’t know. On my flight from Stockholm to London I got a little relief with the tiny seat by securing the window in the emergency exit row, but I almost would have given that up in order to avoid sitting next to the two people I got stuck with. My row-mates were two males, one probably a year or two younger than me and one about three years older than me. From what I got out of their comments, it seems they had just met in the café at the airport. Both were from London though. Apparently they are the kind of people who could talk to walls because despite only knowing each other for a short amount of time, they talked nonstop the entire flight. And not only did they talk, but they talked about philosophy. Oh God, shoot me now. The older guy acted as if he were Socrates himself. As soon as they sat down, they started talking about “truth”. What is truth? the older guy asked. Is there such a thing? Am I true? Is the world true? Blah blah blah blah blah. Then they went to the idea of good and evil. And then on to God. The older guy was a self-professed agnostic (more atheist I think), and the younger guy was Christian. The younger guy kept defining God in a pretty traditional sense: all-knowing, all-powerful, all-loving, etc. The older guy kept asking, “If God is everything than must he not also be evil?”. Then the older guy wanted to know why Jesus was human and divine, saying that it would have made more sense if he were just human because as he was divine people would use that as an excuse not to have to live as he did. I wanted to point out here that that would have been a slight problem, in that then he just would have been a person and not God. I also wanted to point out to him that simply because something does not make sense to him does not mean that that is not the way it is/was/will be.

Anyhow, I’m not going to transcribe the conversation for you because it was so inane that I refuse to waste your or my time with it. What I wanted to say is that I think philosophy, for the most part, is a whole lot of BS. (I’m not rejecting all philosophy or saying Socrates or Aristotle or other such people were idiots. I’m mainly talking about the philosophizing that goes on today by all kinds of Joe Schmoes.) Here’s my theory on it all: Philosophy stems from a sense of inadequacy. People feel inadequate in the world, so they turn to philosophy, analyzing everything to the extent that it is impossible for it to make any sense at all. Then they go around asking people questions that no one can answer, and subsequently feel smart for being able to ask such questions. By making the world so complicated, they feel justified in their inadequacy, convincing themselves that it is impossible for any person to really understand anything. Pretty good theory huh?

I’m either brilliant or retarded, because it’s not that complicated to me. Truth doesn’t have to be that difficult. Neither does God. I am true. The morning is true. Laughter is true. Tears are true. Sunshine is true. Thunderstorms are true. Love is true. The ability of one life to affect another life is true. Even a mirage is true. It’s not truly a place perhaps, but it’s truly a mirage. There is truth in everything. And at the same time, all of that is God. Therefore logically, Truth is Everything. Everything is God. God is Truth.

Now do I get a Nobel Prize or something?

The Short (Yet Still Long) Review

So it's been a month since I wrote anything of substance on here. It's been a busy month too, so there's no way I can do it all justice in just one post. Therefore I'll just give you a brief update in this post and in future posts which I plan to write this week I will hone in on some of the more interesting details. Officially I was on Easter break for the past two months. Unofficially I have been on break for a month. Here's how it broke down.

March 17-27: Jeff arrived here in Athens on the 17th. I hadn't seen him since Christmas break, so it was really nice. We spent the 19-21 on Santorini, the southermost island in the Cyclades. It's a beautiful island that was created by a volcano, which is still active. The views are stunning. We rented a motorbike and cruised all over the island, which was quite fun. It was a good way to see it all. We looked cool too. Jeff was driving. I was holding on to him. And we both had on these doofy helmets - orange and blue. We looked like we had just driven out of Dumb & Dumber. I really need to get my pictures online. The 23-26 we took a roadtrip around northern Greece. We went to Meteora, these monasteries perched on these huge rock pillars (one appears in the James Bond movie "For Your Eyes Only"), which were amazing. It blows my mind thinking how they were built. Then we went up to Thessaloniki, which is the second biggest town in Greece. It's on the waterfront and so much nicer than Athens. We ended our trip in Delphi. I'd been there before, but it was still cool being at the "navel of the world". I wonder how people in the ancient times made it there. It's not exactly an easy place to reach even nowadays.

March 27 - April 2: At the airport I traded Jeff for my mom. On Sunday, we hit all the major Athens sites including the Acropolis, believe it or not my first time there. Mom compared Athens to the Louisville ghetto, which was pretty funny and also a bit true. We then went to the island of Naxos, where it was really windy but still nice. It's not a touristy island, which was nice. The next day we were going to take a bus to some sites in the Peloponnese, but all the public sectors decided to go on strike. Lovely Greece. We ended up renting a car, which worked out well because we got to see a lot - Acrocorinth, Mycenae, Epidauros, and Napflio. All of the sites were really neat, especially Acrocorinth. Thursday Mom braved the rain to do a little shopping in Athens.

April 2 - April 8: Mom and I took off for Rome the morning of April 2. Once in Rome, we spent the day seeing the major sites - Coloseum, Forum, Trevi Fountain, etc. The next day we visited the Vatican, which was quite crowded being Holy Week and all. Sunday we headed south to Pompei. I'd been before, but found it really interesting anyhow. They've started handing out a little booklet which gives great explanations. I also saw the plaster casts of the people they found there, which I somehow missed the first time. We spent Monday in Florence, having a fairly easy day seeing the major sites. Tuesday we headed to Venice and stayed there through Wednesday. It was pretty cool weather-wise, but we survived. We did some shopping, saw St. Mark's Square and the Realto bridge, took a trip to Burano island, and rode a gondola. Jeff and his parents joined us on Wednesday and we had a nice time. That night we headed back to Rome and Mom took off the next morning.

April 8 - April 12: After seeing Mom off at the airport, I met up with Jeff and re-did the Rome sites. I think Rome is a really interesting city, so I didn't mind. Friday we went to the Vatican before heading to Vernazza in the Cinque Terre. In Vernazza we were part of a Good Friday Carrying of the Cross procession which was really beautiful. The next morning, we hiked the five towns of the Cinque Terre. It's a stunning area. I'd love to spend a long weekend there. Amazing place. But we were on a whirlwind tour, and headed out to Florence Saturday night. Easter Sunday Jeff and I went on a bike ride through the Chianti region. Twenty miles in total, the first ten were all uphill. I thought I was going to die. The trip had worn me out and this was insane. The views were beautiful though. Monday we spent most of the day travelling. We went from Florence to Milan and then flew to Sweden.

April 13 - April 18: I spent this week in Sweden with Jeff. I was all set to dislike the country...especially since cold weather and I don't get along, but Sweden put on it's Sunday best, and I really did like the place. We had a pretty chill time, which was just what I needed after all the travel. We did take a boat trip to Helsinki, which was pretty neat. We went Wednesday night, spent Thursday in Helsinki, and came back Thursday night. Interesting sidetrip. In Stockholm we went to few museums, the Vassa one being pretty neat, and we did a little H&M shopping. I came back last night on a crazy set of flights - from Stockholm to London Stanstead and then from London Luton to Athens. I got in at 4:30am and slept a few hours before getting back to work.

All in all it was a great vacation. I'll fill you in on some of the more interesting details later. I really did mean for this to be short. I just did a lot of things in the past month, and I knew you wanted to know about each and every one!

Yay for Shrimp

I need to update on lots of other things, but check this out. And I never knew that Long John Silvers was based in Louisville...another exciting thing about my city. Woohoo.


LOUISVILLE, KY, March 24, 2004 - NASA's March 23 announcement of evidence of the past presence of "a body of gently flowing saltwater" on Mars is big news for America, and giant news for seafood fans.

In January, Long John Silver's offered to give America free Giant Shrimp if NASA found conclusive evidence of an ocean on Mars. To celebrate the success of NASA's Mars Rover project, the company is going to give America free Giant Shrimp on Monday, May 10.

Long John Silver's President Steve Davis sent a personal letter to NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe, congratulating NASA on their discovery. "We've been following the Mars Exploration project since the beginning," Davis wrote, "and we've been anxiously awaiting word of evidence of an ocean on Mars. The rovers have been extremely busy since they arrived on Mars - they've had 'plenty of things on their plate.' Now, with the discovery of ocean water, America can add one more thing to its plate - free Giant Shrimp."

Davis ended the letter by writing, "This is one small step for man, and one giant leap for Giant Shrimp." He also again expressed interest in Long John Silver's becoming the first seafood restaurant on Mars.

Baker added that the Giant Shrimp giveaway is the perfect way to celebrate NASA's historic discovery, which has taken place at the same time Long John Silver's Giant Shrimp introduction has been one of the most successful product launches in company history.

"NASA is making history on Mars and Long John Silver's is making history here on earth," added Baker. "Our faith in NASA has paid off. Their giant accomplishment calls for Giant Shrimp."



For more info, check out the websites http://www.ljsilvers.com/press/freeshrimp.htm.

The important part is here though for those of you needing to know now...
Every person in the U.S. will have an opportunity to obtain one free Giant Shrimp at participating Long John Silver's restaurants in the United States. Redemption will take place on Monday, May 10, 2004, from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m., local time, while supplies last. Customers can use the store locator at www.ljsilvers.com to find their nearest Long John Silver's locations.

Woohoo. One free shrimp! Life is good.

Catching Up

Over the next month you might not be hearing too much from me. Jeff got here on Wednesday and will be staying until the 27th when my mom arrives. I will then spend a week here in Greece with her before we take off for a week in Italy. At the end of that week, Jeff will meet me in Italy for a few more days, and then together we'll head up to Sweden for a week. It's going to be a fun month. This evening Jeff and I are headed to Santorini which out to be a lot of fun. It's an island that was created by an exploding volcano, and it's supposedly extremely beautiful. I'll take lots of pictures. Speaking of pictures, I've taken quite a few that I'd like to post but the connection in our house is so bad that it takes years to upload even one picture. I'm still trying though and hopefully I'll succeed one of these days.

It seems that spring has finally arrived for good, and I'm loving it. The weather is beautiful. Sixties and sunshine. Plus there are wildflowers everywhere which are quite beautiful. A big change from the rest of the year. When I got here in September it didn't seem as if there was anything alive in this whole country. It's a strange place. Everything grows in the winter and dies in the summer. But it's great now so I'll enjoy it.

I think I've decided what I really want to study. This is the big question I ponder all of the time. For those of you who don't know, I decided a while ago that I'd like to go back to school in a year and get a master's in museum studies. Working in a historical museum really interests me. But that's not the end goal. I think I might want toget my PhD. In what though I haven't been quite certain. Not English. Not German. Maybe History I thought. Yet the other day while lying around outside in the sunshine it became perfectly clear to me what I should study. I want to study Memory. I don't really know how I go about this or what discipline it falls under, but I think that is the one thing that interests me most. I like history, not for facts and figures, but for what people remember about it and how those memories compare to the facts. I like museums because of how they influence what we remember. I like stories because many times they are simply mutated memories. I like language because it affects the way we think and remember. I wrote my thesis on the memory of the Second World War. It makes sense. I like a lot of things, but they are tied together by this common theme of memory. I think I'd like to do an interdisciplinary type of thing - science, history, literature, sociology. I want to know the scientific background of how we remember. I want the humanities background of what we do with our memories. And I want the sociological background of how memories affect us and the societies we build. If anyone has any ideas of who I should talk to or where I should look to figure out how to study this, let me know. I'm sure I'll figure it out somehow but a little advice never hurt.

What Exactly Do You Have In That Bag?

This morning I took the metro into town. No big deal. I take the metro a couple of times every week. I didn't think anything of it as I bought my ticket and waited for it to arrive. But when I sat down, things changed. A man and woman wearing dark sunglasses and carrying a black duffel bag sat down across from me. Honestly, that's not at all unusual in Greece. People wear sunglasses all the time and use the metro to get to the port and other places where luggage is not at all unusual. Yet today I got to feeling really on edge. One part of my brain told me to move or to get off of the metro at the next stop. The other part told me to quit being irrational and just go on with my normal life. It was weird, because I'd never before felt like this. I'd never thought that I could be somewhere where a terrorist attack could happen. Sure I've not wanted to fly or whatnot, but since the attack on Spain, it seems that the seemingly benign is perhaps a bit dangerous. I mean, who would have ever thought Spain would be a target. And the strange part about the situation was not really knowing if I was being irrational. On one hand you can't freak out over everything. But on the other hand if you have the chance to protect yourself from something bad, you don't want to waste that opportunity. The thing with terrorist attacks is that there really is no way to know. It's not like you're running out in front of traffic without looking, driving drunk, or playing with a loaded gun. You're just living your ordinary life when tragedy strikes. So I guess what I'm saying is that there is nothing you can do but live and live everyday as best as you can. And it can't hurt to say your prayers, keep your eyes open, and smile at every single person you see (Kate and I are convinced that smiling is the solution...I'll explain more on that in a separate post). Anyhow, that's all I have to say about that. Just a strange feeling I thought I'd share.

Unfathomable

I’ve been following the news of the Madrid bombings on television and the Internet. I’ve seen the coverage on Greek stations and on CNN, in international newspapers and in American papers. The way it’s covered is very different. America takes a much more distanced and neutral look at it. We report the facts and let it go, moving right on to what Kerry said about Republicans or who won the latest basketball game. Greece and other European countries take a much more personal and in-depth look at what happened. In general, Greek news is more sensational than American news, but in regards to this event I haven’t really found it to be all that sensational. I’ve found it to be more real. Watching Greek news, even without understanding most of what they are saying, I can feel much more the effect of the bombing. It’s much more terrifying, devastating, and real. It has affected people who are very much like me. They aren’t unnamed. They aren’t faceless. They all have stories. They all have family and friends. They all have hopes and dreams. I find that too often this information is missing from American news. We give numbers in place of names. Or if we do give names, it’s simply a name and an age. We don’t know whose son or daughter they were. We don’t know what they liked to do. We don’t know who they wanted to be. And this makes it easier for us to swallow. I understand that we all need coping mechanisms when dealing with tragic situations. We can’t mourn for each person killed in actions of mass destruction. We can’t process all their stories. But at the same time we can’t forget that they are individual people too. Each one of the people in Madrid got on the metro that morning with a specific plan. They were going somewhere to do something that had some meaning to them. They probably never thought that they would never make it there. They could have been us. I don’t say that because I think we should be fearful or that we should think every time we go somewhere or do something that this might be the end. I say that because I believe if every person in the world thought about these people and all other people who die in such tragedies as individuals we would be doing so much more to make the world a more peaceful place to live. We’d be doing so much more to make sure that we and the people we love never have to deal with a situation like the one in Madrid.

Perhaps I am ignorant but as I watch the coverage of this, just as when I watched the September 11 coverage, I can’t imagine how anyone could do such a thing. I can’t begin to fathom how people can plan and then carry out an action that will result in the death of hundreds or even thousands of people…or for that matter even one person. How can they see, talk to, listen to, or be near even one other person and still go through with whatever they had planned? When they see a little baby, what do they think? When they see two young people holding hands, what do they think? When they hear laughter, what do they think? I simply cannot understand how someone can look at the world and all the love in it and consciously make a decision to bring harm to people. Sure there is hate. And sure there are bad things that happen. But there is so much good and so much love and so much hope and so much to live for. I don’t understand this violence. I don’t understand what people think they will accomplish with it. And I don’t understand how someone who lives in a world in which there is constant interaction between people can carry out such an act. How inhuman must one be?

Good Health To Me, Good Wealth to Me, The Best of Everything

I turned 23 yesterday. If you haven’t yet sent me a gift, it’s okay, I accept belated ones. I usually find birthdays to be a bit anti-climactic. You anticipate it for a while, but when it actually comes, it’s nothing too extraordinary. It’s not like Christmas. Most of the time you don’t even get the day off. You work or go to school like it’s a regular day, and if by some chance you don’t have to, all your friends and family still have to so it’s not that exciting anyways. In a foreign country, there’s generally even less to look forward to. You can’t go out to eat at your all-time favorite restaurant. Your family isn’t there to celebrate with you. You can’t gather up all your friends for a party. But yesterday, despite all that, I had a really nice birthday. I woke up around nine to discover that Despina and Kate had trapped me in my room by roping off the door completely with streamers and hanging Reese Easter Eggs from the ceiling. After breaking out (Kate made me slither out under the streamers), I got to open the presents my family sent and I received “The World According to Mister Rogers.” In case you weren’t aware, I love Mister Rogers. Matthew was a Sesame Street kid, but I was 100% Mister Rogers. Then I checked my email to find lots of birthday wishes, some from people who I don’t generally think of as knowing exactly what day my birthday is, and a really nice card created by Mark. The middle of the day was business as usual, but when I came home from my classes at 3:00, I found the house decorated in balloons. And my roommates hadn’t just blown them up, they’d drawn all over them. There were portraits of me, a picture of a spider with big fangs, a cake (chocolate even!), and a horse (that one’s hard to explain). It was really nice of them. Then I got phone calls from Jeff and my mom. (Later I also got a call from Dad and Mark.) In the evening, we went to Santa Fe Restaurant where they treated me to an excellent burrito and some margaritas. Back at home, we had chocolate cake to top it off. And best of all, there were presents…and presents unlike any anyone else has ever received. I got two homemade cards, a used eraser named Ferby with “I love Theresa” written on it, a marzipan chocolate that had been sitting on the bookshelf for about a week, a tiny bottle of Jack Daniels which Kate got on the plane when the two of us were flying back here from DC, the house’s copy of “The Prince of Tides” which barely has a cover anymore, a mug that we have that usually says “40 and Fantastic” but was altered to say “23 and Funtastic”, and a blown-up balloon that says “This is not a balloon. It is a container for all your dreams…don’t let them pop Theresa. Cherish them.” I’ve never unwrapped better presents. Complete surprises, all of them. It was fun. So all in all, a good day with lots of nice surprises. Thanks to all of you who made it nice.

Mount Your Donkeys

Last night you would have thought that the Greek soccer team just won the World Cup. People were driving around honking their horns in precise rhythms, waving Greek flags out their windows and charging through the streets in celebratory mobs. Fireworks could be heard exploding all night long. Kate's sister Caroline arrived for a spring break visit, and not knowing what was going on, she thought that the people here were awfully proud of being Greek. That really isn't a wrong thought. I'm not sure I've ever met people more proud of their nationality than the Greeks. But that wasn't the cause of all the commotion. What was the cause were the elections for prime minister.

Voting is a big deal here. It's compulsory (although nothing bad happens to you if you don't go vote I'm told), and you have to vote where you are registered. Although 1/3 of the Greek population lives here in Athens, most of them are actually registered in their villages. So come election weekend everyone migrates back home, just like Mary, Joseph and that donkey did thousands of years ago. Yes, I've told you before, Greece isn't particularly modern. So to accomodate all of the travel, Friday and Monday are holidays. And in the US we think it's nice that our places of employment have to give us an hour or two to vote. Here the election is on a weekend, but you still get two days off. We sure get the short end of the stick.

Anyhow, the elections resulted in the conservative party regaining power. This is quite a change, considering the socialists have been in power since the year I was born (and for those of you who may not be good with dates, on this coming Wednesday I will have been alive for exactly 23 years), excepting one term in the early 90s. Since Greece didn't even become a democracy until after the revolution of the 70s, that's quite a lot of control the socialists have had. But people here aren't happy. The standard of living isn't all that good...especially for an EU country. Salaries are low. The strong Euro is hurting Greece, because less Americans and other foreigners want to spend their dollars here. And the Olympics, which are now only five months away, may turn out to be a major embarrassment for the country. Currently, there is concern over where the roof of the main stadium and a vital link in the metro will be done before the Games begin. Yeah, kind of important things. Whether the new government will be able to change things remains to be seen, but the celebrations that were taking place all over town yesterday give the impression that the people think it can happen.

I hope come November we too have something to celebrate. Wouldn't it be nice to see people in the US care so much about voting? Imagine that...caring as much about voting as about the SuperBowl. Whoa...what a concept.

It Might Be Worth 2 Cents

Warning: This blog contains political thoughts that you may disagree with. That’s your right, but that doesn’t mean you’re right. J

This past week I read Michael Moore’s Dude Where’s My Country? I have to say upfront that I don’t really follow Michael Moore that much. I know the basics, and I saw the Oscar speech (who didn’t?), but I’ve never seen any of his movies or read any of his other books. Dude Where’s My Country? is only 217 pages of fairly big print, and it’s a quick read. I went into it with a fairly open mind. I was interested in what he had to say, being a person who is interested in politics but who is still sometimes confused about exactly where I stand or what I’m supposed to believe. To be fair, I was probably a bit biased toward supporting Moore, because I too consider myself a liberal who is opposed to Bush, his war, and the direction he is taking my country.

The first 100 pages, however, seemed to me to be nothing but soapbox ranting. He begins by presenting 7 questions to W and then making a big issue out of 10 “whoppers” that Bush is feeding us. Some of his issues had some worth, but I don’t feel like they were presented in a rational manner at all. It seemed that he felt his argument was valid if he could simply cite some other source that deals with the same issue. Hell if that’s all it takes to substantiate an argument, there’s no invalid thoughts in the world. If one nutcase writes something somewhere, and then another nutcase presents the same argument, referring to the other nutcase’s argument as proof, that doesn’t make a nutty argument any less nutty. It just means that the nuttiness is spreading.

The second 100 pages were a lot better though. Moore finally quit preaching and got to actual thinking. He quit being the liberal that causes people to hate liberals and actually made a number of excellent and thought-provoking points. I especially liked Chapter 5 and Chapters 9-11. Chapter 5, which is titled “How to Stop Terrorism? Stop Being Terrorists!” really cut to the heart of what I consider some of the US’s greatest shortcomings in terms of how we treat the rest of the world. Among these shortcomings in serious need of redress are: the way we prop up dictators in countries that are of use to us, our energy consumption, the way we take companies overseas and pay the workers next to nothing to create products that are then sold for big bucks, our fondness for condemning weapons of mass destruction while stockpiling them for ourselves, and our policy of preemptive war. Mainly our problem is that we sometimes forget that we’re not the only people in the world. While moral grounds alone should be enough for us to start assuring that the rest of the world has a bearable quality of life, we should also remember that although we have hegemonic power right now, history has repeatedly shown that no country can maintain that. It wouldn’t hurt if we started basing more of our policy on the Golden Rule than on “we’re bigger than you and can thus do whatever we please.”

Chapters 9, 10, and 11 are titled “A Liberal Paradise,” How to Talk to Your Conservative Brother-in-Law,” and “Bush Removal and Other Spring Cleaning Chores”. Chapter 9 does an excellent job of pointing out the fact that most people have very liberal beliefs if they stop to think about each issue individually. As a country, we believe in equal rights for women, that gay couples should get the same benefits as straight couples, and that diversity where we work, live, and go to school is positive. We support gun laws, labor unions, and freedom of speech and religion. We want everyone to have health insurance, and we are all for protecting the environment. We are a liberal people, who have somehow become scared of the term “liberal”. We think liberally, but vote conservatively. Chapter 10 is interesting not only for the way that it points out mistaken reasoning as to why to vote conservative, but it also talks about the mistakes that the left has made. One thing that I dislike about liberals, even though I claim to be one myself, is their arrogant way of thinking that they are always right and everyone else is Satan. The right has some good points. So does the left. We don’t live in a black and white world. And no one is perfect. Chapter 10 kind of continues on this line by talking about what needs to be done to get a liberal victory come November. The Chapter addresses the shortcomings of liberal candidates and makes useful suggestions about how to take action to help elect a liberal candidate this election year. Unfortunately it doesn’t seem that any of the candidates that Moore supports have a snowball’s chance in hell. Clark and Dean have already dropped out of the race. Kucinich is still taking a stand, but he doesn’t have the support he needs. And Oprah refuses to be on the ballot. It’s a rough world for us liberals. But, in my opinion, anyone left of Bush is a step in the right direction. So once I come back, you better watch out. I’m going to do whatever I can to help get Bush’s opponent elected. You might not like that, but it’s my right. Thank goodness the PATRIOT Act hasn’t gotten rid of that one.

Anyhow, as a final thought, I suggest you read the book no matter what side of the fence you’re standing on or whether you’re still straddling it. It’s not wonderfully written. It’s not the constitution of liberals everywhere. It’s one man’s thoughts. Some of them are ridiculous. Some of them are interesting. Regardless, I found it thought provoking. And if nothing else, his sarcasm can be laugh-out-loud funny at points.

Maybe I Am Employable

Good news on the job front. There are people in this world who think I might be qualified for a "real" job. Neat, huh. Last night, I received an email from the Holocaust Museum, saying they'd like to interview me for a position I applied for in Visitor Services. Visitor Services Representative is not my dream job. But the Holocaust Museum is my dream place to work. So it's a foot in the door and a way to move into museum education work. I bet they want someone to start before I can, and an interview doesn't guarantee a job, but it is all a step in the right direction. I posted before about not knowing what I want to do, so I thought I'd provide a brief update. I've decided what I most want to do is work in a museum. I think I'd like to go back to school to get a degree in museum studies, but that will have to wait a year or two. Until then I'd like to work and save money. So in regards to that, I've now applied to four jobs. This one in Visitor Services at the Holocaust Museum, a development job at the Holocaust Museum, a development job with the Civil War Preservation Trust, and a museum education job with the Discovery Creek Children's Museum. All of these jobs are located in DC. I'm hoping that by the time I come home, I have some kind of offer. That's a lofty goal, but perhaps obtainable. If not, I'll just keep looking once I'm home. No matter what happens, getting a positive response so quickly from somewhere I want to work is a boost.

Smells Like Spring

On a little traffic island that I pass on the way to and from my play job with Konstantinos, there is always a young guy selling flowers. They are arranged in bunches of the same type of flower and stored in plastic buckets. These are some of the most beautiful flowers I’ve ever seen. There are daffodils, Gerber daisies, tulips, lilies, pretty much any flower you could want, and they are all absolutely vibrant. I can’t imagine more colorful flowers. I love the way they sell flowers in Greece. You don’t have to go to a florist. You don’t have to get some crazy arrangement complete with weird green stuff that you don’t really want. You can get flowers that look like you just cut them from your own yard. And you hardly pay a thing for them. It’s wonderful. Today was especially nice because when I walked past the buckets of flowers, there were lilacs. It was beginning to rain, and the scent of them was especially strong. I love the smell of lilacs. It reminds me of my backyard at Easter time and playing around the big green electric box. (Do you think they really mean it when they say to keep away from that thing? We always used it as a base, and nothing bad ever happened to any of us….Unless that has something to do with why we’re all a little weird.) I stopped a few paces past the flower seller and thought about buying some, but I didn’t. I kicked myself the whole way home after that. I don’t know why I didn’t. Flowers here aren’t expensive. They’re gorgeous. And they can transform a room. On Saturday, when I am walking home from Konstantinos’, I’m going to buy a bunch. I just don’t know what kind yet. Maybe I’ll start buying them every week. A different kind every week. I always said that “when I grew up,” I’d have flowers in my house all the time. Seems now is as good a time as any to start admitting that I’m getting close to being grown up.

Things That Deserve A Second Thought

What’s the difference between lemons and limes? Are we definitely sure that they are not the same thing? We have a lime tree in our front yard. During the summer, this tree was full of bright green limes. We would use them sometimes, and thus were certain that they were, indeed, limes. However, now that it’s winter, the limes are gone. But the tree still has fruit on it – bright yellow lemons. I swear I am not making this up. We’ve used some of these too, and as far as we can tell, they’re lemons. In the summer, the fruit looks, tastes, and smells like limes. In the winter, the fruit looks, tastes, and smells like lemons. Any thoughts on this?

Do conjoined twins only have to buy one bus ticket? It’s not like you could throw one of the two off the bus for not having a ticket. They can only move together, so does that make them one person in regards to things like tickets? Are there guidelines? If they’re connected at the head, they’re one person, but if they’re connected at the shoulder, they’re two? Does it depend on how many butts they have? Is the fact that I’m using “they” a tell-tale sign, that conjoined twins are obviously two people. Bet that gets tricky for people selling tickets. It’s probably such a sensitive subject, they just let the conjoined twins make the decision and leave it at that. I wouldn’t want to argue the semantics of it with someone who has to deal with being conjoined.

When I am old and wrinkly and decrepit will someone still bring me flowers? Yesterday as I waited for the bus at Panormou, a little old man walked by carrying one pick rose wrapped up in pink tissue paper and tied with a pink bow. It was so cute. When I’m that old, I hope that someone is still so in love with me that they bring me flowers. Just one pretty flower will do. But seeing that I don’t even get flowers now, I’m not really keeping my fingers crossed. It’s okay, though. I’ll be happy enough if someone is still that in love with me, flowers or no flowers.

Go Fly A Kite

Today is a holiday in Greece. It's "Clean Monday," the first day of Lent in the Greek Orthodox church. As with all holidays here, everything is closed. There's no work, no school, nothing to do except go fly a kite. And that's exactly what Greeks do on this holiday. I went into town today to the area near the Acropolis, and on a large rocky hill, I watched hundreds of people fly kites. It's as serious a tradition here as setting off fireworks on the Fourth of July is at home. The kites are wood-framed paper kites, and today was a perfectly breezy day for the flights to take off and soar high over Athen's ancient sites. The kites reflected the personality of the flyer. Some were covered with the logo of a popular soccer team. Some were made to look like clowns. Some were fanciful swirls of color. It was a beautiful sight, and sitting around watching families fly kites, I decided that it's a very nice tradition. A holiday for kite flying...I like it.

Oh, The Wild Joys of Living

Life is fickle. Sometimes, like yesterday, it just keeps kicking you in the ass, even after you’re down. But then life has a change of heart, and not only does it help you back to your feet, but it also showers you with kisses. Today was one of those days. When I woke up, it didn’t really seem like it was going to be such a good day. Our water had still not returned. It was now 72 hours since I’d last had a proper shower. Pretty gross, but in a way, not as bad as yesterday. I was already nasty. One more day didn’t matter so much. I cleaned up as best as I could with bottled water, put on some half-clean half-dirty clothes and headed into town. My plan was to pick up the plane tickets I’d reserved for my mom and me and then just to head back home to wallow like a pig in my filth. The ticket man had other plans for me though. I went in, paid, was issued a receipt and was told to come back in an hour to pick up the actual tickets. Great, I thought, an hour to waste on a Sunday when nothing is open. I headed down Ermou, window-shopping. It was actually nice to be on the street without a million other people usually jostling. At the end of the main shopping area, I stopped and actually paid attention to the small ancient-looking church situated in the middle of the street. Normally I just walk around it as I move from Syntagma to Plaka to Monastiraki. Today, I noticed that the church was actually open. People were going in and out. Something was going on inside. And all along I had just thought it was one of the many random ancient ruins scattered around the city. In Monastiraki, I wandered around the flea market to see what kinds of random things I could find today. Nothing too out of the ordinary jumped out at me, but I mused over the old victrola, the violins with broken strings, the wooden shoe models, and the army helmets. I gathered with a crowd (mostly men) as two potential buyers argued with two potential sellers. The object of interest was an intricately painted vase and bowl set, and the price was at stake. The potential buyers would point out small chips and scratches. The potential sellers would point out the rarity of the pieces. Money was waved around and then returned to the pockets. Voices were raised. Multiple times one would refer to the other as “malaka,” an all-purpose vulgarity that has lost most of its sting through overuse. I was waiting for someone to pick up one of the other pieces resting on the blanket and throw it at the other. But then when everyone’s face was as red as one can imagine a face getting, everyone simply burst out laughing. A deal was made, backs were patted, hands were shook, and everyone went away happy. That, I thought to myself as I stood there, is Greece. Rough and even unappealing on the surface, but underneath jovial and light-hearted. And there’s something about it that won’t let you just walk on by. You have to stop and take part in it all. After moving on from the flea market, I found myself face to face with the Acropolis. I walk by it all the time. I sometimes notice it. But I’ve never actually explored it. I figure I’ll save that for when I have visitors, all who will, of course, want to see it. Today, however, I walked through the gates into the ancient site. On Sundays it is free, so I figured I might as well take a little walk through it all, especially since the day had turned out to be beautiful. I wore my coat, but the sun was warm, and the snow was quickly disappearing like a dream in the day’s light. I didn’t even venture toward the Parthenon or any of the other ruins which typify the site. I wandered through the remains of statues of emperors and up to a small temple. I took in the view and wondered how it had all come to this. It seems odd to me that such magnificent buildings could be allowed to come to ruin. I’m sure it had to do with war and times of economic hardship and changes in government and religion, but still it seems that someone in the thousands of years between when it was built and when it was preserved as a park would have had the insight to maintain it all, if for no other reason than that the buildings are nice and already built and could have been used for something. I’ll leave that thought for now though, because I’m sure it could turn into quite a long tangent. By the time I left the Acropolis, it was time for me to pick up my tickets, so I wandered back through Plaka to the travel agent. He handed me my tickets, I checked them for accuracy, and then I went to grab lunch. I didn’t know the water situation in the house, so I figured it was best to eat out than have to worry about cooking and cleaning without water. After eating, I headed to the metro to go back home, but as I was about to enter the underground network, I heard a band playing and decided to wait to see what it was before continuing my journey home. The square around the metro is under construction, so I had to go to the upper street to check it out, and I found a parade coming towards me. There was a small band of men and women in blue pants and red jackets, playing patriotic sounding music, followed by a group of eight men dressed in traditional costume and carrying Greek flags. At the front of the parade were four women in traditional dress carrying a large wreath. The parade went over to the Tomb of the Unknown Solider, and I followed. A few words were said, some music was played, and the wreath was placed at the tomb. I don’t know what it was for, but it was interesting to watch nonetheless. Then, looking at my watch, I realized it was almost time for the changing of the guard, and since I had never seen it before, I stayed around to watch. As with other such ceremonies, it was full of elaborate steps and gun maneuvers. Now, I thought, time to go home. But life wasn’t through showering me with kisses yet. I was carried past the metro stop, down the street, and into the National Gardens. As it is only a week until Lent, the Greek version of Carnival is underway. The main festivities were supposed to take place Thursday night, but that is the night we were blanketed with snow. Today the National Gardens were filled with people celebrating. Children dressed in costumes ran through the park, throwing confetti, dragging balloons tied to their arms, and shooting each other with cap guns and silly string. Vendors sold cotton candy, popcorn, and other treats. Old men with streamers stuck to their shoes unknowingly dragged rainbows of color throughout the park. A statue of cupid poked out from some bushes. A fountain sprayed water into the air. And on the playground, princesses and cowboys occupied the swings. I wish there had been some way to capture it all in photos, but it wasn’t any one thing or place or person that made the day so wonderful. It was life, and life can’t be captured in still frames. I did my best to capture it in my memory though. And in the end, life rewarded me for taking note of its pleasures. I came home to hot water and a nice, long shower.

And Greece is a Developed Country?

Sometimes I feel like I'm living in a third world country. Today is one of those days. It started yesterday with the lack of hot water. I know some of you were confused as to why a bit of snow would knock out my hot water, so let me explain. The water heater here is located on our roof. Yes, that's right, outside on the roof. It really doesn't hold much water and while the water is heated electronically, the temperature is quite dependent on solar heat. In the winter, our hot water supply is terrible. Two short showers will drain it for hours. When it snows, the entire tank freezes and we thus have no hot water at all. But today, things went a bit further. We no longer have water at all. It seems as if a pipe on campus has burst (at least that's what I'm getting from the fact that water is pouring unchecked from the fire hydrant and has been all day). So now we're in a real mess. Now it's not just hot showers we can't take, it's showers at all. Now the issue isn't flushing toilet paper (which you normally can't do in Greek bathrooms), it's flushing toilets at all. We can't brush our teeth, wash our hands, do the dishes. We really can't do much of anything. But we also can't just leave our dishes lying around, because Greece has serious roach problems and we don't want those in our house. So we've resorted to collecting snow, boiling it, and using it to wash dishes. Neat, huh. I went down to the kiosk and bought 4 liters of water to take care of personal hygiene as best as I can, but right now I'm hoping and praying that come morning my water is back and I can use the water for its intended purpose - drinking. The Little House on the Prairie/Living in a Third World Country adventure is neat and all, but I'd really like to return to living in the modern world soon. Keep your fingers crossed for me. Here in Greece, it's going to take a miracle...especially if I think someone might even consider doing work on a weekend.

Oh yeah, isn't Valentine's Day sweet? :-)

Three Day Weekend

The weather in Athens is whacked out. Last Friday, Kate and I went to the market wearing thin cotton shirts and no jackets. Spring was unmistakably in the air. Or so we thought. Today, one week later, I am home from school on a snow day. The snow started last night around 6pm and fell quickly, coating the trees, grass and even the streets with thick, wet snow. By 9pm, it seemed to have stopped, but a couple of inches had already accumulated. In outlying areas, the snow was at least a foot deep. Athens is set in a valley surrounded by mountains, so when the center gets snow, the rest of the area is in deep trouble. Despina was out tutoring a family that lives on the outskirts on the city and ended up stuck at their house. No cabs would come pick her up, traffic was horrendous, and the snow was still falling. Around midnight, she finally made it home. Thank goodness. She would have been stuck there all weekend if not. Sometime during the night, the snow began again, and it’s still coming down. I didn’t get this much snow the whole time I lived in Germany. I don’t know what is going on, and the people who live here seem even more confused than I am. The news is showing nothing but the snow. Everything is closed – schools, businesses, the airport, and even the National Road. People are needing snow chains to travel even the main roads, and some people were stuck out on the roads all night. This city is not at all prepared for this kind of weather. Not that I can say that this city is actually prepared for much of anything. But definitely not an accumulation of snow. It’s kind of pretty to look out the window and see the lemons hanging on the tree in our front yard capped with snow, and I’m more than thankful that it happened on a Friday and I didn’t have to go to the elementary school. (Trust me, I was standing on the porch last night begging loudly for God to let it keep snowing enough to cancel school). But I really hope it stops soon. This wasn’t the weather I signed up for when I decided to come to Athens for the year. And not having any hot water and having all six of us stuck in the house with nothing to do really isn’t all that exciting. I’ll try not to worry about that for now though. I’ll just be thankful that I’m not dealing with small snotty children and keep my fingers crossed that the whacked out weather patterns continue and tomorrow it’s 75 degrees and sunny.

The Itsy Bitsy Spider Tried to Kill Me

Well things just keep getting more interesting around here. On Monday, a small bite appeared on my left arm right next to my elbow. It wasn’t a typical bite – not a mosquito or bee sting or anything else I’d ever had before. It stung and made my whole arm hurt, and it just kept getting more and more painful. The bite wasn’t that big – simply the size of the tip of my pinky, but it was red and inflamed. There was an open sore in the middle, a ring of white around it, and a bigger ring of red around that. By Tuesday night, any amount of pressure on my arm hurt, even the way my shirt pressed against it. Wednesday I tried to see the doctor, convinced now that I’d been bitten by a spider (having looked up pictures and info on the Internet), but the doctor wasn’t in. The nurse, who doesn’t speak English, put a topical antibiotic on it and covered it. Through an interpreter, she told me that the bite was infected and I needed to come back on Thursday to see the doctor and probably get an antibiotic. With my arm extremely inflamed and painfully sensitive to even the slightest touch, I returned to the doctor on Thursday. I explained to her what I thought it was, although I don’t really think she listened. She told me that she needed to cut it open and drain it. I looked at her like I thought she was crazy…I was in a school nurse’s office for God’s sake…but she said it was the best thing to do, and I thought who was I to disagree with a doctor. So she cleans it up and then just cuts into it. Nothing to numb it or anything. The bite hurt like hell if a kleenex touched it, and she was cutting it open. I had to bite my hand to keep from screaming out loud. Surprise, surprise, but the cutting it open (followed by her squeezing it), did nothing at all except make my arm bleed. No pus or venom or whatever came out. Basically, she just cut my arm open without any form of anisthetic. After cleaning that mess up and bandaging it, she tells me that it wasn’t as superficial as she thought. No shit. She prescribed a topical and an oral antibiotic, which I went and got at the pharmacy and began to take. Unfortunately she prescribed no pain medicine, and now I had not only a painful spider bite, but also a cut open arm. I couldn’t walk, move, anything, without my whole arm burning like someone was pouring acid on it. Thursday night I was crying because it hurt so bad. After borrowing pain medicine from my roommate, I managed to fall asleep. My arm still hurt on Friday, but it seemed that it was a little better and there was a slim possibility that it might not fall off. I went back to the doctor for her to look at it and re-bandage it. Isn’t there something in doctor training that tells doctors not to make nasty faces when they are doing things to their patients? It really didn’t make me feel better to see her looking grossed out at my bite and what she had done to my arm. Anyhow, I could provide a lot more details, but the good news is that it seems to be getting better. What looked like green nastiness last night has now turned into a scab of sorts. This morning Kate and I took a picture of it. The picture came out quite good. It looks really nasty though. I’m trying to find a way to post it, so you can all check it out. I know you’re excited. Just remember this picture is of it looking good. But anyhow, I’m hoping it clears up soon, and I can go back to using my arm. I’ve discovered that quite a few things are difficult to do with just one arm…floss your teeth, put in contacts, put on deoderant, wash your hair, etc. So what I’m trying to say is be thankful you have two arms. God knew what he was doing when he gave you two. And also, stay away from spiders…and Greek doctors.

PS. Thank you Matthew for the great lyrics to the SpiderBite song. There really is a song for every occasion.

What is that White Stuff Everywhere?

Greece...sunshine, blue water, islands...and snow. Lots and lots of snow. On Friday, I set off on a roadtrip with two of my roommates, Kate and Despina, and Despina's brother who is visiting. We planned to go around the northern part of the Peloponnese, where there were supposedly numerous interesting and beautiful villages. Making good time, we arrived in Diakofto around 11:15. There's a rack and pinion train that connects Diakofto and Kalavryta through a gorge. We decided to park our car in Kalavryta and take the train from there, because there was more to do in that area and we'd want our car there. The two towns are only about 40 km apart by road, but you have to go over a mountain. Starting up the mountain, it began to rain. Then the rain turned into big fat drops of wet snow. Then suddenly snow was everywhere. We stopped the car and played in it for a bit, delighted by it. But upon getting back in the car, we realized we were stuck. All around us, people were stopping and putting snowchains on their tires. Of course, we had none. There was no way we could go any further up. And being that the road was a narrow, windy, precarious mountain road, there was also no way we were going down. While trying our car around, we ended up off the road. We sat for a while pondering what to do, and occasionally running quickly away from the car as a coke truck and then other cars preceded to slide dangerously in the direction of our car. As we sat, about a foot of snow accumulated. Eventually Angelo, D's brother, rode down part of the mountain with a man in a truck to get snowchains. But the trouble didn't end there. While trying to get back on the road, the chains end up stuck around the axel instead of the tire and our car ends up in a ditch. Somehow, by a miracle of sheer willpower, Kate, Angelo and I push/lift the car out while Despina steers. Three hours after we headed up the mountain, we ended up back at the bottom of it, freezing cold, soaking wet, filthy dirty and exhausted. It wasn't quite the trip we had in mind, although it was certainly an adventure.

We ended up spending that night in Pyrgos. The next morning we made a trip to Ancient Olympia since we were close. It was a pretty good site, and the day turned out to be surprisingly nice. There are a good amount of ruins, plus the site is very pretty with trees, flowers, and mountains. After that, however, we just cut our losses and drove home. It just wasn't meant to be.

So that was my weekend in a nutshell. Trust me, there is plenty more to it, but if you want to hear it, you'll have to email me. Not quite what I was expecting from Greece, but hey, how many people do you know who can say they've been stuck in a blizzard in Greece?

New Comments

I know my comments button hasn't been working for a while. Apparently the site I was using had major problems, and it seems to be completely shut down now. I've lost all my comments, which is very sad, because I enjoyed reading them. But I've found a new site to host my comments and hopefully it works well. So please start posting comments again. And if you've never posted before, now's a great time to start! I love hearing back from ya'll.