by melinda elliott 

It's only May but already people are talking to me about diakopes (vacations) for the summer. As always in these conversations, it seems mandatory that everyone will share at least one vacation horror story in the effort to dissuade another person from visiting a particular location to prevent them from wasting their money and time while another person who claims to be an authority on the locale will refute that person's claims of bad service, overpriced lodging and substandard substandard local cuisine. It's a rare thing when everyone in the discussion will agree on a particular place as worthy of a visit.

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by melinda elliott 

Because of Greece's 400 year occupation by the Turks, some Greeks still harbour distrust and/or resentment towards the Turkish muslim population inside Greece today.

So, when Gulbeyaz Karahasan, a 28 year-old lawyer from northern Greece was chosen as PASOK's candidate for the upcoming prefect elections to represent Drama-Kavala-Xanthi, the decision sparked criticism from both the Bishop Anthimos of Thessaloniki and the Macedonia-Thrace minister, Giorgos Kalantzis.

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by melissa elliott

If you want to hail a cab, you must first know where you're going since you have to stand on the side of the road in the direction you intend to go. Cabs don't stop for you on opposite sides of the street.

The gesture that most westerners use for "Stop" (open palm facing outwards) is a supreme insult when used in Greece. It's called the moutza and if you don't want to hear obscenities shouted at you, then you best figure out a better gesture for it.

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by melinda elliott

On April 28, Greece's highest court (Council of State) told the Greek Police Force NOT to hire any more women after ruling "that men were better at fulfilling the force's tasks."

Are they? Are men better equipped to handle female victims of sexual assaults and sex trafficking, or wife abuse? I sincerely doubt it. I'm sure most women will agree that female victims would much rather to have their cases dealt with by a female police officer. Considering that the majority of all the disgraceful charges brought against the Greek police force recently (rape, torture, corruption, gambling and prostitution), the perpetrators were male, not female.

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by melinda elliott 

It's no secret that Greece is up to its neck in debt and Finance Minister, has been trying for the past two years to scrape enough money together from tax revenues, privatization of public companies, slashing (or so I thought) public expenditures and attempting some creative accounting to get the debt under control and under the EUs 3% Growth & Stability Pact limit.

So why then, is Greece planning to spend € 22 billion on new weapons? Are we planning a war and no one told me? How can this kind of expenditure be justified considering Greece's dire fiscal straits? Elefterotipia daily in Greece wrote that the Greek government plans to purchase a new weapons system worth €22 billion as part of its 10 year armament program.

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by melinda elliott 

Ti kaneis?/How are you?

I remember the time I could ask that question and hear a simple "kala/fine" response or 'mia hara/great". Lately, I noticed it's been quite awhile since I heard anyone tell me they're doing great. So much so that I've become wary of even asking the question in case I don't have enough time to hear the litany of complaints from people.

Parents bemoan the fact that their sons and daughters can't find jobs. It's the rare person who tells me that their kids are doing just fine in the job market. Business people tell me that they're thinking of closing their businesses unless they've closed them already, which means I will hear how much money they lost last year and the effect it had on their families.

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photo via people in pixels 

by melinda elliott

For once, I think the Greek government has gotten it right.

Almost a year ago to the day, I blogged about the need for culture immersion courses for all new immigrants in their new country. I felt (and still feel) that courses teaching immigrants the law, language and culture of their host country will benefit not only them but their new country as well. In order to get the coveted long-term resident status, the interior ministry has issued a presidential decree requiring immigrants to complete 125 hours of formal instruction in the Greek language and culture.

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photo via kalabird

by melinda elliott

If you ask most Greeks what they feel about the economy, they usually respond with Το Ευρό μας έχει φαει. Literally translated it means "The Euro has eaten us". Idiomatically speaking, they're saying that the Euro destroyed us.

They see their disposable income slipping away and blame it on the replacement of the drachma with the Euro currency in Greece in January, 2002.

When Greece changed from the drachma to the Euro, it seemed that literally, overnight, prices went through the roof.

Coffees which used to cost 800 drachmas (2.35€) now cost me 4€ at the same café.
Greek salads at the local taverna used to cost 1500 dr. (4.40€) are now 6€.
I pulled out an old souvlaki menu to make a take-out order where all the prices were in drachmas. It was immediately obvious that most of the prices increased by 25% or more on each item listed on the new menu. Just since September, I saw the price of my usual brand of olive oil increase from 4.25€ to 5.98€.

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by melinda elliott

After a string of robberies in the vacation towns of Oropos and Kalamos, the townspeople were furious because the police weren't doing anything about it. The local police chief dusted off the usual response and claimed that his department was understaffed and therefore, couldn't handle the 200 or so robberies in the towns. Once the media got hold of the story, the government initiated a police sweep involving 2,000 officers to root out the culprits resulting in the arrests of 6 members of an organized gang responsible for the break-ins along with several hundred other offenders during the questioning of over 14,000 people.

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by melinda elliott

Since the beginning of the school year, my son has missed quite a bit of school for many reasons which are beyond his control. He hasn't missed one day of school because he was sick or even faking sickness.

In September, on his first day back from school, he had a substitute teacher for a week because his regular teacher got married and took the first week off school. (A 3 month summer break and the teacher decides to take an extra week off to get married on the first week of the new school year?? )This is the same teacher who drilled into his students' heads last year that there was no acceptable excuse to miss school unless they were too sick. At least once a month, his class has a substitute teacher who can't teach much more than the religion class and language. Usually, she gives them a two-hour break to play soccer. The day before, he didn't have school because of the strikes.

He's missed at least 6 days due to class trips. Now, I wouldn't mind these trips if they were visiting museums, archaelogical sites or musical concerts.

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photo: mount athos monks via greekislands

by melinda elliott

According to the Sofia News Agency, women in Greece have started to demand access to the Athos Monasteries. This is the first I've heard of it. Greeks are always demanding something or other but it's usually related to better wages, pensions or American foreign policy--not access to a 1,000 year old monastic community. Other than MEP (Member of European Parliament), Anna Karamanou, I don't know of any Greek woman, let alone a Greek women's movement which collectively demands access on legal grounds. I'm sure many women would love to visit the site out of historical curiosity but would they take the necessary steps to file a lawsuit against the Holy Mount?

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When I spend money, I try to spend it wisely. Before I buy anything, I will shop around to get the best deal. I rarely ever buy anything on impulse and I usually complain about the prices of most things...except museums in Greece. I never question the price of admission, nor the fact that an 8-page pamphlet of whatever museum I visit costs 10€. I will even buy things there that I don't really need like 2€ postcards or a 3€ photocopied picture of the museum on a piece of laser paper. Why? Because museums in Greece are severely underfunded if they're funded at all. I feel that if my 10€ helps keep the museum open for another hour, then it's money well spent.

I just love visiting museums. I've been to the Acropolis, National Historical Museum, the War Museum, Folk Art Museum and Children's Museum in Plaka as well as the Jewish Museum.

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by melinda elliott

When you move to a foreign country, most people are prepared for some form of culture shock. You basically realize that you will probably have to learn a new language, and become accustomed to different traditions and cuisine. What you're probably not prepared for is being subjected to surprise interrogations from the local population on the street, in tavernas, at the doctor's office or in a bank lineup.

If you're thinking of emigrating, then it might be beneficial for you to read the following questions to prepare yourself for the barrage of questions you will no doubt be asked.

If you know any foreigners in your neighbourhood, these are some things you might want to be know before you start up a conversation with them.

If you have already talked to them, and you receive strange looks from them, this might help explain why.

1. Which country do you like more, this one or the one you came from?

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photo via keith f

by seawitch

In Greece, you don't dress up in costumes for Halloween, you dress up for Apokries. It's a 3 week period preceding Lent. This year, the dates are from February 12 to March 5. All over Greece, you'll see children dressed up as princesses, pirates, cowboys and the villain in the movie " Scream".

The custom is said to have pagan roots related to the Dionysian festivals celebrating the God of wine and feasts.

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by seawitch

Ever since the New Democratic party took over the reins of Greece in March 2004, some media outlets have afforded them an extraordinarily long grace period which continues at present. Initially, I agreed with their lenience and even though I agree with any government efforts to combat the corruption and financial mismanagement of this country, Karamanlis has been in power almost two years now so it's time to stop holding his hand and covering up his government's many mistakes and missteps. The government already has enough spin doctors and sycophants on its payroll. The media needs to stop spinning the news as they've done in the examples I've listed below and just report it.

When the State paid 1.5 billion€ to rid themselves of feckless OTE employees, the press cheered the decision instead of questioning the financial feasibility of such a hyperinflated payout for parasitic public servants.

When the judiciary was rocked to its very foundations by countless charges of bribery and trial-fixing, the media towed the party line again and applauded Karamanlis for tackling corruption. However, they didn't bother to ask if he even had a backup plan to keep the already creakingly slow justice machinery on top of its caseloads while judges and lawyers alike were being removed as the indictments were handed out.

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