"beep beep beeeeeeeeeeeeep beep beep" means "fresh bread is here!"

When I first got here, I was wondered who that annoying person was that honked his horn all over the neighborhood every morning.  Now I realise that he's the bread man, which means fresh bread--still warm from the oven--every morning.

Σιγά-Σιγά or Siga-Siga Means "Slowly, Slowly"

You can't listen to a Greek--from bus drivers speaking to their passengers to politicians speaking to their constituency--without hearing this phrase at some point, if not several times.  This idea seems to be key to understanding Greek culture, and it appears to apply to nearly every aspect of Greek life, with one notable exception:  Driving.

The philosophy to driving is "Faster! Faster!" and, as noted in an earlier post, it can be a bit unnerving to a Seattlonian like me, but as time has passed I've noticed that it is far less chaotic than it appears at first: for example, Greeks actually take the rule "stay to the right except to pass" seriously, to the point where on two-lane roads most drive halfway on the berm, to allow faster vehicles to pass even if there is a double line in the center.  Also, there doesn't seem to be the concept of "you cut me off, asshole" that is so prevalent in American driving.  If there's an open spot and someone squeezes by with a couple of inches to spare in a "no passing zone" (the concept of "no passing" exists more as a gentle suggestion than a hard and fast rule), there's no hard feelings.  In the US, cutting someone off in traffic is taken as a personal offense akin to breaking into a queue; here in Greece--as far as I can tell--it doesn't piss anyone off unless you almost cause an accident or something.  And then the pissed-offed-ness is about the near accident, not the cutting-off per se.

Moreover (wonderful word, "moreover": it sounds like a way of ordering your eggs to be cooked), unless you are in the city, there are no sidewalks.  This does not mean that people don't walk though: it is not uncommon to see someone out walking their grandmother--dressed in black from head to toe--on a road with no shoulder as people zip by at 60 kph.  I think in the US the first person by in a situation like that would first stop and ask if everything is ok, then offer a lift.  If said lift were refused I imagine the next step would be a 911 call and a police escort to ensure everyone's safety.

Well, enough about driving.  I should also point out that here all the distances are very close: when the oil runs out, people will still be able to get around on bicycles, or walking, or even horse-carts.  In the US there will be a problem unless we can figure out a viable energy source that is truly renewable and sustainable.

This is Jason Katsanis signing out.  Good night, and good golly.

PS Post on yesterday's trip to Φαιστος / Phaistos / Festos to follow.  Σιγά-σιγά.    

brief update

School is going ... ok.  The dialogues give me a headache, and I feel like I'm not picking up as quickly as I would like.  But it is coming along: I'm spending more time drilling at home, and I think this will pay off.

Yesterday we had a short cooking class and learned how to make Greek stuffed tomatoes (ΝΤΟΜΑΤΕΣ ΓΕΜΙΣΤΕΣ).  Sunday we have a planned excursion to a τσικουδιά (tzikoudia, or raki) factory, which I'm sure will be quite fun and intoxicating, but I will have to miss it as the family will be going on our long-anticipated trip to Phaistos and other spots which I'm sure will be even more fun, if not quite as intoxicating.  Poor me.  

School has begun: May the Lord have mercy upon my soul.

I've just finished my second day of school.  My head has not started hurting yet because it has apparently developed a hard shell that the new words are bouncing off like ping pong balls.  Still, I am keeping up so far, and tomorrow there's some kind of activity involving cooking and eating.  Should be fun!

Anyhow, here is a view of the school from a nearby sidewalk café.  You might be able to make out the name of the school on the blue signs on the railing of the balcony in the background.

Note the blurry drink to the right: this is called a "cappuccino freddo" in the local lingo, aka an iced cappuccino.  I have no idea why these haven't caught on in Seattle, but I'll be sure to introduce this idea to every barista I know when I get back.  Except it'll December and everyone will be drinking pumpkin eggnog  lattes.  Next summer, I guess.  Doubtful these will catch on at Starbucks, since they've begun making everything whatever "Super Mega Big Gulp" translates to in Italian.  <soapbox> People may feel more sophisticated ordering drinks that sound Italian, but I'm here to tell you those calories will sit on your gut the same way no matter what language you ordered them in. </soapbox>

Well it's getting late and I have a big day tomorrow.  This is Ιασον Κατσανεβακης signing out.  Good night, and good grief.

συγγνώμη means "I'm sorry"

Hey everyone ... sorry about the lack of blogocity, bloggishness, bloggility, or however you want to call it.

I've been busy and lazy.  Call it "lizzy" or "bazy".

Knossos was hot and full of tourists.  I didn't take many pix because the books are full of photos that are better than what I could do; nevertheless, here is proοf that I visited the labyrinth from which this blog gets its name (well, that plus my brain, but that's another story):

pay no attention to the dork on the left

The title of this short film is: Why I Did Not Visit the Throne Room at Knossos.  Bear in mind that the temperature was around 35 Celsius (95 Fahrenheit) when I shot this.

Last night I went with Tasos and Katerina and friends to a nice bar for "meze," or μεζέ.  After a few shots of raki and a couple of glasses of ouzo, you think that you look like
this:

      ...when you really look like this: 

Well, tomorrow is my first day of class, so I'd better get to bed.  I hope that my head does not explode, or, if it does explode, that it does not hurt too much.

καληνύχτα!

Brief!

In case anyone's wondering why there's been "radio silence", it's because yesterday we went to Samaria Gorge.  This meant getting up at 5:00am and returning very tired after a rather long day!  I will write about this and post a couple of pix later.

Today I went to church with Dimitri, had a wonderful dinner cooked by Yaya Katerina, then coffee with Dimitra & Dimitri at Kou Kou Vaya, and looked at the graves of some very important Cretan heroes.  Then, back home and off to a salsa dance party with Tasos.  I did not dance, as I do not know how to salsa; however, I may look into lessons: it will be a good way to meet some people, plus a good skill to have.

And now to bed.  Tomorrow, to Chania with Katerina, who will show me how to use the bus system and help me find the hiking club if there is time!

πάμε στην παραλία means "let's go to the beach!"

...at least I think so! And so we did go to the beach. Tasos stayed at home working on a project with an aggressive deadline, while Katerina caught up on sleep after staying up till 8am with friends the night before. Before going to said beach I picked up some sunblock, which is like liquid gold.

For example, this little tube cost a little less than 10 euro. To put this in perspective, a boat from Chania to Athens is 20 euro.







 Ah, but the beach was beautiful, and the water warm; it was lovely. Here is my little attempt at a bit of artistry:

Hmmm.  It is slightly tilted: I will need to get some editing software and fix that at some point.  :-P

Today Tasos drives me into Chania on his moto. I'll take pictures, wander around, have a coffee or two: relax.

Chania, aka Χανιά

Rode bus from Heraklion to Chania; beautiful 2.5 hour trip!  And finally met Tasos, his sister Katerina, and their parents Dimitri and Dimitra.  Wonderful folks, who fed me a wonderful lunch of pastitsio and greek salad. We made a short tour of the Old Town part of Chania...very picturesque: long narrow alley-ways lined with plants.

And now it is time for bed.  I'll see if I wake up at 3am again!

Jason

Here is an extremely fuzzy photo of all--well most--of me and the family.  I mean I'm all there (as much as I ever am), but Yayá Katerina is in Athens.

Greetings from Heraklion!

Rick Steves says if you can force yourself to stay awake until the normal bedtime of your destination country, you'll go a long way to conquering your jet lag.  Well I did everything right and stayed up until Midnight last night, and immediately dropped right off to sleep. And woke up wide awake 3 hours later. So here it is 3:30 am and I'm blogging because I can't sleep. Best laid plans, and all that.

My one checked bag arrived safely after much needless worry (or perhaps thanks to the prayers of my sisters), and I called Tasos immediately after checking in.  Everyone over there is looking forward to my visit; I take the bus tomorrow to Chania, which is about a 2 hour trip.

After checking in to the hotel (I'm kind of glad I splurged: the taxi driver knew exactly where it was, and I have internet access) and calling Tasos and family, I showered and changed and went out for a walk.  I now know that 27 degrees is quite warm, and was happy to be wearing shorts and a T.

Heraklion is a crazy, crazy place.  Everyone is driving like a maniac, with mopeds and scooters weaving in and out of traffic, all while talking on their cell phone or passenger and eating a sandwich.  No honking thank goodness.  Just very aggressive driving, but no one seems to be very upset.  Sometimes if you want to cross the street you have to just step out.  No sudden moves; they will see you and avoid you, but it is a bit unsettling.  Don't count on that walk signal either: they're usually good about that stuff, but it's more important to make sure they see you.  If you've seen the movies on YouTube of people crossing the street in Viet Nam, this is nowhere near as bad.  Think Madrid or Rome if you've seen movies set there and you'll get the general idea.

It is also very easy to get lost, even with a map.  The streets are a crazy patchwork and usually not marked, and not every street is on the map, but some surprisingly small ones look like major thoroughfares on the map.  But I survived, didn't get too lost, and got an awesome pita sandwich for 3 € and ... hey! I think I might have gotten short changed.  Maybe should have been 1 € and he gave me 1 € coins instead of 2 € coins hoping I wouldn't notice?  On the other hand, that might have been the right price.  I need to be more careful.

This is all very surreal for me.  I just saw the movie Midnight in Paris (see it if you get a chance: I loved it) ... again ... because it was one of the inflight movies.  Last night as I was wandering around Heraklion, I started feeling like I was Woody Allen's -- I mean Owen Wilson's -- character in that film; and when I found myself unexpectedly on a deserted street, I found myself wondering if a car filled with strangers drinking champagne -- I mean ouzo -- was going to pick me up and take me to a party and introduce me to Nikos Kazantzakis.

Free wi-fi at SeaTac...

...so one last post before the flight! 

This morning I ran to the grocer to pick up last minute snax: sliced up an apple, some cheese, bananas, triscuits--so I wouldn't have to buy anything on the flight.  Then I left it all on the kitchen counter as I was heading out the door.  :-( 

Well something had to go wrong, and feel like I just got it all out of the way right at the beginning!

Check-in and security went very smoothly this morning, and my bag with all my gifts was checked through to Athens for free.  I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do when I get to Athens, though...I have no ticket for Athens to Heraklion.  I'll figure it out: most likely, I just go to the Aegean desk and tell them I'm here.

Lots of lovely birthday greetings on facebook.  Facebook's nice that way.  :-)

Last Post Before Flight!

Flight leaves tomorrow at 8:30am!  Final packing/freaking out.  See you all in Crete, in 2 or 3 days.

Packing

Today I begin packing for real.  Still need to get some last-minute items: batteries, flash drives.  A camera if I can't find my spare.  :-/  What else am I forgetting?  Oh, shorts!  I only have one pair: I need another!

I can't check in online until 24 hours before my flight, so not yet!  Also, I never got around to choosing my seat for the first leg of my journey, and now I can't.  Where is the worst possible spot you can sit on an airplane?  I want to know so I can prepare myself.

T-minus 3 days

It is getting really close now!

Last night I went up Mt. Si with Neil and Shan. I've been doing this hike every Thursday night for almost two months now, and the days are definitely getting shorter! When I first started, we could make it up to the top without turning on our flashlights, but last night we had to turn them on about halfway up. Explorer Search & Rescue was up there rescuing a hiker with a twisted ankle (and a Newfoundland with heat exhaustion!) We ended up turning back before reaching the top because we had some delays (mostly me responding to text msgs that I was unable to ignore. long story) and Shan needed to get back home to do some work.

As we were coming back down, we ran into the same S&R team, who were looking for another hiker with a twisted ankle. When they saw us they decided to turn back, after much confused conversation. We were not completely convinced that there was not another hiker above us, since we didn't make it to the top. I hope no one was stuck up there overnight!

Today is my last day at work. They took me out for Korean! Yum. And tonight will be last bikram class (most likely). Many lasts.