Mass Murder Averted

I was about to "Raid" this column of ants climbing up the side of my house, until I realized that they were working ever so hard and efficiently to carry their quarry to their nest, wherever that might be (it's somewhere "up", possibly in one of the cracks in the outer walls of my house). The ants here really can be a nuisance...they have made a highway out of one of my clothes lines, and if left unchecked I end up having to shake ants out of my dried clothing before I can fold it. I'm also concerned that at some point they'll make their way inside - in my old apartment in DC they did and would swarm the cat's food dishes.

But anyway, my respect for their hard work and skill bought them a temporary stay of execution. I hope their queen enjoys her feast.

Still Thinking in "American"

There are two areas in which I'm finding difficulty switching over to the Greek/European mindset.





The Alphabet

There are several Greek letters that remind me of English/Latin letters, and it's causing a little difficulty for me in my language classes and in reading signs, etc.

Β β - βήτα: English pronunciation "vita". Makes the "V" sound in English, but I keep thinking of the letter "B".

Η η - ἦτα: English pronunciation "eeta". Makes the "EE" sound. I'm pretty OK with the upper case, which looks like an "H", but the lower case still makes me think of the English lower case "N". Doubly confusing because this particular sound is made by three different letters, and it all depends on the gender, type of word, or placement in the word as to which letter to use.

Ν ν - νῦ: English pronunciation "nee". Makes the "N" sound in English, and the upper case is obvious but the lower case still makes me think "V".

Υ υ - ύψιλον: English pronunciation "ipsilon". Makes the "EE" sound also. Except when it makes the "F" sound. Once again, I'm cool with the upper case, especially since it never falls in a word where it would make the "F" sound as far as I know, but that lower case just F's me up:-)

And this is just the alphabet. Don't get me started on the various cases and gender crap.

The Euro

Every time I go to an ATM and hit the "300" button for amount of withdrawal, I'm still thinking in terms of dollars. I have very carefully budgeted this trip to include an Excel spreadsheet that recalculates when I enter my new bank balances, etc. But I have a feeling I'm spending a lot more than I think I am. The other day at the grocery store I thought to myself after checking out, "Hey, THAT'S not bad for all that I got!" Then I realized that I had to add about 30% to the figure, and I wasn't quite as pleased.

The picture has nothing to do with the post...just thought I'd share the awesome waves we had today. The wind, on the other hand, was not quite as "awesome". Gave up after about an hour of being pelted by flying sand. Although a freakin' bumble bee managed to fight the headwind and come directly at my face after I brushed him off of my chair. But I ran, and he didn't catch me :-p

A Taste of Home

Well, sort of. I visited the "ethnic" section of the supermarket today, and picked up red curry paste, coconut milk, fish sauce, ginger, basil, green beans, carrots and jasmine rice to go with the pork I had thawing in the fridge at home.

Thai is probably my all around favorite cuisine in the world, and it's the one taste I've been missing most since I've been here.

The final product was not fantastic (I didn't follow any package directions; the ginger and basil were in a jar, and I don't think that carrots typically accompany most Thai dishes) but it was still good, and it took the edge off of my craving. I've got a huge container of it left over, and hope it will re-heat OK.

The meal followed on the heels of a lovely afternoon at the beach, and a beer with my friend at the taverna there on the beach, so all in all a good day.

Looks like I'm actually going to be in bed before midnight tonight, let's see if that means I get out of bed tomorrow any earlier than the 9am that has become habit of late.

I Finally Did Something on a Saturday Night

Watched the sun set at Falarsana from atop a small bluff, followed by a drive to Chania where we visited the Venizelos Graves and then had coffee at Koukouvagia (The Owl), a nice cafe with amazing views of the city below.

Got home around 2am. It is nice to have finally met someone with whom I can carry on fluent conversations about a broad range of topics.

Just being lazy today, might go into Kastelli with another friend tonight. This one speaks very little English, however, so I get to try to be creative with my extremely limited Greek vocabulary. LOTS of "sign language" with this one.

My New Favorite Quote

"I swear - by my life and my love of it - that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine".

John Galt, Atlas Shrugged

Temporary Residency Permit for Greece

Upon the advice of a friend, I contacted the American Citizens Services branch of the American Embassy in Athens to double check on what my options are for legitimately extending my stay here in Greece beyond the 90 days allowed. I had been told by the Greek consulate in D.C. that I would need to contact the appropriate local authorities once here and request the extension. I had also read somewhere and been told by my landlord that all I needed to do was take a trip abroad to someplace like Italy and make sure my passport is stamped by the country I visit, ensuring that my 90 day period would "reset" at that point. I'm glad I asked, because here is the response I received from the embassy:

The first option you were given is not correct since the law says that you can only remain in any Schengen country for three months in a six month period. If you leave the country, you won’t be allowed entry for another three months.

Extensions on tourist status can only be given by the Aliens Police (Bureau) in the area where you temporarily reside. For your convenience, we’re attaching the relevant handout on residence permits.

Please note that the stamp you were given in Munich is your entry into the Schengen zone and movement within it is free. We suggest that keep your ticket and boarding pass, showing your trip to Greece, until your return to the US.

The attachment goes on to explain that illegal extensions beyond 90 days will result in fines ranging from 600 to 1200 euros, depending upon the length of time over-stayed.

It also states that the fee for extending for over 90 days and up to 6 months is 464 euros.

Sooooo....I guess I need to either delve into what I assume will be a very frustrating and costly process of trying to get "legit", or decide to stay well under the radar until my six months is up and then just resign myself to the possibility of a fine upon exit. The latter option would also negate the possibility of any trips abroad to any of the other Schengen countries.

A third option that I think should be adequate would be to take a trip home to the US before my first 90 days is up, thereby getting removing me from the Schengen zone and starting my 90 days over upon return.

Something to ponder while at the beach today...

What I've Been Drinking

I have been terribly lackadaisical about taking notes on the wines I've been drinking here so far, but fortunately my laziness also extended to not even bothering to put the bottles in the garbage can, so I built up a decent library of empties and summoned the wherewithal to take photos of the labels and post them.

There are two varieties that I've found that I like very much, and which have remained pretty consistent in quality across the range of producers I've tried.

Moscofilero is an aromatic white that is grown primarily on the mainland, and I've noticed varied characteristics dependent upon producer and location that include citrus, apple, floral and tropical fruits, with an emphasis on the first two. Decent acidity, I've found that it accompanies a broad range of lighter foods, white meats and fish.

Agiortiko is a red produced primarily in the Nemea region. The reading I've done on wine from this grape describes it as soft, plummy and low in acidity with occasional rich, spicy fruit. I concur with the soft, rich, spicy fruit, but I don't necessarily find it to be lacking in acidity, although it's certainly not bracing. It reminds me of another grape, and I want to say Tempranillo but it's been so long since I've had any Tempranillo that I don't trust my memory.

The prices on these run from 5 to 13 euros, with 10 being the most common price point.

Also, I just noticed that there's no picture of anything produced by Hatzimichalis, which I've purchased on several occasions and found to be quite good.

As for restaurant wines, since I'm typically eating alone I just get the house wine by the glass, and the quality of these has ranged from perfectly adequate to heinous. Nothing particularly noteworthy, although one taverna I visit for their rabbit stifado has a nice house red that reminds me of a Dolcetto.

So anyway, here are the labels...if anything has stood out for me in my memory I've made a note of it:

This is one of the nicest expressions of Agiortiko I've experienced, nicely balanced and with some complexity. It's produced and bottled by a cooperative, and I've picked up a 2004 from the same cooperative from the VQPRD Diktaios, which I'm anxious to try to see how it compares.
































This was obtained directly at the vineyard, given to me as one of the two bottles I took home from the tasting with their eonologist, Kostis.

A beautiful expression of Syrah from a warmer climate - black fruit balanced with earth, leather and spice. I liked it best of all the wines tasted that day, which included several red blends, a single varietal Roussanne, and their rosé which they call Pink and which is made from Grenache.