A new and perplexing problem has arisen here in the land of oil and wine. Nobody seems to be able to stop eating. One problem is that food is really cheap. It's 5 euros for dinner, and 1.50 for a gyro. And the bread is, for some reason, really tasty. So we eat a lot of bread, and gyros, and dinner at 11 pm because that's how the Greeks do. (Yo.) And, oh my God, there is an endless supply of Kinder eggs here! It's like sweet crack with toys inside. We've almost assembled an entire Kinder egg toy soccer team from my stash. Unfortunately, we're not really doing much except eating on the weekends. We eat, and then, while eating, we discuss how fat we're going to get. Afterwards, it turns out that we're still hungry, so we eat more.
I'm starting to come around to the non-existent Mediterannean work ethic. On Saturday, we spent four hours sitting in the square drinking coke and eating gyros and talking about...the various uses of the aorist in Attic Greek (among other things!). It was pretty awesome (kind of like our previous Pierce brunch extravaganzas, but in a nicer climate). But then we couldn't figure out how to get the check and sent James in to negotiate. James returned saying that he had tried to sign language his way into a check, and that they had suggested that he wanted a "pota" and he agreed. "They might bring us the check," he explained, "or a turkey." Actually, it was a cup of tea. Almost.
Other than this, things are ok. I've decided that I hate Greek people in general for two primary reasons: 1) We can't talk to each other except to say "Mia milopita" (one apple pie), and 2) As a result, they mostly just yell at me to do incomprehensible things. So my impression is that they're surly, angry, and either very young or very old. I think the age thing is a matter of premature Slavic/Balkan aging that happens to all Eastern Europeans when they turn 35. It's like nature's way of saying, "Be grateful you're living any longer than this, surly salami-eating people."
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12 comments:
Oh man, Rita - your blog makes my day. SO much more interesting then life in Hyde Park - as part of which, you should have the minutes from yesterday's meetings by this evening (that is, this evening my time, since I have no bloody idea what that translates to in your time).
We had the same eating problem in Spain- our lunch break was three hours long, which we used to stuff ourselves, complain about how full and fat we were, and then do the same thing a couple hours later. And then had dinner. I don't understand it- the food wasn't even that good.
i think the reason they are either very young or very old could be the same as in other sad countries: young able-bodied people are leaving in search of a better life, and now that they're all in the EU, it's pretty easy to do. the same is the case for poland, lithuania, and others.
this all reminds me very of my slovak relatives. i wonder why?
Stand at syntagma square, with the square on your left, the parliament building to your right, and that big street in between you and the parliament building. In other words, you're on the left side of the street. If you walk forward a couple blocks or so, there will be a large bookstore on your left. I believe the foreign language section is on the second or third floor; when you get out of the very small elevator, you walk back toward the windows facing the street and the language books are on your left. I recommend a hardcover "Learn Greek Without a Teacher" -- the spine of the book is bluish-grey, and most of the front is yellow, and it actually seems to have semi-useful words near the beginning (I once encountered a Russian book with the word "molecule" on the first chapeter vocab list). Ten and eleven twentieths euros.
Of course, I was coming to the language from a cold start; your background might work better with something else. But I still recommend the bookstore, if only because, hey, it's a bookstore. And a big one, at that. Who doesn't like big bookstores?
S, no wonder you came across "molecule" in the first chapter of the Russian book. Just curious if you also saw words like "revolution", "industry", "comrade", and "sputnik" close by. That would be very much in keeping with the solid Russian tradition of language learning.
Brian: This is a little sad considering that I am making a point of doing close to nothing here.
Alex: I am not going to respond to any of you blog comments until you respond to mine on yours. Nyah, nyah.
Anonymous: Are you my mother?
Jon: It doesn't apply to men as much, although they're probably as surly.
S: In keeping with my tradition of dyslexia in the previous couple days, I somehow decided that you made this comment yesterday and responded there.
AII: Also, tractor. Tractor!
yes, i am your anonymous mother and yes, tractor! i forgot about their agricultural pursuits. tractor should come even before sputnik even though "s" precedes "t" alphabetically.
Here's how you get the check. It's considered rude if they bring it to you, like they're kicking you out. You basically have to yell "Check, please!" across the restaurant. Thus:
Ton logariasMO, parakalo!
(Tohn loh-gar-i-as-MO, pah-rah-hak-LO)
Rita, a similar thing is happening on my program. All anyone can do is eat. The only difference is, is that food in Paris is pretty expensive. Everything in Paris is expensive. Bread is the cheapest at about 80 cents-1 euro. A cheap meal of a crepe or a gyro is about 3-4 euros. Hence we are all spending lots of money on feeding our gluttony.
Liz
Kstyle: Efkaristo.
Liz: Apparently, it's a ubiquitious study abroad problem. I think it's also because class is easy and we're all kinda bored.
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