Not so great for us here in Greece.  Aside from the Economic woes (see my recent posts and also, READ THE PRESS if you don't know anything about it!), Greece has been experiencing some very weird weather of late...actually, in retrospect, I shouldn't be surprised at the bipolar activity of her weather - Greece has a nation of bipolar people, why not their weather too?
So, getting back to it:  It SHOULD have been a great Easter.  My dad was coming to visit me and the first few days were great (refer to previous post again).  But no, the weather was NOT being kind and in fact, dad did comment that he thought the pilot had lost his way en route to Athens and landed back in England.

EXCEPT YOU GUYS ARE EXPERIENCING A HEATWAVE!  So no, he hadn't got lost in some airborne time warp and magically been transported back to his country of origin.  *Sigh* yes, he was also about to experience the 'bipolarness' of Greece.

We made it to Spetses, where we were due to spend Greek Easter - a lovely little island in the Aegean.
OK, I say eventually because hear me out: NEVER, EVER TRAVEL ON A CATAMARAN UNLESS YOU HAVE A STOMACH OF STEEL. 
Spetses is beautiful but, the only way to get to her is by high speed catamaran via Poros and Hydra (pronounced 'Idra').  Well, if you only want to see these three islands, you're pretty buggered really as the only way you can get to them is by high speed.
So on role my dad and I, all exited because 1) it's the first day of sunshine and 2) we're going to a GREEK ISLAND FOR EASTER!
Hmmmmmmm...short lived.
Oh, the ride between Piraeus and Poros (1 hr) was fine, and then the nice Captain decided to pick up speed between Poros and Hydra.  OK, now, my dad was a sea faring man in the past and has the stomach of an ox.  I used to pride myself on taking after him - but OH. MY. GOD.  The only way I can think to describe it to you is:  The biggest, fastest roller coaster ride you've ever been on that you like at first, but then you decide "OK, I want to get off now, I've had enough" but someone is laughing at you and saying "No no!  This is not enough!  You have another 20 mins of this to go!"  My dad looked at me and said I had literally turned green.  I looked around me, thinking he was exaggerating - no, he wasn't.  People all around me were literally turning GREEN.
No, I didn't puke in the end but I have never felt so rough in all my life.  But through my haze of sea sickness, I managed to still notice a lovely phenomenon:  Greek people helping each other, not just their immediate family.  Old people were smoothing the hair of tourists out of their faces whilst they puked into the provided bags (the Catamaran company obviously know the score) and through my greenness, I smiled to myself:
You see?  The old are not to be laughed at and ridiculed. I mean - Christ,   my dad didn't even feel queasy and he's 77.


The offending boat

 Happy holidays everyone.

So, 'Daddy Bex' has come for a visit and I am very happy to see him.   At the risk of sounding like a line from the 'Love, Actually' movie, whilst waiting for him in Arrivals at Athens airport, I smiled to myself, seeing all the people hugging and waving and kissing.  There was a TV crew there and as my dad DOES look a bit like Sean Connery (not a subjective observation on my part, but a fact) - I again smiled at the thought of teasing him that they'd come for him - a case of mistaken identity.

So FINALLY he comes through the gates.  I was getting a little worried - it was 45 mins after the plane had landed and those familiar with Athens, it ain't no LHR!!  My brain was saying
"Don't worry - they will page you if he had a heart attack on the flight and died" (?!)
but my heart was going "My dad's old now, he can't cope with such a journey!" Blah blah blah...(weird father/daughter role reversal going on there).
Turned out his baggage is black (as is every other bugger's on the flight) and he missed his case about 3 times.

Still, here he is - happy as Larry (he's not called Larry) and is impressed with my (appauling) attempt to speak Greek (after 3 years here, it really is appallingly lacking, sorry!) and walking around with some worry beads and basically fitting in.  He really looks Greek actually.

We got the usual from the taxi driver:
Driver:  "Why you here?"
Dad: "I'm visiting my daughter"
Driver (to me): "You married?"
Me: (sigh - I know what's coming next, I write the script almost) - "No"
Driver: "Oh, (short thinking pause) - why not?" (translated to mean - "Why you in Greece if not married?")

There is no end to that story - I usually just shrug and smile through gritted teeth (see previous posts).

A sweet thing happened to us today though - and it reminded me that I love it when people try a language, and don't QUITE get it right.

Scenario:  Buying a ticket for the Metro.

Me (in Greek): "One for me, one for him please" (point at dad)
Me (in English): "My father is, er, old" (meaning I want a cheap OAP ticket.
Tkt Lady (oldish, big smile): Is your pappa up 60?"
Me: "Yes, he's over 60"
Tkt lady: "Good, if he up 60, he get half price - this is good he up 60.  He look GOOD for up 60!"

Yes, there are sweet things that are said cross-culturally.

We will be off soon, to celebrate Easter on an island.

ευχαρίστως το Πάσχα everyone!

I've been thinking a lot about lies and lying recently - and not just on the individual level.
OK, so you don't have the strength of character to be honest with yourself, that's your stupidity and (hopefully) will only, ultimately, affect yourself.

But we are living in much more dangerous times now - I mean from an economic level.

As you know, I live in a country that is suffering so badly economically, it is painful to go about every day life sometimes (and to top it all off, the weather hasn't even been kind lately. Somehow it's so much easier to stomach when the sun is shining).

Ahhhh - which brings me (in a round about way) to my point:  for the last 30 or so odd years, the people of this country have been lied to, on a mass scale.  They've been lulled into a false sense of economic security - all to achieve votes.  And lies just grow you know, like a pregnancy...they can't be avoided in the long term.
In fact, take that on a mass scale - you people all over the world have been lied to:

You've been told it was OK to borrow up to 110% of the value of your property, never mind that you earned less than £15,000 a year.

You've been encouraged to buy, buy, buy/spend, spend, spend

And worst of all, if you were one of those (rare) people who was intelligent enough to have long term vision and think to yourself "This is just a loooooooong honeymoon, this has got to end sometime so no - I won't get that extra credit card at 0% APR for the first 6 months.  No, I won't merely pay off the minimum payment each month" then because you HAD no debt, you were considered a risk if you wanted to borrow just 50% of your property price!

And now they have the cheek to turn around and tell you it's YOUR fault for being seduced by the starry eyed politicians and banks out rightly lying to your face.

What has this got to do with where I am living?  Well, I read an article today:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/17/greece-debt-default-bailout

It eludes to the fact (in fact, out rightly states it) that Greece is becoming ungovernable.  HA!  Becoming?!
Actually, that's slightly unfair. Greece and Greeks - although it has NEVER been possible to tell them what to do, even when they know it's for their own good - are actually just a nation of people who, ironically enough, have the nouse enough to publicly question what's going on and why they were lied to, albeit in unorthodox methods.
But what's that saying?  "There's no such thing as a bloodless revolution." Alexander the Great didn't conquer half the world without a lot of bloodshed. 

So, I fear, this is just the beginning.  Don't be so quick to criticize Greece, people.  She was just ahead of her time - the first one to make it to the spotlight.  This 'thing'  is going to get a lot uglier before we're all out of the woods.  And all because we learnt to trust - we trusted the lies.

I was listening to a colleague talk at work the other day.  The usual came up (I'm quite new at work):
"Why are you here in Greece?" (emphasis on the HERE).  I feel shallow telling people that I love the climate of the country and the fact that I open my shutters to virtually cloudless days 99.9% of the time has a HUGE influence on my psychological well being.  I feel people want something more solid/concrete from me (I mean, I am sure I can get cloudless days in, er, Spain or Thailand eh?) but sorry - I really have nothing more to give you at present...I haven't analysed it that deeply - leave it with me and I will. 
In fact, I will need to I think as this country is suffering so badly economically that people tend to look at me as if I'm crazy for being here. 
Take the taxi drivers, for example (yes, those little gems of whom I have many a tale to tell)...
"Pou ise?" they ask me ("Where are you?" is the literal translation - but meant "Where are you from" when asked in context).
"Londino" I reply (it's easier than having to explain Plymouth, of which not many people know where it is)
"Why you here?" is the (inevitable) next question.  And so we go on. 
"England better than here" they observe - "Why you here?" and then they nod knowingly and say "Ahhhh, you have Greek husband."

It seems the only thing that makes sense to a person as to why I am here (at least to a taxi driver) MUST be because a man is involved.  And in fact, one taxi driver chuckled to himself  "I see English men, no wonder you here in Greece instead" and stopped talking about the subject - as if he'd satisfactorily answered his own query.

First, let me re-assure the reader;  I am NOT (currently) involved with a Greek man and, to be honest through past experiences (sorry to anyone who knows me and is reading), I don't want to get involved again for a fairly long time either!!! (Think patriarchy, their mothers and their huge - er, egos (where was your mind?!) and you've got the general picture), I don't intend to get involved for a long while yet!
And getting back to the title of my post:  a few people I know - friends and work colleagues who've all come to Greece, in their late 20's/early 30's, met a Greek man and then settled with him and had kids - ALL have said to me "If I'd had my time again, I wouldn't have chosen a Greek man."

Hmmmmmmm, very interesting.  I decided to look into this a little deeper.  You see, whilst Greek men are all swarthy skinned and smoldering looks, there IS the problem of their mothers.  They are, to my knowledge, most of them seemly breast fed until they're at least 27 years of age (eeeeewwwwwwwww!) and treated like God (look at my last post - No's 3 and 4 of the joke are, in actual fact, no joke).
In fact, it seems a majority of them are actually quite socially inept.  They seem to have a LOT of psychological issues (think the mother/son relationship) and at first, I thought it was just me and the (seemingly) sort of men I attract...but conversations with other women have left me thinking I was let off lightly!

So no, I am NOT here for the perceived 'totty' - I am running on a 'look but don't touch' motto at the moment (let's face it, the Greek men do too...even the ones in their 70's!) 
But if you're desperate - don't hesitate to come here...you may even bag yourself an octogenarian because believe me, these Greek men, it doesn't matter WHAT age you are, they look - and the OBVIOUSLY look (think walking past the cafineo, 10am in the morning having visited the post office to collect a signed for item, only pulled on a pair of jogging pants over my PJ's and huge sunnies on to cover my panda eyes from last night's make up, hair on end (I'm going straight back to bed) and they STILL manage, all 5 of these oldies, to follow you with their eyes, look you up and down more than once then chat amongst themselves whilst pointing at you).  Actually, in retrospect, they might actually be calling me the neighbourhood crazy woman - I don't know what's worse:  being eyed up by a group of 80 year olds or being considered the local nutter.

I have the unfortunate problem of being afflicted with a tummy bug, currently doing the rounds at the moment.  I am on the mend, but not quite well (or strong) enough to go back to work just yet - and there's only so much Face booking and playing of Mindjolt games I can do without my eyes going square.
So, naturally, with all this free time on my hands at the moment, I got to thinking...and here's what I remembered - a joke a (German) friend told me last year:

"Why do we know that Jesus was a Greek man?
Because: 1) He followed in the profession of his father
              2) He lived at home until way past his 30's
              3) He thought his mother was a virgin
              4) His mother thought He was God"

Now, initially I doubled up at this - thinking 'How true!'  But, with all this spare time on my hands, I've had time for reflection:

Granted, no's 3) and 4) are still quite funny (particularly number 4 - for those of you who've ever had the (mis?) fortune to date a Greek man or, indeed marry one.  If you have differing opinions about your mother-in-law, please do share).

But no's 1) and 2) really, in this current economic climate, are not so funny after all.    I mean, actually thinking about it - a guy is LUCKY to have a business handed down through the family.  I think GONE are the days, now, where we have freedom to choose our own career paths - I mean, we CAN, but we should be prepared to be out on our ear at the first sign of trouble...big corporations, whether public or private don't give two hoots about your loyalty or 30 years of service, so maybe the family furniture making business or the family dry cleaning shop isn't such a thing to laugh at after all.

And as for no 2) - well, it's a well known fact that children in Greece (or a lot of Mediterranean countries, come to that) live at home with their parents. Us 'Westernized' Europeans used to mock them, calling them 'mummy's boys' (and daddy's girls) and wonder (out loud) why they didn't all pool their resources together and share/rent a huge house with about 4 friends.  Well, I ask you now, how many people in the UK are finding that it's actually cheaper for them to have to move back home with their parents - with mortgage deposits topping over £30,000?? 
Hmmmm, sharing with your mates doesn't look so promising long term now eh?  We don't live in a Nineties 'This Life' world anymore (that Channel 4 programme about a load of Uni mates graduated with Law degrees, who shack up in a big Victorian style house in London, all trying to be Barristers and being all 'deep and meaningful' with each other over the dining room table (in more ways than one) and making living with a load of ex Uni mates look oh so cosy - see accompanying clip for an idea):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0eBu2i_j-8&feature=related

So back to my point - I actually think points 1) and 2) of above joke are less funny than they used to be.  Maybe, in a few years time, so will points 3) and 4).

I read an article in Wanderlust Magazine today, about how British people have voted THEMSELVES to be the worst tourists in the world (by voting themselves, it seems as if they're proud of this fact!)

http://www.wanderlust.co.uk/magazine/news/british-tourists-vote-themselves-the-worst-in-the-world

So I started to wonder - ARE we?  Well, as you know I am an expat who resides in a foreign country, so I wouldn't really call myself a 'tourist.' The categories of being voted the worst included:

Lack of trying out the local language
A desire to only eat their own food in a foreign country
Disgraceful drunken behaviour

I can DEFINITELY say that No 3 is correct.  As I currently live in Greece I have had the misfortune of trying to have a quiet holiday on an island and there I am, on a beach minding my own business, reading a good book when a group of ALREADY DRUNK at 10am English guys (AND girls) roll along the beach like a tsunami, destroying everything in their wake. 
Living abroad, there have been many occasions when I groan out loud about the fact I'm British - I mentioned it in a previous post about the contemptuous attitude the Brits can sometimes express.  Well, the drunken behaviour is another one of my bug bearers.  The amount of times I get asked by local Greeks:

"WHY do your people feel the need to have fun by drinking themselves into a coma?"
and I have to reply "I'm so sorry - but I honestly don't know!"
In fact, the owner of some rooms to rent in Crete told me once that he charges higher rates to British tourists because of the repairs to the rooms he has to make once a British tourist has stayed in it - the amount of damage they make warrents him charging almost double per night for the room.

Has anyone ever stopped to wonder that?  Have you ever stopped to look at your behaviour and wonder why you have to get 'off your face' in order to have a good time? 
One of the BEST things about being in Greece is that ALL age groups mix well together...you can be out in a bar until 5am with your friends, not a drunk person in sight...happily sipping wine and then moving onto coffee or, as I saw last week, a GORGEOUS Greek boy in his 20's, dressed in a pink shirt (that really suited him) sipping a hot chocolate (with his girlfriend ) at 2am.
And next to this small group, an 'elderly' couple (in their mid to late 50's?) also in the same bar, happily with a group of friends of a similar age, out until 2am.

Me?  I had one Bailey's, a hot chocolate and then stuck to water for the rest of the night...danced away on the dance floor and rolled into bed at 9am - not an ounce of disgraceful behaviour.

:0)