"Delays, delays, always delays"

Sunday the 28th and I am still in....Greece.
For those of you who wonder when I 'll be back, I do not know.
So what happened?
Honestly, I haven't decided to extend my vacation. Yes, the weather is still great, yes I enjoy seeing old friends, but I have to get back. The problem is I can't. Why?
To make a long story short, there was a problem with my CAQ.
And as a result my Study Permit cannot be issued as well. So, although I can enter the country (in order not to miss any classes), I cannot register. And if and when my Permit is issued I have to exit and reenter the country.
Now, since the closest country I can go to is the U.K., (I need a Visa as well to enter the U.S.) the only logical solution is to stay here and....wait.
For how long? Not even the officers in the embassy can tell. Therefore, I have rescheduled my departure (that was actually set for today) for the 09/09 and I just keep my fingers crossed.
Will anybody keep class notes?

Hello from Samos

Greetings from Samos!

After a long and relatively uneventful trip, I have safely arrived at the island.
It is not that hot( islands are always cooler), the sea is wonderful, and I am really having a great time.
Actually, my timing could not be better:
At this time there is a wine festival, where except from the wine (with €3, (about $4.5) you can have all the wine you want) there is also food and live music.
Now, I am not drunk all the time (honestly) and I will try to keep it like that.
Eventually, I will post pictures as soon as I find a better connection.

Untill then, I greet you all and (if some of you want postcards (and haven't asked me yet),don't be shy, it is not too late. Just send me your addresses!

Pictures and trip details

Here is a link to some extra photos I took today. They are mostly pictures of the area around Syntagma (constitution) Square. Unfortunately, due to account limitations, I had to put the pictures to the previous set.


The same and more pictures

In other news, I have still some packing to do, but I am almost ready to leave for the island of Samos.
So, where is Samos located?

Samos is located at the eastern Aegean, very close to Turkey as you can see in the map above. The island offers wonderful beaches and it is also all-green (there are mountains with forests) if you don't like spending your summer by the sea (I cannot imagine why, but anyway...). My actual destination is Vathi where I have been before. (And you can conclude I had a great time.) The island is famous for its very sweet wine, (I remember getting drunk with some friends 8 years ago; this is what happens when you participate in birthday celebrations where the only thing available to eat is the cake!)

And like almost every place in Greece, there is a glorious past related to it. Samos was the birth place of Pythagoras (585-500 B.C.) the famous ancient Greek philosopher who is mostly known from the Pythagorean Theorem ("The sum of the squares on the legs of a right triangle equals the square on the hypotenuse".)

In Samos, you can also find the Eupalineion orygma (lit.ditch) which is actually a water tunnel. The tunnel was driven through a hill from two sides. . The whole thing is 1,800 meters long and it took about 10 years to be completed. The construction started at the same time in both sides and when the two shafts met in the middle there was only a minor deviation! It was built (believe it or not) in the 6th century B.C.!

My ship leaves tomorrow from the port of Piraeus at 6.00 pm and it is a long journey, about 12 hours. (It is the cheap and easy- to- find -a -ticket- at- the- last- minute ship that makes a lot of stops). Thank God, I will be traveling with my friend Lia (who will provide my accommodation in the island) so despite the long trip, we will definitely have so much fun.

Next stop, Samos...

Getting a job...

I do not usually post comments on issues related to politics since I am not in the mood of endlessly arguing with people (especially those who think they are always right and do not respect the opinion of others.) But sometimes it is just one of these days...

Anyway, the government decided to introduce personal interviews to the process of employing people to the public sector. Up to now, no complaints there. Interviews are used around the world and in the private sector as well. Furthermore, it is a good tool for the employers to get to know the person they are about to employ. So, this is in fact a good and necessary process.
As long as the conditions of the interview (time, questions asked etc) are appropriate and not like the ones following :

Some newspapers brought up this issue today:

The goal: Getting a job in the Greek army (interviews for getting into the Greek army were introduced a few years ago:)

The procedure: Each candidate's interview lasted about 3 minutes! (I guess they thought the time was more than enough) And what kind of very important and crucial questions for getting a job in the army were asked by the interviewer?

• "Now, you don't have a tattoo? Do you?" (Is a tattoo of the Greek flag a good or a bad thing?)
• "How many holes for earrings do you have?" (I do not even want to think what happens if you ever had a ring in another part of your body. After all, the question was not about the ring but the hole.)
• "Do you go to bars?" (Now, what kind of bars do they mean? And what if you are always home before midnight? This must be a good thing!)
• "Would you ever use steroids" (like anybody will answer "yes"; after all, it is all about honesty, isn't it?)
• "How do you think the issue of low-birth rate should be addressed?" (I guess an answer like "Make love, not war" is totally out of the question!)
• And the top one: "Are you abstemious?" (No comments there...)

So if you do not have a tattoo, you do not have earrings, do not go to bars, you will never use steroids and you have great ideas to fight the low-birth rate, but you cannot put them into practice ; remember, you have to be abstemious (actually, it does not clarify what you should be abstemious from; is it food, drink, or something else?), you have a promising career at the Greek army.

And of course, in the remote case the army rejects you, you can always become a monk or a nun.

Take also into consideration the interview may play a great part in getting the job, even outweigh other unimportant things (like degrees, diplomas, knowledge of foreign languages, previous working experience.) Well, I guess this is what happens when you are not abstemious.

Am I the only one that finds it ridiculous?

Where I live...

So that you don't think I am acting like a deputy minister of tourism, here are some pictures of the surrounding area of the building I live. I know there is no archaeological interest there (well, it is not THAT old) but you might like them....



This is the front part of the building I live. The apartment is situated at the ground floor, but there is no way to see the balcony. The reason: That tree that stands in front! Now, question: what kind of tree do you think this is? Answer to follow...

This is the part of the street as you turn your head to the west. The sky is cloudy. After the heat wave, the weather cooled off and half of the country now faces storms, hail and temperature drop (that is actually a good thing, today we had around 31 °C, and yes... that is considered a significant drop).

This is what you see when you turn your face to the east. I guess most people in my neighborhood have not gone for vacation since their cars are still here. But there are no cars moving on the street (and that is a busy street), so I guess people are leaving...

A closer look on that tree. Still guessing? O.K., This is actually a lemon tree! And, before any misunderstandings, lemon trees are not that common. The city generally plants sour orange trees (like the rest of the trees you see in the pictures), but a previous manager of the building decided to have a lemon tree instead. And since the city did not plant it, the tree and its fruits are ours to enjoy. Of course, we must also prune it and generally take care of it, but who cares? Cool, isn't it?

A closer look to that lemon tree. This picture was taken from my balcony (the one you cannot see from across the street).I am afraid these lemons will not turn yellow in time (before I leave!). In fact, the tree produced so many lemons this year, it actually started leaning down from its own weight. My father raised the branches with some ropes, a task I gladly helped him with. (I was holding the ladder!)

In other news, on Monday I am leaving for the wonderful island of Samos. Details about the trip and the island to follow....

And of course I am renewing my proposal for postcards. So, send e-mails with addresses (but do not use my student account because there is a problem with it!)

Touring the city...

Hello again!

Now it would be very inappropriate of me if I did not post any pictures of the city (O.K., the greater area of the city) I live in.
Here is a link to a slideshow with pictures I took during my stroll around Plaka and surrounding areas a few days ago. Plaka is the area below the Acropolis and it is very beautiful with all these old, 2-floor houses, narrow streets and archaeological sites almost everywhere.
The pictures are all about...ruins (the good kind!, mostly the Roman Agora) and the resolution is low (again my dial-up connection). There are also some comments on what you see and/or what I intended to show to you!

Pictures of sites

Funny thing: As I was walking around Plaka, equipped with my camera, my cap, shorts and T-shirt, I felt like a tourist in my own country and the numerous "Hello" (In English!!) I kept on hearing from shop-owners in the area confirmed my fears!!

And as Émile reminded me with his fine example, is anybody interested in postcards?
Please send e-mails with addresses! It is only one country, but at least I will try not to be just one place....

Update: As you can see, now there is a title for this post. How could I miss it before? Maybe it is just the fact that we had around 39 °C yesterday...