thekristydave

So, it’s been…well, a long while since I have appeared on this site. Let’s see, since I last posted something I believe I officially ‘graduated’ with an MSc, starting working for the academic institute from where I received this degree,

hosted our first US-based visitor,

had a true Cretan easter celebration (lamb’s heads, overeating and all),

wrote a bunch of grants totaling over €3 million, visited four countries, got pregnant,

took on a foster car,

εχω βελτιωθει ελληνικα μου, and…I guess that sums it up. So, in order not to dwell on missed opportunitites, I instead have a couple of advertisements we received that I thought were amusing enough to share.

"Our store is always open"

The caption in Greek on the top states “Our store is always open”, meaning, I suppose, the web store. Kotsovolos, is an appliance and electronics store, so I don’t really get how the image of the woman unbuttoning her pants applies here, but it definitely got me to notice the fact that they have a web store…

This next one appeared in a supermarket circular that gets dropped off at the door…

I am not sure if it is easy to see (you can click on the image if you want a bigger view), but the photo depicts a collection of raw meat (including a whole pig) spread out on a table along with a glass of wine and other fine edibles. Salmonilla anyone? While we have gotten used to seeing whole animals for sale in the butcher shops, for some reason making a festive display out of raw meat struck me as odd…

Been a while… and we’ve been away. Not just from this blog (so neglected!) but also from Crete. Spent the last three weeks visiting back home – too much to summarize here, just say we had a great time! No promises, but we’ll try to get some photos posted soon.

We arrived safe and sound back in Chania…. a mere 16 hours in the travel log this time (an improvement over the 20 hour trip out to NY). Got home just in time for a sunset swim. Ah, it’s good to be back.

Much love to all the family and friends back home, miss you already. See you soon we hope, here on sunny Crete.
- Kristy, Dave and Pita

Since all this anticipation has been created about my earth shattering story of our trip to Istanbul, I am not writing it. Sorry. I can only say that it is the capital of the East and the only city I have been (outside of NYC) that has any clue about (modern) culture. Anyway, Dave has been keeping you all entertained with deciding our future and whatnot, so I assume no one will miss the Istanbul story.

Dave and Pita

I have another story. I have been spending my days finishing my thesis updated link to my thesis…and it is finally done. Printed, bound, and sent for review. If any of you have a free couple of hours that you want to waste, you can read it here here.

But that’s not the story. I was talking about rainbows…so about 5 weeks ago, this small dog showed up in our neighborhood and decided not to leave. In fact, he moved right into our house. After being exposed to the dangers he was facing on the street (think grandmothers with brooms, big hungry wild dogs, and overaggressive cats) and his sugary disposition we decided to let him adopt us. So we have a dog. His name is Pita. (Formally, Mogwai Skilopita, which translated from the two languages we have stolen from to make his name, means ‘devil dog pie’. Amazingly, this truly is the most accurate description of his character).

Anyway, he wakes me up at 7am every morning to go for a walk. And a few mornings ago, I was greeted by this.

Rainbows over Chania Harbor

Didn’t get as good a set of photos as I wanted, since by the time I finished the dog walk and got the camera from back home, this was all that was left of it. (Yes, left of it.) I have never seen quite a rainbow as what it was…one double rainbow – two spectrums – and another on top. So even though this little dog has put a dent in our freedom, and quite possibly our plans to visit our newfound friends in their home countries, things with Pita always seem to end in rainbows…even begrudged 7am outings.

Just a quickie to say that TKD misses and is envious of all the tryptophan-gobbling home folk, but we’ll do fine with souvlaki when we have our pseudo-international-Thanksgiving feast / Kristy-finished-her-thesis celebration on Saturday with good friends out here. So Happy Turkey Day to our family and friends back home, save us some of the good eats (freeze it!!).

If we go there will be trouble. But if we stay, it will be double?

Our life has suddenly turned into a Clash song. And really, this indecision is bugging me. Maybe you can help?

Kristy unexpectedly got a job offer here. The job itself is not as much a factor as is the viable opportunity it opens for us to stay in this incredible place for the long-term. Why wouldn’t we take it?

Well, there are lots of reasons actually, both for and against staying.

Continue reading Should We Stay Or Should We Go? »