thekristydave

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.

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Dedicated to Meg…

For those of you who don’t already know it, we have this great friend. This friend who reminds us all the time that we are all friends; sending out birthday notices and hosting parties to make it easy for us. And as far back as I can remember, she has sent each of us a birthday gift. Meg Mixes have become a phenomenon over the years, starting as mix tapes and evolving with the technology to CDs. And even overseas, without fail, each year I receive a CD packed with music to make me smile a lot, dance a little, and open my ears to something new. This year, it came a bit late…and due to no fault of Meg’s.

This morning there was a package stuck between slots in my door. When I saw the square shape and size I immediately knew it was my birthday mix. I grabbed it from its resting place thinking I would throw it in the player to accompany my morning breakfast. As I pulled the package from the door, I realized it crunched in my hands…never a good sound when it comes to anything plastic. A closer look revealed the package was covered in a layer of plastic with this message:

The USPS Mission

It is intriguing to me that the USPS immediately assumes the damage is the foreigners’ fault, but I was more surprised to read that I “can be assured that the country that [they] received this damaged mail from will be notified and will be asked to take steps to ensure it doesn’t happen again.” Apparently, not only is the US “liberating” the oppressed in two separate countries, but the USPS is also compelled to bring “justice” universally to the postal systems. In any case, worried more about the CD than the mission of the USPS, I ripped off the plastic hoping the contents weren’t totally destroyed. I found this:

Thankfully, the CD was intact and plays fine…especially considering included in this year’s mix was an original by Christian Vaught (Meg’s husband and another long-time friend)! While there was nothing lost, I think the message from USPS was a little deceiving…from what I can tell by the damage, I think it got stuck in a genuine USPS machine. I can just see a postal employee pulling the totally destroyed package from the machine and saying “Yes! Foreign address! I can say they did it!”

Whether or not the CD made two trans-Atlantic trips, I am very happy it survived its obviously trying journey to bring me a little piece of friendship and home.

In the beginning of April, the entire town of Chania was getting a facelift. Stores were shut down, buildings gutted and coats of paint were being applied. Everyone was preparing for the coming tourist season. A few weeks ago we noticed one of the souvlaki shops near the παλαιό λιμάνι or old harbor had shut its doors and was being renovated. Figuring this was just another example where a shop decides it needs freshening up, we were expecting a nearly identical souvlaki shop to open in a few days. In its place was this Starbucks.

We have been blissfully absent of any major American brands (save Coca-Cola, of course) since we arrived here. I have heard there is a McDonald’s on the island, but it is only open for the tourist season and it is in the next town over. Our more “intellectual” city has shunned the presence of such American trash, until the American trash got a new more intellectual appearance.

I have been keeping an eye on the place, and it never seems as full as some of the other coffee shops in the harbor, so I am hopeful that the American invasion will fail. We, in distinct protest of the presence of this place, will continue with our happy adoption of the true Greek coffee: the Frappe.

…other people want me! I am now blogging for Sustainable Table. I have written a couple of posts, the most recent today. You can also read one I wrote earlier about growing food in the cities.

Mostly, I will be writing about farmers and agriculture and the terrible state of the food system, so for those of you who are already yawning, maybe you can skip it. But Sustainable Table is a great website, run by a great organization that is responsible for a viral animated video that made all sorts of web history and is really entertaining! If you have never seen The Meatrix watch it.

And now that spring is on it’s way (for those of you in the northern hemisphere) go to a farmers’ market, join a CSA, or visit a nearby farmer! I can guarantee you’ll have fun (if you don’t, at least you’ll be thinking of me).

For sure there will be more to write on this - and for sure Kristy will do it far more justice than I. But I simply can’t bear seeing this poor blog not being updated. So here’s some mindless babbling from the other half of the TKD.

First off, a disclaimer. (more…)