December 11th, 2008 by David
Widespread corruption. Political scandals. Unpopular reforms. High unemployment. Low wages. For many Greeks already harboring serious grievances and anger against their government, the police shooting of a 15-year old boy may have simply been the last straw.
The situation here was, in many ways, a tinderbox. News reports about the riots of the last week have focused on the spark that ignited the flame. But a country doesn’t just rip itself apart overnight. The underlying causes run deep, and perhaps it was only a matter of time before deteriorating public sentiment exploded into protests and violence.
In the ensuing melee, dozens of people have been injured, businesses have been looted, banks smashed, and hundreds of properties torched in cities throughout the country. Even here in Chania on the “holiday island” of Crete, there were street protests including some that turned destructive. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: 2008, civil unrest, Greece, riots
Posted in Greece | 3 Comments »
December 3rd, 2008 by Kristy
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.
Posted in Announcements, Greece, Photos, This Fabulous Life, Work | 8 Comments »
November 27th, 2008 by David
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!!).
Tags: Thanksgiving
Posted in Food, Greece, Party Time, This Fabulous Life, USA | 2 Comments »
November 17th, 2008 by David
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.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Greece, This Fabulous Life, USA | 20 Comments »
November 16th, 2008 by David

From "More Istanbul" set
First, a disclaimer: Sadly, between the rain which lasted nearly our entire trip and the diminishing quality of our abused digital camera, we managed to return from Istanbul with a lot of really bad photos. The trip was great… wet, but great. The photos we took don’t really do that magnificent city justice.
Luckily, our travel companions also took lots of photos and links to them are included below as well.
The Photos
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Istanbul, Photos, Travel, Turkey
Posted in Photos, This Fabulous Life, Travel | 1 Comment »