Random Events and Observations

Nothing groundbreaking has occurred in the past few weeks, so I'll just mention a few events and observations from my first 2+ months in Greece that have failed to make the blog thus far:

Event # 1

AFS hosted a pig roast for 400 donors and friends of the school. For the guests the pig roast meant a copious feast featuring several types of meat (roasted pig being the feature dish of course) plus a smorgasbord of traditional Greek side dishes and desserts. Gluttony was the theme of the party and everyone did their fair share of damage to the buffet. For me the pig roast meant approximately 12 hours of manual labor setting up and breaking down the tables and place settings. My official duty was driver of the big blue van, a circa 1975 Volkswagen Vanagon. It was a blast. The steering wheel was the size of a hoola hoop. I assumed the role of driver by passing the "Greek driver's test". The procedure went as follows:

Pig Roast Set Up Director: "Do you have an international driver's license?"

Me: "No."

PRSUD: "Do you know how to drive a manual transmission?"

Me: "I drove a stick shift in high school but it's been a while."

PRSUD: "Perfect ."

With that, I was handed the keys and started shuttling tables and chairs to the site of the pig roast with student volunteers bumping along for the ride. The van lacked A/C, radio, a functional horn, and pretty much any other amenity you can imagine, so the students entertained themselves by singing and teaching me everything there is to know about Greek profanity. It was remarkable to see how fluent they all already were in English profanity - even the students who barely know any English are fluent in American cuss words.

Event # 2

Halloween doesn't exist in Greece, so Emily and I enlightened the students about the holiday and led a trick-or-treating outing. We warned all of the faculty and staff who live on campus to expect a slew of hooligans on Saturday night, and they agreed to purchase some candy. Pressed for time and without a costume store, we were forced to be creative with our attire. Most of the 20 students who participated opted for face painting or homemade masks. Trick-or-treating turned into how-loud-can-we-all-yell-at-the-same-time/who-can-snatch-the-most-candy-from-the-bowl, but a good time was had by all.

The college hosted a costume party in honor of Halloween featuring the limbo and musical chairs; the fiesta was a lot of fun and makes me wonder why the limbo and musical chairs disappear from American parties after middle school.

Observation # 1

Greek floozies physically resemble the Jewish American Princesses that overpopulate the Northeastern United States and Emory University. The only difference is that the Greek ladies are yet to discover eating disorders.

Observation # 2

Greek bureaucracy is an absolute joke. Instead of handling the usual "red tape", Greek processes equate more to struggling through duct tape. After many hours of paperwork preparation/hospital trips/and photocopying, yesterday I went to the agency which supervises residency permits to submit the forms, photos, moneys, etc. necessary to extend my stay in Greece past the original 90 days. It was a large office building with dozens of employees, however the only person on staff "capable" of handling residency permits was sick at home. Therefore, the residency visa section of the office was closed. Apparently the other employees were too busy chain-smoking and playing solitaire on their computers to stamp a few sheets and process the visa for their ill colleague.

That's all for now. I'm looking forward to a trip to Athens in December for a Champions League match between Arsenal and Olympiakos, the Greek Champions.