Stamati & Grigori

Back in the day when my parents generation left the village to find work in Athens and beyond they werent given much but they were given some good advice. Bear in mind that most villages in those days didnt have luxuries such as electricity and running water. So to avoid a whole lot of village kids being squashed by cars they explained the phenomenon of traffic lights in a very simple way: the red man is called Stamati (stamata in greek means stop), and the green man is called Grigori (grigora in greek means quickly)

Love is blind. Not deaf

Aekara!

I have no idea why this soccer team is playing basketball, but hey what do I know about sports? This chant is hilarious, have a look at the translation. I am really starting to like this soccer story


Translation of the chant:

the chant has been created to curse and mock the fans of olympiakos..it says(not exactly but i ll try)

aaaaall of you are informants(spies:it means that they talk to the cops that are friends of them)
(both of you) young and old since you were chlidren
all of gate7 is "filled up" with "builders"(builder is the nickname of a spy in gate7)
your mothers pussy
GAMO TO PIREA(Fuck piraeus)

OOOloi roufianoi
Mikroi megaloi apo paidia
Gemise me oikodomous oli i 7
to mouni tis manas sas
GAMW TON PEIRAIA

PAS ole ole!

PAS Ioannina is (according to wikipedia) probably best known among Greek football spectators for its fervent support and the anti-establishment attitude of many of its fans... those mother fluffers are crazy! PAS Ioannina vs A.E.K was my first soccer match ever, the crowds craziness is definitely addictive, had a blast!


Watch the famous greek PAS Giannina fans jumping and chanting, even if their team was 2 goals behind AEL and the game was lost. Apei Rotan Ioannina (gamw thn trela mas)



PAS GIANNINA agains olympiacos.
Great victory for PAS.
mad fans are singing all the time

Hanging with the Brady Brunch

Every afternoon at the xorio all the old people (read parents) have a nap and the kids hang around. One day the xorio kids asked me if I wanted to go for a walk with them. A "walk", ooh count me in! So I skipped along the road sure we were gonna get up to no good, no parental supervision and a 5km walk into the mountain, not a soul nearby to see what we were up to, I was about to have the most fun I'd had in ages! We walked 5km off the road, into the forest, and finally stopped at a hole full of water (dont know what its actually called, I'm not much of an outdoorsy person). I eagerly awaited the alcohol and weed to be pulled out of a secret hiding place and for underage snogging to begin..any minute now...we stood around the hole, staring at it, some boys threw stones in it, then we left. We walked all this way and no one is getting drunk or stoned???? Bring a couple of South African teenagers here and they will turn the mountain upside down! Seriously felt like I was in the twilight zone

Brolly Good

Its been raining for a week. I've been stuck indoors for days because I use public transport and dont own an umbrella. Today I met up with my cousin Ioanna for coffee, I got caught in the rain on the way (yes sure of course its romantic, thats what all the straight-haired bitches say), so I refused to go home until we bought an umbrella. Thank the lord for sidewalk sellers, I bought a fab flashy red umbrella for 3 euros, decided red was the best colour as I still dont know from which direction traffic comes at me!

The Best series on Greek TV

H polykatoikia.

Typical Greek neighbours, typical Greek humour, I am going to miss the Polykatoikia when I leave!!! Glykeria has been given strict instructions to buy the entire series as soon as it comes out on DVD

The WORST ad on greek tv

Our neighbour Thomas is the Financial Director for a very prominent cold meat company in Greece.... here is their latest ad....

Thomas you need to throw way more money into the advertising budget!

Lost in Translation

On sale now... Ta sagonia tou karxaria *said in a scary loud voice*

More movie madness:
* Ta kaka paidia =........ Bad Boys!
* Vlepo to thanato sou =.......Final Destination!
* I agapi thelei to xrono tis = ........ Love Happens!
* Oi maxites ton dromon = ....... Fast and Furious!
* Psila ston ourano = .......Up!
* Srek = ....... Shrek!
* Mini praktores = ........Spy kids!
* O yiatros ksanatrelathike = ...... Dr Dolittle 2
and my two favourites:
* I Maria i asximi = ..... Ugly Betty!
* Baboulas AE = ......... Monsters Inc

Pita!!!!

On a rainy day Glykeria and I decided to play Trivial Pursuit, the Greek version. I officially know nothing about Greek Geography, Entertainment, History, Arts & Literature, Science & Nature or Sports & Leisure. Actually I know nothing about any European country in those categories. All I know is that Liverpool Football Club's stadium (?) is in Anfield. The rule was she had to speak English and I had to speak Greek, and no I still didnt know the answers. Glykeria kept giving me clues and extra turns, I bet she was wondering if we really are related and thinking 'didnt they teach you anything at school?!?'

Let there be light

Light switches in Greece are upside down. In South Africa you flick the switch down to turn it on and flick it up to turn it off, its the opposite in Greece. In Greek you 'open' and 'close' the light, you dont 'switch it on or off'. Bedrooms in Greece have two (sometimes 3) light switches for the same light but in different spots, how handy? No more arguing over who has to get out of the cosy bed to switch off the light cause there is one conveniently placed above the headboard!

Milate Anglika?

Athens Deejay is a radio station that plays only English music, yay! High repetition of songs but they play good music so its alright. http://www.athensdeejay.gr/

Cheerio!...... Manoli

At the xorio there is nothing to do but drink....when in Rome! Uncle Vangeli (my dad's sister's husband) and Uncle George (my mom's brother)are the best drinking partners. They refuse to let you pay for drinks and keep refilling your glass before you manage to finish it! Every single night I spent at the xorio was accompanied by at least 5 bottles of wine between the 3 of us. Good times

Where in the world have i been?

So I have neglected my blog for a little while, mainly due to ultra slow connections speeds in the village. I make notes on my cellphone of anything blogworthy, and alas my cellphone died in Hydra (thats the second cellphone of mine to die there is less than a month!!!), all my notes are gone gone gone... the next few posts wont be in date order but I need to get you all up to date with where I've been and what I've done

Enviromentally not-so-friendly

Theoyefiro is a natural phenomenon found close to the xorio, translated as God's bridge or Bridge made by God. On a bench at Theoyefiro I found 3 messages; the bottom two politely asking us to hug trees and what not, the message at the top says "stick your cigarette butts in your butt!"

Forbidden Video

At the Byzantine Monastery of Panayia Mavriotissa in Kastoria you arent allowed to use a video camera inside the church, but you are allowed to take as many photos as you like *shrugs her shoulders*. Of course when you are FORBIDDEN to do something your inner 5 year old kicks in and you really really really want to do it. The priest was talking to the people outside, I took the gap and snuck into the church, I was about to take a sneaky video clip but chickened out...... maybe Jesus CAN see me? I dont want the Pearly Gates slammed in my face for a few seconds of youtube fame. So I took a video clip of the sign instead, how naughty am I?