shewhoshighlyfavored

so we went into the small village of elounda today , (pronounced ee-loon-duh). it’s a village that time past by. i found it utterly charming and completely shocked at how simply people still live. while strolling down the cobbled lanes  a small truck went passed us, with it’s driver yelling something greek out of his bullhorn. we saw it slow down when some little old ladies  in their seemingly obligatory black dresses waved at him to stop.

i don’t know, do you think that when the women here all turn like 60 yrs. old it’s considered mandatory dress ? maybe they wake up on their 60th birthday and there on their doorstep is a package filled with a dozen dresses, shawls, stockings, shoes and head scarves all in solid black.

i don’t know. makes you wonder.

anyway, where was i ???  

oh yeah, so the truck stops and the women crowd around and he is selling vegetables out of the back. wow, what service ! can you imagine a truck driving around your neighborhood yelling out that it has veggies for sale? it would be great, i tell ya ! and best of all, fresh from the farm too.

we later stopped at a taverna for a beer. let me give you a great hint on which one to stop into. look for the one that has all the little old men sitting in it drinking lots of greek coffee and playing cards. that one is gonna have the very best and least expensive food in town.

so we order our drinks and as i look around i make a few observations and here they are:

1. there are 21 people in the taverna. 17 of them are men 70 yrs. old and up. i am the only woman other than the 2 teeny older ladies that are doing all the cooking.

2. the men are either playing backgammon ( a favorite pastime here ), reading the newspaper or playing cards. 

3. you know who is playing cards not so much because you can see them but because you can HEAR them. they slap the cards down hard on the table and then pound it with their fist.   how long would you think their deck of cards lasts before it disintegrates ?  also a lot of yelling goes on between the players. yikes, but cards is a noisy, volatile game here. 

4. above each table there is a no smoking sign yet strangely the moment you sit down they take your order and put an ashtray on the table. everyone and i mean EVERYONE is smoking. yeah, it’s funny,  greeks don’t have any tolerance for rules and regulations. 

5. staring at new comers must be considered quite normal.  they obviously don’t think it is in the LEAST bit rude. 

to sum it up, compared to american life it is, well, there IS no comparison. and i am glad. i came to greece to absorb a different culture, an old culture. and one of my motto’s in life when visiting other countries is:

“it’s not better or worse, it’s just different”

and different is good. different is interesting. these people are interesting , with their incredible food and their vivacious personalities and their philosophy about life. their customs and old traditions and the colorful villages and colorful people that still inhabit them as they have for generations.  i love greece and the greek people that make greece what it is.  utter enchantment

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gee, i sound like i work for the tourism department 

hmmm, anybody want to give me a job ?