It's Been a While

one of the major jobs for foriegn immigrants.


fun at church.


sunny days.


flatmates.


tree and moon at the citadel.


crow on the citadel.


crazy mural in the upper-town.


the crew.


dina and satia.


the man the myth the legend.


caty.


gianluca.


dead branch in tree.


i really like overexposed black and white pictures.


there was no quiet before the storm at the paok game.


the paok flag.


jumping the fence at the paok game.


a seriously cool egg issue that occured while making hard boiled eggs.


Lady with Ermine. this is a crazy portrait by leonardo da vinci. the portrait hangs above my television, it kind of freaks me out but it is still pretty cool.

so . . . ummmmm . . . i have not written in a while; sorry. i wish i had some kind of earth shattering news or that something truly amazing has happened, but unfortunately no such luck. I have been working hard and the weather until recently has been dismal (lots of rain and a bit cool). so now you are caught up until wednesday of last week. now for the fun stuff. on wednesday i went to the poak olympiakos football match, which is arguably the biggest rivalry in greece; fans here are a bit more rambunctious that those that we are used to in the states, thus there was a staggering 400+ riot gear clad police officers. The game went well, paok (thessaloniki's team)won, we had great seats, and fortunately no police were used. Wednesday marked the first of about six days of relentless sleep deprivation, eating, and friends. thursday i came home from school, cleaned my apartment, went climbing, and wrote a math test, at last falling asleep somewhere around two in the morning. on friday after a grueling day at school i returned home to find my guests taking up residence. A few of my friends flew in to town to visit for the weekend; caty and dina from england and gianluca from cairo. they stayed the weekend and we had a wonderful time; the extent of which was walking around in short sleeves enjoying the 20 degree weather, eating, sitting for numerous coffees, wandering the city, drinking wine, and more eating. it was a wonderful weekend and as they left on monday. the apartment now seems a little too quiet; but i am expecting an eventful spring so hopefully more stories to come.


the entrance.

Comments on Hypothermia

as i am sure you are all very aware, keith was able to do stupid stuff in the water and not have any of his appendages fall off or succumb to hypothermia; unfortunately i am not sure that i will be as fortunate.

if you have been following the news you will have noticed that russia and the ukraine are having a little hissy-fit and in the mean time russia has cut off natural gas supplies to europe. of course each country blames the other for stealing, reducing, or otherwise tampering with the gas supplies. See what the big countries can do to the little counties? Kinda crazy . . .

well, greece obtains about 60 percent of its natural gas supply from russia, so either it will shut off or my prices will sky rocket. two days ago, when i did not know how to heat my apartment, this would not have been a big deal; unfortunately, i did figure it out and now my apartment is a very nice temp. while it is not frigid outside. it is not warm either; we are having a substantial cold snap that has effected most of eastern europe. well. . . we'll just have to wait and see.

. . . haha! more fun from the land of one thousand jollies, follies, and lick'em lollies

p.s. I forgot to report, and i think that it only made it to the b.b.c., a police officer in athens was gunned down. he did not die i don't think but i have not heard. . . i'll keep you posted.

Kalh Xronia!!!

Happy new year everybody. I can only hope that you are all doing well and that 2009 finds you in an enjoyable situation.
I have just recently, this morning, arrived back in Athens after a stay in the states with my parents. I will return to Thessaloniki this evening by train. My new years found me watching bad movies on the t.v. but in the company of my parents which was wonderful. My stay was busy, but fun and I am fortunate to have been able to spend the time with family.
I have a few days back at home before I have to return to school and I will hopefully find the motivation (it could be a necessity by now) to do some cleaning at the apartment and get some of those kinds of things straightened out.
There is not much news, but I will say that being home will be nice, and I will be most grateful to stop traveling for a bit.
I spent a bit of time in New York City for the first time in my adult life; posted are some pictures from that experience.

until next time,
ian

p.s. Thank you Aunt Maribeth

Riot Day

I would first like to let everyone know that all is well, and despite my best efforts I have stayed out of trouble. The riots here in Greece have entered there fourth day and have spread to more cities. They were at there most intense yesterday and have tapered off today. The original issues stems from a police shooting that left a fifteen year old child dead in the street. The child was innocent of any wrong doing except for verbally harassing the police officer. Despite how the authorities are presenting the issue, it appears that the child was shot outright and almost point blank, 50 meters.

The original demonstrations were non-violent and in control; however, there are many other issues that have been brewing under the surface waiting for an outlet such as this. On top of this there is a very volatile group of people that express there anger violently, and, while they are a minority, it only takes a few of them to create trouble.

I have kept my head low and out of trouble, but the opportunity to witness a cultural event unlike any I am accustomed to was too enticing to keep away completely. I was present on Monday night and today (we did not have school) to take some pictures and see the happenings through my own eyes rather than just through the television. I have posted them along with a video of one of the marches.

I'm Impressed

Well . . . he can talk. That is an improvement, right? Bring on the Terrorist, socialist, Israeli hating, elitist. I hope that he is the magic fix that everyone over here believes that he will be.

peace, love, and happiness

New Talent!!!

So, last night I am cooking dinner for myself (a rare treat) consisting of a couple of fried eggs, bread, juice, and milk. As I am cooking the eggs I realize that my spatula is dirty, and not wanting to take precious egg cooking time to clean it, I instead take the pan and toss the eggs, simultaneously they flip and land back in the pan, all without breaking a yoke. Now, I am not sure that you are understanding the implications of this new skill I have procured; not only does it impress the ladies, but it also means that I can do fewer dishes as I no longer need a spatula. Pretty sweet, huh?

Regarding My Future Job

After some serious study over the past years; including watching Tombstone, 3.10 to Yuma, The Proposition, The Assassination of Jesse James, and The High Plains Drifter, and listening to Johnny Cash, Murder by Death, The Raconteurs, and The Decembrists, I have decided that I should be allowed to carry a 30/30 lever action shot gun and a six shooter while riding around on horseback, dressed in a wool button up, black sash, black cowboy hat, and a waxed slicker shooting stuff.

Obviously I went to school for the wrong profession.