sunny side up

so the last post was a bit dry perhaps..here are some other various tales, musings, ramblings and other "whatever-isms" that you might enjoy.. or not:

Mustafa, our driver in Morocco has the same first name as a good friend of ours back home..

camels poo as they walk..they poo in little bite sized clumps..and, to the delight of everyone in back, it always seems to be the camel in the front of the camel train that poos the most ..Helen and I took turns in front..we had the pooiest camels..of course..

the stars in the desert are unlike stars you see anywhere else..they are bright, clear and most importantly, they are innumerable..the cosmos is structured, it is bigger than you or I could ever possibly imagine..you can see the lateral wing of our home, the milky way...and it is big and deep..and it is a terrible waste of space if we are in fact alone..god is great..and so are the alien civilizations that rules the unfathomable depths of the abyss..

morocco suffers terribly from pollution and desertification..it's unfortunate..the country it seems, in its attempts to sip from the cup of western wealth, seems to be turning itself into a dried up canker sore..

despite this, and despite bush and despite terrorism...Muslims and the Arab world have a valid claim to culture and insight, they are not savages..it was the Arabs who invented zero..it was the Arabs who, when the catholic church was flexing its stranglehold on Europe, kept the arts and sciences of the ancient alive, only later to be consumed by the crusades and subsequent renaissance masters at Oxford and Florence.. it is unfortunate however that Islam sanctions violence in the name of god..this is a drawback to their case

Politics seems to be alive and well in Europe (they apparently hate NATO and the US)..which is good given the complete and utter lack of a US political interest..although I did see that Rove resigned recently which is good..now we just have to repair the damage...not that anyone really cares..

Greece is a funny place..it is simultaneously western and yet still sort of second-worldy (please forgive the imperialist tone here).. the younger generation of Greeks seem quite westernized..familiarized with all the accouterments of western lifestyle and excess..but the older Greeks are a different story..they seem pushy..almost selfish..but not a selfishness that is born out of greed..but a selfishness that is born out of decades of struggle and survival..they push and they crowd the lines at the bus stations..they push us from behind causing us to stumble with our heavy packs..they push and they crowd at the restaurants as if the restaurant is going to run out of food and they will be sent home (again) hungry..its weird the divide that separates these kids from their grandparents...the parents of course..those of the same generation as my parents seem (as my parents have) to have been able able to capitalize on the position of the country as a tourist trap and have all opened up domatia's or restaurants or other tourist shops..

some however still fish for a living: walking in the streets the waiters and hosts of various restaurants and cafes call and beckon you in for food or drink "hello my friend..please come sit down"...a lot of times this bait seems to work and catch customers... the guy who runs our hostel (Peter) drives down to the harbor every night the ferry comes to catch backpackers as they get of the boat..again, his nets of cheap dorm beds seem to bring in a healthy catch of 15 people a night...they are fisherman.

ironically, real fresh fish are xtremely hard to come by in greece..most seafood is fozen and expensive.

what else?

oh yeah, beaches in Europe are topless and men wear bikini briefs to the beach..this environment is of course a mixed blessing..in ways..also back hair apparently is not seen in any disdainful manner here...as long as you are tanned and fit..

in Greece you are not supposed to flush the used toilet paper down the toilet..instead you are to place it in the foot-peddled trash can conveniently located next to the john..a custom that Helen has readily adopted but that I am still having a hard time adjusting to..

Greek buses are cramped and often there is standing room only..add humidity and 90 degree heat and you have a party in your armpits.. so says I..

like the Moroccan tagine, there is the food at the Greek taverna..your pick of souvlaka, fried fish or pork roast..it all seems rather heavy and fried given the heat..I stick to the cucumber, tomato and feta salads most of the time..Helen sticks to the spaghetti..which despite the fact that it is on the menu is still probably a sore insult to the Greeks, that most tourist will instead prefer Italian food over Greek...

Mopeds...hate these friken things..they are loud, they belch exhaust and they swerve in and out of foot traffic with disdain..Helen has already been hit by one in Morocco..but everyone and their mom uses them here..ugh..they should be banned or all converted to electric at least..

Mediterranean water..beautiful and a blue that seems to make you forget everything else..the waters beckon and call me..the clarity, the warmth, the saltiness..if only I were a fish..I would be home.

the US dollar sucks right now..terrible time to travel..here's how it works..double the cost (European inflation) then add 40% (exchange rate)..ugh..way over budget we are..coming home early I guess..

Or....I had the thought the other day that since I could not beat the falling US dollar that I would instead find a way to profit from it's decline..the answer was simple..stay abroad and work..earn euros or pounds instead and use the devalued exchange rate to pay off our mortgages at a discount rate..only problem is the language barrier..most of Europe uses English as a second language..an Esperanto of sorts..that allows the Danes to communicate with the Greeks..in addition to solid coding skills, most employers on international monster.com are looking for English language skills in addition to the national language as well as other solid technical skills of which I posses none..I feel sorely unprepared to compete in any global market..the cozy blanket of orange county seems a welcome reprieve to this realization..hrm...medium fish in a small pond perhaps..

visual stimuli..its the little things as always..miss television and video games (Civ 4)..been reading a lot lately, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, Robert Ludlum..its not the same though.. anyway Greece is cool..thinking about opening a Domatia here..

for now, we're camped out in Rhodes for a couple of days as we await the ferry to Fethiye Turkey...killed a cockroach in our room last night..the beds are lumpy and the sheets are threadbare and stained..par for course..

for more pics try Kelly's site at:

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AcNmbNszcNWHC

or

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kellyslynn

cheers..............................................................