I already told you that Matta was coming for dinner last night. She has a master's from Ball State from 20 years ago and found us our apartment. Kim had two appetizers (artichoke dip and stuffed mushrooms), her terryaki chicken pizza with a Sicilian salad and homemade brownies (although Betty Crocker mix is for sale in the grocery across the street). We had a very nice evening. We gave Matta a gift we had brought her from Martin as well as one we had brought. Matta provided me with a SIM card for the cell phone Professor Sorogas lent me (Kim and I both now have cell phones with Greek numbers) and gave Kim a silver ring that she had

designed and made herself. (Sorry for the blurred picture but I can't get close with the simple blogging camera.) Matta makes a lot of jewelry for fun, and would love to be able to sell it but in Greece to be legal she would have to apply for a tax number and pay a hefty fee, so unless she gets into it in a big way, it really wouldn't pay. Matta knew as Americans we would want to eat early, so she suggested she would arrive at 8 and we could eat dinner at 9 - about an hour earlier than she does normally.

This morning one of the things I had to figure out
was how to open the phone to get the SIM card
in: more difficult than you might imagine. I had to

go online to find out what to do. Then I went onto the SIM company's site to find out how to change all the settings so it wouldn't block incoming calls. A minor accomplishment, I admit, but I did feel as if I made progress.

Kim had had coffee at the marina a few days ago with Martha and had been dying to take me, so we hopped on the tram and went. It wasn't the best of weather but it wasn't raining, so we were able to walk among the amazing yachts. Martha had told Kim that some of the richest people in
the world dock at the marina and I certainly
believe it.

I am reminded of the importance of time abroad for seeing the world from other perspectives. For example, the subject of bailouts came up in discussion, and there was a little bit of disdain for the fact that the U.S. was considering "protectionism" in providing bailout money. The U.S. is not the only country suffering from economic crisis.

Long-standing scars still exist. It's interesting to hear Istanbul still referred to as Constantinople. The 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey is still a sore subject. It's a centuries-old conflict. News reports in the US focus on ethnic disputes in other places because it's "calm" here, but the roots of the dispute are extremely deep.

I need to digress from Greece to return to sad matters on the homefront. Our family lost a cherished pet. Ŝiŝka was part of our family for 13 years and we will all miss her, but no one more than Nicole. They grew up together and were best of friends. I truly regret that I was not in Muncie to hold my daughter tight at this very difficult time.