Nicole's "Athens By Bus" Pictures

Professor Sorogas called this morning to tell me that I wouldn't be having the Documentary class tonight. The Independence Day holiday is officially tomorrow, but government offices close today at 3 p.m. Since my class is at 6 p.m., the building would be closed and we wouldn't have class. I asked whether the students would know this, since no one said anything last time when I said "see you Tuesday." His response was that the students should know: that this occurs every year. If that's the case, then why did he wait until this morning to call and tell me?

Since Kim cut my hair yesterday, she had to get her hair cut today. Walked to a place in our neighborhood and just asked the lady. It turns out she was born in Istanbul, has an aunt and uncle who live in Washington DC and her cousin plans to go to design school in California. Kim got her haircut there and they talked. We didn't know about cost and were pleasantly surprised. Last year in Macerata a haircut cost her 35 Euros. Here it was only 16.

We then took a tram down to Glyfada. It's an area south of us that I saw from the tram when Jim and I went looking for the Blue Parrot on St. Pat's Day. I was really quite amazed by the place. It was a shopping district that looked like it could have been in almost any US suburb, and had a lot of the same shops, too (Tommy Hilfiger, Gant, etc.). What was interesting to me was the fact that there weren't malls, but a number of multi-story galleries opened onto the street. In each, you could find dozens of shops, cafes' etc.

I forgot to tell a story from last Friday's open-air market. Kim was picking up a few items. She stopped to buy onions and only wanted two. The vendor made a big deal that she was buying only two. He held them up in the air, made some loud announcement, laughed and gave them to her. She tried to pay, but he wouldn't let her. Further down the line she tried to get 4 potatoes. She said "four" in Greek, but the vendor figured she wanted 4 kilos (about 9 pounds). Jim was with her, and he sorted through and found the four biggest potatoes you ever saw - probably over a pound each. That pacified the guy - at least he didn't hold them up and laugh.

Now, a word about begging. As in a lot of major cities (not only in Europe), begging is quite prevalent. I've tried categorizing beggars.

There are those who simply sit or stand on the street with a cup. Often they have some disability, but not always.

Similarly there are people who will approach you with their cup for a contribution.

On the tram we are regularly solicited by "musicians," usually playing the accordion. Why is the accordion the instrument of choice for beggars? Their skill level varies significantly, as does their age. They play for a short time, then walk through with a hand out. Once we were on the tram when two different teenage males were playing. One chastised the other. Evidently it's a violation of professional ethics. It doesn't happen often - they appear to have it well coordinated.

Street musicians are less solicitous. They play (guitars, accordions, flute, etc.) with a cup, cap or other receptacle but don't approach you.

In Athens we've seen fewer of the mimes in face paint who dress as statues than we did in Italy, but we have a few. They look for contributions usually from people who want to have their pictures taken with them.

Their venues are fairly predictable. Of course they're positioned outside all churches before and after ceremonies. They also are at the entrance to grocery stores, Metro stations and on any busy street. What I don't understand is how they are able to walk into restaurants and coffee shops and solicit the patrons. I don't understand why the owners wouldn't be more assertive about keeping them out.

Children are used to beg. A father may play accordion while his child walks through the tram with the cup. Mothers will hold their small children while they ask for money. I one time saw a small child (3 or 4) being scolded by his mother because he was up dancing around while the mom wanted him to lie motionless in her lap.

The overwhelming majority of beggars are immigrants.

Today's news story is from the "We really don't have it so bad in the U.S." department. It's titled "University at the Mercy of Thieves" and describes how hundreds of thousands is spent on theft and vandalism at a couple of universities. Mine isn't mentioned, but I was reminded how the projector was missing from my classroom at first, due to the student occupation of the building.