For the past several years I have used this blog exclusively when traveling, but I decided to use it this year for the annual newsletter. It's a simple URL I can send to everyone, I know how to easily edit it, add pictures, etc. Kim and I have pretty much given up sending Christmas cards except for people who don't go online (i.e., our moms). It's more environmentally friendly not to waste the paper, it saves tons of money in postage and greeting cards, and it helps relieve the December crunch.

2011 had a tremendous highlight, and a terrible blow. The great news (not just good - great) is that our second grandson was born. Matteo Kellen Caristi arrived in April.

Kim was able to be in Washington to take care of his big brother Luca while Matteo was being born.

Our daughter-in-law Megan has set up a super family blog. If you'd like to see pictures and see what Anthony's family is up to, visit Chaos and Cuddles.

The terrible blow came just after Thanksgiving when Kim's father passed away. He had been weak for a number of years, and hospitalized on a couple of occasions, but hung in there. Finally a one-two punch of a heart attack and pneumonia were just too much for his 86-year-old body to take. Kim and her sisters did an amazing job of bringing everything and everyone together in just a few short days for the wake, funeral mass and internment at a military cemetery (Dad was a Marine). With the time before and after Thanksgiving, Kim ended up 18 days in St. Louis while Nicole and I made 2 trips totaling about 7 days.

We did have more pleasant travels this year. In May we drove down to Florida to spend a week working on my mom's Hallandale house. Despite a lot of hard work we were able to see several friends (Mark, Dave, Brisette, Lou and Leslie), spend a night with Wendy and Dan, a night with Kim's Aunt Trudy and Uncle Carl and a night with Jae and Gemma. We timed it so we would be able to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary in Savannah, GA. It was hot, but we enjoyed walking around the town, seeing the history, taking pictures...and eating.

In July we celebrated Kim's 50th birthday (welcome to AARP). Nicole planned and executed a surprise party completely on her own. My only task was to get Kim out of the house for the day. When we got back from Indy, the house was filled with friends and treats Nicole had spent the day preparing.

Then came the drive of a lifetime. Kim and I drove 5,500 miles in three weeks. We set out from Muncie stopping first in Ames, Iowa, where we were hosted by our friends Tom and Linda for a couple of nights. From there we drove to Ft. Collins, CO, where we were hosted by our friends Martin and Mary Catherine for four nights. Then we drove to Jackson, WY for a night, visiting Grand Teton National Park. I believe Jenny Lake is the most beautiful place I have ever seen in the US. From there is was one night in West Yellowstone, MT, and a day exploring Yellowstone National Park. I knew about the geysers but didn't realize they have beautiful falls/canyons, too. One night spent on the road at a random hotel in Idaho and we reached our destination: Anthony and Megan's house in Washington. We got to spend a week relaxing, getting to know Matteo, getting reacquainted with Luca, visiting the zoo, Farmer's Market, etc. I could not believe that their kitchen window perfectly frames Mt. Rainier.

For the return trip we drove due east, spending a night in Bozeman, MT. The following day we made it to southwest South Dakota. We drove through Deadwood (it was raining and we had no desire to gamble), were surprised at the quaintness of downtown Rapid City, and then headed down to see Mt. Rushmore. We got there in the late afternoon, after a pouring rain, so the guys were streaked with water. The good news, though, was the iffy weather kept the crowds small. We didn't have a hotel reservation, and with the big Sturgis bike rally only 5 days away, we had to check several hotels before we found one - back in Rapid City. The next day we went back to Rushmore, made a quick visit to Crazy Horse, then on to lunch at Wall Drug followed by a visit to the Badlands. Another night at a roadside hotel, a quick visit to the Corn Palace and we made our way home.

Just recently we were able to celebrate Nicole's graduation from Ball State. On Dec. 17 I handed her her diploma as she walked across the stage. The following day, she moved out. 2011 has been quite a year for her, what with her graduation and getting engaged. 2012 will be a huge year for her as she and Joe get married in May then leave for Thailand to teach English the following week.

As I write this my mom is still at my brother Tony's house in Atlanta but she will return to our house sometime after Christmas, so Kim and I are really not going to be true empty nesters for very long. My mom is now 93 and still lives with us most of the time. Although she is quite capable of taking care of all her personal needs, she still is a handful in many other ways. Thank goodness my brother Tony is willing to take her periodically.

I'm in my 14th year at Ball State, and have applied for full professor. I purposely waited until this year, in part because a textbook on Communication Law that I coauthored came out in August. For those not familiar with academe, there are three ranks for faculty: assistant professor, associate professor and professor. Applying is a long process. I collected my materials in August to send out to two external reviewers (full professors from other universities). In November, my department colleagues voted unanimously in support of my promotion. In January it goes before the College of Communication committee and the dean. From there it moves to the provost, president and Board of Trustees. It will be early May before I know the outcome.

Happy Holidays and Best wishes for a fabulous 2012.

It's Sunday here in Greece. We leave for home tomorrow after 120 days.

These first couple of pictures I took at the farewell dinner. Unfortunately I didn't run around the table to get everyone. We sat at one long table so these people were all across from me.

Like so many other meals we've had here, this one was fantastic and served "family style." As
each new dish arrived it was passed around so everyone could have as much or little as they wanted.

As I reach the end of the time here I get reflective. I enjoyed interacting with the students and faculty but was exceedingly frustrated by the idea that attendance is so abysmal. I am opposed to giving points for attendance in my US classes but I think something needs to happen to get students to attend regularly. One suggestion

might be to make the grade based on more than one exam. If tests were more frequent it might
help. Of course it would mean a lot more grading for the professors so maybe some of them would prefer not to change anything.

This is Michael Meimaris, director of the University Research Institute of Applied Communication. He was the official host of the farewell dinner and his institute sponsored the panel discussion I did. Can you see he's wearing a Harley hat? Professor Sorogas took me out for coffee Friday as another farewell and Michael just happened by. He was flying off to Rhodes for a conference presentation. The professors are very
active. Despite any criticisms about the system here, I won't accuse the people I met of laziness.

I got a pretty bad picture of the open-air theatre. It was dusk: the big white screen kind of washes out the picture but I hope there's enough to get a sense of what it looked like. I took this about 15 minutes before the scheduled start time of the movie. The theatre had more people by the start of the film.

Yesterday (Saturday), Mark and Martha drove
us to Sounion. Kim had been wanting to make the trip for some time but we've never gotten around to it. Sounion is the southernmost point of the Attica mainland and just a little more than an hour's drive. I took this first picture as we stopped along the road, just 10 or 15 minutes away, so Kim could take pictures. Rather than settle for the roadside shots she climbed over the guardrail and walked down a few hundred feet for a better vantage. I will admit that her pictures are far better than mine but of course she has taken thousands (literally). On our excursion to Sounion I took 7 pictures. Kim took 81.

People visiting Sounion are faced with the choice of looking out at the natural beauty surrounding you or looking at the architectural marvel that is the remains of Poseidon's Temple. It was also nice to visit because it completed the equilateral triangle of temples made by the Acropolis, temple of Aphaia on the island of Aegina, and Sounion. Most people who visit Sounion do as we did: just set out from Athens and spend an hour or so there. As spectacular as it is, there isn't much
more there. When we arrived the first thing we did was to get a table at the restaurant/coffee shop at the base of the rock and have a drink before going up.

Legend has it that King Aegeus of Athens committed suicide here. His son Theseus sailed to Crete to try to slay the Minotaur. They had arranged that if he was successful he would sail back to Athens with a white sail. He did slay the Minotaur but the crew was too busy celebrating to remember to change the sail. Aegeus was anxiously waiting to see the ship and when it

rounded the cape he thought his son was dead and threw himself from the cliff. The Aegean Sea is named for King Aegeus.


The temple is now roped off so you can't get inside it but in earlier years it was famous as a place for visitors to scrawl their names. Lord Byron, very popular with Greeks, has his name carved in the marble, as does the composer Ravel. You have to have a very good camera to be able to get a picture of it from a distance.


Most shops are closed on Sunday so when we got back to Athens Kim and I needed to grab a quick bite to eat and jump on the tram to head downtown. We came with two checked bags and two carry-ons and we've left some gifts we brought behind, and we won't be bringing back some of the clothes we've brought (having to wear the same thing every few days means it wears out a lot quicker). Nonetheless we would likely be over the weight limit if we tried to stick to two bags, so we decided to play it safe and buy a cheap duffel. We were ranting about airline baggage policy. If one of our bags is just a pound or two overweight, we get charged $70. But, as
we are flying international and don't pay for up to two checked bags per person, we are encouraged to check more bags. Isn't that contrary to what the airlines are trying to do? I think I understand that baggage handlers wouldn't want all bags to weigh 90 pounds, but the end result is that instead of handling two bags now they will handle three.

Last night Mark and Martha took us out for another farewell dinner and once again it was spectacular. I think I've gained wait on this trip.

I'll finish with my cruise pictures today.

When I left off yesterday we were in the ancient city of Ephesus, outside the port city of Kusadasi, Turkey. Ephesus was huge, with 250,000 people: second only to Alexandria. It was a major city for centuries. History nuts can look at this chrononology. The ruins are well preserved because they were covered for centuries, much as Pompeii was. Ephesus wasn't buried in ash, though. It was the result of geographic changes.

They've had a couple of earthquakes. The city
lost significance when the river's natural course changed and what used to be a city on the coast was miles inland, drying up food and transport.

Hadrian, who seemed to be everywhere (seen his stuff in Italy and Greece, too - and he's got that wall in the UK) has this temple in Ephesus. He was quite a builder.

The most noticeable structure in the ancient city is the library. It was the third largest in the world at the time. Remember that most people that

long ago were illiterate. George the guide told us that in Ephesus, 25 percent of the population was literate, which would have been amazing. I have not researched that so I'll just have to take his word for it. Thank you, George.


Last night Kim, Mark, Martha and I went to the movies. We went to see My Life in Ruins, the new film with Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) and Richard Dreyfuss. It opened here this week, but it opens next weekend in the US.


I'm not much of a movie goer but if I were, the theater we went to last night would be the way to go. It was an open air theater - like a drive-in but with tables and chairs. The chairs were sling back (like director's chairs) and the front row was chaise lounges. The refreshment stand had all the standards like Coke and popcorn but they also had a full bar and souvlaki that they made on a charcoal grill. You could smell it as you walked into the theater. For someone with a short attention span like me, they even had an intermission.


I won't say too much about the movie other than to say the Greek tourism board ought to pay money for all the beautiful pictures. I think the Greeks in the audience enjoyed watching it. Nia grouses about all the frustrations of Greece, that all the Greeks know and complain about, but she finally adjusts her attitude. Cute.


I was going to take Kim's picture at the library but she said I had posted enough pictures of her and not of me, so here I am (wearing my #4 tour sticker on my shirt).

I am a rank amateur posing for pictures compared to this woman. She and the guy she traveled with (her husband, we think) wore matching colors each day of the cruise and she was constantly posing for photos. They were everywhere and she really did "strike a pose" each time. We all speculated that she must be a model or maybe she was just a wanna-be. I have to believe they couldn't tell you anything about the trip - but they will have one heckuva collection of photos.


The arena at Ephesus is also quite impressive in size. George said it would hold 25,000 people. They had sporting events there, including gladiator fights and throwing Christians to lions. What constitutes a sport depends on who is in power.


We were late getting back to the ship but George announced on the bus trip back that he had talked with the ship and they were delaying departure. Thank you George. That gave him just enough time to drop us off at the shopping district outside the port. Thankfully we were not subjected to any lengthy sales pitches - it just meant we had to walk a little farther than if the bus had taken us straight to the ship. It's actually interesting to see what's in the shops, and I wouldn't have minded to spend more time. Kim was frustrated because things in Turkey are cheaper than in Greece and she had hoped to spend a little time in the shops. That didn't happen. Mark and Martha have a house in Rhodes and they told us there are shopping trips organized by tour companies to go from Rhodes to Kusadasi.

Onboard we had assigned seating for Saturday
and Sunday dinner. That was actually good because we got to know a few people a little better. The couple on the left are from Minneapolis and they were traveling with their son (back right). The couple front right were South Africans living in London. It worked out well for David (the son). He is doing a study abroad in South Africa in just a couple of months.

It was Greek Night in the restaurant so the waiter tried to sing, but.... Overall the ship entertainment wasn't much but I can't imagine that anyone expects much. The performers have other jobs onboard - they're not just entertainers, so obviously they don't give it all their focus.

This is my last Rhodes picture.

The video below was back on the ship after Rhodes. I had ordered a cake with dinner for our anniversary, but the ship throws in some "extras." One is mention of your anniversary in the daily shipboard newsletter. The other is having these guys come "serenade" you at your table. All 7 of us at the table were laughing pretty hard. If you play the video you'll laugh (or maybe cry) at the sound and get to see the cake.

We arrived the next morning at the island of Patmos at 6:30 a.m. I was so glad we didn't sign up for the tour: those people had to be in the lounge ready to go by 6:30. Kim and I ate breakfast and made it off the boat just before 8, which gave us just an hour and a half to visit.

That's really all the time you need. There is only one major attraction on Patmos: the monastery. This is the place where John wrote the book of Revelations. You can barely see it at the top of the hill surrounded by white buildings: homes, shops, etc. I know it will disappoint a lot of people but we never made it up the hill. We spent our hour in the port village just walking around.

As you might expect the village was pretty quiet at 8 a.m. on a Sunday morning. But there were several shops open (knowing there was a cruise ship scheduled to arrive must have an effect) and this guy selling fresh produce from the back of this cart.


We had to take a tender to get on the island. Patmos is far too small to have a dock that could
handle anything the size of our cruise ship. In
fact Kim and I were able to walk "across" the island. The narrowest point is right where we got off so we walked over just to be able to say we did (about 10 minutes). I only spent a few minutes on the island so I shouldn't judge but of course I will. It's a nice getaway for novel writing or escape from the rat race but otherwise... Some pilgrims might be upset with me for saying it but it my shipboard survey I suggested that they eliminate Patmos and add the time to the Ephesus visit. We had far little time at a major site.


The ship left Patmos about 10 and we arrived at the Kusadasi, Turkey port at 2. The archaeological site of Ephesus is 30 minutes away, so we bought the tour. The first stop was up the hill from ancient Ephesus at what is believed to be the final home of the Virgin Mary. The guide was honest in stating that there is no historical evidence and their belief is based on two things: Jesus told John to care for his mother, and John was in Ephesus. The second is that a 19th century nun had a vision of the house. In any event, the structure on the left is built over what was believed to be the house (no pictures inside). The ancient bricks only go up a few feel with modern construction above so if it is authentic it would be more accurate to call it "Mary's foundation" rather than "Mary's house."

This is our Turkish guide George and he was the highlight of the trip. He was a riot. His English was perfect but his accent reminded me of comedian Yaakov Smirnoff. He would explain something to us then go into third person, "But George, how can that be?" and return to his explanation. When he finished he would say "Thank you George." We got into the habit of echoing "Thank you George." If he saw a member of the group straying from the group he would call out "come over here George."


The funniest part was also the most frustrating but you had to laugh or scream. There was an extended family of about 20 Vietnamese-Americans on our tour. They were all wearing the light blue ball caps in the picture below. George could not get them to do anything he said. As the bus was arriving at Mary's place he told them not to stop in the souvenir shops, that they charge too much, and he would take us to a place next where everything was cheaper. They got on the bus after Mary's place with DVDs, books, post cards, etc. They must have money because then they bought more when we stopped at the place George suggested, they bought there, too. I would have been cynical that George was just trying to take us to a place he got kickbacks (and he probably did) but it was also true that stuff there was less.

It was impossible to take a picture of almost anything in Ephesus without having a blue cap somewhere in the picture. George said to me under his breath, "What did I do to deserve this?" Rest of Ephesus tomorrow.

Pictures today are a continuation of our cruise stop on the island of Rhodes.

There were three different Rhodes tour packages available. The one we opted for started by a short walk through the medieval port town, then a bus ride down the coast. After a stop at a ceramics place to watch a demonstration of the pottery technique - and of course a few minutes to shop in the store - we got back on the bus down to Lindos. We were returned to the port so we could have lunch on the ship then still had several
hours we could go back into the port town to walk around, after having learned the layout on our morning walk. This was the longest port of call (10 hours) and the tour was good but in retrospect this was the place where we maybe should have been daring, rented scooters, and explored the island on our own. There wasn't enough time to do that on any other stop. Kim and I really appreciate having a guide who knows the area and can tell us interesting things (though they will always be compared to Filiberto) but we also dislike being told how long we have to look in a particular place. In spite of the fact that we bought something at the ceramics shop we would

have preferred to use that time elsewhere. Also when you travel alone you don't have to deal with other people in the group holding everyone up, but that's a story for tomorrow.

This picture is the base of the acropolis of Lindos. As the guide explained, many Greek cities had an acropolis. Acro - Greek for high and polis meaning city. The site had three different civilizations that developed it over time. You can see the difference in the construction style. There is still some of the ancient construction but most of that was replaced in the middle ages or even more recently.

This temple at the summit is almost all completely reconstructed. It's there pretty much just to show how it used to be.

Yesterday I had coffee with Alec. He is retired from US foreign service after posts in several countries including Greece. His Greek wife is an actress so they live in Greece on her salary, his retirement and a little consulting work he does. We had talked about getting together since we
met back in March but this has been the first chance we had. In some ways four months in a country is not nearly enough time. To establish some contacts it can take a lot longer. In my last week here I'm being told about people I should have met.


I also had lunch yesterday with Niko, my primary contact at the Greek Fulbright office. He's the only one from Fulbright I had contact with before arriving and helped me establish a connection with the university. Like coffee with Alec, this something we've talked about for a
couple of months before we were able to make it happen.

This is St. Paul Bay as seen from the Lindos Acropolis. Legend has it that Paul was here - whether he just stopped or was shipwrecked is a matter of who you ask. One of the reasons we had a group of Franciscans from EWTN (you know, Mother Angelica's channel) leading a tour and a church group on the cruise is because this one hits several historical sites related to the apostles. One of the comments Martha made that has stuck with me is that the ancient Greeks
were very skilled at locating their important monuments at very scenic locations.


From yesterday's paper: Bar Staff Hail Smoking Limits. Greece's restaurants and bars will go smoke free (sort of) July 1. A lot of people I've spoken with are very skeptical of whether people will follow the regulations, which will require all bars and restaurants larger than 700 square feet to provide 60-80 percent of their establishments as non-smoking areas (smaller places must declare to be either smoke free or for smokers). The skeptics say that the restaurants will have

smoke-free zones but that people will just ignore them and smoke if they want to. Police are not going to go around town enforcing the rule and the bar owners aren't going to be the bad guys. Smoking is pervasive here. People don't just light up after a meal: I've been with people who smoke during the meal. I'm not talking about just when others are still eating - I mean while they have food in front of them. But they have managed to keep people from smoking on public transportation, so maybe it will work. I'll be curious to find out what happens in July.

These last four pictures are back in the port town after lunch. This street is the Knight's road. All along this street were the "hotels" for the various nationalities represented. The town was protected for centuries by the Knights of St. John, who established hospitals in Rhodes and other places. In the 15th Century they turned back multiple attacks from different armies. Finally in the 16th Century Suleiman (visited his mosque in Istanbul) took over the town after a six month siege. The Knights withdrew and eventually became the Knights of Malta.

With only four days remaining until we return home, we are both in travel mode. We're trying to eat everything from the refrigerator. Kim has started packing. I've been trying to tie up loose ends (as evidenced by the two meetings with people yesterday) and my travel anxiety has kicked in (woke up at 4:45 this morning). Kim is also intent on trying to squeeze in more sightseeing although I'm hoping to just be in a fetal position drinking heavily until we leave.

Today I'll finish posting the pictures from Mykonos. Most of my commentary today will have nothing to do with these pictures.

Yesterday I met Vincent (Fulbrighter from NY)for coffee. He's a professional, not an academic, and he was working on a project rather than teaching/research, so his Fulbright experience has been quite different from mine. We talked about university teaching. I think he may have an interest in a second career: maybe not changing but adding to what he's doing. I
reminded myself how fortunate I am to have the job I have.

Most of the Cycladic islands have these windmills but Mykonos, being the most photogenic, has them all just so. They're all out of commission since they don't grind flour this way any longer. I wonder how hard it would be to convert them to energy production. With the cost of energy it would seem to be a practical thing to do.

Last evening was my last time meeting with the

documentary class. I was little sad to say goodbye to them. Of the three classes this is the one that has come closest to "regular" teaching. I think they were glad to have me teach the class this semester. Several of them are planning to ask me to write recommendation letters for them in the future. A couple were surprised that I would be willing to do so. Given the fact that so many students don't attend the lectures I have to think that those who do are going "above and beyond."


Along the shore are bars and tavernas, facing
west, to optimize views of sunset.

After shaking hands with all the students I raced back to the apartment to meet up with Kim, Mark and Martha. The department was hosting a farewell dinner for me at a nearby fish restaurant. Not only did they invite Kim and me but they also kindly asked if there was anyone else we would like to include, which is why Mark and Martha attended. The Fulbright executive director was also there. They had also extended an invitation to the Ambassador and his wife, even though we didn't expect them to show.
You know - one of those professional courtesy invitations. The announcement of the dinner listed 9 p.m. (a little early by Greek standards) but we arrived about 9:15 and at least half of the group had not arrived by then. Most everyone was there by 9:30. We sat outside at a long table. It was the first time I met the spouses of several of the professors. I even met one of the professors for the first time.


It should go without saying that the food was excellent and there was way too much of it. We had a couple of items that were new to us. We
have had both squid and octopus before but these appetizers were prepared very differently. The squid was done with a pesto sauce and the octopus had a honey glaze. Both were served on a bed of shoestring potatoes (evidently a mark of the restaurant).


I happened to be seated next to Artemis, the Fulbright director, and asked her whether she was regularly invited to farewell dinners for Fulbrighters are she said never. What's more, she said, she didn't believe that departments ever have such farewell dinners. She kindly said that
she said it was a tribute to me. I humbly told her that it's not a tribute to me but rather to what a great department Communication and Media at the University of Athens is, and that she should do whatever she can to see to it that they get a Fulbrighter on a regular basis. I believe that if there is a regular rotation every year, or even every other year, it allows them to get into a pattern. There is always a ramping up time at the beginning of a Fulbright grant as I know from my vast experience of doing two (insert sarcastic tone here). If a department - any department - had a regular schedule of hosting visiting professors, they could build it into their schedule,
and it would be better for all. Of course there's a practical limitation. If Fulbright is only granting a handful of professors receive grants each year and one particular program gets grantees on a regular basis it could cause a lot of friction. One of the major goals of Fulbright is to improve relations, not make them worse.


Dinner went late into the evening. Fortunately the restaurant was only 10 minutes from our apartment so we made it home by 1 a.m. I felt sorry for Professor Sorogas who lives more than an hour's drive on the north side of Athens.


This tree's trunk would have made an interesting picture on its own. The fact that the cat was resting up there was just a bonus.

May 26 was Anthony and Megan's second wedding anniversary. When we got home from the restaurant we tried calling them (it was mid-afternoon in California) but didn't reach them. Had to settle for leaving them a phone message and posting on their Facebook pages.

This last picture for today is the start of my pictures from the island of Rhodes. We left Mykonos Friday evening and arrived in Rhodes Saturday morning (our anniversary). The port town is a medieval town so it had a very familiar feel after living in Macerata twice. A lot of it is not original but was reconstructed by Mussolini back in the 1930s. He and the King of Italy were setting this up either for retirement or summer home or something but that kind of never worked out. This picture is part of the triple-moat system built as protection. Interestingly it was designed as a dry moat. I didn't know there were such things.