First thing first: My Greek school is going well it's just that the school administrators can not make up their fucking minds what to do with us and the scheduling. For an institution staffed by Greek educators and dealing with education, they have no organizational skills. To put it in bluntly: "They're fucked up!". All of us, students, have complained to the teacher (and we bitched about it between and among us), but we never dared step up and talk to the administrators because the school is...(drum roll)... FREE!. Yes, we have no freaking business or right to complain because we're not paying shit to anybody. They are actually doing us a favor, so we essentially owe those fuckers. The program is sponsored by the City of Rhodes and offered to non Greek speaking working immigrants. Yes, working immigrants. So, that's another reason why I don't have a single iota of nerves to raise hell because, technically, I shouldn't be in the class because I am not a working immigrant! I am not even an immigrant yet. It's meant for Albanians, Russians, Bulgarians and other European Union citizens who work in Rhodes. But for the sake of simple discussion, let me tell you how fucked up the so-called administrators are. (First), they changed the frequency of our classes from three times a week (Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays from 12:30 to 2:00 pm) to twice a week (Tuesdays and Thursdays, same time) on the last room on the second floor of the building. That happened almost two weeks ago. Then (Second), from out of nowhere, they changed the venue to the last room on the ground floor...without telling the teacher and us, the students. There were no notice or warning. We all showed up for class not knowing where to go because our classroom was already occupied by young mothers learning how to saw. After slight panic, and frustration on our part, we were finally directed to the new room. Still, no notice was posted on the door of our last classroom to notify the students, so we ended up having only half of the original class that Tuesday. I took it upon myself to write a note ("The 12:30 Greek Class has moved downstairs, on the ground floor, last room on your left!").
"ευχαριστώ", (pronounced Efharisto, meaning "Thank You") says Roula, our 24 year old language teacher. Even she didn't think of doing that! Kids!
(Third) Then the following day of class (Thursday), Roula told us that the hours of our Thursday class would start an hour earlier (11:30 instead of 12:30) starting the following Thursday. The reason? Nobody knows!...oh, not only that, (Fourth), she said that on Tuesdays, we would be back on the second floor (our old classroom), and on Thursdays, the class would be held downstairs (our new classroom). The reason? Still...nobody really knows!. So, for succeeding classes after that, some students missed the class because they didn't know where to go and what time to go. Then, (Fifth) last Tuesday, Roula informed us that the class hours would be back to what they were originally at, and that all the classes would be held downstairs. The reason?....you guess it right! Well, to our consolation, Roula couldn't say it any better, "It's the Greek way", she says smiling.
We know there will be more more changes coming up so I think the class is ready for those un-announced and "no-explanation" changes. We've become very flexible, patient and tight-lipped. Again, it's all because the class is free. One drawdown though: our multi racial/ethnic class shrunk from 12 to 6.
One good thing about those sudden changes in my Greek class, however, is that we unknowingly formed a core group. What used to be my "me, myself & I time" at Starbucks became a study social group of sort that meets every Wednesday. In my new core group are Salwah, a gorgeous Lebanese girl who is married to Lefteris, a Greek tour guide; Danijella, a perky Serbian, who is married to Mpampis (Babis), a Greek engineer; Guda, a tall sporty Lithuanian; and Toui, a very soft spoken sweet blond girl from Latvia. I, sometimes, regret telling them about me going to Starbucks on Wednesdays because what was originally planned to be a "personal study day and alone time" became a weekly friendly meeting, where sometimes their husbands would show up too. It's like having the customary coffee but not with my Greek friends, but with my "multi-racial and ethnic" friends. The management of Starbucks, on the other hand, were happy to host us because not only that we give them business, but we make their overlooked and abandoned coffee house seem somewhat "manned and visited", which sometimes attract other customers. Remember what I wrote about the reason why locals don't normally patronize Starbucks? As I've mentioned in my previous posting, I like going to the local Starbucks because it's peaceful, quiet and serene. No crowd. No smokes. No noise. The place is all mine. I personally know the staff because I am a regular. (The barista is an English guy from London named Ocean, and his shift manager is Giorgos, a Rhodian who goes to school in London during the school year).
The topics of discussion every time we meet varies but its funny how it always zoom in and narrow down to "what we thought are weird or unusual, or what makes Greek different from us or the rest of the world". The discussion is always alive and enlightening because of the different views, not just from us, the non-Greeks, but from the Greek husbands. So, there's always a mini-debate and mini-arguments especially when the Greeks rebut and try to explain (rationalize, actually) why they act and behave they way they do. I bet there were Wednesday nights when the ladies and their Greek husbands do not talk, maybe even sleep on separate beds and no sex, when they retire on Wednesday evenings ☹ . Last Wednesday, we changed venue to a different cafe bar, Finn Cafe. And, oh by the way, Roula, our teacher, is going to start joining our group, with her boyfriend, Apostoli, starting next Wednesday.
Today, Thursday, is "Tsiknopempti". It's the Greek's version of Fat Thursday. Tsiknopempti, which loosely means "barbeque Thursday" is the day of the year, 10 days before the beginning of Lent, when locals consume massive amounts of grilled meats. The compound word "Tsiknopempti" originates from the words tsikna (meaning, the smell of roast food) and Pempti (meaning, Thursday). All restaurants and tavernas would be packed with people who made prior reservations to be with friends and family just to eat, and eat, and eat more meat, and then eat some more. My kind of "celebration". Tomorrow, Friday is the beginning of the Greek Orthodox Lent. However, tonight I didn't have grilled meats. I had that yesterday, and to be perfectly honest, I am kind of "greek- barbequed" out, so I prepared and had Mexican Tacos.
Do not get me wrong. I love Greek food but there's just something about Greek cuisine that makes you (after a while) feel: "OK, I've had enough...for now." I felt the same way when I lived in Italy. I promised myself, after living for a year in Naples, that I would never eat pasta for a year. When I was stationed in Turkey and Saudi Arabia, my meals consisted mostly of chicken and I swore I would not eat chicken again. One personal luxury I have back in the US is the the freedom and opportunity to taste, try, eat different kinds of food and cuisines, and one of the absolute few things I missed being in the ole U.S of A is the availability and the variety of anything and everything. You can buy and/or cook anything, or you can have Chinese dimsum for lunch, a Mexican buffet for dinner, an Indian fare the following day, Greek food on Saturday, Sushi on Sunday, so on and so forth. The choices are endless, limitless, and very accessible.
I mentioned about "something" in Greek food that makes it distinctly Greek. The same way we could easily distinguish the "common somethings" in:
a) Mexican food (i.e., most Mexican dishes, no matter what they're called, always have pretty much the same stuff. What do Tacos, Taquitos, Chimichangas, Flautas, Fajitas, Burros, Burritos, Enchiladas have in in common?), or
b) Indian food (the long list of spices and herbs they use), or
c) Thai (the combination of hot, sweet, sour and salty, and sometimes bitter,...but mostly focused on the spicy hotness of it), or
d) Chinese (the common use of soy sauce and the ever controversial monosodium glutamate (MSG), used for the umami effect).
Greek cuisine is no exception. What makes Greek food uniquely theirs is the common use of three very basic ingredients: (all organic, if I may add) oregano, lemon and olive oil. Just about all Greek dishes use them, sometimes just the three of them or sometimes in addition to some other ingredients but those three are always, most often than not, the major ingredients. In fact, I have yet to try a Greek dish that didn't have either olive oil, or oregano or lemon juice, or combination of two or all of them, be it soup, salad, sauces, marinades, starches, pies or any main entrees of chicken, pork, lamb, or beef. Take special note however that Greek oregano is different from Mexican or Italian oregano. So if and when you want to really make your dish truly Greek, you have to use the Greek variety.
On a hindsight: Have you ever craved for a specific food, or for a certain cuisine? Have you ever drooled over some dish or entree you see on TV, or magazine? Have you ever attempted to replicate a dish or entree you had only to fail? or have you ever succeeded in duplicating a dish and became a staple part of your regular menu? Sometimes, too regular and too often that your family has gotten sick and tired of it? My answer is an astounding YES to all of the above. I always crave for specific food and cuisines. I've drooled a thousand times over pictures, stories, ads and commercials, even menus and recipes. I've replicated, duplicated, copied, fused, adjusted and modified countless dishes and entries, and haven't failed once. And more importantly, I've never heard any complaints...to my face, that is.
Everywhere I've been to, any country for that matter, I've had overnight fascination and infatuation with the local food/cuisine. I would get so into it that I would go the extra lengths to try and eat and learn as much as I could. I would visit different restaurants, especially the ones recommended by the locals, and the ones featured on TV or magazines. I would venture out and just go for walks and grab anything edible that I would see on the streets. Its a good thing I have a very resilient stomach and well functioning digestive system. I have yet to experience any kind of food borne illnesses, or food poisoning, or food allergies. But don't get me wrong though, I have some dishes/entrees I've tried that did not particularly like, and chances are that I would never try them again.
Caveat: I just want to let you know though that even if my tastes and interests in food vary and cover a wide spectrum of anything and everything, my all time, ultimate favorite dish is, and will always be Pho. I will do a separate posting on Pho in the next few days, and in succeeding postings, I will be dedicating one exclusive post about the different countries I've been to and visited.
Damn!, its almost midnight and all these food talks are making me hungry. No, in fact its not making me hungry. I am hungry!. I am going to make me plate and eat before I hit the sack. Until next week, Ciao!
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