Little Kisses, etc.

Feeling lucky

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been reminded of how lucky we are despite a few recent setbacks and frustrations. I needn’t even mention enormous recent reminders of how tenuous life and peace can be. But we get slapped back into reality even in more mundane situations here in Greece. We just returned from a favorite food shop which specializes in goat milk products from a farm 70 miles outside Thessaloniki. We’ve shopped there many times and the woman who runs it is a contender for Miss Congeniality—she’s genuinely cheerful every visit, loves to chat, and helps us practice our Greek. We knew that she and her husband run the goat farm together and that she also runs the shop here. For months, we’ve assumed that she must drive from the farm to the city each day, which would be extremely time consuming. Tonight we learned that since she started the shop six months ago, she’s been sleeping in a little room in the back of the shop! She’s in the shop 24 hours a day, doesn’t get to see her husband, and doesn’t get to be on her beloved farm. We learned this after she insisted on gifting us something from her shop (despite our protestations). So many Greeks have stories like this and generosity like this, too. How do some people manage to be gracious, generous, and friendly under such difficult circumstances? And how can we grouse about anything in our very privileged lives?

Where to next?

As for our mundane worries, a few weeks ago we weren’t sure where we would be living come early May, but after some strategic planning and massive searches of apartment rental sites, we developed a plan with places to stay between now and late October. We decided to be nomadic again and to not have a lease so we can evaluate a few potential spots for longer-term living. We've decided to spend two months on Crete, in Chania (early May to early July). Chania has been on our shortlist of possible Greek nests. We were there 22 years ago and liked it but that’s a long time ago! Then we’ll spend almost two months in Kalamata (July and August) which is also a candidate settling spot. After that we should be able to spend nearly two months on our favorite island, A (September into October). Then, who knows?! But that gets us out of the tourist season so it’ll be easier to find a place during the winter…maybe back to Crete?

Little kisses

It continues to feel like winter here. We saw snow flurries on Saturday and according to an acquaintance, it’s the latest snow in Thessaloniki since the early 1970s. Every local we talk to says this has been a terrible, long winter. But Sam still swims outside in the heated pool and I do a long, breezy walk while she’s swimming. On my walk the other day, I passed a young local guy with a full-on, impressive punk Mohawk. I only heard him say one word - ‘filakia.’ This is one of the ways to say bye to friends and it means, basically, ‘little kisses.’ Young guys say this to other young guys! We find it fascinating that even macho Greek punk rockers will offer little, figurative kisses to other guy pals.

Greek vs US healthcare

Lastly, I’ll do a compare/contrast between Greek and American healthcare. Sam saw an endocrinologist recently to do a follow up on her thyroid levels. She scheduled doctor and blood-work appointments with incredible ease and got almost immediate appointments. The doctor was UK-trained, relaxed, friendly, spoke great English and even did a thyroid scan in the office. The doctor also suggested a couple extra blood tests that made a lot of sense to do (but insurance back in the US likely wouldn’t cover). She called Sam immediately after getting the results and walked Sam through the things that we needed to monitor (luckily the picture is good with no major concerns). I should also point out that while we were in Maine, Sam couldn’t even schedule an appointment with an endocrinologist (lack of available specialists, year long waitlists, fraying system at every point of contact); we had to rely on our overwhelmed and less knowledgeable primary care doc. Greece wins in terms of scheduling ease and quickness, expertise, personableness of care providers, and by a mile on cost (paying for the entire visit out of pocket was less than a specialist copay in the US, and bills are itemized in a transparent manner). It’s yet another reminder that for a lot of day-to-day medicine, the US healthcare is twisted into a Gordian knot.

Art

I don't have many photos to share so here are some recent drawings I've done of Greek locales, plus a screenshot from Google Maps that seems to sum up the state of the world...