Day 20: Last Day of Class! 26 July 2013

This is the final day of classes today. I can not believe how time flew by! Today we are discussing the final places in Crete we have not gone by watching videos. Then later in the day we discuss our final paper topics. For my paper I am focusing on the similarities and differences of ancient architecture in Crete, Greece and Rome, Italy. That is where I travel next for a week to visit family and also to tour Rome. I am really looking forward to it.

Today we began going over yesterdays trip. We listened to some of Ross Daly’s music of him playing the Lyra. I thought it was very beautiful to listen to. It would have been great to here some of those instruments being played yesterday. Also some of the things we discussed was the Mediterranean diet. The Mediterranean diet encompasses more than just food. It also promotes social interaction because it is an important part of social customs and festival events. The diet is a way of like beyond the food.

The speaker we had today was Lawyer Maria Filippaki. Her name means Maria who is a friend of horses. She is discussing today law in myth. Born in Heraklion and after school she left Crete and travelled to Italy to study law there. For three years she studied and then transferred back to University of Athens to get her degree in law. I asked her about Italy and she gave me a wonderful answer. She described Rome as a beautiful, stylish Lady and you never have enough time there. And the monuments are beautiful. All the universities look like you are studying in an ancient city. I can not wait to go on Sunday. I can not believe how time flew by here and this has been an experience I will never forget. I have made so many memories, pictures, and friendships.  

Day 19: Last Day of Travel! 25 July 2013

We began today's journey with a bus full of people including George from Chania and also the ECOs family Kelly and Alexia. Perfect for our last trip together. I can't believe this is our last trip day.

We started off the trip going to the Pottery place. I used to do pottery when I was younger but it was nothing like what I did before. We started by watching a demonstration on the pottery wheel. It was amazing to watch! The instructor was amazing and could tell of his years of experience. We each took turns at the wheels. It was a lot of fun and mine surprisingly didn't turn out too bad.

The larger firing oven.

The instructor making a large vase.

My little vase I made. 

Before firing they let the pots dry in the sun for 3 days. The firing process was pretty interesting therewas a large oven outside that gets over 1000 degrees and fire is brought into the oven by little wholes in the ground. You could still feel the heat coming from the oven even though it was not on. Next we saw the detailing work that goes on for the large pots. The smaller pottery fires in a smaller oven inside that I was more familiar with. The colors of the glazes on the pieces were beautiful and unique. I loved the design of the pots that looked like glass. It was just something that happens during the firing process that makes it look like that.

These are the pieces that look like there is glass on the bottom.

After this we saw the Justice Cup. It was so cool and unique. What happens is they pour wine up to the line. And everyone gets an even amount. If someone wants more they pay for the price. It pours all the liquid out through a hidden hole in the center. This is for people to learn their lesson.

We then travelled to a small museum and also musical school where Lyra's are played. This string instrument is similar to a violin or guitar. It has very intricate designs on them and from all of other world. I would have loved to heard them play some of the instruments or heard the style of music.

Lyra's on display.

Next we travelled to Niko Kazantzakis museum. It was a newer and modern museum. We watched a 15 minute documentary on his life. He was a hard working man who was a writer, philosopher, artist, and kind hearted. He wrote the book we are reading now called Zorba the Greek and also well known novels. He also wrote plays which was very interesting.

For lunch Theodore planned a nice meal for us outside the museum. It was soulvaki, fries, pita and salad. The chicken soulvaki was my favorite. It was tender and had great flavor.

The vineyard.

Some of the grapes I at; these I liked the both since they were
the sweetest.

The final part of the trip was to the Boutari winery. Such a great way to end the day in a relaxing setting. We started out seeing the grapes and the different types they harvest. It was fun to taste these. Some were sour and some were quite sweet. We then went in the factory to tour how they process the wine. The wine is not being produced at this time but will be in probably the next month. The wine cellar was very interesting I loved seeing the cedar barrels and the aging process. None of the wines in Crete are aged that long. These are better to drink sooner. The wine tasting part was very relaxing. We sat in large chair watching a video on the story of Crete and how to taste the wine. Then we continued upstairs to try two more wines. We tried two red wines and one white. I enjoyed the white the most but all were a little to dry for my taste.

Day 18: 24 July 2013

Today in class we had a speaker, it was Maria Hnaraki’s aunt Natassa, full name Anastasia. She is a school teacher here in Crete. She teaches from ages fifteen to eighteen years old. Her discussion today was on the Greek education system. She was very kind to talk to and a very knowledgeable woman.  

What I found interesting was that you can not learn another language in school. You have to go outside of the school where there are places that offer other languages. This includes English also having to be taught outside of school. We talked about the Greek language and how we thought at times it sounds very poetic and other times it sounds very pleasant or very intense. There are times we aren’t sure if people are yelling at each other or just discussing to each other.

Her choice to learn English was when she was very young and American people came from USA and stayed at the base and came and rented houses in Heraklion. When she first her English she was fascinated to hear it. Her major challenges to learn English and for also other people is pronunciation, idioms, and some parts of grammar.

Day 17: 23 July 2013

Inside the walls of the monastery. It was a very grand entrance and straight on was the Church.

Inside the area were the monks were sacrificed during
the Holocaust.

Today we began our journey at Arkadi Monastery. This monastery is different from all the other ones we visited. This monastery is one of the Eastern Orthodox Monasteries underlining the catholicity and the universality of the Church. What is special about this monastery is there was a huge sacrifice that happened here during the Holocaust. On November 8th 1856 Monks in the monastery fought against slavery and resulted in the burning and killing of the monks here. There are still remnants found from the event and it was haunting to walk through. The monastery was very beautiful and I loved the layout of it. It has some very strong history here and a beauty to the Church that the others did not have as much.

Where the arrow points is a piece of shrapnel from the bombing. This
tree died during the Holocaust but still is standing.

The beauty of the Monastery

The lake surrounded in beautiful mountains and olive groves.

Next we travelled to the biggest lake on the island of Crete, Kournas Lake. It is located near the village of Kournas and is surrounded by high mountains and olive groves. The lake was very deep and was about 22.5 meters deep. We took some of the pedal boats out into the lake. This was the first time I have ever been on one. It was a lot of hard work but very fun. We went on the slide and also swam around in the lake. It was very refreshing and the water had no salt in it. Which I think surprised us at first because we have been so used to the strong salt water of the Sea. There are many activities you can enjoy here. Kayaks, pedal boats, swimming, and more.

The type of pedal boat we rode. The company who makes them are Italian
called Martini Costruzioni Nautiche.

This view reminded me a lot of Heraklion's harbor. It had a similar style.

We then travelled to Rethymno. This village reminded me of Heraklion but was more beautiful I believed. I liked the old rustic streets and restored stores and restaurants. Each street was unique and picturesque and had a lot of top spots and restaurants to go to here. There was even a castle you can tour. I wish we could go back, but it is hard since there is not much of the week left. 

Some of the unique and beautiful streets.

The Liberation Fountain where you can cleanse and drink from.

Tree of El Greco

We then travelled to the Fodele where we visited the tree of El Greco and the fountain. The village was very beautiful and some areas even reminded me of back home. The creek running through the village was what reminded me most of home in some areas near Villanova University.

Fountain and plaque dedicating El Greco.

The final stop of the trip today was to go visit Maria's family in Heraklion for them to cook a large meal for us. Maria's family and sister were very welcoming and friendly. The meal was huge and I was not expecting all of this food. Our first course was grape leaves, toasted bread, a Cretan salad, meatballs, Cretan sausages, and pita that is homemade. The pita and the meatballs were amazing. The meatballs reminded me of my mom's because they had pork and beef mixed in them.  The next course was more different types of grilled meats ranging from chicken to goat. I enjoyed the sausages because the one was on the spicy side. Then desert came where they served fruit and Bougatsa. The cherries in the fruit was the best ones I have ever had. Also the Bougatsa was a soft pastry with a cream inside. It was very delicious and the first time I have had this here. 

Joining us at dinner was the Vlahakis family. They are the family who started Venus, then Friendly Green Products and now have one of the top selling green detergents named ECOS. Mr. Van Vlahakis, his daughter Kelly and his grand-daughter Alexia all joined us for the meal. They were very kind and also have a great story that is now a documentary. It is called "A Green Story," which I got to see after dinner. It was a great film and a very interesting story. Van Vlahakis was from Crete and studied Chemistry in Chicago. He then started his product Venus because he was interested in creating products that are not harmful to people.

A Green Story. A Nika Agiashvili film.

Day 16: 22 July 2013

In class today we discussed the final projects we must do in Crete and also after we leave. I cannot believe this is the last week of classes and we all leave early Sunday. Time flew by too fast, but it was a very memorable experience.

We began discussing about different types of environmental and organic products. One was ECOs a green laundry detergent by a chemist who grew up in Crete and then moved to America. We may even go see the documentary Green Story this week. Then we began to discuss about Creta Farms. We already have their sausage here. The sausage has the fat extracted out of the meat and instead of the fat they add olive oil. It is a healthier alternative to meat. Also Creta Farms has the only feta in the world that takes fat of the milk out (half) and puts olive oil in it to take fat part out. I have yet to try this but it sounds delicious.

The other section of class we began to discuss the education system here in Greece. There is no homeschooling in Greece. Also kindergarten is from 4-6 years old. Then 3 years are spent at a gymnasium, 3 years at a lyceum and then the national exams take place. Learning the education system in Greece is very different from the United States.

Day 15: 19 July 2013

Today in class we began to discuss our day on Thursday about the places we travelled. Everyone seemed to love the Cretan Miracle cooking class and also the aquarium. Next we discussed some of Maria’s music book.

Friday’s is movie day so this week we started to watch the movie First Time Godfather this movie was different then the other first two we watched. It showed the story of a boy becoming a godfather and the life of a Cretan family and also the role of a godfather. It is an important role in the Crete culture and is also this way in other cultures such as Italian. You have a godmother and godfather when you are born and their roles are very important next to the parents. In the movie it was interesting to watch the similarities to what I have experienced here in Crete. For example, the landscapes in the movie are very similar with the places we have travelled throughout Crete. The same with the farms and also the farming techniques. Another aspect of the movie that is the same is the amount of food eaten and the importance of it. I thought it was funny to see the boy always saying “compliments to the chef.” That is very true here because it is important to compliment on the food and try everything. If you don’t then it is disrespectful to the chef. Also everything on your plate should be eaten. I thought the movie was a nice touch to the end of the week. And also a way for us to compare and contrast our time here in Crete. 

The lab area had to follow certain rules for the interior. There
was special flooring sealers and special covers on the light
fixtures in the ceiling so there is no glass or other particles
to get into the testing tubes.

During the night we travelled to 25A or Cretan Herbal Chem factory where there is skin products are produced. Mr. Kastrinakis was nice enough to show us around. We walked around the land to look at all the herbs that they had. There was lavender, thyme, rosemary, and other great smells. The products are all natural and there is some great products they produce. Olive oil and natural plants are very important in their products. I like their style of packaging because it gives the products an organic and natural feel. Also the name was very interesting. They chose a number for people to remember it or make it easier for people to find the product in a pharmacy. I think it would be great if they could sell the product in the United States. (www.cretanherbalchem.com)

Old tubes on display from a long time ago.