SYRIZA’s Radical Leftist Moderation: With No Grexit So Far, Life Goes On In Crete

Constant Change, But Is Anything Really Different?

 

Greek political and economic news is too boring to remind most people who don’t live here of an old-fashioned rollercoaster ride’s ups and downs, but from where I sit on the island of Crete in Greece, it’s been a bumpy month. The news was full of twists and turns in the policy and strategy of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s new leftist government, along with changing stock market reactions and varying forecasts of the likelihood of a Grexit (in which Greece would leave the Eurozone to return to the drachma). No one I talked to here was sure what to think, with Greek and European politicians talking compromise some days and refusal to compromise other days, the leftist SYRIZA government saying they’d fulfill their campaign promises some days and might not on other days. Reluctantly pushing myself through the required routines of daily life while under attack by three of the many viruses circulating here, I’ve been both relieved to sink into my desk chair for sedentary distraction from my symptoms, and struck with anxiety as hopes here rise and fall. And now it feels like Greece is facing a steep uphill climb. Most Greeks can’t escape this, lacking the foreign job, connections, and money to get away. As one working mother said, “We started the dance, now we have to dance it”—whether or not we were in charge of telling the dancers what to do.

February began with a dust storm in Crete, then shifted between warm southerly winds and cold northerly gusts, mild sunny days and rainy, sleety periods with temperatures almost down to freezing even here near sea level, and the Cretan mountains filled with snow. By the end of the month, we were back to the strong warm, dusty southerly winds, the wildly waving olive branches, and sea mists blowing above whitecapped waves so boats stayed in port and delayed their deliveries to Crete. The question is whether we were also back to the same old story of a detested bailout program imposed by the troika of the European Commission, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund that we’ve been hearing for years now. 

Many of us in Greece (and elsewhere) have been frustrated by the stubbornness of German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble and his allies, who refuse to acknowledge what so much of the world does—that austerity has not worked in Greece, that it is unjust to continue punishing ordinary Greeks to save the banks, and that a different solution is needed here. Commentators disagree on whether Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and finance minister Yanis Varoufakis have really gained anything substantial for Greece. Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman saw “an unholy alliance … between left-leaning writers with unrealistic expectations and the business press, which likes the story of Greek debacle because that’s what is supposed to happen to uppity debtors.” But according to Krugman, who disagrees with both the angry, disappointed leftists and the disgusted conservatives, “there was no debacle. Provisionally, at least, Greece seems to have ended the cycle of ever-more-savage austerity” (What Greece Won). 

Most of us here seem to think that remains to be seen. A gas station attendant I spoke with believes things will continue to be difficult but figures we’ll know what’s going to happen in about five months. He was probably thinking of Prime Minister Tsipras’s “bigger goal … to deliver quickly on reforms to earn credibility so the government can negotiate a new bailout agreement in June, with terms more favorable for Greece” (In Greek Crisis, Rare Moment of Consensus). I was sorry that SYRIZA was asked to give up on so much of what it had promised voters, and upset that Greece had yet again been pushed to prioritize banks and creditors rather than struggling people. Many who voted for SYRIZA expecting substantial change are even more sorry—or angry. But Krugman insists, “If you are angry that the negotiations didn’t make room for a full reversal of austerity, a turn toward Keynesian fiscal stimulus, you weren’t paying attention. The question instead was whether Greece would be forced to impose still more austerity” (What Greece Won). At least, he says, Greece didn’t get that—for the moment.

No one thinks Greece’s problems have been solved. It’s clear that the government has a tough road of reforms and negotiations ahead of it and that Greeks will see very limited improvement in their situation, if any, in the near future, since the government cannot afford to offer much help to struggling people. So an unemployed Greek mother outside a local supermarket expects no help from the state, and instead begs her fellow citizens for food for her children since she has lost her job in a shoe store. Greece may be allowed to run a lower primary surplus (before debt payments), which could provide some money for relief for the needy. The government might gain some leeway by collecting unpaid taxes, especially from wealthy tax evaders, and fighting corruption and tobacco and oil smuggling, all of which could bring in desperately needed income.

SYRIZA calls the troika “the institutions” now and writes of an “agreement” rather than the hated old “program” or “memorandum” signed by earlier governments—changing the terms--and it did manage to make some of its own decisions about which reforms to focus on. So some agree with Prime Minister Tsipras that SYRIZA won the battle, if not the war. But others say SYRIZA did a U-turn and completely gave in to the other Europeans, led by Germany and other austerity-loving governments such as Portugal and Spain who fear for their own political futures, which could be jeopardized if Europe really made changes to prioritize regular children, women, and men instead of banks and creditors. (For different views, see for example Greek reform list to comprise mainly structural actions, says gov't and A Deal That Preserves Greece’s Place in Eurozone, and Fiscal Restraints, as well as The unlikely winners of Greece's surrender on euro.)

Support for SYRIZA: Still (More or Less) Strong in Greece

 

I am concerned that some of SYRIZA’s proposals, for example regarding universities, may be counterproductive, others may be impossible to implement in the foreseeable future, and others may be inadequate. (No one talks of abolishing the wastefully expensive system of after-school private schools, or frontistiria, that compensate for known deficiencies in public education—it seems impossible to dismantle such a well-established institution that employs so many.) Nevertheless, SYRIZA is growing on me, which seems to be the case with many here. Even the conservative-centrist Greek daily Kathemerini praised the new government’s flexibility and criticized the Germans’ refusal to acknowledge that the European situation has changed (Stubborn but not almighty). 

During February, SYRIZA supporters were demonstrating in support of the government, for a change. After the agreement with the Eurogroup to extend the bailout program with some changes, several hundred far(ther) leftists did protest the government’s actions, and there was some violence after the march, but that was a small demonstration compared to what Greece has seen in recent years. Some disappointed, angry leftists have criticized Prime Minister Tsipras so harshly that there’s been talk of the most radical elements of SYRIZA withdrawing their support for him. But recent polls show SYRIZA with 41-42% approval ratings overall, with the previous governing party, conservative New Democracy, in second place with only 18-19% ready to vote for them in an imaginary election. An astonishingly positive poll just after Greece signed the Eurogroup agreement showed 68% of respondents “satisfied with Greece’s negotiations with Europe” and 76% viewing “the government’s course as positive so far.” 55% considered Alexis Tsipras “more suitable for Prime Minister” than Greece’s previous leader, Antonis Samaras, who received just 13% of the votes (New Poll: SYRIZA has Comfortable Lead Over New Democracy). 

However, a slightly later poll hints at less enthusiasm: “after the final negotiations [with the Eurogroup] and a four-month extension deal, 43.3% of those polled view the situation as getting worse, with only 15.9% of respondents saying they were optimistic about the country’s future,” and “39.1% of respondents said things are ‘neither good nor bad’” (New Greek Poll: SYRIZA 41.3%, New Democracy 19.2%). On February 25, “it was stock and bond markets that reacted more positively, while Greeks appeared more subdued about the outcome” (Greece gets warnings from creditors, now comes hard part). That is not surprising; nor are the most recent, mixed poll results. Things look better, for the moment, for investors and banks, but to regular citizens and immigrants it’s not so clear. A young psychologist doesn’t know what will happen but keeps hoping: “I trust them; they’re not thieves like the other politicians.” On the other hand, a social worker and mother is “worried. I voted for them. I’m not SYRIZA, but I wanted a change. But now I don’t know. If it doesn’t get better, those of us who want a better life for our children will have to find somewhere else to live.”

No Tie, Untucked Shirt: The Significance of Style

 

Greeks’ tension was sometimes alleviated by press attention to SYRIZA leaders’ refusal to wear ties and finance minister Yanis Varoufakis’s habit of leaving his shirt untucked. Some Greeks seem to be proud of the bold independence of these rather daring gestures on the European political stage, although one of my elderly neighbors seemed horrified by it, asking me whether anyone had ever seen such a thing before. In any case, even those who pay little attention to political or economic developments noticed Greek leaders’ clothes as the leftists rebelled against a more conservative world order stylistically and hence symbolically as well as politically. “Varoufakis becomes unlikely heartthrob in Germany,” announced a headline last month. Unlikely heartthrob, indeed—and does it do any good if some ordinary Germans are attracted to the Greek finance minister, if the German Prime Minister and finance minister are dead set against him? 

A German satire video from NEO MAGAZIN ROYALE that had been viewed over 1.3 million times by March 4 complicates the question by suggesting that Varoufakis puts the “hell” in Hellenic with his James Bond-like sex appeal, domineering awesome-ness, and Facebook friendship with Voldemort—strange claims (even in a satire) for someone who strikes many as pretty friendly and straightforward for a finance minister. This satire self-consciously examines the way Varoufakis poses a threat to some Germans’ understanding of not only politics, economics, and priorities, but also style, manners, and the culture they belong to. (Watch at your own risk, and only if you’re over 17; this should probably be rated R.)

In portraying someone whom many consider a casual, ordinary smart guy as a dangerous evil villain who’d befriend good ol’ Harry Potter’s nemesis, the satirical video emphasizes the cultural differences between northern and southern Europe which have previously been masked by conservative manners and clothing. Letting it all out in the open makes many people nervous, rather like a discussion of racist attitudes toward African Americans or their right to dress and speak as they wish. Georgetown law professor Paul Butler seemed to imply a similar connection when he said that “Greece is the young black man of Europe. Both get all these finger-wagging, cultural critiques – they’re undisciplined, impulsive, lazy, hedonistic. The subtext is ‘just stop wearing your pants below your butt, Greece, and it will be all good!’ But both sets of issues are deeply rooted in historical deprivations and structural inequality” (Reading The Times With Paul Butler). Act more like the American white middle class, act more like the conservative/centrist elite European political class—that seemed to be what Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi wanted Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to do when he gave Tsipras an Italian tie. But we haven’t seen Tsipras wear it yet, since he has vowed not to wear a tie before he gets the Greek debt situation under control. Many of us still think, “Good for him!” as the underdog stands up to the mighty ones, attempting to fight inequality and deprivation. But will he be allowed? Can he manage it?

Grexit, Anyone?

 

In the last month or so, the likelihood of Greece leaving the Eurozone has moved up and down along with hopes, varying between one in four and one in two, as far as I’ve heard. This was part of the stomach-churning ride through the month, since if Greece exited the Eurozone, life here would be even more difficult for some (undetermined) time. One Greek father I talked with at our school’s pre-Lenten carnival party seemed to believe leaving the euro would just mean some confusion at the supermarket as Greece changed currencies again—how many drachmas for this milk?--as if there would be no greater consequences in everyday life. However—leaving aside what would happen to the rest of the European and world economies, which are most people’s main concern, but not mine or ordinary Greeks’—it looks like a Grexit would mean much more than that for Greece.

Various commentators suggest that newly printed drachmas would make Greeks’ money worth much less than it was before, so that the price of imported goods, including certain foods, petroleum, and medicines, would rise incredibly and even be rationed and/or available only on the black market (The Grexit Dilemma: What Would Happen if Greece Leaves the Euro Zone? and Ending austerity in Greece: time for plan B?). It seems quite likely that there would be high inflation and lower living standards, and Spiegel also predicts many bankruptcies. Many expect “social unrest,” possibly riots (e.g. Here's what happens if Greece is forced out of the euro). An increase in the already serious brain drain would likely be accompanied by a worsening recession, although most seem to think Greek tourism and exports would become more attractive due to their cheaper costs, offering possible hope for the country’s economy—although how much hope, how soon is unclear (see e.g. Grexit: How likely is a Greek exit from the Euro and what would happen to the economy?). Given such threats on top of years of recession and 26% unemployment, it is unsurprising that a recent poll found 81% “in favor of Greece staying in the euro, while only 15% prefer returning to the drachma” (New Poll: SYRIZA has Comfortable Lead Over New Democracy).

For Now, Life Goes On

 

Since we haven’t left the Eurozone so far, business and life carry on pretty much as usual here—with the usual high unemployment, reduced salaries, pensions, and benefits, and closed businesses, that is--even if we do wonder whether we’re heading for a rollercoaster wreck. One hairdresser and mother of three hasn’t even been following the news, but her customers, like many others, seem to think things will stay about the same here. Some hope for at least a bit of improvement; others don’t know what to think. Everyone is just waiting to see what happens. Meanwhile, snow falls on the mountains, rain falls near the coast, the sun comes out, the winds blow, and the anemones, buttercups, almond blossoms, orchids, and daisies bloom. Students head to school and after-school activities; those who still have jobs head to work; adults find ways to take care of families, houses, laundry, cooking, shopping, and errands.

I fight with my dryer and dehumidifier daily, trying to convince it to work. A plumbing problem leaves us with too little water to shower, run the washing machine, or even wash hands and feet properly for a couple of days. Then the electricity blinks on and off, so I scramble to unplug appliances lest more of them get fried to death as so many already have here. I expected all the outages we had during the week of our fiercest storms, particularly on one especially cold, windy, rainy/sleety day, but not the blackouts of the calm, sunny day. I should know by now, though, not to take electricity, water, or phone service for granted here. Even within the Eurozone, life in Greece is no vacation. 

Carnival Time: Let Them Eat Cake and Cheese Pies

 

In the middle of last month, our school’s parents’ association organized its annual pre-Lenten carnival party at a restaurant we took over for a few hours at midday for a break from our rollercoaster of stress. There may have been a slightly smaller crowd than in previous years, but parents provided all the usual cheese pies, cakes, cookies, popcorn, sandwiches, and donuts. This year, Zumba dancing was replaced by kung fu exhibitions, and the punches, kicks, blocks, and turns of the more advanced kung fu students--especially the one with the sword--impressed the watching parents and costumed children. Our instructor inadvertently added extra drama to his routine with a long staff when he shattered a large, globular glass light fixture above him; he joked that that was a special effect until he learned that one little girl was cut by a stray glass shard. After the glass was swept up, games began, with dozens of the younger children holding a large colorful cloth they could lift into a balloon or playing a “land/sea” game where they jumped to one side of a line or the other as instructed, while older kids played their own games outside. Greek dancing by everyone from kindergartners to grandmas followed, with many of the children’s costumes beautifully complemented by the artistic face painting of a white-faced mother in a Japanese kimono.

I didn’t see as many vampire girls this year as last, but there was the usual contingent of small princesses and Spider Men, my kids reported sighting a number of Darth Vaders, and there was a variety of clowns, belles, Ninjas, and pirates male and female, plus a female police officer with her face attractively (if incongruously) painted half full of flowers and a lovely female Joseph (of the Technicolor Dream Coat, but in pharaoh assistant garb) courtesy of last month’s musical. Unfortunately, the party, like most events of its kind here, was a prime site for virus transmission—at least, school absences and parents’ illnesses suggested as much the following week. 

Viruses, Sleet, Snow, Flowers and Compassion

 

The flu hit Greece hard this year, along with a generous selection of additional viruses; “olos o kosmos,” the whole world, was said to be sick here, and two neighbor children were even hospitalized. A pharmacist’s assistant commented, “I don’t want to attract the evil eye, but I haven’t gotten sick all winter,” and I promptly knocked on wood, while the customer waiting behind me pretended to spit to discourage the “evil eye” from destroying what it might view as too much good luck: Ftuy Ftuy. 

Right after I told my cold, snowed-in American Facebook friends that we don't have snow days in our part of Crete, I looked out the window and was astonished to see a sleet storm. Just at the moment when school was letting out, no less! My kids insisted that it was really snow—at least higher up the hill at school—since they managed to collect enough from a corner to throw at each other. Snow and sleet are always a surprise here near sea level, although the Cretan mountains were hit by loads of snow last month, and a fair amount in January. We managed to find a foot of mountain snow in mid-January, to the kids’ and my delight, since we weren’t driving the car that slipped around on the slushy, winding single-lane road. As the kids threw snow at each other and D, I photographed a snowy mountainside punctuated by pointed rocks above us and evergreens below, fading into the hills and the distant sea.  

However—unlike us--many Americans got their fill of snow this winter. I discovered that posting photos of Cretan winter flowers is a better way to attract attention on Facebook than discussing the Greek economy, Greek politics, or my Albanian friend Spressa’s brother Nikolaos, who had emergency surgery for a duodenal perforation, a life-threatening complication of an ulcer in the small intestine, here in Chania in January, and then needed treatment in an Albanian hospital for an infection after he returned home. Thanks to the help of some wonderful, compassionate family members, friends, and friends of friends, we managed to raise enough money to cover Nikolaos’s Greek hospital bills, which is important since Nikolaos is unemployed and uninsured, with no savings or safety net. There are still Albanian hospital bills to pay, the possibility of more tests and treatment in Greece, and food to buy for Nikolaos’s five children. Could you contribute even a few dollars or euros to help this unfortunate family? However much you may be struggling, I know they are much worse off, financially, than most of the people who read this. Please go to this site to learn more and help them, if you possibly can! 

Another Winter of Our Discontent—With the Floral Glories of a Cretan Spring

The Numbers Game: Most Greeks Are Still Losing

  

We hear reports of some encouraging numbers related to the Greek economy, such as last year’s primary surplus (not including the debt, of course), this year’s tourism statistics to date, and now a current account surplus. However, the reasons for the latter are not encouraging, since it’s partly that Greeks can’t afford imports any more—they’re down 54 percent compared to 2008!--and partly that prices and wages have been cut so much that Greece has become quite attractive to foreign tourists (Tourism boom drives Greece to first current account surplus on record). With the Greek economy highly dependent on tourism (for more than 16% of the GDP; see Island Hopping), the economy clearly benefits, but meanwhile most Greeks are suffering. The Press Project reports that according to Efimerida ton Sintakton, “[t]he workforce in Greece shed 1/4th of their income in just three years. Salaries went back to 2006 levels.” Even the conservative/centrist Kathemerini admits that while Greece’s credit rating is improving, unemployment increased “[f]rom 7.2 percent before the recession in 2008 … [to] 27 percent in the third quarter of 2013 [and 27.5% in the fourth quarter], giving Greece the worst job rating among the 34 advanced economies in the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.” And not only that: “More than 70 percent of the unemployed have been out of work for more than a year, leaving most to rely on charity after losing monthly benefit payments and health insurance.” The leader of the Athens Medical Association estimates that about one quarter of the people who need health insurance lack it (Greece: Numbers improve, problems worsen in 2014). That means they can’t afford to pay for preventive or basic health care. The law only requires that they be given free emergency care until their life is out of danger, and they may even have charges for emergency care added to tax bills (Metropolitan Community Clinic at Elliniko in Athens provides a lifeline for desperate Greeks). Unemployed Greeks did not lose health insurance so quickly in the past. The financial crisis, and the Troika's and government's decisions about how to handle it, harm the health of people in Greece. For example, researchers have presented evidence of “rising rates of HIV, tuberculosis, depression and even infant deaths” (Greek financial crisis tied to worsening health).

At the same time, half of all “small and medium-sized Greek enterprises [are] facing the threat of closure within 2014, while for very small businesses the risk concerns two out of three,” and this is on top of the 200,000 businesses that have already closed since 2009 (One in two SMEs at risk of closure). Kathemerini has also reported that industrial production has decreased about 30% from its pre-recession high point, 40% of households include someone who is unemployed, most of those receive no unemployment benefits, and almost all households have lost much of their income during the last three years, with the average reduction nearly 40%. So it is hardly surprising that Greeks have not paid over 9 billion euros’ worth of the vastly increased taxes they were asked to pay last year. I do, however, find it surprising that the troika recently “asked Greece to lower wages for new civil servants and to remove automatic pay rises for Greeks earning the minimum wage in the private sector” (Troika pushing for lower salaries). Greece already has far lower minimum and average salaries than Spain, France, or the UK to go with notably higher taxes on food “and other basic goods” (Prices lower, but households still struggling). More people are starting to acknowledge that the troika’s ideas weren’t so good for Greece. For example, “[m]embers of a European Parliament committee investigating the role of the troika and the impact of its policies in Greece … said the troika had been ‘necessary and right’ for Greece at the outset but that ‘irresponsible decisions’ were taken in the process with painful social repercussions” (MEPs herald end to troika, look to debt restructuring). And yet it’s not clear that such decisions will be reversed, rather than having more problematic changes heaped on top of them.

For a neighbor who is a social worker at the state unemployment office, those “painful social repercussions” are as evident as they are to the unemployed people to whom she must apologize day after day because she has no jobs for them. There are still many empty storefronts and unbought houses around Chania. Real estate prices are down 32% to 50% in Greece, but the houses that are large enough for my family, by middle-class American standards, are still too expensive for people living on a Greek salary, since (especially on the islands) their owners tend to rent or sell them to wealthier foreigners who bring money from outside the country. Greece is a great place for foreigners to invest in real estate right now, and the government is encouraging that with offers of residence permits to those who buy properties worth 250,000 euros or more, but this makes it even more difficult for Greeks to buy homes, given lower salaries and higher taxes. Yes, this can bring much-needed money into the country’s economy, but many Greeks regret that so much of their country—including public properties and state-run businesses--is being sold off to the highest bidder. I keep asking how the troika and the Greek government expect people to pay higher taxes while buying more expensive gas and heating oil with fewer jobs, lower wages, and fewer benefits (hence, higher medical costs), but the answer seems to be that they just don’t think about it enough to realize that it may work for the rich, but not for average people. Everyone here is sick and tired (often quite literally) of all the unreasonable demands for “sacrifices” from wealthy politicians perceived as unlikely to make any themselves.  

Dying Appliances and Crashing Cars


Meanwhile, we can’t buy products that last, so we have to keep spending more to replace them—“we” being the lucky ones who can afford to do so. I cannot remember a new refrigerator, washing machine, dryer, faucet, or dishwasher appearing in our house during the 18 years I was growing up in the U. S., but we had to replace all of these, plus a computer and oh so many plumbing parts, in a decade here in Crete. When we complain, the salespeople and plumbers join us in regretting that appliances and plumbing fixtures just aren’t made to last any more. The 1970s era dinosaur of a TV that we got from D’s parents, on the other hand, lived all the way through last year. We’ll see how long its flimsy little replacement holds out. 

Nor are cars expected to endure. We’ve managed to hang onto ours, but the repair people know us well, since strangers keep running into our car: once while parked outside the village butcher’s, once at a stop sign across the street from that, once on a busy street in Chania, once in the botanical park parking lot. The other week, when I came out of my kung fu class (in Greek, Chinese, and English, with a teacher whose parents came from Russia), I almost stepped on the driver’s side mirror of my car, which a reckless driver had knocked right off, into the wide road. Result: more time and money wasted thanks to hit and run carelessness which our insurance does not cover. The only time I was (perhaps) at fault was when a motorcycle was coming at me right on the center line of a busy city street, and another driver was trying to parallel park on my right; I slightly scraped the parking car as I swerved in a slight panic to avoid the motorcyclist (who naturally continued on his merry way). That’s six minor collisions in eleven years in Greece, vs. one little dent in nearly two decades of driving in North America. 

And it’s so ironic: Greeks are all required to complete driving lessons before getting their license, while Americans aren’t. A lot of good it does. Partly because the roads are too narrow, the parking lots too small and too rare, the drivers too little concerned about inconveniencing anyone else by stopping and parking as they wish, partly because many people drink and drive drunk, and partly, I think, because there’s no visible police presence (at least in our part of Crete) during the course of an ordinary day or night (unless there’s a protest march). Earlier this month, I was struck by the additional irony of a car parked right in front of someone’s garage (in spite of its no parking sign) just outside a private school (frontistirio), and next to graffiti proclaiming “the only school is the street,” followed by an anarchy sign. In the streets, drivers quickly learn that speed limits are merely suggestions, double lines on roads serve as an extra lane for motorcyclists rather than an indication of a no passing zone, stops are optional at a red light or stop sign (especially for motorcycles), and helmets may be worn (if at all) on elbows instead of heads. (Quite a contrast with southern Delaware, where 25 mph means exactly 25 mph, or you’ve got an expensive ticket, and we were pulled over because the light above our license plate had burned out.) We have been extremely lucky: no one was hurt in any of our relatively light collisions, and the damage, while adequately troublesome and expensive, was not truly serious. On the other hand, there have been terrible collisions in our community, with at least two university students--one from our neighborhood--killed in motorcycle accidents in the past year. I’m surprised more people aren’t seriously injured and killed in collisions here. 

Everyday Life and Carnival Parties


For most of us, life goes on. People work, shop, protest, socialize, fish, attend classes, gather for holiday meals, and go on strike (especially if they’re pharmacists). People see doctors if they can afford them, manage to get appointments with those who still accept their insurance, or have time to wait for the very busy free ones; they sign petitions for more free doctors, protest plans to dispose of chemical weapons in the Mediterranean Sea, discuss the politics of the current government in Kiev, or look for bargains at the farmer’s market near the huge hotel that’s being demolished since it was illegally built next to historic Venetian walls in the Old Town of Chania. 

I haven’t heard anyone expressing concern about the waste of a perfectly good building due to the corruption that allowed it to be built in an inappropriate place. And I still seem to be almost the only person complaining that many, many middle-class families spend 1,000 euros every two months for two children’s private evening schools to supplement public schooling in the mornings that no one expects to provide them with an education adequate for entry into a Greek university. But maybe everyone else focuses on the Greek economy’s inability to support thousands and thousands of unemployed private school teachers in the unlikely event of public education being improved enough to make supplementary lessons unnecessary.


There was no parade in our village for the pre-Lenten carnival this year (probably because gas is far too expensive, at about 1.70 euros per liter, which is about ¼ of a gallon), but neighborhood groups organized a party at the town hall, and our very active school parents’ organization planned another one at a restaurant that donated its space. The latter featured the usual crowds of parents sitting at tables, the expected rumba dancing exhibition, and the typical extensive potluck buffet with homemade cheese pies, cakes, pizza, cookies, popcorn, and (this time) even meat. This year, the smallest boys dressed as little animals, with Spider Men at the next level, followed by camouflaged soldiers, Ninjas and pirates, with older boys typically bums or uncostumed (and it wasn’t always clear which was which). Girls’ costumes ranged from tiny princesses in frilly, full pink skirts and lovely little ladies in the red and black of Spanish dancers, to a slightly older cross-dressed Charlie Chaplin and a pirate, with more vampires in black than I’ve noticed before. Mothers painted animal faces while teachers led younger children in indoor games and dances, and older kids stood, walked, or frolicked below the giant eucalyptus trees outside, with a view of Souda Bay and the White Mountains in the background. 

Winter Into Spring: Water, Verdure, and Wildflowers

Winter came to Crete in the second week of March, which was much colder than February and even most of January. In February, my kids had rejected winter coats in favor of light jackets, but I insisted that they bundle up again for a week of cold northerly March winds that brought rain squalls and re-coated the barely white-topped White Mountains with more snow (which I hoped we could reach by car--but it wasn’t that far down). This year, we almost skipped winter (and the northeastern and midwestern U. S. seem to have received our share of frigidity on top of an extra dose of theirs). 

Ever since the rainy, humid season began around November, it’s been more like spring, with green grass and wood sorrel carpeting the olive groves and fields, and flowers blooming even earlier than usual. There was sometimes so much early morning humidity that the cars were as wet as if rain had just stopped, so I enjoyed some magical, misty mornings full of flowers and grasses lined with dewdrops. Now our spring has definitely returned, with a strong sun making the mid-60s feel much warmer. The lemon trees are loaded with so many ripe fruits that the neighbors can’t give them all away, and the Cretan oranges may have passed the peak of their sweetness since a colleague gave D a juicy bunch from his orchard a few weeks ago.
 

I was astonished to see wild carrot, which we called Queen Anne’s Lace in the Pennsylvania summers of my childhood, as early as January this year. The (mostly) purple and (occasionally) pink poppy anemones also began to appear in January, along with millions of bright yellow Bermuda buttercups (or wood sorrel). I could not believe how many anemones I encountered in a nearby meadow and adjoining olive grove this year—more than ever. They were first replaced by the most beautiful, plentiful crop of wild fuschia-colored butterfly orchids that I’d ever seen, and then by surprising numbers of the little ophrys plants (strange orchids) that always astonish me with their bizarre shape and insect-mimicking patterns. Butterflies land on the flowers, buzzing bees compete to touch them, and I hear the songbirds more often than I can see them pausing on branches. I noticed the first field of daisies in bloom last week, and we occasionally glimpse the brilliant red of poppies. Roadsides are also lined with the purple of mallow, the white of asphodel, the yellow of wood sorrel, mustard, and a Cretan version of the dandelion, as well as the imposing green and yellow of the bizarre giant fennel plants which tower above the shrubs like little trees, now decorated with lacy yellow balls and feathery green skirts, and even weirder before they bloomed. 

We have such different flowers and plants here than in the northeastern U. S.—or anywhere I’ve

been in North America, as far as I’ve noticed. Just a few examples whose names are also intriguing: phlomis or Jerusalem sage, French lavender, goat’s beard, spiny broom and Spanish broom, white mignonette, and white and pink cistus (the latter, with its crepe-paper-like blooms resembling wild roses, is also called a “rock rose”). I counted 42 different species blooming recently, just in and beyond my neighborhood here outside Chania—and I’m sure I’ve seen more species than that blooming in our area in recent weeks, since I collected 21 different species in one bouquet (picking only the most common flowers!) and keep noticing new flowers in bloom, including different types of orchids which I’d never seen before. I get so distracted by counting, picking, and photographing wildflowers that I forget I’m supposed to be walking briskly to exercise. I’m so addicted to wildflowers that there are generally two or three bouquets in our kitchen—sometimes four. Fortunately, given the state of the Greek economy and healthcare system, this is an inexpensive and relatively harmless addiction.  

Ancient Aptera
 
Impressed by all the roadside wildflowers he saw on his way back to Chania from Iraklio, D suggested we venture out of town in search of fields of wildflowers one weekend. (I told him we could find some just outside our neighborhood, but he was looking for more of an escape.) We chose the closest interesting candidate, the ancient city of Aptera, which is just 10 or 15 minutes’ drive beyond the port of Souda. In spite of its proximity, we hadn’t been there for years, and all I remembered were the striking Roman cisterns in a vast arched building; I’d totally forgotten about the 12^th century monastery, the Roman bath, the remnants of a 5^th century B. C. temple, or the 19^th century Turkish fortress nearby (which was locked this time). Excavation of an ancient amphitheater seems to be continuing, with the site unfortunately fenced off, but photos in a little monastery museum room suggest that it will be well worth a visit when it’s opened to the public. D was concerned that the expanse of tall grasses and wildflowers might house snakes, so we decided not to lead the kids back to all the remnants of ancient buildings. But we felt amply rewarded for our little journey by the immense arched cistern with reflections of its stone walls in the still, muddy water, and outside it, the unfamiliar wildflowers and grassy meadows on gentle slopes punctuated by ancient rock walls, with olive groves and tough shrubs farther down, and beyond those Souda Bay, with the White Mountains behind us. I discovered four or five species of wildflowers on that high plateau which I had never seen, including yellow pheasant’s eye and wild clary. Spring comes early to Crete, and now it should be here to stay!

 

 

Although I took the photos that appear on this blog, I am grateful to Vangelis Papiomitoglou (author, photographer) and Jill Pittinger (translator) for their work on the lovely book Wild flowers of Crete (Mediterraneo, 2006), which I purchased at the wonderful Botanical Park of Crete last year and used to identify wildflowers this year.