23 July 2011

Pool Time and Hose Play

The kids are spending the majority of their time naked and in some kind of water. We purchased a blow up pool and as you can see it is pretty big. We go in pretty much every afternoon for about an hour and then they spend another 20 minutes in the bathtub with warmer water to warm up, this pool only gets about 2 hours of sun so it's not enough to heat up the water.

Here's Grandma cutting up and feeding watermelon while the kids play with the water hose out in front of KokaRoka (this way they won't be sticky after eating) and once again they are naked.
If they aren't naked then they are wearing a tank top and diaper, we sometimes think Nik is out of diapers and then we have a set back with a pooping issue. I do get them dressed up when we go on planned walks but sometimes we go outside and just end up walking and then they might not be dressed so well. A few days ago this happened and we walked down to the corner store that sells ice-cream both kids just in tank and diapers on the way home the church water hose was on so they both jumped in and got soaking wet. We ended up walking the rest of the way home with them both completely naked and saw the priest on the way.


22 July 2011

Scared Me!

I pulled this 8 inch scorpion out from under a cabinet in the kitchen. I got it by the tail thinking it was a piece of rice and as I pulled the piece of rice out (the stinger) it became a huge scorpion, I cut off the tail with my finger, grabbed my shoe and bang - killed it.

11 July 2011

Evil Eye

The below paragraph I have copied from a book that recently came into our possession.

Greeks seldom call it the "evil eye" just "the eye" (to mati). Perhaps the malevolence of the "the eye" is not confined to those from remote or provincial places. The jet set, the middle class as well as the proletariat, and not a few university educated, swear that it exists. They insist that even doctors acknowledge its reality, just as the Church accepts the existence of demonic possession. Undoubtedly, the experience of "being eyed" is real and widespread, however much one might quarrel with the diagnosis.

Concepts of "the evil eye" abound in Mediterranean societies. Whether these different concepts are about the "same" thing is hotly contested by scholars of this region. But the debate itself underlines just how much " the evil eye" is a social affliction rather than anything particularly metaphysical. Probably , the "evil eye" is about envy. It tends to appear in communities relatively undifferentiated by social class or wealth, but where resources are scarce and competition over them keen. In such places the increments of "superiority " of one family over another are tiny , yet all important. Prestige or honor, variously, requires one to "stand out" from one's neighbors. But not too much, for that invites jealousy and bad will. Out of this paradox the need to be better, the need to be the same comes "the eye". "The eye" is a consequence of envy, but it is envy expressed surreptitiously , even unconsciously.

This qualification is important. A Greek will rarely give "the eye" to someone intentionally. "The eye", by contrast, is cast by accident. The kind of person who casts " the eye" on you or yours is probably a neighbor or an acquaintance, someone with whom relation are -if not warm- at least cordial. It can happen inadvertently when something is praised, or even silently admired. This is why people take precautions by spitting delicately ("Phthew!phthew!phthew!") on an infant they cuddle or admire, to forestall any ill effects.

The sorts of living beings and inanimate objects most vulnerable to " the eye " are those of unusual beauty, rarity or value. (Like my kids, our house and the business)

Wearing blue, blue beads or a little blue pupil encased in plastic repels the danger of "the eye". Many adults place one of these blue eyes next to the cross they wear on a chain around their neck. And until recently all children had some sort of charm - a cross, an eye, an image of the Virgin and Child- pinned to their under-clothes to protect them. (Grandma Katerina did this to the kids anytime they went out in public when they were little).

There is no way to know precisely who has cast "the eye". First, the effects are noticed and only afterwards is a culprit surmised. All concerned anxiously pool their memories to reconstruct the recent past, straining to identify possible suspects with possible motivations. This response of suspicion reinforces belief in " the eye." Oddly enough, then, identifying the culprit is usually quite irrelevant to the cures effectiveness.

This is me writing:


Symptoms in the kids is that they become really wild with lots of crying and clinginess. For us adults we get sudden headaches or a tightening of the chest. Katerina performs the cure by taking rock salt and making the sign of the cross 3 times in the air and then 3 times over the person afflicted she does a special prayer and then throws the salt in the fire. If the fire glows blue then this is proof that the person was afflicted by "the eye" and generally the children will become happy during the process, I call this de-salting and it really seems to work.

So is "the eye" a true thing, I'm not sure but it is slowly making a believer out of me. My next necklace purchase will have a little blue eye on it, to protect me from the envy of others.

03 July 2011

Cute Pictures of Kat

Can I have the camera.

Hi MaMa.

Sleeping Pose (same as Niks)
First experience with a dog and loving it.

Peek a boo

01 July 2011

Picture Comparison

Go here to compare a picture of Nik last year at the same beach as pictured below. I had him wear the same shirt to see how much he has grown.