The one with the weirdest dream yet

No reason to think it's from the medication, but I had another weird dream.

28 July 2007, 3:30 am, Perissa, Santorini, Greece
The Dream:

I'm driving along on my way up nort dere. When I get to Analfi, MN, I see a series of signs along the road commemorating the highest scorer each year on AHSME, the American High School Mathematics Examination.

One sign has a bunch of flags around it. I stop to check it out--it turns out that this was the guy that set the state record, and I'm surprised to find that I know him. It's Virgil Amundsen, my friend Christine's dad.

As I'm looking at the sign Virgil walks over and says hi. He's old, and he's wearing an eye patch.

He shows me some recent press clippings from some newspaper in Pennsylvania, I didn't catch its name, that just did a story about his accomplishment. The article also mentioned that the other person on the math team the same years as Virgil was Nelson Muntz, who barely qualified but of course went on to become a famous comedian.

I wake up.

Some notes: Christine is from North Carolina, and I'm fairly sure her maiden name wasn't Amundsen--her parents are Korean. I don't actually know anyone named Virgil or Amundsen. I don't think there is an Analfi, MN, and if there is I've never been there. Nelson Muntz is a character on The Simpsons who once said "That's like asking the square root of a million. No one will ever know." And, in case you didn't know it, I was myself a high school mathlete.

Snu, you never got around to analyzing my other dreams, but feel free to have a go at this.
sg

The one where I leave in one week

Greetings from Santorini!

Since we last talked I've visited Alexandropolis, Istanbul, and the monasteries of Meteora. All of which I'll tell you about...later.

It's been really hot--CNN reported that Athens hit 107 the other day, while other parts of the region have been even hotter.

So I mostly stayed in my room, which had air conditioning, for a coupla days when I first got here. Now it's cooler, so I've been able to get some beach time in. Today I moved to a (much cheaper) campground, and tomorrow I'm gonna rent a car or an ATV and spend another couple of days exploring the island. (I wanted to get a scooter but I've never ridden one before, I have skin, and I'd like to keep it.)

Then, Tuesday I'll catch a ferry back to Athens. Wednesday and Thursday I'll finish up my tourist stuff, and I leave for the airport at 5am Friday morning. Let me know if you want anything (small) from Athens!

I was thinking of having a get together at some New York bar next Saturday, but I think the only people I know in New York right now are Andrea and Snu. But the G parents will be in town, so let me know if you'll be around and wanna hang out.


Okay, off to dinner. I'm gonna try rabbit for the first time.

αντίο,
sg

The one where I'm in Ελλάδα

I was in Αθήνα
I spent a couple of days in Athens, wandering around some of the historic sites, eating gyros, and practicing my reading skills on every sign I saw.

Overall, Athens is beautiful. Every time you turn a corner you hit some other ancient ruin or something. And from all over the city you can see the Acropolis (a collection of temples and such, including the Parthenon, atop a hill--acropolis means "high city"). And the taller hill in town, Mt. Lycabettus. And from the Acropolis or Lycabettus you can see the surrounding mountains and islands--I always forget, or never knew, that Athens is right on the sea.

At night, they light up all the historic sites. Very pretty.

I saw the Parthenon!


Oh, sorry, that's the replica in Nashville. What I really saw was a whole mess of people and construction.


The historic sites, especially the Acropolis, were extremely crowded. And everything is under construction--the old stuff is still okay, but the repairs they made in the 1920s (or even 1990's) all need re-repair.

I also saw a Putzmeister.

I also saw the changing of the guard. (Hey, I took movies of that, too, which you can watch at my new video site!) When they've changed, they wander off down the street. Not sure how they do it in England, but I always pictured them just walking inside or something.

I am in Θεσσαλονίκη
Thessaloniki is second largest Greek city and the main center of Macedonia. It's also called Salonica, as in Gardens of.

Took the train to get here. Decided to take the overnight train so that I could avoid a night in a hotel and have all day Saturday if necessary to find a place to stay here. Turns out, I didn't have a seat. Spent some time in a virtual cattle car. Saw Greece on fire. Standing all night wasn't really an option, so I eventually made my way with some Spanish students to a car where there was some room on the side to lay down in the aisle. Right under the air conditioner...brr.

I'm Jewish (and a Sethicist!), but I don't get so excited about Jew Tours. The Jews of Central Australia or such just doesn't interest me. But, and I didn't know this until I got here, Thessaloniki has a fascinating Jewish history--apparently, this used to be Hymietown.

I went to the the Jewish Museum of Thessaloniki. Some facts:

• In 1492, 60 years after it was conquered by the Turks, the total population was 11,000. When the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492, 15-20,000 moved here.
• By the 1870s there were 70,000 Jews in town, half the population
• In August, 1917 a fire wiped out much of the city. 31 synagogues were destroyed and 54,000 Jews were left homeless
• There were 50,000 left in 1940. The Axis powers occupied the city in 1941.
• From March-August '43, 19 train "shipments" carried most of the Jewish population to Auschwitz/Birkenau. Over 95% of the Jews of Thessaloniki were killed.
• Today, there are about 1000 Jews here (out of a total population of 800,000)
  

Also, I think every American Jew in Greece was at the museum while I was there.

Language
My reading is getting better. I still wind up having to sound out a lot of words, but I'm getting quicker.

Basically, Β is 'v', Γ is 'g' or 'y', Δ is 'd', Η is 'ee', Θ is 'th', Ι is 'ee' or 'y', Λ is 'l', Ξ is 'x', Π is 'p', Ρ is 'r', Σ is 's', Υ is ü, Φ is 'f', Χ is 'ch', Ψ is 'ps', Ω is 'o', MΠ can be 'b', TZ serves as a 'j' in foreign words and names, and the rest are pretty much the same. And of course some letters look a bit different in lowercase than in the block printing on street signs, where A is α, Γ is γ, Δ is δ, Z is ζ, H is η, Λ is λ, M is μ, N is ν, Ξ is ξ, Σ is σ or ς, Υ is υ and Ω is ω. This should all be familiar to you if you studied math or science or went to a school with fraternities.

Tennis
I went to T.G.I. Friday's to watch the Wimbledon finals. It was the only place I could find a tv. I have _not_ been to the Applebee's or Ruby Tuesdays that are just around the corner--it's great to be back in civilization!

I showed up to see that Venus, who I was expecting, was playing someone named Bartoli. She looks awkward, but gets great depth and placement, especially with her backhand. I haven't seen enough of her game to judge, maybe, but it seemed like she should be more active in approaching, especially with the deep up-the-lines. I'd never heard of her before...wonder if we'll see her for the next ten years or never again...?

Overall, not too exciting. Especially the maybe the 15 minute break where they both got medical treatments.

The men's matchup was what I expected. My overall impression: Roger Federer is a god, and I'm not sure Rafael Nadal is mortal either. They're so quick, and move so well, and get great placement and pace and hit such impossible angles. Federer's serve is more dangerous, and that helps him most here. But the rest Nadal's

Best Wimbledon quote:
"I saw Pierce Brosnan in the crowd, one of my favourite actors. I said to myself, it's not possible I play so bad in front of him. Because he watch me and I play so bad, it was unbelievable. So I try to feel it a bit more the ball, play more smartly. I saw he was cheering for me. I kept going and I won, so maybe a little bit for Pierce Brosnan. I was focusing on Pierce Brosnan because he is so beautiful."
-Marion Bartoli (the 18 seed), on her comeback to win the semis over the Justine Henin (the 1 seed) after losing the first set 6-1.

Best tennis quote ever:
"Nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis seventeen times in a row"
-Vitas Gerulaitis, on beating Jimmy Connors after he'd lost their previous sixteen matches

What else to do in Greece
I showed up in Auckland at the end of November with a ticket out of Christchurch a month later and no other plans. I went to the tourism office the first day and they were super helpful--the woman basically sat down with me and we mapped out a month's itinerary.

I went to the tourism office in Athens. I said "I will be here for one month. Where should I go?" and the guy got mad at me for asking such an idiotic question. How should I know where you should go? It's a big country. How could you ask my favourite place? I like them all. Here, here's a stack of brochures. Go away!

There's too many islands to see them all, or even each island group, but I know I want to spend at least a little island time. And not sure where to go on the mainland, either. But I found a postcard stand today that had a bunch of cards of places that looked nice, so I bought cards for where I want to go, and I'll plan my trip around those.

Hey, it's no more random than why I came to Greece in the first place. Have I mentioned that? I was on the phone with the travel agent, giving him my itinerary. I was eating hummus, and thought "I wish I had some olives right now". So, while he was pricing stuff anyway I asked what it would cost to add a stop in Greece. He said the flights would be $100 more, I said "yeah, let's add a month there at the end."

Okay, it's really late, I'm off to bed.

ta,
σγ

The one where I'm in Greece

I'm in Greece.

No flight problems other than the fact that I didn't get here until 23 hours after I left there.

I've eaten gyros and some hummus, but no olives yet.

ta,
sg

The one with piscine crania

I have a coupla random things for you. And in my mind, and I'm pretty sure nowhere else, they're both related to Fish Heads, a wonderful novelty song from my (and Erin's) youth.



They can't play baseball
But maybe they can play cards. Paige and I have invented a wonderful game: FishWar! And it's certainly roly and poly.

You start out by playing Go Fish. Each time you successfully get a pair you add the cards to your pile. Then, once you've worked your way through the deck you use your piles as your starting hands for a game of War.

The strategy elements (having a pair of aces is good, having a bunch of 2s, 3s, 4s and such doesn't do anything for you) add a fascinating layer of complexity to your game of Go Fish and truly invest you in the outcome of your game of War.

You scoff only because you haven't tried it.

We're working on a drinking game version and will let you know when it's complete; for the basic version, patents are pending.

They don't wear sweaters.
But you know who does? Evo Morales, el presidente of Bolivia. We were sitting around the lunch table today and I opened a copy of The Economist to a picture of EM. He was just wearing a shirt, but I told Phil and Paige about seeing a recent press conference of his.

FIFA, the world soccer governing body, had decided that international matches could no longer be played at altitudes over 2500 meters. La Paz, Bolivia is at 3600 meters, and soccer's hugely important throughout South America, so it was a big issue. They called a special cabinet meeting, and at the ensuing press conference his cabinet ministers, wearing suits, lined up behind Morales, who was wearing jeans and this ugly sweater.

I described his sweater as something I wore in 1988 or so. And I'm not now, and certainly wasn't then, known for my fashion sense.

Turns out, he really likes the sweater. And I'm not the first to notice--I started laughing so hard I had trouble breathing when I saw that the BBC website had a slide show of him wearing it on normally formal occasions.

I've gotta tell Bad Sweater Guy about this...

Okay, tomorrow I leave for Greece. And I'll be home in 36 days, so if you have any ideas about what I should do with my life you could maybe let me know?

Eat them up yum,
sg