Adventures in two continents

2007-07-18T23:23:00.001-07:00

Sailing: First time out alone

OK, so you walked in the boat for the first time, you managed to balance both when standing up when the boat is stopped and when sitting across the sail when you want to sail. What next?

It is always a good idea as a starter to avoid hitting other boats. Another good idea is to never hold the boom. And finally if sth goes wrong when going upwind remember, just let the sail go and keep the rudder straight. When going downwind, turn to upwind and stop (the sail is already all the way out).

Before leaving the dock it is always a good idea to check the direction of the wind, take a look towards the sea/river/lake and find out where are the puffs (these darker areas on the water where the water is rippling) are coming from and finally warm up. It is something that sailors rarely do. But they should. A little jumping and stretching (if not running on the beach) will get those legs warned up. After all, you are relying to them for hiking (when you put your legs under the hiking straps, extend your legs so that your butt and back are outside the boat).

Finally it is a good idea to know what happens if you are about to meet another boat. This is why we have rules: the
ISAF (International Sailing Federation) rules. As all rules, they are boring and mostly for racers, but it's good to know of their existence as it will make other boats not fear you!

2007-07-17T23:16:00.000-07:00

Sailing II

The MIT sailing pavillion has Techs as single-handed boats and double-handed FJs.

After years of sailing single-handed boats, today I tried the FJ. My crew was someone who had only sailed the FJ once; yesterday! But we did relatively well when practicing tacking and timing ourselves at the start line, in preparation for the Chix Only team race in the end of July. What I really liked was the feeling of a very light rudder. Especially since the Tech's and the Rhodes' rudders feel very stiff and heavy, the experience came as a positive surprise. However, it seems that we are a light-weight combination. Today there was no wind whatsoever, but at times both of us were sitting up and I would hike!!

The weird part about this boat is that the main is really small: only 6 sq.meters. Compare with the Europe which is single-handed and has a sail area of 7 sq.meters and the equivalent double 420 with main area of ~10 sq.meters. What we really need to find out before the race is how does the crew hike out and whether they wear a waist harness that attaches to a trapeze (I read in wiki that it should exist, but I didn't see it today). A clear difference with the international FJ is the lack of spinnaker. I'm not sure if this has to do with the fact that we're racing in the Charles river, where raising a spinnaker would take more time than crossing the river with the spinnaker on.

In any case, the preparation is going well. Next time we need to hike, tack, jibe and prepare for the start line!

2007-07-15T23:14:00.001-07:00

Sailing

In an effort to procrastinate from writing my Master's thesis whose topic is controlled biopolymer assembly etc.etc, I decided to start a series of posts about dinghy sailing. It will include some intro lessons, some lessons on tactics, some rules and some rigging advice. I think it will be a good way for me to read and research a bit more the new state of the art of dinghy sailing, as I have not been sailing very seriously the past few years. I always sailed a single-handed dinghy (first Optimist, then briefly Laser Radial and finally the Europe). I will ask the technical advice of friends regarding small boat design (I am curious as well).

Coming soon: after July 26th

2007-07-08T20:43:00.000-07:00

Michalis

I have started reading my friend's blog. Michalis who went to college with me makes some interesting observations.

2007-07-08T20:09:00.000-07:00

Life guards

Today, I learnt crazy things about swimming pools, lifeguards and beaches. And I feel in a position to make a comparison between the US and Greece.

By the way, this is Vouliagmeni beach in Athens, which does have a lifeguard. I really miss Vouliagmeni, where I used to train for sailing. The Charles river in Boston cannot be compared to the beauty of my city!

As I was having dinner at a friend's place who lives in a block of flats that has a medium-sized swimming pool, the ones you can swim across with ten strokes or so. I jokingly asked if we could go swim. The reply came as a surprise :
- No, the pool is closed after-hours, because the life-guard is not here.
- You have a life-guard for this swimming pool ?
- Of course! We have to have a lifeguard.

I had only seen lifeguards at the gym's pools (my friend Darcie worked as one, and I think she once had to save someome) at hotel pools, and sometimes at the organised beaches in Greece. And as I'm trying to find out more, I run into the following newspaper article (from Kathimerini: article in greek)

Popular beaches, where popular is defined as any beach having more than 500 people within one day - I don't know if they need to be simultaneous, must have a lifeguard. BUT, the mayors do not appoint them. As if they cost too much, for the three months of work they do, and they do not allow the mayor to do their festival, their fair and their garbage collection. As if their job is not of primary importance with 290 drown people during 2006. As if someone else can help and save our fellow citizen offering the correct first aid. As if the mayors had brains!

And things got worse as I kept reading the article. Apparently, lifeguards are recognised by the ministry of commercial shipping as professionals (after obtaining the necessary licensing), but not by the ministry of work and social insurances, resulting in the omnipresent greek chaos of I can work, but they won't pay me. Once more it's ridiculous.

2007-07-03T23:28:00.000-07:00

Tα καμένα

In support of all those who don't want to see Athens' and the rest of Greece's forests remain burnt, but would rather see them taken care of and having trees replanted:

«Κυριακή 8 Ιουλίου και ώρα 7 το απόγευμα, όλοι έξω από τη Βουλή. Απαίτησε την αναδάσωση όλων των καμένων εκτάσεων. Απαίτησε τον σεβασμό στο περιβάλλον μας. Δείξε με την παρουσία σου ότι σε νοιάζει. Φτάσαμε στην ώρα μηδέν. Μακριά από πολιτικές σκοπιμότητες, απαίτησε δράση τώρα»

A few (at least 10) years ago, I was at a children's camp in Calamos Attikis, in Greece. Surrounding the camp there was what I found to be a huge fire-protection zone and then the forest laid beautiful with its green colors. One afternoon, the fire that had been burning in the area finally reached the camp. I remember that we were told to just take a sweater and some water and board the camp's shuttles, which indeed took us away from the camp and at a beach, where we would definitely be safe.
The camping staff and everyone was really nice to us. We ate at the beach, we washed our fruit in the sea and kids as we were we played with our torches and chatted. I don't remember us being particularly concerned or scared. In the pre-cell phone era, the panic attack of our parents could not reach us. We were relatively happy in our ignorance of the seriousness of the situation. I even think that we went back to the camp late that same night and that tired we crashed.
What I do remember very vividly, however, is how the next morning, curious to see how close the fire had gotten, we went to the football stadium from where the fire-protection zone could be seen best. And I swear, we could see the burnt trees. And later, the next couple of days, when we went to the sea for swimming, or when our parents finally came to pick us up, we would drive amidst the burnt forest.
Even though I am sure nature itself can do a good job, and new plants can start growing, I am a very fervent supporter of replanting trees. It is just really sad to see the dead trees being there years after the fire took place.

For the record, I don't understand those who burn forests to build. They are going to build next to the burnt trees. Even if they plant some trees in their own vicinity, they are going to be next to a deadly burnt forest. They are going to build at a place that has no formal electricity/water/waste management. And when they flood with the first October rains, they will call the city and the community to save them and protect their houses. Ridiculous.

2007-06-27T20:13:00.001-07:00

Mandelbrot

Very exciting for those of you who like fractals. I just found a talk by Mandelbrot http://mitworld.mit.edu/video/52/

I haven't watched it yet, so don't complain if it's not that good.
But, hey, it's Mr. Fractal, it has to be good.
As a wiki reference to intro Mandelbrot set
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandelbrot_set

2007-06-27T19:42:00.000-07:00

Mini-trip: Salem

I am bewitched!! Last Saturday my roomie and I along with a bunch of BU people we don't know, we went to Salem, MA.

The witch trials were based on events that took place there. But nothing compared to the Inquisition in Europe. We are talking about 20 people in the witch trials here, and thousands of people in Europe...simply no comparison.

In any case, I find it very interesting that a few girls caused so much trouble in the state and affected so deeply public perception against witch craft. After all, there were a bunch of teenage girls, in a society that sounded very puritan and which was really fast to point the finger to a black woman for "be-witching" the girls. And the more people believed and feared, the more power did they give the courts to rule against their own neighbors.

Which brings us to sth very important: if someone with some power persuades the public that they should fear sth (an idea, a group of people) whether rationally or irrationally, the public will immediately grant greater powers to the leader to destroy the cause of the evil. Ahem, reminds you of sth?

2007-06-27T19:07:00.000-07:00

Theory 2: Driving in MA - permit, bureaucracy and computer screens

I've been very absent lately, and I profoundly apologize. But I have been DOING stuff. One of them had been to try to graduate from Boston University with a Master in Science. The other has been to (finally) get my driving license here in Massachusetts.
Note that I already have a European license, so I'm doing it to get it done as it is valid for five years as opposed to the international which is valid for a year or so.

I studied for the written test (aka. the permit) which ended up being highly annoying as the booklet focuses on how to keep your license and what are the fines for each of the minor and major crimes you can commit on the roads. NOT how to drive safely, correctly and how to take care of your car. ONE of the SIX chapters was about right of way and driving safely. The rest was about fines, penalties, insurance policies.
I consider this as a state attitude. And I am 24 and I know how to drive, but for a 16-year-old, maybe it would be more useful to say what is correct to do rather than mention what is wrong. As far as I have heard, it is highly pedagogical to tell students what is correct to do rather than what not to do.

Overcoming my frustration every time I needed to read the next chapter of the booklet, I finally finished it and my steps took me to the Boston Registry of Motor Vehicles. I go early, I get my number for the license and wait. And wait. And wait.
Because as it turns out that one-two RMV employees are taking care of licenses. Their job is to check your identity documents, collect the payment and perform a basic eye-check. The procedure takes a few minutes.

The result: the RMV has 10-12 computer screens where the permit test can be taken.
When I went to use it, we were only 3 people in the room leaving the other 7-9 computer screens completely useless. Simultaneously, outside, there must have been another 30 people waiting to take the test!! Bureaucracy doesn't just take computers to be overcome. It also requires management which recognizes the areas that are overloaded at any particular time and turns the attention of the personnel to that area.

And now the test. OF COURSE, like 7 of the 20 questions were about fines and what would be the punishment for doing this, not doing that...etc.
And the best part. Even though the computer knows my year of birth (which assumes that it knows that I'm over 18, so not a junior operator) 5 of my 20 questions are about junior operators!!!!

With this I leave you to the complete craziness of bureaucracy and the thought that it doesn't matter whether you are in Athens or in Boston. Waiting lines are universal!

2007-04-20T10:07:00.000-07:00

Theory 1: The Gym - Resemblance to a big city

After having turned my knee while skiing in the Alpes, I spent the past month trying to walk, stretch, bend and rotate it. But this week I decided that I've had enough and I felt well enough to go to the gym. And focused on my knee "test-drive", I went to the gym alone. And here comes my theory. The same people go to the gym the same hours every day, every other day. You see them again and again. The faces are familiar, the people alien. Because we have this unsigned agreement that we are in the gym to exercise, with the earphones, the iPods, the TVs that decorate the space. Not to talk. I even felt bad that I poked the girl next to me to ask the time. She looked at me scared and bothered, as if she was ignorant of my presence, as if I was an intruder in the iPod life.
This situation reminds me of the bus in the big cities. Every day everyone takes the same bus to work, at the same time, with the same people. But the understood agreement is that we don't talk, we don't ask how each person is doing, although we do know when someone is sick, when someone has not slept well, when someone is happy. And we observe.

Does this bother me? Maybe. Somehow it is reflecting the world we live in. Which I wish were a bit friendlier.

2007-04-18T21:54:00.000-07:00

The Return

This past two months have been crazy: decision making, traveling, learning and no time to write. But here is a summary of all the crazy things going on
1. Eurovision 2007 is starting. Don't miss it. It is a great way to exercise your abs by laughing. I liked the Finish guys, since they made the great break-through. And now what? Back to pop? Boring.
2. I'm starting a new cycle of my life in New York. Very exciting. My opinions about NY though are very unsure. It is a cultural capital, it is alive 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, it is _the_ city. Highly unlikely to get bored. Not to mention that I love jazz, and it is the metropolis of jazz music. On the other hand, it is impersonal, dirty, expensive and you cannot see the sky. Unless you go to Central Park. And it's cold, but I'm almost getting used to this after all these years in Boston...Bottom line: I'm excited to be going to NY. I think that independent of the research choices I've made which are the main reason for the move, a chance of scenery, people and research community will be highly stimulating.
3. I traveled to Santa Barbara, CA and also to France. Both of them are excellent places to live and work, and I think that in the far future I would like to live in California or Germany or France. California is much closer to Greece, more laid back, nice people, outdoors activities and great start-up and academic research opportunities. Germany and France have a European feeling, which I'm not sure how to define it. It seems that the daily quality of life is more relaxed, while the quality of work is excellent. I'm not planning anything, but since I just came back from Europe, the comparisons were unwillingly done in my head.

4. DJ Armin Van Buuren. We went to dance with this DJ spinning (he apparently is number 2 in the world) and he had tons of fun, danced non-stop, were happy. If you ever find a club where he's playing, give him a try!

5. Troubles with Turkey. I still do not understand why a country that wants to join the E.U. does not behave friendly to the current E.U. members. Why does the General have to say that there is no need to show flight plans when warcrafts are entering the FIR under Greek control? Don't both countries have more constructive things to do? It is an open question.

2006-10-29T13:38:00.000-08:00

Silk

Maybe when you think of silk you think of the Silk Route from China, of the cocoons - which by the way I saw I think for the first time in my life last week- and of whatever silk scarfs you have. Interestingly enough this week I'm going to try to assemble silk. Yes, silk. All these years I hasn't realised how biocompatible silk is. After all they use it for sutures, it is no more immunogenic than any synthetic polymer, it forms strong intertwined fibers, and a soft gel. I just started reading about it and it's an exciting material. Monday is coming, I need to prepare for my experiment. For a change, I'd like to see things working.

2006-10-22T12:12:00.000-07:00

Elections

Last Sunday there were elections for mayors, city councils and prefecture councils in Greece. Which raised two main questions in my mind. The answers that I've gotten that far are not that intuitive.

1. How does the community deal with the fact that mayors deal with some large amounts of money but most of them have no management knowledge (beware: I am not using the word "skills") How do we, as people, control the mayor's deeds? Should the state be prepared to host at least a short term course to teach these people some basics ? Or is just learning by doing the best method (I vote for the former one)

2. Why are the elections in the U.S. on a weekday? Doesn't that decrease the chance of working people to vote? Even though they are allowed to get time off work to go vote, do many do that? Understanding the extra financial cost, wouldn't it make sense to have the elections in the weekend like all the other countried in the world?

If you have answers please let me know.

2006-10-16T19:08:00.000-07:00

Common ideas

First of all, thanks to my friend Josh who offered his thoughts on grading. I already started to make solutions promtly, and changed the maximum score of the exercises. Let's see if that is going to make students distracted from grading and focused to learning. Also, he just wrote his thoughts on math books, math problems and the quality of thought that goes into the mathematical education of middle and high school students (see Oct.13). I totally agree with him. Our high-school math textbooks, were not bad, but just not enough. I remember ho everyone was trying to find in the beginning of each academic year books new, old, even from our parents, to complement the understanding and do more exercise for the exams. But, the problem is that none of these were REAL math books. I think my first real math book was not even considered a real math book (E.T.Bell, 'The Mathematicians') it was short biographies along with the major work of a lot of prominent mathematicians. Then, I read Gleick's 'Fractals' and then by Van der Waerden a book on Egyptian, Babylonian and Greek math. Not a real math book either (it falls into the category of history of science). The point is that doing trigonometry is school is OK, it's necesary, but I understand why it cannot be fun. Not even the so-called real examples will make math more understood (not to mentions how underdeveloped is the 3D thinking in a lot of students and how painfully they discover once taking vector analysis in college, while so easily they could have been introduced to the concept of geometry and stereometry) But, the joy of math comes from understanding concepts, mainly abstract, mind games, even making with ruler and compass a hard construction.

And off to what made my past week hard. Last May when studying for my quals I cme up with a beautiful idea relating proteins and microfluidics. I ahd no idea how to find my material, or how to observe it, but I somehow knew that the experiemnt would be cool, not that hard to actually do, and could open up the field for new questions.
Later this summer, in Germany I came up with a nice way to make networks of "vessel-like" micron-scale pipes in natural extracellular matrix proteins. This I knew how to do, but it was not the right time to do, since I was in Germany to learn sth completely different.
Last week I was at a lecture at which a professor was asked about his latest reearch project. I couldn't believe it. It was exactly my May idea. An they had preliminary data.
The week before, I had gone to another talk where I found out that my little netwrok system has been done, with a few problems, but has been done.

You know how sometime is the history of Science you come up with equations, proofs and ideas that two people published independently the same time? I always wondered: first: how could they not know that another person in their field was working on the same exact problem, and second: how probable is that two people come up independently with the same idea at about the same time?
Apparently, neither shoud be surprising to me. I didn't know that someone in the same university had done sth I was thiking of doing. And I didn't know (there was no way I could have) about the fact that someone this past spring came up wit hteh same idea as I did. Maybe because we all are interested in similar problems, and because the needs of the medical community and the techniques we use are the same, we will with probability = 1 end up working in (partially) overlapping problems. The question is to come up with a lot of ideas. One of them will be innovative. Remember my (Microsoft) T-shirt? "Think" " Impact"

2006-10-07T22:02:00.000-07:00

HBA-USA transfer program

It's been more than a year now that the idea of one person has become a small but healthy organisation. The Hellenic Bioscientific Association of the USA, of which I am a board member, now has 208 members, mostly graduate students, professors and researchers in the biological, biomedical and other health related fields (from medicine to public health).

Well, that's no news. What is news is that we have up and running a student tranfer program for students of the Greek universities who would like to spend some time in a lab in the US, doing research, gathering experiences while getting paid. We even have our first four applicants! But the reason I'm writing about this transfer program here is to encourage you (yes, you) to tell your greek friends to at least check it out. We would like to establish this program, make it well known, help students and make our organisation respectable in the eyes of the American scientific society.
It is one project of the many that we are trying to start. Other programs include postings of positions, encouragement of collaborations and I hope a forum where the members can interact directly.

I hope you tell your friends know. I personaly think it's a great opportunity.

2006-10-04T21:48:00.000-07:00

The pain of grading

Shame on me (honte (?) sur moi) for not writting for so long.
I mean, now that Ahmedinejad has a blog, I know that fewer people read mine...but I should keep up the good job!

This past weekend I decided that it's a good time to look for a roommate starting January. OH MEIN GOTT. What a pain! I mean, everyone seems so pressed as if they are oving into the apartment tomorrow! Calm down people, it's for 3 months later. The other thing is that you need to make sure that they don't find sth better in the meanwhile. Contract? First rent? I'll see. Let me first choose an interesting roommate. Oh, I'll definitely keep you updated on that!

The truth is that I've been trying to be productive during the week, and really unproductive during the weekends to make up for the week.
For example, this Saturday I was trying to learn Vaggelis how to sail, which clearly worked well, except this single point in time when Vaggelis was trying the jibe and after hearing a quite scared "get down!" from me since the boom was comng directly to his head, he bends not only down, but also forward. Clearly, the mainsheet came to his neck and the image was Vaggelis trying to put his head in the guilotine...
So, trust me...I can teach you how to sail. These small out of balance details are only to spice up our lives :)

The other (hard) reality is that I have to grade. Yes, and while I like teaching, explaining and trying to convince my Fluid Mechanics 27 students that the buoyancy does not depend on how deeo you've emerged the object, I don't like grading. I mean, after all, they usually know when they've looked up the answer at the end of the book, or whether they fussed around and did things messy to try to get partial credit. So, why are we here grading? Like absolute monarchs we say "2/10, 5/10", "Good job", "see solutions" etc...
Anyways, I just hope this semester passes with them learning fluid mechanics, me training in patience and trying to sneak of grading to do some of my experiments.

I heard Google has a chat that has rotating emoticons...! Cool!
I have to talk to Christine. She told me about them...

2006-09-11T16:21:00.000-07:00

September 11th

I nearly forgot that today was September 11th. And then I switched on the TV of the student center...Five years ago I was a freshman in college. I had just met some of the people that are still in my life and I went to attend the NCAA orientation. When this finished and I headed back to my dorm, I saw tons of people at the common room where the TV was. I had no idea what was going on, but chances were it involved food for so many people to be around. When I entered, people were crying, eyes were stuck on the TV and a general panick feeling was in the air. A few minutes later I tried to call my parents with my Greek cell phone. No connection. With the regular phone. No connection.

Of course, without TV, our days after September 11th were much calmer that for most of the rest of the Western world. September 11th was also registration day for the uppeclassmen. for the record, nothing could predict that morning what the world would be today, the visa issues, the security checks, the elections, the war in Iraq...

2006-09-11T15:55:00.000-07:00

Diversity

I understand that diversity is interesting. In fact it is.
You meet people from countries that you've never went or even dreamt of going.
You hear languages that use rules and sounds very different from our Greek, Catalan, English. You learn about things you've never seen and about different approaches to everyday life that would never cross your mind otherwise.

That's great, but you also need to be "politically correct" and take extra care not to offend someone's culture by mistake, not to be misinterpreted due a language problem , not to make certain jokes( sexual or not). Remember everyone's religion, cultural background, and in general, be aware, be careful, be extremely cautious.
Sometimes it is fun to be with people that understand your jokes, that you can pat on the shoulder and won't turn offended, people that you share ethnic background and experiences. It becomes (maybe) somewhat less interesting, but sometimes we all need it. And this is one of the reasons why earth will not be becoming a large village any time soon even though many of us speek English and eat McDonald's and buy Nike shoes. Because we, humans, find it interesting to be with diverse people and learn new languages and travel, but find it easier and more relaxing to be with similar ones. And I guess this is why we try to keep our identities in a very diverse environment, and others go to church, others organise cultural events, and others travel back home often.

Indeed, I believe in the "salad" theory, more than the "melting pot" theory.
(Dedicated to Dario, whose talk is this Friday)

2006-09-07T15:53:00.000-07:00

The Return

Ho,ho, ho! I'm back in action and I've changed continent!
I'll post some latest Munich, Strasbourg, Heidelberg pictures soon. Zo,

I'm sure you didn't miss me, now that Ahmadinejad has a blog too. I don't know who came up with the idea, but it must have been some pretty smart advertiser. Pretty good move to spread his opinions,eh?

My Birthday
Yesterday was my B-day. Happy times, eh? So I gathered a few friends and went to the ONLY
German restaurant in Boston (yes to Franziskaner Weissbier! yes to sauerkraut) where I'm asked for my ID. "What ID?" I asked and then wanted to hit my head against the wall. I had completely forgotten the fact that even though I'm what...eh...24...now I'm still carded (OK, to be true, earlier we went with Josh for margaritas and noone asked for an ID)
Also, Josh, please don't wait for two years for the website idea to work. Apply and defer.

Heidelberg
Last weekend my parents came to Germany and we headed to Heidelberg, even
though I was more keen to go to Berlin. The place is nice and picturesque, with river Neckar
transversing the city and a large palace overlooking.
Great points:
1. DAS GROSSE FASS
That's a 55,000 gallons / 220.000 liters wine barrel.
Imagine the parties I'd throw if I had that much wine around.
2. NECKAR CRUISE
Yes, take your sweetheart and go to the cruise. Chances are is will be freezing, so you'll need to hug.

Leaving the lab

I swear to mein Gott: I wanted to cry. I had such a good time. And the guys gave me a Georg August Universitaet Goettingen T-shirt and a German Asterix and the Olympic Games, trying to combine my Greekness with Deutschland. Cute! Smart! And in paperback!

Strasbourg, Frankreich
Yes, Frankreich, because at the Deutsche Bahn website if you just write Strasbourg it will give you a million choices! Also, can someone tell me why it is not written Strasburg (as opposed to -ou-) ? Gabriel, any ideas?
Zo, being in a place that I could (finally) understand what was going on and what was being said, I decided to roam the place as much as I could.

...I have to leave... (to be continued with pictures added)
I KNOW YOU HATE BLACK AND WHITE PRESENTATIONS, TSSSS!!

2006-08-18T09:50:00.000-07:00

Hike to Bremke

Lab hike to Bremke, good meat at the local restaurant
German nature at its very best
(I will try to forget the number of the ''naked snails'' due to the previous day's rain)

Leaving at 8.30 (well, I joined at 8.34 and they were already gone!)

Lab looks tired and still at least 5Km to go!

2006-08-15T07:59:00.000-07:00

15Augoustos (finally)

First time in my life I'm spending 15Augoustos in miserable rain, cold (16 C) and the ERT Deutero Programma on my headset!! Ouf!
So, Xronia polla to all Maries, Despoines and Panagiotes. Live long, have fun.
Sas afierwnw to 'H varka mas n kourelou, n xiliompalwmeni'
An to 3eren n mana mou pws douleua stnv trata,
tha mou stelne ta rouxa mou kai tnv palia mou vraka
(giati me ta rouxa pou exw edw, THA PSOFISW...POU EINAI TA GANTAKIA MOU!!!

Some thoughts

We all know I'm a trouble-maker. It took the German teacher about 2 minutes to find out. The other day, we went to German class (my first ever) and after the teacher asks me if I speak any German and I answer no, she asks the typical stuff: name an country. Then,the conversation continues in German:
- How long have you been here?
- One month.
- How long are you going to stay here for ?
- One month.
At which point she probably thinks that I can only count up to one. And continues.
- So, in a month you will return back to Griechenland.
- Nein.
And we start again. ''How long have you been here? How much time will you stay? So, in a month you're going to Griechenland.'
The Romanian girl was cracking laughing! I see her and I decide to give an end to this by saying that I will return to the States! Oh, what a relief!!

During the class, the vocabulary was about the family. As the teacher was rambling about young people who are engaged and finally get married and what words we use (all in German) I started losing attention (I mean, I have ADHD after all!!) and when I wanted to start paying attention again, I was completely Lost. So, I did the most natural thing that every student would have done: I leaned over the notebook of the Indian guy sitting next to me - only to discover that he was writing the translations in Hindi! I wanted to laugh so badly! Of, course, it is very natural that he does so...but it didn't even cross my mind! So true, but so unexpected! Next time I'll sit next to the English guy.

Even though the languages we speak are hundreds, our world is small. The other Indian in the German class looked familiar. After the introductory (where do you live, where do you go to school) we desperately tried to find out how we know each other.
- You hang out with the Greeks.
- No
- I met you at the Bhaghra party
- No
...the guy had lectured a few times in a course I took, and now he's in Göttingen doing his post-doc!!! The world is small.

Foreign among Foreigners

As a German guy said, 'you speak Greek, English and French, you hang out with French, Canadians, Singaporeans, Americans, some Germans. You don't really know whether you are in Germany or not. It makes very little difference'. OK, partly true, but it makes. (the sun just came out) On Friday night, at 11.30, there were 10 people in the streets in the Zentrum. Come on! Anywhere in Greece it would be so much more lively!

The other day I was talking to my dad, who said something along the lines of me being a foreigner among foreigners in Germany. But, the problem as I see it is not that I'm a foreigner in Germany where I don't speak the language and where I've been now for sth more than a month. The problem is that I feel foreign in Greece where I've spent 18 years. After all, if I pick up the phone, there are so many more people I feel confident to speak to in Boston or NYC rather than Athens. Sad? Sad. True? I feel this way, so... Anyways.

Tonight we're going for Greek food. If I find another Pontiaki here, I will be happily surprised. If not, all is gut.
Kalos 15Augoustos!

2006-08-09T06:46:00.000-07:00

15Augoustos

I just found out that the Lower Saxony people do not have a holiday on the 15th. But, the Bavarian (hard-core catholic) ones do.
Moral of the story: Munich is the place to be!
Note : Image from the http://www.muenchen.de website showing BAVARIA!

2006-08-08T14:40:00.000-07:00

ATHENS!

''Athina, poln t'ouranou, n gns se kamarwnei''
Finally I have some real adventures: wild animals, accidents, heat and messed up plans. But tons of fun, as always.

I arrived in Athens airport around 1am on Thursday night, which means arriving home at 2am, since the new airport is literally in the middle of nowhere. It was such a relief to arrive in Athens, since the temperatures in Göttingen had fallen to winter scale. A few people came to the lab with coats(!) and I couldn't stop sneazing, so the 39C of Athens' heat was a gift.
Semeli forgot the plans for swimming, being a tourist's idol (she went to Koufonisia, then Luxemburg, then Paris, Athens and was leaving for Crete the same night) so I found myself sleeping until lunchtime. When I finally met her, she gave me the next two books of the trilogy 'Akuvernites Politeies' by Tsirkas, so now Maria I can have a complete view. I just started 'Ariagni' and it makes much more sense than the firts chapters of 'Lesxi'. Let's see. Semeli said she never finished them, as they were quite confusing and unexciting.
Saturday's plans were to go to Aegina with Nikolas and Roselita. After a lot of SMSes and my excitement soaring since I haven't been to Aegina for years and I really like that island, I woke up early and prepared, only to find out that we're not going...pfff...Chaotic conversations and some French guys arriving in Athens cancelled our plans and those waiting for us in Aegina...oops...sorry.
So, I crossed Athens, which I haven't done for five years now, I saw the Calatrava design at the Olympic Stadium, which I should have done in 2004, and finally with Nikolas, Roselita and Konstantis we went to Sxoinias for a swim. That was fun!
After my plans of getting the windsurf of some dude that clearly had trouble staying afloat fell flat, calamari, octapus and tzatziki along with a white parrot sitting at the next table made my day. The parrot seemed very carefree, eating a marida for half an hour, and a fried potato for another hour. Very elegant animal. Holding the marida, eating in peace, scaring the the guys selling stuff in the beach and attracting all sights, esp. when the owner tied a napkin around its neck!
Sunday's plans for Aegina were cancelled once more, and trying to avoid the oil spill in Vouliagmeni, we went swimming in Voula. Oo, what a mistake, mama! Around 19.30, as I was swimming quite further in than most people, something (probably a jellyfish) stung me! There were so many people there, how come it came to me? I got stung twice, and I covered the 100 meters in 10 sec to find myself in ridiculous pain in the beach. Water, gel, car, home. Pain. I was cool, complaining about the pain, until I actually saw the bit. It was this huge red line from behind my knee all the way to my butt! And it was big and swollen. I didn't like that at all. A trip to the pharmacy and to the patisserie made me feel much better, although I still couldn't sit, and in the airplane back to Germany at 6am I had to sit on the edge of the seat...what a pain.
Moral of the story: avoid beaches with sand. Rocks, rocks,rocks. After all, that's why I go to Vouliagmeni. I can't believe an oil spill took place there the 3 days of the year that I decide to go swim there and travel from Germany just for that!!

Now I'm back in Göttingen, and it's cold...let's see what I'm going to do this weekend...I'm thinking Munich or Nuremberg...any suggestions? No, I'm not trying to cover the Third Reich Germany, come on!!

2006-07-31T11:47:00.000-07:00

Monday crisis

Today it was one of these days that you want to forget. Everything went wrong. From the news that I didn't get a fellowship, to breaking something to which I dedicated endless hours during the weekend, and to unexpected experimental stuff that is not supposed to be happening. Not to mention that yesterday night it wouldn't stop raining and I had to bike fifteen minutes to go to the dorm. Arggg....Of course, now that I just tried to watch an old greek movie online, of course I can't. Looking forward to Thursday night. Athens. No rain. Swim.

2006-07-28T09:01:00.000-07:00

Oops, here are the desserts from Hamburg's red light district

2006-07-27T10:20:00.000-07:00

Photos from Hamburg

Pictures from Hamburg
1. The gothic tower
2. Groß Bismark, petit French guy
3. Desserts at the red light district (the top row rocks)

Who would have ever told me that I'd be sitting in a lab in Göttingen, writing in English, listening to Greek radio, and trying to save the world through plastic devices? Noooo

No traveling this weekend; I have to move to the university dorms (now I live at the MPI haus) and I'll try to be a bit productive, so I'll stay here. But next weekend, I'LL BE IN ATHENS!! I can't even go to the movies here...because they're dubbed (ti kako ki auto!). I can't really watch TV, because it's dubbed! OK, I watched CSI last night, but that was too easy. Someone kills someone else and they all try to find the killer.
But I don't understand why they would spend so much money to dub everything; and it's really high quality: not like the Russians who use one male and one female for all voices! Not to mention that they use the same voice for a particular actor. So, if this person dubs some other actor everyone will be sooo confused !! Plus, imagine never knowing the true voice of Tom Cruise ! Or listening Schwarzenegger speaking really fast Italian! (I thought it was really ridiculous - in Italy they dub everything as well)

It's raining and I'm stuck in the lab thinking that the bike is not of much use in such days. Everyone has one and everyone seems to respect bikes a lot, including cars and pedestrians. But, unlike crazy Boston, where the bike roads are on the side of the street and are full of holes and bumps, here bike ways are on the pavement (secure) and color coded different color from the pedestrian pavement! I think we should do sth to get bike roads in Athens too, OK, not everywhere, but definitely close to the center. After all, it rarely rains and only in the summer it is extremely hot. Spring and autumn are really nice.

2006-07-24T12:17:00.000-07:00

Daytrip to Hamburg

So, happily enough my experiments are moving slowly but steadily. I'm looking forward to getting some cool results.
This weekend I did practical stuff that had to be done, like getting a bike for a full €15 (e,oxi!)
go to the flea market, learn some German, discover the artificial golden sand beach of Göttingen which is still under construction but people are already enjoying - I think it's part of a lake...- and go to the bar on time for the happy hours. In the midst of all these important things, I had to arrange my equally important daytrip to Hamburg.

Hamburg is the secong largest harbor in Europe and has a humongous fishmarket. No, no, I mean really big. The Hamburgians seem to be very proud of being something like a city-state in Germany. We (a French, a Singaporian and me) visited the mayor's hall (Rathaus, no, not the house of the rats) which is also the governor's hall, and I have to admit that it was very lavish for a state building. I believe I have only seen equivalent glory only in palaces: special treatment to the felt-covered walls, so that felt doesn't feel soft but hard as stone, and entire rooms covered with leather. The room covered with carved wood that 80 orphan children worked on for some years actually bothered me. After all, in rich Hamburg they could afford an expert. Of course, the guide said it was an honor for them to carve it for the state, but it sounds a little weird to me; more like child labor rather than the unique opportunity offered to up and coming artists...
In any case, if you ever visit Hamburg, you should go up St.Nikolai's tower. 77m, 1.6m/s in a glass elevator. Actually, the tower is the only thing remaing from this church, which was bombed in WWII. The interesting thing: it was so big, that it served as a reference point for bombarding planes. Hamburg was completely destroyed.
After visiting three German cities (Frankfurt, Munich,Hamburg) , it is evident: they are all reconstructed. Nothing is more than 60 years old. Except Hamburg's and Munich's Rathaus. Extreme care has been taken in these cities to reconstruct everything. It is quite amazing if you think about it. Was it pride that drove it?
The other thing that you shouln't miss is the statue of Otto von Bismarck (unification of German states, Franco-Prussian war etc). So, we had read that the statue is somewhere close to Michaelkirche and we set to find it. And we were looking around like one would be looking for a statue, a bust, a obelisk. And suddenly we came across a 33 m (110ft) tall solid granite statue!!
We were totally stunned! What was that! I have to show you pictures with the French guy standing next to it; it is impressive, given it is a statue, not a building! I have to admit that the goal of surprise and awe was very well achieved...

Pictures from Hamburg to follow. I have to go learn some German now...

2006-07-22T05:26:00.000-07:00

Welcome

Hello all. As long ago promised, I'm going to keep you updated on the exciting things happening in Germany, Greece and hopefully in the Americas! No worries, I won't talk about research.
Who I am : A PhD student at Boston University, doing research on tissue engineering.
Why in English: I occasionally may write in Greek (or Catalan), but because I want you all to read my adventures, let's start with English.
I don't want this to be a one-way correspondence, so please write back to me!

Up till now

After two weeks in Athens (it was hot and there were days that I did nothing other than going to the beach) I arrived in Göttingen, Germany. Right on time for the World Cup. Oh yes! You know I was a hard core Italy supporter, so watching two games in Boston, two in Athens, and two in Germany, one was in Frankfurt's fan area - it was CRAZY- as well as the final here in Göttingen, was really exciting. And, hehe...we won !!

Göttingen is really nice. Small, with tons of students, a old city with biergartens and a very nice working environment. The lab people are extremely nice I have to say. I'm at the Max Planck for Dynamics and Self-organisation, and in the area there are 3 more MPIs, next door is the Aerospace Institute, and in the other side of the city is the Georg-August Universitat. Also, a very international environment. I speak no German, so I appreciate the existence of French, Swedish, Americans, Australians and of course all the English-speaking Germans. By the way, ALL Germans seem to speak English: lab people, bakery people, market people, everyone. But I feel I should learn some German. I'll try.

Some fast observations: Everyone here is uber-tall. The spiders in Göttingen are huge. German keyboards have 'z' and 'y' interchanged. The trains are rather expensive, but there are youth passes, bahncards50, that make them cheap; not to mention that they run almost all the time. Highly convenient.

Munich, Dachau and Salzburg

I think I fell in love with Munich!! After having spend a weekend in Göttingen, time came to go somewhere else. Since everyone was telling me how nice Salzburg is, I left at 5.30am to go to Austria! I didn't even understand when we crossed the German-Austrian borders! Ah, Emma!
Indeed, Salzburg is beautiful. With its castle that is worth a few hours' visit, its Motzart house which I'd advise you to avoid, it's fountains, the paved roads, the horses. At a break from sightseeing, I ran into a bunch of Greeks from Chania, in Crete and then a few children from football team from Lemessos heard us talking and joined us...I smiled inside me. I've found Greeks everywhere! I found one at the building where I work, and when watching the Italy-France game we found a few more Göttingen Greeks! I don't really spend time with them, but it's nice to know they're around.
In any case, after 6 hours at Salzburg, I arrived to Munich, which in the beginning I have to admit scared me a little. Going towards the central Marienplatz I found hordes of other tourists, and felt OK again! What a pain: 11pm and the only placed open to eat were the kebab guys and one -yes one- german beer place right on Marienplatz. I tried weiss bier , this white beer that I had never heard of before, which was really interesting. Now I'm on the lookout wherever I go.

My morning plan included some sightseeing near the centre, waiting for the Glockenspiel -it's sooooo ridiculous that it's extremely funny- and then heading to Dachau. BUT...I ran into the 'free walking tours' offered by some extremely funny people (and free), so I joined them. Btw, I recommend them, because you learn the Bavarian history and enjoy it! I had such a good time, that I decided to go with them to Dachau. Met a bunch of loud Mexicans and could not resist talking to them in my catalan. It turns out that one of the girls was studying in Barcelona! The world is small. Of course she made fun of me for learning catalan! We laughed a lot. I mostly laughed because she's from Guadalahara - Diego, I laughed uncontrollably!!
As for Dachau, it's huge, a lot of it is destroyed and partly reconstructed (including the front gate), but it is still worth a visit. They've prepared very detailed information posters about the rooms, the prisoners and the daily life. I thought I would feel deeply sad while wondering in the buildings of the prison and seeing the crematoria, but I found myself thinking why this happened and I spend a lot of time trying to combine the historical facts and offer myself an explanation (without success). I think that the human mind cannot understand this horror. The part where I felt scared was when we walked into the gas chamber (although I knew it was never used in Dachau). The dark room with the low ceilings with the 'shower-like' openings was SCARY.