Day 8: Monday July 9th

After a whirlwind of a weekend in Santorini its back to the grind with classes......

Today I we talked a lot about Crete in an overall sense. For example, I learned that it is the 5th largest island in the mediterranean. The others include Sicily, Sardinia, Corsika, and Cyprus.

Crete produces a wide variety of products. The main product of the island is olive oil. There are approx. 30 million trees on the island.... they're everywhere!  What is really cool is that after collecting the oil form the olive, the pit is kept and used as a form of fuel by burning it! Other products include citrus fruits, pomegranates, grapes (including wine from the juice and the greek alcoholic drink raki from the skins), figs, vegetables (the tomatoes are delicious), wheat, barley, fish, meat including lamb, cheeses, eggs (always very fresh!), botany including herbs, and honey. 

There are few flowers and pine trees so the honey is produced more commonly from herbs. This means the honey here is thicker, sweeter, and darker. There is still flower honey but the herb honey is most common.

The major source of income on the island is tourism with Russians as the largest tourist population, followed by Israelis and then Northern Europeans. This is not a surprise, but the reason why people always come back is not only for the beauty but also for the people. Cretan hospitality is famous and is a unique experience. When a Cretan meets someone they like to share what they have, this includes food and gifts. They say this is how they were "raised" by their ancestors.
Stemming from this hospitality the architecture on the island reflects the need for community. Every house has porch for socializing and every apartment will have a balcony. This allows for easy communication between neighbors. There is also always a religious center near common socialization centers because this is an important part of the community and are seen as centers of hospitality.

Other interesting aspects of the architecture include the very flat roofs, at home every house has peaks. Crete can have these because their houses are not burdened by the large amounts of rain and snow we receive each year. Their roofs are also always light colors. This is because they want to attract as much sunlight as possible because many houses now run on solar energy! So cool!

We also learned that "Crete is a crossroads for all people". Through their tumultuous past, Greece's arts and culture have been influenced. For example, since Crete was under the ottomans, Greeks have some influences that have marked their culture. For example, the coffee I have grown a minor addiction to was introduced through Turkey. But you should NEVER say its turkish Coffee when in Greece, nor should you say its GReek coffee when in Turkey.  This is because the two countries have a long history of animosity especially during the occupation of Greece. 

today was very enlightening!!

now out to the sun!

~ αγαπώ ~