Standing with Greece

STAND FIRM GREECE: You are not alone - your supporters are throughout the world. There are tough times ahead, but you are resilient and not alone

 IT’S quite amazing how a small post on social media site Facebook can have such an incredible response.
  I posted a small photograph with the words added “Stand firm” in relation to the ongoing saga of will they won’t the Greeks leave the eurozone and default on re-paying their mounting debts.
  In response came nearly 1,000 likes, comments and shares, and not one voice against what was written. The replies came in many languages, including Greek of course. The Greeks were delighted that somebody was standing up for them, and appreciated the comment and the support for the country in difficult time. The support came in many languages from around the world - proving that they are not alone.
  As course we are going to support the country, just as we have for the last 12 years since moving here.
We spend our money here, pay taxes on everything that we buy, so their pain is our pain.

COME ON - LET'S PARTY

Life is anything but boring here in Crete, there always seems to be one party or another, and February is now the time for the fesitval season..

  It's the party period of the year in the build up to Easter, the main religious time. We have got used to events on birthdays, but also not to be confused are names days. There are saints days and of course, two big national celebrations in March and October. But February is the time for Apokries.

  Apokries, is the Greek version the worldwide known as “masquerade partying festival,”  The festivities in Greece have their origins in ancient religious traditions that honored Dionysus, the god of wine and joy and celebrated the end of the winter season. In relation to the Greek Orthodox Church Apokries, is celebrated three weeks before Easter, and visitors will see thousands of costumes, parades, masquerades, and dancing people. 

  The event is most noteworthy in the carnival capital, Patras, in the Peloponese, and the Rethymnon Carnival is coming up the radar with each passing year. okries, is the Greek version the worldwide known as “masquerade partying festival,” carnival. 

   The festivities in Greece have their origins in ancient religious traditions that honored Dionysus, the god of wine and joy and celebrated the end of the winter season. In relation to the Greek Orthodox Church Apokries, is celebrated three weeks before Easter, 

  All over the island and the mainland  visitors will see thousands of costumes, parades, masquerades, and dancing people. The event is most noteworthy in the carnival capital, Patras, in the Peloponese, but the one in Rethymnon, here is coming up the radar with each passing year. 

  But it is not just the big cities, far from it. Our first one of the yuear came the other day, when our senior citizen group KAPI held their own party. Hundred came to feast, dance and celebrate in style. The food may have been served, but withg music live, they were up to dance and dance.

  Costumes were not the order of the day, but, of course some did dress up. Now we have other parties to attend to, our local onbe is at Agriana, but there are events annually also in Malia, Heraklion and any other opportunity that offers itself. 

Let the festivals begin

ALL over Greece it's Festival time. The build up to Easter, the really big event of the year, bigger even than Christmas, is celebrated with events, festivities and parades.
  From large cities right through to smaller villages they all hold their festivals. The nearest village to us to stage event was Agriana, and we went along to catch up with the fun. It's another big social event, people you do not know still come up wishing you well, shaking your hand, sharing a glass of wine as the activities unfold.
  For the families it's a chance to dress up their children in best party outfits, they line the streets waiting to catch a glimpse perhaps of somebody they know. The events are usually on the Saturday/Sunday and then on Monday it is "Clean Monday" at which the majority stop eating meat and dairy products, and another chance to party.
  The biggest one to us is at Sissi along the coast, staged around the pretty harbour. Yesterday in Agriana the sun shone, today started wet, got wetter before the sun poked through late in the day. For the organisers of the party it was a nightmare. They place out hundred of tables and chairs, bowls of special bean soup are produced along with taramasalata, fava, salads and halva. They provide drinks also free of change, and then the music starts and dancing takes over. Despite the rain, people still came out, albeit later.

Good day for a dip!!!

TODAY, January 6th is Epiphany throughout all of Greece. After the local church ceremony it is tradition that the priest will go to the local harbour and blesses the waters and then throws the sacred cross into the waters, where young men challenge for the collection, a sign of good luck.
   There were hundreds gathered at Hersonissos harbour to celebrate the day, blessed with warm winter sunshine, but, we are told the water was still very cold as 12 brave souls vied for the wooden cross pitched into the sea by the priest from the brow on a boat.

  We go along, meet friends there, and enjoy the activities, and stay on for coffee and a chat, but the ceremony is still to be admired as they retain their traditions. 
   Epiphany is an important religious celebration for all Greeks and Orthodox Christians. The day on which Jesus was baptized symbolizes the regeneration of man and that is why Epiphany used to be celebrated, until the mid-4th century, as New Year’s Day. Epiphany, or Fota as this celebration is otherwise called in Greece, is associated with the removal of evil spirits, human fertility and land fertility.
 It is also considered that the celebration of Epiphany brings catharsis. The waters are sanctified and evil is driven out of them. During earlier centuries, villagers considered this particular day as the biggest celebration of the year when they would wear their new clothes in order for them to be sanctified!
  There was also a myth that on the eve of Epiphany, the heavens opened and people could get anything they requested.

Tough times

THE end of the tourist season is almost here on the island, and businesses will be assessing what has been a very tough season for many.
  In our village many did not even manage to finish the season, while others report a better than expected season. Already some have actually closed down for the season, one taverna is always the last to open, but the first to close. Our friends Nico and Anna run Margo
taverna, which is certainly the prettiest in the village, and right to the end have enjoyed a good summer, however, one taverna which returned to Greek ownership this season actually closed down in the middle of the season - they simply could not attract business, some nights only serving two or three customers  while employing more than that in staff.
  Elsewhere the picture has been much the same, what needs to be addressed during the winter months is what is to be done for 2014. It will take a brave person to forecast that, but certainly many will fall.

Another trip & More islands!

OUR KAPI organisation came up with another treat, a four-day trip to Syros and Tinos for complete contrast.
  The trip meant a early hours arrival after the ferry to the first island. Hotel  was situated right on the sea-front, and within walking distance of the main town.
  This is the island where Greek tradition and western influence come to a harmonious marriage. Ermoúpoli (meaning “the city of Hermes”) is the island’s capital town and has been the first important trade and industrial centre of the country in the 19th century.
  Evidence of this glorious past can be seen on public buildings (the City Hall, the Customs Office, “Apollo” theatre), on the neoclassical houses and at the beautiful squares. Due to its economic activity, Ermoúpoli has been called “Manchester of Greece” and the history of its years of blossom is exhibited in the Industrial Museum.
  The Orthodox community has contributed some outstanding religious monuments to the architecture of Ermoúpoli such as the churches of Metamórphossi tou Sotíros (Transfiguration of Jesus Christ), St Nicolas the Rich (Áyios Nikólaos Ploússios), Dormition of the Mother of God (Koímissis tis Theotókou)
  The medieval quarter of the Roman Catholic community and the fortress-like St George’s cathedral are on St George hill, also named Áno Sýros (meaning upper Sýros). Go up the stairs to the top of the hill and through the narrow streets, by the traditional whitewashed houses, the archways and the open spaces with a breathtaking view of the island.
  This was not for anyone other than fully fit - all steps, no roads and all very narrow!! It’s murder for the postman - no names and deliveries must be a complete nightware.
  Sýros is well-known for its gastronomic peculiarities. Halva pie (a pie made of thyme honey and roasted almonds), loukoúmi (a delight made of water, starch and sugar), “loosa” ham, fennel sausages and the San Mihalis spicy cheese (appellation d'origine contrôlée/”protected designation of origin") will no doubt satisfy even the most demanding taste buds. We also biougght excellent sea salt, sun-dried tomatoes and capers for about a third of the price here in Crete.
  We also had a one day ferry trip to Tinos, for a complete change. During the summer months and on the weekends, the town is throbbing with activity, primarily due to Greek visitors here to pay homage to the Holy Virgin at the famous Church of the Panagia. Unfortunately for many of them, they do not have the opportunity to visit the rest of the island, as most visitors for the Church stay only a few hours or for only one night.

  The final day was a late departure, so it was a tour of the island, and later for us a train trip around the city. Eventually it was off to the ferry, arriving from Athens. Hundreds surged forward and we found dozens of people stretched out over the seats, when there were no chairs to sit in. We spoke to one man saying one ticket-one chair, he grunted, swore, but moved for us. Others did not have the nerve and finished up sitting on the floor!!

Now that's unusual!

DESPITE the official clamp down on smoking, which seems to be totally igmored in every taverna and pratically every eating establishment we have been in since the ban was introduced, here is something totally unexpected from a recent report.

  Up until a short while ago, Skotino in the prefecture of Heraklion here on Crete was known mainly for the cave that lent its name to the village, yet recently people have been talking about it for an entirely different reason following a report in local media which revealed that none of the village’s 70 residents smokes, making Skotino something of an exception in Greece.
  However, the residents did not decide to give up smoking as a result of the country’s anti-smoking campaign launched a few years back, as abstinence from tobacco in the village, according to the report, dates back at least 20 years. The “habit” of not smoking has since spread from one generation to the next, with the grandchildren of the oldest residents, now adults themselves, stating that they are all nonsmokers. What’s more, as a result of clean lungs, unpolluted air and the famous Cretan diet, the residents of Skotino tend to live to a ripe old age.
  Skotino is an oddity in Greece, a country where a smoking ban for certain areas introduced a few years ago has been systematically flouted by individuals and businesses alike. Maybe, though, Skotino shows us that something is slowly changing in the Greek psyche.

Try a little bartering!

THERE  is growing a new movement here in Greece - bartering, Yes the very same method used for centuries by people with little or no money. If you have a service or a trade why not offer them in exchange for something that you need. More and more people are harking back to older days a dozen eggs for say some cheese or bread. Or a service for a car in exchange for somethinbg for the house - it's nothing new but in parts of Greece it's making a comeback due to the financial situation.

  We hear also of one Greek who now makes his living by collecting scrap metal, something that has been tackled mainly by immigrants as Greeks  who thought it was beneath them. Now he makes a steady income after being made redundant from his job of 25 plus years. There is a ready market for the service he provides and he puts food on the table.

Housing deadline extended

IN a move designed to help home owner through the current difficult times does not appear to really be enough, but at least it shows that authorities understand the dilemma that many are facing. 

  Greece will extend by another year the moratorium on home repossessions for debts up to 200,000 euros, according to legislation submitted to Parliament on Monday.

  Until the end of 2013, banks will not be able to seize the homes of customers if they are their main property - regardless of how much is owed - or if the amount owed is less than 200,000 euros.

Non-performing loans at the end of September stood at 52 billion euros, which was 22.5 percent of all loans – a rise of 7.5 percentage points from the end of 2011. More than 15 billion euros of these loans are mortgages.

  The legislative act submitted by the government also foresees individuals and businesses renting commercial properties being able to terminate their contract by paying one month’s rent to the landlord.

Where's the good news?

CHRISTMAS always seems to have an air of gloom, despite the otherwise festive period. For Greeks the gloom is  ongoing with further news confirming that the confirming that the country still has a very long way on the road to recovery.
  Greece's unemployment rate in the 3rd quarter of 2012 was 24.8 percent compared with 23.6 percent in the previous quarter, and 17.7 percent in the corresponding quarter of 2011, official statistics showed on Thursday.
The number of employed amounted to 3,739,018 persons while the number of unemployed amounted to 1,230,918, the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) said.
   The number of employed persons decreased by 1.4 percent compared with the previous quarter, and by 8.3 percent compared with the 3rd quarter of 2011.   The number of unemployed persons increased by 5.3 percent compared with the previous quarter and by 40.2 percent compared with the 3rd quarter of 2011.

A little step forward

WITH austerity the worst word to use in Greece, at least there seems a little light at the end of the financial tunnel, after a lengthy meeting this week.

  Greece received a two-year extension to its fiscal adjustment programme, but no decision was made on the disbursement of an outstanding 31.5 tranche of an EU/IMF bailout loan at Monday's Eurogroup meeting of eurozone finance ministers in Brussels.

 "Together with the Greek adjustment program the Eurogroup will further discuss (Greece's) financing needs and debt sustainability at an extraordinary meeting that will be convened on 20 November," the ministers said in a joint statement that was read out by Eurogroup president Jean-Claude Juncker at a press conference after the meeting, adding that a few more "prior actions" remained to be implemented by the Greek authorities by then.

 The Eurogroup acknowledged the considerable efforts made by the Greek citizens and welcomed the resolve of the Greek authorities to put the programme back on track, particularly after parliament's adoption of a "substantial set of reforms (omnibus bill of austerity measures) as well as a convincing budget for 2013" on November 7 and 11 respectively, Juncker said, adding that "these have received a preliminary positive assessment" by the European Commission (EC), European Central Bank (ECB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) Troika of Greece's international lenders.

 He said that the ratification process for the disbursement of the next tranche by the eurozone national parliaments will begin shortly before November 20, after which the Eurogroup will convene again, possibly on November 26, either in person or by teleconference, to ascertain whether everything is in place for the final approval of the next loan tranche to Greece.

 

TOUGH TIMES AHEAD

 AS winter looms, there are more and more signs that the Greek economy still has a very long way to go. All around the major towns and cities there are for sale and to let signs up as desperate people make every effort to make ends meet, but they are finding it very tough. Here in our village, which has virtually closed down for the winter, every lamp-post is full of yellow signs which have telephone nunber on them with apartments vacant.

LOW WAGES, HIGH PRICES

  One button that a country living beyond its means has to press is marked ‘cost cutting'. Greece has done that. Wages are plunging at the behest of international creditors who are keeping the country alive on a drip-feed of aid.

  By the end of this year, the entire surge in the average cost of labour per unit of output from 2001 to 2009 will have been unwound, according to a draft European Commission paper.

  The drop in nominal unit labour costs this year alone is projected to be 8.7 percent - not surprising given that the unemployment rate is 25 percent.

But wages are only one input among many that determine prices. The most comprehensive gauge of a country's cost competitiveness is its real, or inflation-adjusted, effective exchange rate (REER) relative to its main trading partners.

  And in 2011, Greece's REER was still 18-20 percent above its 2000 level, according to Eurostat, the EU statistics agency."Of course the issue of prices concerns us. There's a problem, and we're aware of it," Athanasios Skordas, deputy minister for economic development and competitiveness, told Reuters.

Inflation is falling - it was 0.9 percent in the year to September - and economists expect it to come down further.

  But to thoroughly convert wage to price competitiveness will entail a daunting array of reforms, such as making it easier to start a business and removing barriers to competition in key markets such as energy.

Platon Monokroussos, head of financial markets research at Eurobank in Athens, said these market rigidities were one reason why falling wages had not translated into a quicker drop in inflation.

When No really means NO!!

THE traditional Oxi Day (No Day) is celebrated throughout Greece in one way or another,. Because of the situation in the country at present that has brought about many changes, including demonstrations against the country, mainly by students. 

  The biggest parade here in Crete is usually at Heraklion, but we decided to give that a miss this uyear and went to enjoy the parade here in Hersonissos. It was centred around the big church, attended by council and church dignitaries, and then the parade started. Although there was no marching band, the parade assembled to packed local streets and they came in their hundreds to march through to loud music. It was great to see so many young children respecting their history, with many of them  in national costume.

Property tax to stay

IN a move to increase their income, the Greek government are to continue with the very unpopular property tax,a move that will certainly increase pressure on the whole country.

  The government has decided that the special property tax introduced in 2011 will be tagged on to electricity bills again this year after all, according to Public Power Corporation (PPC) officials.

  After repeated meetings and the realization that the Finance Ministry will be unable to collect the sum of 2.2 billion euros corresponding to the emergency tax, the government resorted to the more secure but painful solution of collecting the tax through PPC, despite earlier indications that this would not be the case this year.

Up until yesterday the Finance Ministry had said that it was looking for the best way to collect the so-called special extraordinary tax for all properties connected to the power grid, though officials at the power company suggested that the decision had already been made.   In fact, PPC said that it had been asked to include the tax in all bills issued as of July 23, but the company countered that it did not have the time to issue bills with the tax before the end of the month. Unlike last year, when the tax was paid in two installments, this year’s tax will be paid in five installments, with the last two to due in 2013.   Everybody is being hit, and that includes us of course, but some will be hard pressed to pay up again. With jobs still at a premium, people are really being hurt by the austerity measures. Their argument is simple, if we have no work how do we not only pay the bills, but how do we feed are families?

 

Greece: Incredible Crete

 Incredible Crete   (This is the link)

 Wish you were here? Click the link for a great look at the island of Crete. We have high temperatures and a great life style. NOW is the time to visit.........
 http://www.promote-greece.com/2012/07/incredible-crete.html

Shall we go, or shall we stay?

MANY are still trying to find an answer to the crisis in Greece. Despite many fiscal measures the country is still on the brink, and the question remains, will the country return to the Drachma, and if so, at what cost?

  A barrage of gloomy official statements and stories dominated newspaper headlines on New Year’s Eve, seeking to exorcise the spectre of Greece’s return to the drachma, although few offered solutions.

  Prime Minister Lucas Papademos warned: “We must continue our effort to avert a disorderly, catastrophic default and remain in the euro.” The premier’s remarks were echoed by Bank of Greece governor Yiorgos Provopoulos in a TV interview.

  “A possible return to the drachma would be equivalent to real hell, at least for the first few years outside the eurozone,” the country’s leading banker told Skai TV.

  The country sank deeper into an economic slump and missed all of its fiscal adjustment targets in 2011, making the danger of a disorderly default by March - when a 15bn euro bond is due for redemption - more likely, unless at least 90 percent of private bondholders participate in a voluntary writedown of Greek debt by 50 percent. The plan was agreed at the EU summit on October 26/27 along with a second bailout plan.

  But after two months of negotiations on the so-called private sector involvement (PSI), no more than six out of ten eligible investors have signalled their willingness to take the cost of the proposed haircut in the nominal value of their bonds, according to the Wall Street Journal.

  Greece’s outgoing representative at the IMF, Panayiotis Roumeliotis, said the country could not afford an unsuccessful outcome in talks on the new bailout without risking a collapse of its aid programme.

  “If the new funding is not secured in time, anything can happen, including a default, which could open the way for Greece’s exit from the eurozone,” said Roumeliotis.

  The spectre of returning to the drachma was also raised in a speech on January 2 by Vasilis Rapanos, chairman of the Hellenic Bank Association and president of the National Bank of Greece.

  “We shall either stay in the euro if we all cut down on our standard of living, or depart from the euro, turning the clock back several decades,” Papanos said in his keynote speech during a New Year celebration at the Athens Stock Exchange.

  Rekindling the fear of an exit from the eurozone seems to touch a popular chord, since opinion polls indicate support for the euro. In a Kappa Research poll for To Vima published at New Year’s weekend, more than 77 percent of Greeks want the coalition government to do all it takes to ensure the country stays in the eurozone.

  Government spokesman Pantelis Kapsis, a former editor of To Vima, gave prominence to the euro-or-drachma alternative as key to national policy: “This is indeed the dilemma ahead of  us,” Kapsis told reporters when asked about the avalanche of drachma scaremongering. 

 “There is no reason to cause panic by saying we will return to the drachma. We can avoid it with serious and systematic work. But we should not take it for granted that we have escaped the danger,” he added.