Day #19: 19 July 2013

Today we talked about everything that we saw yesterday. We went over all of the family members that we met from Maria’s family. I was surprised at just how many Maria’s there were in her family. We then started watching some of the videos for Crete’s marketing program. The one video showed Balos beach and how peaceful and gorgeous it was. The other video emphasized all of the beaches that Crete has to offer. I have noticed, from visiting the different beaches, that each beach is sharply different from the others. Some beaches have rocks, others have sand, some water is saltier than others, some have different colors in the sand, etc.

We also watched more about the traditional dances in Greece. In the Greek educational system, dance is taken as part of their education, like gym class. Dance is almost something that is part of their integrity. It is also done at many festivals and weddings where people are expected to participate. In the US, there is nothing like that. People are just expected to know how to dance rather than go to school to learn traditional dances. Maria’s book talks about the history of these dances and why they are popular as well as how they can be performed and recognized.

We then learned more words in Greek. These words were related to food items that we made and saw yesterday.

Later this evening, we went to Cretan Natural Product's factory where we saw how skincare products are made. This factory produces the brand 25A. 25A is the coordinates of Crete showing the product's dedication to where it was created. The brand is unique because they use all natural products and herbs to treat common problems like dry skin, sun protection and healing. I was surprised at how the factory works in the idea where they only make products after an order is placed. Therefore, the factory only produces items as needed, without much extra stock. The products are popular in Britain and in Greece. However, entering the US market is expensive for the brand and they have not attempted this yet.