Day #26: 26 July 2013

Today we started our day by reviewing our field trip from yesterday. We saw how important pottery was to the Greeks and how practical the pottery was. Many of the pottery vessels made are for household use. For example, the water vases are used to carry water in villages because there might not be a spout in someone’s house.

We then got to listen to Liras and what they sound like. It was interesting to see how they are played and how they look like a modern day violin but are still very different. They sound almost as if they were meant for a sad song because they sound like someone crying. I am surprised at how even though there is only one lira, many different cultures have adapted the instrument to their local culture and use it to play their local music.

We then discussed about the Kazantzakis Museum. Kazantzakis never had any children and only as a step-son. Currently, that step-son is in the hospital and has a daughter. There are some issues between the daughter and the museum concerning royalties from Kazantzakis’ work because they are still very popular and are continuously being published.

We then started talking about the branding of Crete. Crete has released a new add about using Crete for movie filming because the landscape is so diverse. There are tropical beaches, roaring waters, snowy mountains, and even more. This is an interesting idea because Crete normally tries to sell is beaches or history to consumers, not film producers. I was also still in awe at the beauty of Crete and how amazing this island is. Crete has much to offer to anyone, from beaches to mountain climbing. 

We then discussed more about the Cretan diet. This diet is considered the most important element to local Cretans. The diet is largely composed of local products including olive oil, dakos and tomatoes. The diet is also not only the way that people eat but is also the way that people interact and communicate with each other. 

We then learned weather words such as cold, ο καιρός, hot, το κρύο, sunny, λιακάδα, and windy, φυσάει. Δα ήδελα is the polite way to say I want. I can hardly believe that this is our last language lesson that we will have while in Greece. We also learned some traveling terms so that way we could effectively navigate our way through the airport. For example, we learned passport, το διαβατήριο, and do you need help?,  δέλετε βοήδεια; 

We then had a guest lecturer who is a lawyer in Crete. Maria came to talk to us about Minoan law and language. She was born and raised in Iraklio and studied law in Italy. She was able to do this because the Continental part of Europe have similar legal systems called city law. In the US, UK and Australia we have common law. City law is based on codes while common law is based on the decision of the court which is based on past cases. 

The law of Greece is based on a myth about a bull who stole the princess Ευρώπη. The bull and the princess were married and the result of this union was children. One child, Minos, became the king of Knossos. Minos is reported to have brought back the laws from the top of Idi Mountain every nine years. This suggests that laws come from a higher source and hard work is required to reach these laws. This myth also suggests that law is not static and must adapt to human habits and procedures throughout time.

In the evening, we had our last official class. Here, we went over our paper topics. It was interesting learning about everyone's topic and the perspective that they want to take within their paper. Something that surprised me is that we all took such a unique perspective of different elements of Cretan/Greek culture based on our different personalities, but we all managed to get along so well.