6th November 2015 - Excrement and Emancipation in Crete....

Thought for the day :"Diahorea again, oh crap........."

I know that I am in foreign climes - but the reference on the thought of the day is not really relevant other than it appealed to me this morning and I thought I would post it... 

I have not really found much opportunity to blog while out in Crete this year. Part of me says that is quite right as I am having a fine rest away for the world - and a lot of me says that sitting in a Cretan bar - albeit that it is the English Speaking and Ex-patriot bar - but the only one open in Elounda, is an opportunity to relax and have a beer at silly o'clock in the morning (they are two hours ahead of us here), is really the wrong place to be thinking about writing onto a laptop - and even more of me is thinking that I really hate laptops! 

They are useful to carry around - but I do not like the keyboards - I am an erratic typer at best and the keyboard of a laptop does not lend itself to my erraticism (if that is a word). And worst of all this laptop suddenly jumps a half dozen lines back and starts overtyping in a previous sentence - which is VERY annoying..

I hate (even more - indeed "abhor"  the built-in mouse pad - but find that having a decent mouse attached requires me to have an old rolled newspaper at my side to act as a mouse mat.. not helped by the last free newspaper at the airport being the Daily Mirror...

So - while my wife does the holiday thing of catching lots of fish at the quayside, I finally succumb to the pleasures of writing my blog...  beer in hand ... but with the runs!  Not badly - but enough foreign and rich food to upset my simple welsh stomach....  so back in a mo....

I am sitting in Kaaren's Bar - yes - for once this is not a typo - she has two "a" s in the name and is quick to tell us that she is not Karen - but the longer Car - en, but as with all bars and restaurants in Crete these days they have the Wi Fi available. Easy to break this one - kaarensbar is the key - so you can get in as long as you remember tat Kaaren has two "a" s....   And of course, being in Crete they have that wonderful speciality of not allowing paper down their toilets - but rather a convenient receptacle along side...  Normally this is just a minor difference - unless the rich food is affecting you a little more than you are expecting...  but enough of this !!

Yesterday we went exploring up into the mountains of Crete to a place called Dories, using the Tesco Hudl as a sort of GPS map follower - rather than sat nav, as we went in search of an old friend Dimitri and his re-located bar called Friends - or now Ta Filarakia...

And a few beers and a little Raki and some snacks such as you get in the hills (and not in Kaarens Bar I should add - out of season) that come free with the beer and some good conversation ...  

When the subject of emancipation came up - with particular reference to the role of the man and the role of the woman in Cretan society..

Now Dimitri is a well traveled Cretan - and speaks many languages and knows many cultures, and with the best of us I am sure is able to look at his own homeland with a jaundiced eye...

Indeed, with respect to some of my friends who lean towards more of the feminist viewpoint, it may be said that the culture here is rather male dominated - the bars are generally full of the men drinking coffee a little raki and a cigarette - the women with the children and the cooking and the house... 

It may seem a little trite, and so Dimitri provided the following story...   It seems that during the early twenties, at the height of the Suffragette movement a group of ladies came across to Crete and saw what they thought to be a shameful situation...  There was a man, a young boy, a donkey and the wife walking down the street..   

The Donkey led the way, with the man riding and the little boy sitting behind him... following on was the wife with a huge bundle of firewood, so large that her knees sagged as she struggled down the road.   The Freedom Fighters shouted at the man, who did not understand , and tried to lift the burden from the woman - who fought them off saying that it was her firewood and to leave them alone...   They tried to explain that this was all wrong - bit failed and disappointedly made their way and returned home to write up their memoirs ...

Years passed, and after the 2nd World War, this group of emancipators returned for a holiday to Crete and found that things had changed but a little... 

But there were improvements...

First - the woman was walking ahead - leading the family - and they thought - "this is a step forward - they have finally accepted that the woman's role is superior.."
The donkey followed, carrying all the firewood...  They thought "This is better... The woman is no longer seen as a beast of burden - the Donkey now does the correct work"

The Man and child followed on.. They Thought "At last, a little respect across the Genders - with the woman leading and the man following on"

They spoke to the man.. "How wonderful that you have finally seen the error of your ways. Is this a result of the war?? " Thinking how emancipation had occurred in the UK, women working the factories and land, achieving their equality...
"Yes" answered the man, "It is as a result of the war...     Land mines !!!"

Sad to say - while you are staying out here in Crete, you cannot but think that this may be a true story....   

Yamas...