There are three subjects to this blog, but the first two go hand in hand. I have made the observation that Athens is a city of little old ladies and stray dogs. Both of these subjects are absolutely everywhere. It's not just Athens though. I think it may be all of Greece because both were highly prevalent in Nafplio, but we'll get to that in a later post.

Now when I say the "little old ladies" of Greece I am not just using the term because it sounds good, I am being completely serious. Most of these ladies are over the age of 80 and under five feet tall. There is no other place that they are more prevalent than in the open-air markets.

In my neighborhood, there is an open-air market every Tuesday and Friday. They sell the normal market things like vegetables and fruit and fish, but they also sell purses, shirts, underwear, laundry detergent and bathroom essentials (like trashcans and toilet paper dispensers). Literally everything you could ever need is in a few square blocks. This is where the little old ladies can be found. Walking around all bundled up in their heavy coats (because it's "winter"), wearing their plastic hair covers so their hair doesn't get wet and dragging their little metal shopping cart (personal sized ones on two wheels like a suitcase, in case you were imagining something a little more Weis-like).

I have yet to have any real interactions with the "cute little grannies" as one of our program staffers calls them, but I've heard some great stories. One was so funny to me that I feel the need to share:

One of our program managers, Kim, has been here for several years and speaks Greek fluently. One day she was waiting to cross the street when a car car pulled into the pedestrian pathway right as the light turned red. So he stopped. Kim decided to walk behind the car since it was in the middle of the crosswalk, but the man in the car decided to back up without even looking and almost ran into her. Before Kim could do anything to respond a little granny came out of nowhere and started smacking the guy's car with her cane yelling (in Greek) "You idiot! Can't you see that there's a girl behind you! You could have killed her..." etc. OK, I guess you really need to be there, but it was very funny for me. Plus, if you knew how they drive here (which is probably going to end up as another post in the future) you'd understand how common of an occurance it is and how you need 4'8" grannies to step in and yell at people for you.

Like I said before, I have yet to interact with any grannies, but stray dogs on the other hand... them I have experienced. I personally think they're funny. If you walk by them, and they're just sunbathing with nothing to do, and you acknowledge them... they will follow you! I don't mean for a block or two... I mean up 300 stairs and down 10 blocks from the stadium back to your apartment. Then, they'll sit outside your apartment and wait for you and follow you to the Arcadia center. They'll still be there an hour later when you walk out and head to the grocery store which is a half mile away... and follow you to that. Then they'll sit outside the store and wait to follow you back to your apartment. Literally, you unintentionally adopt a dog for the day. They're usually gone by morning, but still. You have them all day. Even if you don't feed them, they still follow you.

Some of them have collars, but they're still strays. You can tell the difference between a dog that has an owner and a dog that has a collar by the fact that dog's with owners walk their dogs on leashes most of the time. These stray dogs are given collars and ID tags so they won't get taken to the pound and put down. There is a local group that collars them (and in some instances spays and neuters them), but most of them are old and no one wants them, so they just let them loose. I honestly don't mind having a little walking buddy, but I worry about them being hit by a car, bus or trolley because they don't stop ... not even for people sometimes. All I know is that these dogs follow me better than any dog I've ever known... plus they don't bark or whine at you, which is a major plus!