Brits in Crete | Save Dolphins in Japan Help

Brits in Crete is in sympathy and wishes to extend a hand to publicize and help save the aweful and gruesome annual culling of Dolphins in Japan by fishermen there.

While the livelihood of fishermen everywhere must be protected, surely there is a better way of satisfying the Japanese taste for eating the produce of the sea.

This is absolutely disgusting and very gruesome so please do not watch it if you feel you can't.

Sometimes we need shocking to budge us into action.

http://www.glumbert.com/media/dolphin

The petition process is here

This organisation rescues animals from Greece.

Most importantly visit the animals at one of the Animals in Crete groups, BritsinCrete supports.

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Greek Dictionary | ΤΣΟΥΚΟΣ | What does ΤΣΟΥΚΟΣ mean

"Filippos", a regular member to post in the Brits in Crete Forum with a wonderful signature that says: "I smile because I don't know what the hell is going on" raised an interesting Greek dictionary question on February 16 regarding "ΤΣΟΥΚΟΣ". Grab a specialised Greek dictionary and tell us what this word means?

Filippos came across a cafe/taverna in the Xania prefecture of Crete with the name "ΤΣΟΥΚΟΣ". He said he did not know where the "tonos" (emphasis) is placed as it was only written in upper case.

Anyway he could not find the word in any Greek dictionary.

Now we are all curious. No one has been to help so far in the BritsinCrete Forum.

Can a Cretan, or other Greek help us out? The suspense is getting at us.

If it helps, Filippos said that the closest meanings he could find that might be associated somehow, are "Τσουκαλάς" (a potter) and, more likely, "Τσουκάλι" (a cooking pot).

So, does an academic of specialist Greek or the Cretan dialect, know what "ΤΣΟΥΚΟΣ" means?

That begs the question: Is "ΤΣΟΥΚΟΣ" a Cretan dialect word that doesn't appear in a "standard" Greek dictionary or simply a 'made up' word without a meaning?

Any help gratefully received. Contact us at this address, please.

The original post was made on February 16, 2007 at
http://www.britsincrete.co.uk/cgi-bin/bicforum/YaBB.pl?board=LearnGreek
or accessed at
http://www.britsincrete.co.uk/cgi-bin/bicforum/YaBB.pl?num=1171658953
We are trying our best at Brits in Crete to be part of island life as expat residents.

Gerald
NewAdmin

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Living in Crete | Is it Hania or Chania or Xania for Χανια

Hania or Chania or Xania for Χανια ?
by Gerald Brown of BritsinCrete Portal

Is it Hania or Chania or Xania for Χανια ? Many times it is asked by Brits in Crete and other expats why there is not a single anglicised translation from Greek to English for proper names and for place names?

Before we get into this complex area, something of a quick backgrounder: Greek along with Chinese are the two longest surviving languages in the world today. Perhaps Chinese can be traced back 5,000 years while Greece, lesser so, may be 3,500 years. English by comparison is much younger, according to the online Encyclopaedia, Wikipedia and only goes back to Roman times, helped by German, Scandinavian (Norse, Danish), French and later Latin influences. If we Brits reflect our language origins, no wonder we are such an eccentric lot.

Anyway back to Greece and Crete.

When you have such a long linguistic history, politics inevitably plays its part. What survives political periods becomes the standard. Thankfully due to the longevity of Greek, the legal system in the country has case law studies going back centuries. That longevity can lead to confusion too. Often dictionaries or reference books are not consistent either.

One of the greatest living students of the Greek language is a Briton, Sir Geoffrey Horrocks, who has written what many regard as the definitive tome on the subject. Greek: A History of the Language and Its Speakers (Longman Linguistics Library). Addison Wesley Publishing Company, 1997. ISBN 0-582-30709-0 . For a quiet Crete reading moment perhaps?

For the purposes of this article though, let us keep it simple.

This is Crete, with its own multitude of dialects to start with. But that is another story for another day in its own right, but it does explain in part one of the most obvious examples of variations in place names is the subject of this article: Χανια or ΧΑΝΙΩΝ, the old capital of Crete.

In English the place name is written thus Xania, Chania or Hania.

The 'X" sound is a hard 'H' in Greek as though you are attempting to clear the back of the throat, hence the transliteration in Hania.

That leads us to "Chania" another favourite written form. Perhaps it has survived because the Crete locals pronounce the "X" as a "SHHH" (as in 'show') or the fact that Xania for several centuries was a trading city under Venetian rule. (Venetian or 'Venet' is to this day a regional dialect belonging to the famous port city).

The Venetians named Xania "La Chanea" and in Venet, was pronounced as La "Chania". This for me is odds-on favourite as to how we got to "Chania" used most frequently among Brits in Crete today. Just for good measure, in present day Italian, Chania is Candia!

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So far so good.

Now Chania is not to be confused with Candia, the old name for the present day capital of Crete - Heraklion (Ηράκλειο). The old Greek: Χάνδαξ or Χάνδακας, was taken from the Ottoman Empire days of Turkish rule and language when it was known as "Kandiye".

A similar Arab work taken from even earlier times was "khandak"
meaning moat (خندق, خندق مائي) was the name of the city back then. Anyway, Heraklio, Iraklio, Heraklion, Herakleion, Iraklion are all used today in English. Heraklion is the usual one.

Also, the Greek "H" is pronouced as "eee". Hence the variation between Heraklio or Iraklio in English.

Often, local Crete officials cannot make up their minds on whether to use one 'S' or two 'SS', in names. The Eastern Crete prefecture of Lasithi, (Νομός Λασιθίου or Λασίθι) is spelt in English either as Lasithi or Lassithi. Take your pick.

The same for Sisi or Sissi (Σίσσι) the beautiful little port on the north coast in the Vrahasi (Βραχάσι) Municipality... oops there I go again ... Vrahasi, or Vrahassi ... Postal deliveries reach the village using either version, just make sure the post code is correct, GR-72054 or GR-72400. It depends on the Greek postal authorities (Ελληνικά Ταχυδρομεία - Hellenic Post) whether there is a delay or not.

By-the-by, as of January 1, 2007, Vrahasi has its town hall back and local administration (το δημοτικό συμβούλιο). Vrahassi won the right against all odds for Athens to return to self governance to Vrahassi citizens instead of being subjugated to arch rivals in Neapolis. A David and goliath story if ever there was one.

Greek is what I call a literal language. The reason for the variations in spelling governs the way Greek transliterates into English, and can be seen in this example: Malia (Greek = Μάλια, Μαλίων = Malia Malion), the popular resort with British and Irish youth today. The first spelling is the place name as a noun and the second is the Greek way of saying 'of a place'. Thankfully the first part of the word, its root, stays the same, just the ending changes.

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Incidentally, Malia is one of the oldest inhabited areas of Greece and has a wonderful history dating back to the Neolithic period (6000-3000 B.C.). It has a fascinating archaeological site right on the coast and easily accessed.

Artifacts from the site are housed also in the museums of Heraklion and Agios Nikolaos.

Malia makes a great day outing either by KTEL bus or car. So you can see the archaeological site then take a swim next door at an E.U. Blue Flag beach in a sand dune covered area.

The museums should be considered on windy (red flag for swimming) days or less bright days.

Writing of language. In case you are adventurous linguistically, here is CRETE as written in a number of other languages. Take your pick from Arabic to Chinese.

ar:كريت, bs:Kreta, bg:Крит, ca:Creta, cs:Kréta, da:Kreta, de:Kreta, et:Kreeta, el:Κρήτη, es:Creta, eo:Kreto, eu:Kreta, fr:Crète, ko:크리티 지역, hr:Kreta, id:Kreta, is:Krít, it:Creta, he:כרתים, la:Creta, lv:Krēta, lb:Kreta, lt:Kreta, hu:Kréta, nl:Kreta, ja:クレタ島, no:Kreta, pl:Kreta, pt:Creta, ro:Creta, ru:Крит, sk:Kréta, sl:Kreta, sr:Крит, fi:Kreeta, sv:Kreta, tr:Girit, vec:Creta, zh: 克里特Crete.

Go to Main web site of BritsinCrete.
Go to the BritsinCrete Forum - where the Brits in Crete say it as they find it!

Living in Crete for the Brits in Crete in never dull if this little written diversion is anything to go by.

Gerald Brown of the Brits in Crete web portal is a long time British Expatriate resident, writer, and broadcaster.

February 2007

Copyright © Gerald Brown and BritsinCrete 2007

This article may be re-produced for use on other web sites in whole with all of the hyperlinks intact and copyright attributions, however permission must be requested and granted first from the author, Gerald Brown .

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BritsinCrete Forum | A Place for Ladies in Crete Only

Brits in Crete Forum has been going through several upgrades and improvements under new management since January 1, 2007.

The guys have their "Footy" board now the latest is the addition of a "For Ladies Only" board in Crete Forum.

Male members of the BritsinCrete membership are not allowed to post nor view the topics discussed in the Ladies' Board. So this truly is a "For Ladies Only" offering.

Traditionally we think of British expatriates as men first followed by their wives. Thankfully this is now NOT the case. So many of the expat couples setting up home in Crete are equal in every way.

The new Ladies Only section of the Brits in Crete Forum is a great place to explore new ideas and where to obtain specialist support. The Forum admin offers questions to be asked about thinner waistlines, podiatrists in Crete, where are there facial specialists in Crete, and where to get a PH test?

Crete has some of the best public and private health care in Greece. The same can be said for growing list of practitioners supplying beauty care, nail care, foot therapy, alternative medicines and the rest. It is just a question of finding it and who is practicing it. Do they speak another language apart from Greek or are they foreigners offering the service?

The pecularity of Greek social laws based on prefectorial government means that a professional is licensed to practice only in their local prefecture.

In Crete that means a lawyer for example can only handle cases in either Heraklion, Hania, Rethymnon or Lassithi - the four prefectures making up the island of Crete.
If they practise law in Lasithi for example and they need to appear in a court room in Iraklio, then they have to work with a local Iraklio lawyer. Complex isn't it?

Anyway, Crete is becoming much more sophisticated when it comes to women's beauty care and treatment. Heraklion is the most advanced, by sheer size of the population there. But Hania is fast developing and Aghios Nikoloas in Lasithi by virtue of its affluent residents has a surprisingly good choice for its official just 11,000 residents.

Many EU nationalities and their specialities such as in Raiki, Thai massage and aromatherapy techniques can have their qualifications recongised by the competent staff in the town hall in their area. Usually it means getting a translation of a certificate into Greek but not much more.

As long as treatment doesn't touch on the medical aspect, it should be a straight forward process. But Crete is Crete and always be ready to supply the unexpected document in support of any application for professional recognition.

Crete needs more beauty care specialists for the ladies.

The Brits in Crete Forum NewAdmin hope that more and more requests will be made to seek out the specialist in each area on the island by women in need. Living in Crete and working in Crete must afford more than just going to the local hairdresser. And the choice of services is widening up fast. Go there now to post your questions in the Ladies in Crete Board.

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BritsinCrete | Dying in Greece, Donkey Style

Living in Crete, is on this occasion, a tale of dying in Greece, Donkey style in the village of Limnes.

It was posted in the BritsinCrete Forum.

You should know that Donkeys, for centuries work horses for mountain villagers are a dying breed of animal on Crete, from where this true tale is told. And for the curious, a reminder that the 'dead weight' of a donkey is no mean thing...

"I wasn't quite sure where to put this next item - under the Funnies, Pets, or under General (community boards in the Brits in Crete Forum) or in the Thread "Will you really be happy in Crete?"

In the end, I decided that it warranted a thread of its own. It is after all a true story and I understand was actually reported in "Anatoli", the local (Neapoli, Lassithi) newspaper.......

A couple of weeks ago an old lady in our village discovered that her donkey had died overnight and had collapsed where it stood on the earthen floor of a room in her house. She approached one of the local villagers and asked if he could remove and dispose of the corpse. The villager replied that as the access to the room was awkward, he couldn't get a forklift truck or similar vehicle into the building...."

So what is the old lady to do with a dead donkey in Crete? Find out, it is quite amusing, fascinating and true.

BritsinCrete web master thanks Brits in Crete member, Maurice of INCO, the non-profit Foreign Residents Association of Aghios Nikolaos, Lassithi, Crete for sharing this Living in Crete anecdote.

Brits in Crete web site is all about the reality of living in Crete for the expat.

Tag: Living in Crete, donkey story, Crete, dying in Crete, corpse, INCO, Aghios Nikolaos, Limnes, Lassithi, Crete

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