efcharisto poli ellada! (thank you very much greece!)

in honor of my recent trip to greece, my next few blog entries will be all about the lovely country of ellada, now one of my favorite destinations. i'm going to start with some random observations about greece/greeks and lessons i learned during my travels (in no particular order) :

1. greeks raise their eyebrows and do the "nooch" to say no, just like iranians
2. greeks like asking "where are you from?"
3. there are a lot (really, a lot) of stray cats and dogs
4. not everywhere has a ticket office by the port (i.e. mykonos)-- be warned! get your ferry tickets in town!!
5. if you are going straight to the islands upon arrival, consider flying (not taking the ferry)
6. a greek salad is also called a "greek salad" in greece (as opposed to just "salad")
7. mykonos is big on art and has some of the most unique jewelery
8. there may be more italians in greece than greeks
9. for having the highest smoking rate in the world, i really didn't see that many smokers
10. the evil eye is even bigger in greece than it is in turkey
11. cab drivers in athens will refuse to take you where you want to go simply because they are lazy
12. greeks are very generous- almost every restaurant gives you something "on the house"
13.... or else they completely forget about you once you've ordered
14. black beach in santorini has sand hotter than fire- do not take off your flip-flops
15. trying to get on and off the ferries is like survival of the fittest
16. you can't throw toilet paper in the toilet (at least on the islands and piraeus)
17. astra apartments and suites in santorini is the best place to stay in all of greece
18. galini cafe is the best cafe in santorini
19. american tv shows are all in english with greek subtitles
20. parakalo seems to be a universal word meaning please and your welcome; you answer the phone "parakalo"; and it's also used to mean "yes/please" in the sense of what can i do for you/may i help you- much like the farsi "befarmoin"