Faces of Modern Athens in Autumn.

16 Dec '06 10:38 pm

Jacqueline , your comments are really heartwarming! This last visit was rather stressful and physically tiring for me , and, yes, my presence in the nice places I share with you , sort of uplifted my ...downwards spirits...And why not sharing Athens with more friends through your website...

18 Dec '06 6:16 pm

Dear Liza -

It took a while but eventually I've read your answer to my question. Thank you!( I find some strings don't send me a reminder email when there are new posts - does it happen to you as well sometimes?)

Here's an etymological story: In this last exam I gave my Ninth Grade the word cenotaph's etymology as the word appeared in a passage in the exam: "from Greek kenos=empty + taphos=tomb" Then I said the prefic 'epi-' means 'upon'. Figure out what an epitaph is and use it in a sentence to show its meaning. Disaster! Despite all the etymology I have done with them, I got sentences like 'We eventually found him in the cemetry where he was lying drunk epitaph.'

There are a few Erythrina indigenous to South Africa. They are often heart-stoppingly spectacular, medium-sized trees flowering with their large Chinese laquor red flowers when all around them in the wild is in neutral shades of straw, grey and brown, with much the same effect that our winter-flowering aloes often have.

19 Dec '06 9:37 am

Jack! You expect of your seniors to answer correctly to the Greek language-based questions. Because you have prepared them properly. And you are a good teacher! And they prove to be a ...disaster! Imagine, that my Greek seniors could be as ...disastrous! Being examined on the same subject! I am really amazed of how some Europeans teach Ancient Greek literature and History in their public secondary schools as a compulsory lesson/subject! And I wonder, if Ancient Greek is difficult for the Greek spoken children, imagin the non-Greek spoken! Especially the Flemish Belgians here adore Greece, everything that is Greek, and teach Ancient Greek to their children! I do not know about the results, but I have seen the Greek words GYNAIKA (gi'neka) = WOMAN outside an exposition of women painters in a big Flemish town. I have seen the word EPIPLON ('epiplon) = FURNITURE, outside a Flemish shop selling modern furniture, and also the word OIKOS('ikos)= HOUSE in ancient Greek, outside a similar shop. And a huge Horticultural Industry I know is called AGORA = MARKET PLACE in Greek..But I do believe, anyway,that the Ancient Greek History and everything related belongs to all Humanity and not only to the modern Greeks...My husband pessimisticly believes, that modern Greeks have very little in common with their ancestors ; many open-minded Greeks believe, that this is very true..

Faces of Modern Athens in Autumn.

Coral trees and etymology

Greek disaster....