I’ve been putting it off for a while, but today was the time to bridge what is possibly the greatest cultural divide between my homeland and my adopted Greece. Yes, it was time to try Greek iced coffee. (dum-de-dum-dum-dummm!)

Now, you might think I’m making a big thing of this, but in the past I have been known to be quite the coffee fascist. I have a particular way I like it in the UK, a kind of a cross between a double macchiato and a dry cappuccino. Woe betide any barrista who crosses my path and can’t rise to the challenge. So, you can imagine my shock, sadness, outrage ( OK I’m overdoing it a bit now) when I first encountered the phenomenon of Greeks and their obsession with iced coffee.

It might just be a personal thing, but I’m a firm believer that both tea and coffee should be drank hot. Iced tea, sorry, I just don’t get it. Iced coffee, hmmm, …. the work of the devil as far as I’m concerned. So why do they love it so much. As much as the Brits love a cuppa, the Italians an expresso, iced coffee is the shizzle in Greece.

My cultural ambassador informs me there are 3 sinister blends to consider. Espresso fredo (above), cappuccino fredo and frappe.  Having nothing to lose, I took the plunge and ordered the espresso version. So what’s the verdict? Well, pretty much what you’d expect. Tasted like a triple espresso topped up with water and loads of ice cubes. On the positive, it was nice and strong. That was about it. No other redeeming factors.

My intelligence informs me the frappe is particularly obnoxious, containing a seizure-inducing amount of Nescafe instant coffee, served in a pint glass with loads of ice. As irresistible as it sounded I had to give it a miss.

So why do the Greeks love this stuff so much? I’ve no idea but I have my theories. The iced coffee here is so strong it’s like sipping a Red Bull. You can’t gulp it down or your head would start spinning around like the girl in the exorcist. People sit for literally hours in the cafes here with a single frappe. It’s the perfect tipple in a crisis ridden economy. One drink lasts for a whole day, or three sips in my case.

Words of the day:

• πράγμα – thing/object – (prag-ma)
• νόμος – law – (no-mos)
• ήλιος – sun – (eel-i-os)
• δύσκολο – difficult -(this-kolo)
• εύκολο – easy – (ev-kolo)
• παρόμοιο – similar -( pa-rome-ee-o)
• πάρα πολύ -too/too much – (pa-ra pol-ee)

I didn’t leave the house today. Or more accurately, I stayed in my office whilst the folks went to the beach. Being a ‘knowledge worker’ ( I hate that term) it doesn’t really matter where I ply my trade, be it on the beach, in an underground bunker or my fav, a coffee shop with comfy armchairs. As long as I have a wifi connection I can carry on the work of Mammon.

But today, I had to forfeit sea and sand in exchange for Skype and spreadsheets. I figured the sound of crashing waves and screaming kids wouldn’t give the right impression over a conference call. The upshot of a day deprived of diving into the Med is that my brain has started to regress back into a “London-go-go-go-stress-hormone” mode. I’m wary of taking on even more projects while I’m away but while there are no work prospects over here for the foreseeable few decades, I have to embrace every opportunity that comes my way.

So as the play/work dynamic starts its inevitable transformation, the seasons seems to be following suit too. Today I felt a new sensation. Accompanying the usual relentless battering from the Mediterranean sun, an occasional brisk wind from the mountains in the north-west signalled that summer would soon be drawing to a close. Quite apt seeing as we only have two weeks left before Mr Bump is due to make his world premiere. I’m so excited….

On to today’s words:

• κοιμάμαι – I sleep – (kee-mah-may)
• μαχαίρι – knife – (ma-hyeri)
• βουνό – mountain – (voo-no)
• μωρό – baby – (mor-oh)
• παράθυρο – window – (pa-rath-iro)

Want to know a secret? OK, it’s time to spill the beans. WE’RE HAVING A BABY!!! OK, it’s out in the open now. Yes, the whole reason for me being here in Greece is that T can be with her friends and family as we two becom three.

The clock is ticking very quickly, we’re in week 38 now, Mr Bump has grown to the size of a basketball and nerves are starting to rattle ever so slightly.

Today we went for a weekly check-up in the (not so) local hospital in Kalamata. Getting used to the health system here has been, let’s say, enlightening. The labyrinthine system of health insurance means that, as a Greek citizen, depending on your previous employment history, contributions etc, you have the potential to choose a public hospital or a private clinic.

After visiting a couple of private doctors with varied results, we ended up at the public hospital in Kalamata. Everything really is so different here, too much to go into detail now, but my initial apprehensions and prejudices  have been put aside, and now it’s time to just get on with the show.

The truth is, I’m very happy with the care we’ve had so far. In the UK, you deal with mid-wives through-out your pregnancy. Over here, you get to see a doctor at every appointment. The staff are friendly, jovial and professional despite being very busy. Maybe it’s the laid back Kalamata vibe, but the whole place seems calm and quite stress free, exactly the kind of environment you want your child to be born in.

As you’re probably aware, public services are being stripped away by the austerity measures, the latest development being the discussion of a 6-day working week, however, life, just carries on here, business as usual. And I’m heartily grateful to all the doctors, nurses and staff that have brought us this far.

Today’s words in Greek:

• επικίνδυνο – dangerous – (epee-kin-thee-no)
• μετά – next – (meh-ta)
• έχει πολύ κόσμο – it’s busy (lit. there are many people ) – (ehee pollee -koz-mo)
• είναι ήσυχα – it’s quiet – (ee-nay ee-see-ha)
• κρεβάτι -bed -(kre-vah-tee)
• ντους – shower – (doos)
• δεν είμαι σίγουρος – I’m not sure – (then ee-nay sig-oo-ross)
• βοήθεια -help – (vo-ith-ee-ah)

20 years ago, my beloved London, was home to Cardboard City, a mini metropolis in the pedestrian subway by Waterloo Station . The cardboard in question constituted the ‘homes’ of the homeless, who gathered here for shelter, solidarity and proximity to the soup kitchens. Now a giant IMAX cinema has taken its place, the homeless have disappeared, or maybe dispersed to less visible parts of the city.

Homelessness, once an alien concept in this part of the world, has risen alarmingly in Greece since the economy started to nose dive. Bums, junkies and hobos have multiplied. And in Athens, middle class families have been selling their possessions on the streets, not so they can pay the rent, but to buy food to feed their families.

But here in Mani, a paradox resides. As poverty and austerity grips the nation even tighter, here, everywhere you look, the seemingly barren landscape offers up an abundance of sustenance for free. Served up by nature and nurtured by the climate, in the fields, by the roadside, at the sea, there’s food lying around, just for the taking.

Fig trees everywhere spill their ripe fruit all over the roadside. Pomegranates lie strewn on the path, neglected by all except the wasps. Olive trees, ubiquitous, cover every part of the land, farmed or neglected. Wild greens, (horta) the kind you’d pay handsomely for at the Whole Food Store, grow like weeds. Today, at the beach a young guy clambered over the rock pools with a kitchen knife and a carrier bag full of sea-urchins, ripe for picking after the blue moon two days ago.

Yes, it’s my romantic, Northern European view of a simple Mediterranean rural idyll, but you know what, this is how it is. We’ve got figs here to feed an army, prickly pears -forget it – nobody can even be bothered to harvest them. I love my food, and it’s in abundance here. Fresh, local, organic, taste-mongous, and absolutely free if you just open your eyes.

Here’s my words I learnt today:

• δοκίμαζω –  I try – (tho-kim- azo)
• μπερδεμένο – complicated – (bear-the-meno)
• μοιάζει με… – looks like – (mee- azee-may)
• λίγο ακόμη/ και άλλο – more (ligo-akomi/ keh-allo)
• γιατί όχι; – why not? – (yatty – ohee)
• θυμάμαι – I remember – (thi-ma-may)
• βάζω – I put –(va-zo)
• αν – if – (an)
• προς – towards – (pross)