Anastasia

Healthy Eating Habits For Children

I came across a very interesting post the other day at Ayala's Herbal Water in which she suggests some useful tips on how to get children to eat fruit and vegetables. I think she has a point when she says that children copy adults, so it is as clear as daylight that children won't eat F&V if the parents are meat lovers, like most parents in my country, or if they give in to their children's wishes to have pizza or a MacDonald's meal every other day.

In Cyprus, a very serious effort has been made recently to include fresh fruit and vegetables as alternative snacks to chocolate, ice cream, crisps, cheese pies or doughnuts during school recesses. Unfortunately, children ignore the fruit and veggies and would rather give their pocket money for a packet of crisps instead of a banana or cola instead of fruit juice! On the other hand, I was very happy to hear that most playschools provide the parents with a list of snacks for their children to bring to school, such as apples, bananas, oranges and brown bread sandwiches with tomato, cucumber and low-fat cheese and ham. You may smile but I think that a child needs to get used to healthy eating habits at a young age.

Despite these efforts, there are still a lot of obese children in Cyprus aged 8-12. To me, an obese child will almost invariably grow into an obese adult although once in their teens, things seem to change. Many teenagers - especially girls- go on extreme diets in an effort to look like Beyonce and, as a result, they become victims of various eating disorders.

Depriving children of their favourite foods is also wrong. Once a week , they can have their favourite junk food , their favourite sweet, their favourite ice cream. But getting used to eating F&V at a very young age - as young as the age of three - children will grow into happy, healthy adults who will never have to go on diet simply because they eat a little bit of everything.

S as in Summer

Almost invariably, at this time of year and just as the school year is about to end, I begin to dream of sandy beaches, crystal clear blue waters and candlelit dinners under the stars. I also can't wait to get rid of coats, jumpers, boots and leather jackets and put on shorts and T-shirts, strappy sandals and cool sundresses. As the days draw out, a lighter mood and a more playful attitude awaken the daydreamer in me and I often feel like taking a walk down  memory lane bringing back all the carefree, happy summers of my childhood marked by a three-week family trip in Europe by car. I still remember how amused I was at 11 as dad had to drive on the right with the steering wheel also on the right! But he never got confused, so we enjoyed our trip through Greece, former Yugoslavia, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, France, Italy and then back to Greece by ferry from Brindisi, Italy. 

What I also find amazing in summer is that so many English words beginning with  S relate to this season in one way or another - such as sun, sunshine, sand, suncream, sunbathe, sea, summer pudding, summertime,swimming, sundress, sunhat,sunstroke, suntan, sea breeze, sarong - not to mention only a few Greek islands as ideal destinations for a summer holiday: Santorini, Skiathos, Sifnos, Skyros, Spetses, Salamina, Samos, Strofades, Samothraki, Syros, Serifos, Skopelos, Symi, Schinousa. I've already visited most of these islands and brought back home precious memories and souvenirs - especially from Skiathos, Syros, Spetses, Symi and Skyros - my grandmother's island. 

Summer, of course, is also a child's favourite season. When school breaks up, children are delirious! George Halkousis knows that only too well. He is the owner of Extreme Park in Lakatamia, Nicosia - a real paradise for children, not only in the summer but all year round.  

All photos: @anastasia.marou

                                                                                                            

Don't Say Cheese!

CANBERRA (Reuters) - An Australian woman who ran down and killed a man who threw cheese-flavoured snacks at her car was jailed Thursday for 25 years.

Sydney woman Sarah May Ward intended to injure Eli Westlake for throwing the snacks at her vehicle, judge Roderick Howie told the New South Wales Supreme Court, describing the 21-year-old's murder as "a senseless act of anger."

"She clearly wanted to teach the young men a lesson," the Australian Associated Press quoted judge Howie as saying as he sentenced Ward to jail for a minimum 18 years.

The jury was told Ward, 39, had drunk two bottles of wine and used cannabis, amphetamine drugs and anti-depressants before getting into her car in Sydney's northern suburbs on June 7, 2008.

She decided impulsively to use the vehicle as a weapon after Westlake threw the snacks at her car as a joke while walking home with his brother and a group of friends.

The judge said while there was more involved than Westlake's brother and friends claimed, an "incensed" Ward had driven directly at Westlake after a brief physical altercation with the group, running him over and killing him.

Ward told the court she had been scared of the group and hit the car's accelerator by mistake while trying to get away.

(Reporting by Rob Taylor; Editing by Miral Fahmy)

via uk.reuters.com

Tomatoes and eggs would have probably cost her a life sentence! 

Cactus Flower

“Who wants to become a writer? And why? Because it's the answer to everything. To ''Why am I here?'' To uselessness. It's the streaming reason for living. To note, to pin down, to build up, to create, to be astonished at nothing, to cherish the oddities, to let nothing go down the drain, to make something, to make a great flower out of life, even if it's a cactus.”

 Enid Bagnold quotes (English Writer, 1889-1981)

Cacti are symbols of patience, endurance, persistence and nostalgia for the days of yore. ~ Unknown Author

And so are mine. My cacti reflect a part of my personality - I'm a very patient person, otherwise I wouldn't be a teacher! My endurance is above average and I believe that persistence makes success and, yes, my cacti evoke some kind of nostalgia for the "days of yore".Naturally, I let nothing go down the drain - not even some olive oil from leftovers as I have been recently told by my plumber that letting any kind of oil go down the drain can cause severe damage and eventually block it!

A year ago, I hated my cacti as they never seemed to grow! I'm quite wreckless at types of plants and unable to remember their names. Cactus is a catchy plant name - one more reason why I love it!  Cacti are also known as low maintenance plants as they require little attention for their healthy growth. I was told that they need to be exposed to adequate sunshine, so I moved them from my study room to the terrace. The good thing is that we've got plenty of sunshine for about 9 months a year. They grow very slowly and need little watering and they do grow better in clay pots! 

I'm sorry you can't see clearly the gorgeous orange flower that suddenly grew on one of my cacti. I'm afraid the lenses of my camera betrayed me!  That little orange flower reminded me of one of the greatest films I've ever seen - "Cactus Flower" directed by Gene Saks and starring Ingrid Bergman and Walter Mattahau. That's one of the best movies Hollywood has ever produced. A dentist pretends to be married to avoid commitment, but when he falls for his girlfriend and proposes, he must recrute his nurse to pose as his wife. Ingrid Bergman plays the nurse who sees, at last a flower growing next to the cactus decorating her office.... Cacti might just as well be symbols of everlasting love. 

The Transition to Work

 

Most of my friends and family think I am  workaholic and to some extent this could be true. But when you love your work so much, you simply consider it to be one of your hobbies. To me, it's my most favourite hobby. Funnily enough, at the beginning of a school break such as Christmas, Easter or Summer, I am overwhelmed by a feeling of bliss and all I can think about is the exuberantly cheerful transition to leisure.

In my leisure time, I read the books that have piled up bearing the label: "to be read before September 2010." I am a bookworm and derive so much pleasure from reading literature, poetry and occasionally best sellers. I also go shopping , hang out with friends or just with my significant other, I certainly blog more often or  try some new recipe I've dug online.

But as soon as the holiday is over and I go back to work, my online time is limited to about an hour and often much less and I know I won't have time to finish the book I started reading a day or two before I had to go back to school again.  Yet, once there, I make a happy discovery! I realise how much I missed my kids - their laughter, their jokes, their pretty faces and their willingness to participate in various class activities.

So after an agreeable interval, I am back to my kingdom, back to my classes and soon afterwards I start planning the hardest part of the school year: final exams! And when exams are over, I start dreaming of the summer break!

Kissing in Public

(Reuters) - A Dubai court Sunday upheld a one-month jail sentence given to a British pair for kissing in public, media reports said.

Oddly Enough

The British man living in Dubai and a female friend were arrested in November on charges of kissing intimately in public and consuming alcohol. An Emirati mother had complained her child had seen their indiscretion.

The case is the third time in under two years that Britons have fallen foul of indecency laws in Dubai, a Muslim emirate popular with sun-seeking Western tourists and expatriates.

The defendants are consulting their lawyer on whether to appeal Sunday's ruling before a cassation court, the website of the daily Gulf News reported.

The pair, who had been free on bail, are also to pay a fine of 1,000 dirhams ($272) for illegal consumption of alcohol and will be deported after serving their jail term, the website said.

Dubai's foreign population expanded rapidly in recent years as expatriates flocked to the Gulf Arab trade and tourism hub for its tax-free earnings and year-round sunshine.

The changes have challenged the Emirati population, now vastly outnumbered by foreigners, raising concerns that the rapid pace of growth is a threat to their social and religious identity in what remains a deeply conservative region.

In 2008, a British couple narrowly escaped jail after a court found them guilty of engaging in drunken sexual activity out of wedlock and in public on a beach in the emirate.

They were sentenced to three months in prison followed by deportation, but had their jail terms overturned on appeal.

In another case this year, a British couple who shared a hotel room managed to escape trial in Dubai for having sex out of wedlock by producing a marriage certificate.

(Reporting by Firouz Sedarat)

via www.reuters.com

Be careful if you ever travel to Dubai! Don't kiss in public or you might just as well end up in prison!!!

Remembering Vasilis

His name was Vasilis Antoniades- alias Babylon. He lived in Athens, Greece and he was:

a) Possibly the greatest computer analyst in Greece.

b) A friend indeed !

He was the only person in this immense cyber world who helped me with ....silly machines such as  computers ! I had serious computer problems .  Hardly any RAM ....on Windows 98. I was desperate ! Then I told Vasilis. On the chat . Late at night ... I kept IMing  him ...inconherent sentences .. I was so overwhelmed with all these PC problems. My computer was playing up and I was at a loss what to do.

He asked me to click  remote help...but windows 98 did not have such a luxury! 

" Have you got a webcam ? " he asked. Needless to say that I felt like being ...very nasty ! But then he added:

" Can you open your cam and show me your ....monitor ?"

Taken by surprise ... I said " Yes , of course ! "

And so I did ..open the cam ...showing him ....the mess on my monitor ! Fortunately enough ... he didn't tell me off !  He gave me ...simple instructions how to deal with all that mess !  And this is only one  example ... He also helped for free thousands of people from all over the world solve their computer problems.

On April 8th 2006 at about this time - it was 11:00 pm in my area - I saw he was online on the chat. I IMed him teasing away as I usually did. Then I got this reply:

"Vasilis passed away. I'm his brother" Just for one split second, I thought it was a belated April Fool's Day prank. But it wasn't. His brother sent me a link ... It was the longest list of comments I had ever seen. More than one thousand people bidding their last farewell to Vasilis.

Vasilis had a heart of gold. I never met him in person, yet he will always be a very special friend. I know that Vasilis will live out in the hearts of everyone who loved him.

This post is dedicated to Vasilis' family and to all his online friends who really loved him. For love will always remain a part of him.

TypePad For Dummies

When I first heard of that book, I only wished it had been published when I joined TypePad in September 2004. I only had a vague idea then of what a blog was and, most importantly, I was unable to post a photo. All I managed to do on that first day was type out my post. And that was because TypePad had made it very easy for computer illiterate people like myself, right from the start!  I was also naive enough to ask for help from other more experienced users!! Naturally, I got no answer! So, I learnt the hard way - by clicking TypePad's Help section. At the beginning, I didn't even know I could submit a help ticket. I also discovered that through Help.

TypePad For Dummies is written by Melanie Nelson, founder of BloggingBasics101 and Shannon Lowe, author of Rocks in My Dryer. Written in layman's terms and, when necessary, explaining every single technical term, this book is a real jewel not only for TypePad members but also for any blogger. The book is divided in 18 chapters and  two Appendixes including Domain Mapping and Third Party Stat Counters. You are not supposed to read through the book; you can use it as a guide and skip chapters. Well I have read it through from beginning to end within 24 hours. I was really hooked. I could have skipped some chapters but I didn't as they also contain some useful information on how to use the new TypePad. Besides, it was a good review for me!

This is a great book- sold at a very reasonable price  $16.49- which I warmly recommend to all bloggers and to all TypePad members.  After all, we are all beginners on the new TypePad and there are great tips on Touring the TypePad Dashboard. You will also find tips on How to Write a Great Blog Post (p.104), on Podcasting Equipment (p.173), on Twitter Etiquette (p. 186) or on ...how to encourage readers to step out of the woodwork!(p.122) - to mention only a few.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading TypePad for Dummies and I honestly believe that this book is not just for Dummies! It's very useful to all bloggers whose inspiration derives from humility. As my illustrious ancestor Socrates once said: " Γηρασκω αει διδασκομενος" - I live and learn.

 

My Big Fat Greek Easter Feast!

In my part of the world, Easter is the greatest celebration of the year. After a week of fasting - for some people it's forty days - Easter Day marks the end of Lent and fasting. Having observed the Passion of Jesus Christ during the Holy Week, it is now the time to make merry to our heart's content and celebrate His glorious resurrection!! We almost invariably do that with a huge barbecue of various meats topped off with the "ovelias" - a whole lamb on a skewer and turning over coal.

Well, I'm not really a meat lover as the only meat I usually eat is chicken or turkey but I'm not a vegetarian either, so once a year I like to eat some of this tender lamb! We eat this with lots of freshly squeezed lemon juice and roast potatoes. This is the main course  preceded by two starters: a variety of salads and some "souvla" - a variety of meats  cooked on coal:

Believe it or not, I was unable to resist dessert! Ah right, I have the sweet tooth!

 I had a bit of everything! I loved them all....and didi not worry the least bit about calories!!! Diet starts together with the last school term on April 12!!!

I forgot to say that we also cracked our red eggs. I was the loser just after the Midnight Resurrection Mass on Saturday but the great winner on Easter Sunday Lunch! Unfortunately, my eggs didn't turn out to be a great success!

Naturally, for us Greeks Easter rhymes with dancing. I only wish I were a good enough dancer to join them!

More Photos

Photo and Video Copyright : Anastasia Marou

A Love Letter to the World

 

(Photo Credit - i29.photobucket.com/Epitaphios2007)

I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world ~ Mother Teresa

Funny how I always think of these words on Holy Friday. Being a Greek Orthodox I've never quite understood why Holy Friday is also called Good Friday. Certainly, it wasn't a good day for Mary - Jesus' mum. Her lamentations are heartbreaking

Ω γλυκυ μου εαρ γλυκυτατον μου τεκνον

(Oh my sweet offspring, my sweet child)

Virgin Mary suffered her son's loss like an ordinary mother who mourns for her son's loss. The king of kings,however, did not hesitate to wash his disciples' feet just before his betrayal by Judas and his Crucifixion.

And while Jesus' mother was lamenting, while He was still on the Cross, He did find the strength to whisper: 

Πατερ αφες αυτοις, ου γαρ οιδασι τι ποιουσι

(Father, forgive them for they do not  know what they are doing)

When someone in our family dies, we often ask ourselves what their last words were. Most of us want to know if we really understood how much we loved them!

Shakespeare once wrote in his play Richard II…The tongues of dying men--Enforce attention like deep harmony--Where words are scarce--They are seldom spent in vain--For they breathe truth--That breathe their words in pain.

Jesus' words in pain breathe truth and they should be a lesson of unconditional love.

Happy Easter!