Author: Angela Zafiris

Hello! I'm a Artist/Writer/Photographer who lives in Athens, Greece. I have many creative ways from writing, photography, collage art, mixed-media art and poetry. I love sharing my work with people from all over the world through my blog.

Poisonous Plant-Toξικο Φυτο!!

As I was taking a few photos in my backyard I noticed a white flower that I had never seen before. I was curious and I intuitively  decided to take a photo of it. But, not only did I photograph it, but I did a search for the flower on the internet.  To my surprise I discovered that I had an extremely toxic flower in my garden.  I asked my mother where this plant came from.  She said that she was given the seeds on her recent visit to  Canada.  The flower has many names;  jimson weed, stink weed, devils’ trumpet and loco weed etc. The whole plant is toxic not just the seeds.  One can go mad  and have hallucinations and other psychotic symptoms. There have even been cases of hospitalizations and deaths from the comsumption of this plant. Even smelling the plant and breathing into it for too long can cause a person to experience hallucinations.  In Greece, a family was admitted to the hospital when they had accidentally mixed the toxic plant with other weeds (that Greeks normally eat) and consumed it.  Some teenagers use the plant as a recreational drug by eating the seeds or drinking teas made from the plant, but it’s very dangerous because the side effects are unpredictable.  These plants can be found in your garden from bird droppings or by roadsides and wastelands. Get rid of it if you find it!  It looks like I have a lot of weeding to do this weekend!

Στην Ελλαδα το ονομαζουμε ‘βρομοχορτο’ οπως το ‘στινκ ουιντ’ στα Αγγλικα λογο τις ασχημης μηρουδιας που εκπεμπει το φυτο.

A Bee Problem!

Yesterday, I felt  brave, so I decided to finally get rid of these bees.

I thought of not harming them.  I first decided to get rid of them naturally. I had read that bees detest the smell of burning coffee beans, so I put some beans on a piece of  aluminum foil, then I lit a match and placed it in the coffee beans. One of the beans started to burn.  A lot of smoke came out, and I stood underneath the beehive and wafted the smoke toward the beehive. The bees did seem annoyed by the smell and they remained still.  But, suddenly,  it got very windy so I had to abandon this plan.  I was feeling restless. So, I just grabbed the mosquito spray. I made sure to wear light coloured clothing-dark colours annoy them. I hid in the corner and sprayed the hive just once.

After spraying the beehive with bug spray I ran inside. Within a few minutes all the bees had dropped dead. Except maybe two that had hidden behind the hive. These two bees were buzzing around looking for me. The two bees went to the other corner and they were going to build another hive again-they really are relentless and hard-working. I got someone else to spray them head on.

With a painter’s spatula, I scraped the hive off of the wall. It was very easy and the hive was as light as a paper. I then burnt the beehive to prevent the bees from coming back to it.

I washed the wall with some soap and water and cleaned out any remaining pieces of the beehive.

Mission Accomplished!!

A View From The Top/Η θέα Aπό Ψηλά

Πριν απο δυο ημερες κατεβηκα στο κεντρο της Αθηνας και καθησα στη ταρατσα ενος καφε στο Συνταγμα. Η θεα ηταν πολυ ωραια. Δεν εχω δει ποτε την πολη απο τοσο ψηλα. Μου εκανε εντυπωση ποσο πρασινη και καθαρη φαινοτανε η Αθηνα.

A couple of days ago I went downtown and I sat at a roof top café at Syntagma square. The view was beautiful I had never seen the city from above. I was surprised by how green and clean the city looked.

Travel Advisory: Beware of Greeks Bearιng.. Misery*

 

It’s summertime in Greece, and when you live in a country with its hot sun, and beautiful beaches, what else do you need?  Well, there is something else that starts with an ‘M’ and ends with a ‘Y’…Money!  Every year, specifically late in the spring, Greeks ask me where I am planning to go for vacation.  Going to mom and dad’s remote villages doesn’t count. You have to go to an expensive and glamorous island. This year no one is asking anyone that question. If you do you then are a delusional fool. The tragic events in early May:  the  protesting, fires and subsequent deaths and Greece ‘surrendering’ to the IMF bank has effected people’s moods and pay checks this summer.

Greece,  was never a rich country-of course it is rich in history, but there was always problems and conflicts.  In my opinion, Greece has seen worse days, so what’s with the misery? There is more talk of death than life, as if death would be our only saving grace since it is the only sure thing.  The modern Greek people seem to have become goth or emo,  just ask the many tourists who have come to Greece before and have seen a big difference upon their visit to Greece this year. The tourists say ‘misery is not very becoming to the Greeks’ this is due to the fact that Greeks are viewed by foreigners as a happy-go-lucky people. They’re happy because they sing and dance and eat and talk, talk and talk. 

I want to tell those people that it’s hard to eat and dance on shaky ground ( I’m not talking about earthquakes when I mean shaky ground) There is an air of instability world-wide. These are hard times and only a lucky few will be dancing the ‘Sirtaki’ on Greek beaches this summer.

* Taken from the phrase “Beware of Greeks bearing gifts” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeo_Danaos_et_dona_ferentes