I can’t believe how fast this trip has gone by, but at the same
time I feel like I’ve been in Greece for months. I have been picking up
on the language really quickly and have been using it at the shops and
at dinner. I love the people and culture here, and am going to be very
sad to leave it. This morning we had another lecture over livestock
production in Greece and once again it’s all new information.
The strangest thing that we learned during this lecture was the cap that was placed on milk production. Our professor couldn’t give us a clear idea on why the government passed this thirty years ago, but they made a cap on dairy production throughout the EU. Therefore, before the cap was placed farmers were making too much dairy, and currently aren’t able to create enough to support themselves. I can’t even explain how this makes sense.
There are so many questions that come to mind. For example, how did the government come up with numbers that made sense for every country in the EU, and why did everyone just accept it? Surely someone could have thought this was a bad idea? My hope for Greece is that they can learn to produce in a way that works for them so that they can support themselves without bowing down before impossible regulations.
We then headed off for a wine tasting at the winery production unit on campus. The wine was quite different as it was infused with pine resin. If anything Greece has given me a deep appreciation for sweet red wine. We then were blessed to be able to have a nap and then Pantelis ordered us lunch. We got pita club sandwiches from a Greek fast food place. Even the fast food here is so fresh and a million times healthier than anything you’re going to find in America. I’m scared about how my stomach is going to react to so much processed food when I get home.
After this we headed to a dance lesson with the sweetest Greek lady and had a blast. Greeks go out of their way to make sure you are comfortable and having a good time, and it always means so much to me. I love these people and am going to miss them. We then headed out for our last night on the town.
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The strangest thing that we learned during this lecture was the cap that was placed on milk production. Our professor couldn’t give us a clear idea on why the government passed this thirty years ago, but they made a cap on dairy production throughout the EU. Therefore, before the cap was placed farmers were making too much dairy, and currently aren’t able to create enough to support themselves. I can’t even explain how this makes sense.
There are so many questions that come to mind. For example, how did the government come up with numbers that made sense for every country in the EU, and why did everyone just accept it? Surely someone could have thought this was a bad idea? My hope for Greece is that they can learn to produce in a way that works for them so that they can support themselves without bowing down before impossible regulations.
We then headed off for a wine tasting at the winery production unit on campus. The wine was quite different as it was infused with pine resin. If anything Greece has given me a deep appreciation for sweet red wine. We then were blessed to be able to have a nap and then Pantelis ordered us lunch. We got pita club sandwiches from a Greek fast food place. Even the fast food here is so fresh and a million times healthier than anything you’re going to find in America. I’m scared about how my stomach is going to react to so much processed food when I get home.
After this we headed to a dance lesson with the sweetest Greek lady and had a blast. Greeks go out of their way to make sure you are comfortable and having a good time, and it always means so much to me. I love these people and am going to miss them. We then headed out for our last night on the town.
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Read more from Kyre at https://kyredeniceingreece.wordpress.com/blog/
Find our more about the U of A Faculty-Led: Food, Agriculture and Sustainability in Greece program at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/aggreece