Items

• 2021-08-02

  From lockdown to Europe

  Traveling to another country has its difficulties and differences, especially when it happens after a worldwide lockdown. Seeing the way other countries operated in the wake of Covid-19 and the contrast of our own gave me a much larger point of view on how I process and see the entire world. Italy, Greece, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands. These places were just as impacted by Covid-19 just as much as the United States of America, yet they seemed to handle things remarkably different. A year or so before Covid hit, my family and I planned a cross country road trip spanning the brunt of Europe, which then would amalgamate into a 2 week cruise to see even more places. Long story short, it was a dream trip. Yet, Covid hit, and we feared we would not even get the chance to go. Luckily, lockdowns cleared up a few months before our trip, though people across the world were still wary of the virus. Going on the trip meant masks everywhere, which we were prepared for. Everywhere we went, everyone was polite, kind, kept their masks on and their own personal space, as did we. Now, this was not the first time I'd visited some of these places, but seeing them in the wake of a worldwide contagion left me with a new perspective and outlook.
• 0025-01-27

  Athens for a Month

  During the COVID-19 pandemic I determined to go back to college. At that time, in 2020, I was 38 years old. Most of my life I worked in construction and related industries. From 2009 to 2011, as a result of the recession, I completed two associate degrees; following which I promptly went back to work in construction. The pandemic posed an opportunity for me to continue my education. In the Fall of 2020, I began attending UCR. In the Spring of 2022, I graduated with a BA in Philosophy. Being a single father, I have not had many opportunities to travel due to financial constraints and time constraints. If I could travel anywhere on Earth, I would like to travel to Greece. I would not desire to travel a constrained and guided tour. I would not wish to have each step and location planned. Rather, I would like a couple months to saunter through the ruins in Athens, Particularly the Lyceum where I might find some hidden spot with a view, an alcove where I might imagine Plato and his musings, a place to sit and think deeply of the minds and thoughts of those people which lived there over two thousand years ago. During this time, I am likely to journal my thoughts as random ideas and questions enter my mind, a hobby I practice throughout everyday life. I would prefer to soak up a single place for weeks than to rush to see “everything”—in such a rush much is likely to be missed and much would remain unseen. I am 42 years old now. My daughter is 16 years old. Mayhap my dream of traveling to Athens will happen after I complete my MA History degree. Only the view of the Lyceum would include the sight of my daughter and my imaginings of her musings, as well.
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  2022-06-12

  Trip to Chania, Crete: Wedding of the Century for the Family

  This was the first travel for me and my family when COVID-19 restrictions relaxed to a thoughtful degree. This is important to me because it was a time that my extended family came together and the appreciation of that was heightened by the absence of togetherness through out the more critical time of the pandemic.
• 
  2020-04-30

  Greece: Coronavirus threatens fate of abandoned dogs

  Athens, Greece – As a nationwide lockdown enters its second month in Greece, animal rescue groups and shelters have become overwhelmed with the number of strays piling up in their facilities. Although dog adoption in central Athens and other urban city centres continues, as some seek companionship in the form of pets during the lockdown, international dog adoption from Greece to countries across Europe and the US has come to a standstill. A lack of resources means that shelters have been forced to stop taking in new strays, leading to more dogs on the street. It also means more dogs continuing to breed in the wild, which again increases the number of strays. Even before the coronavirus pandemic changed the nature of dog adoption in Greece, more dogs were being abandoned because people could no longer afford them and also due to a hunting culture.