Things Can Only Get Feta Review
Author Marjory McGinn gives a well written account about her adventure living in a quaint, rural hillside Greek village in the midst of the Greek crisis.
Born in Scotland, and living most of her early life in Australia, Marjory developed a passion for travel and writing. Her first visit to Greece was as a youth in Athens for a year. The travel and work trip was to turn into a life long interest with the country, its people and traditions. In 2000, on return to her homeland Scotland from Australia, she continued her career in writing and her stories have been published in top British newspapers such as the Daily Mail, The Times and Scotland's The Herald.
However, Marjory still had a longing to return to Greece a country she loves and wanted to get to know even better. Consequently in 2010 fed up with the bitter, cold winter in Scotland, U.K cut backs and a decline in the newspaper industry, Marjory, her partner Jim and their pet dog Wallace come to a decision to pack up and discover a new life in the beautiful, wild southern Peloponnese for a year.
An exciting venture lies ahead of them, but not without its dilemmas as a troubled Greece is falling into a deep economic crisis, and not everybody is a dog lover! Nevertheless, the book gives a true insight into settling into rural life in an unspoilt region of Greece and into the typical Greek locals' behaviour. In addition, the dilemmas of finding a house to rent that will accept a dog, buying a Greek car and finding a good dentist are problems that foreigners face when residing abroad. The book covers the diversity of how life is still lived for Greek's here and the difference in lifestyle between the expats with exclusive holiday homes to locals with small stone ramshackle houses who still work on the land and rely on livestock for a living.
The couple adapt to change in lifestyle and learn about the Greek way of life, and how Greek's are coping with the cut backs. It also includes dealing with the language, Scorpion invasions, the pungent feta cheese, local customs and mingling at the local tavern and making friends with the locals. The couple form a particularly special friendship with a local Greek woman "Foteini" who is a traditional goat breeder/herder and they learn about each others lives and see how different her life is in contrast to theirs. They help with her olive harvest the traditional way, and during the year form a close bond with her. This time spent learning a new way of life leaves them taking stock of their own lives and future happiness.
It is a candid, funny and heartfelt tale and a great read. So can things only get feta?
For more about this adventure and details on purchasing the book see Our Big Fat Greek Odyssey