Fulbright Greece/Bulgaria

I finished the year by meeting up with the two Fulbrighters who are the geographically the closest.  I had already planned to go to New Hampshire after Christmas to see Jill’s parents, so I contacted Ann and Mark to see if they would like to get together.  After a couple e-mails we decided to meet at the Athens restaurant in Manchester, N.H., about an hour and fifteen minutes from Keene.  The Athens is owned by a Greek family and serves authentic Greek food.  Ann and Mark had met there prior to our trip. I had never been to Manchester before.  I had to circle the downtown with its one way streets several times before I found Central Avenue and the restaurant.  Ann was already there, and Mark arrived soon after.  The food was good; the portions big.  Mark  selected an appropriate Greek red wine, of course. The three of us talked as if no time had passed.  We caught up on news we each had heard or read from Greece and Bulgaria.  We talked about the Greek riots that occurred near places we had visited like Syntagma Square in Athens and the Roman arches in Thessaloniki.  The riots seemed puzzling to us.  From our point of view, it seemed difficult to understand the reasons behind the violence in such an outwardly peaceful country. We felt that there must be underlying problems that sparked them.  And we also talked about the status of our projects.  Mark brought pictures from Greece and Bulgaria he had printed.  He let us chose our favorites to bring home with us.