There was yet another incident involving this Web site on Sunday, and it was necessary I remove it from public view for 48 hours while I set the proper action in motion and take a detoxification period. I choose not to say more at this time, but the truth will come out.

* Hat tip to VV, a longtime reader, and PM who put me in touch with a valuable connection

A few days ago, I found one of my articles copied and used word-for-word on another Web site without permission and without attribution to me as the person who researched, translated and wrote it. Sadly, this is not the first time I have been plagiarized and I know it won’t be the last, however it is the first time I’ve been plagiarized by a Consulate General of Greece.

That’s right — a diplomatic mission from Greece, representing Greece abroad.

Should they try to deny it, I can prove it belongs to me, have screen captures with their URL and told a few people to verify what I’m stating as the truth if I’m ever accused of lying. I cannot say what country it is, but thankfully it is not my own. I also cannot say I am surprised, but I am disappointed and sickened.

What would you do?

a) Write them a professional letter and ask them to give me credit or remove it, followed by a letter from a lawyer if they don’t.

b) Write them a nasty letter and demand they remove it.

c) Name and shame them and cc: a popular newspaper in their city and country.

d) A combination of the above.

e) Ignore it.

As I lean heavily toward option ‘A,’ I’m reminded of a Slate magazine article, “Eight reasons plagiarism sucks.”

* This has been published previously, but is being done again as a reminder to everyone who is a salaried worker with upcoming deadlines.

Tax deadlines in Greece are determined by the final digits of an individual’s AFM (tax) number and category of filing. If you are filing as a married couple on one form, the husband’s AFM is used to determine the deadline.

Forms are sent to the legal address indicated on last year’s form or can be picked up in person at any eforia (DOY). If you don’t know whether you need to file, you can consult “Who needs to file taxes in Greece” or ask direct by calling/visiting the eforia (DOY) nearest to your legal residence. Locations can be found here in English or any map book available at a periptero (kiosk).

Online filing in Greek only can be completed at taxisnet.gr with the recommendation of filing at least 5 days in advance of your deadline. Those filing past the deadline will incur a 1 percent penalty for each month on the amount due or a fine up to 1200 euros if exempt.

If you are a salaried worker, your employer should have provided you with the necessary taxis paper by the legal deadline of February 15.

Agricultural income - Farmers

Independent business owners and freelance workers with Category ‘C’ receipt books that closed November or December 2007

Income derived from participation in companies, with Category ‘A,’ ‘B’ and ‘C’ receipt books that closed in November or December 2007, in addition to representatives, agents and members who do not live in Greece but derived income from participation in companies and are obligated to submit a tax filing

Salaried workers, pensioners, and foreigners/residents living abroad deriving an income in Greece

Important note

Please note that I am not an employee of the Greek state and cannot give tax advice. I once completed my own forms by translating tax instructions, but for the past 5 years I have employed a competent accountant who files my forms for a small fee.

If you need to file a form in the USA, the deadline of April 15 has passed. However, filing is easily done online.

Source

- Dates and information were translated from Greek to English using the handbook accompanying tax forms

- Other information was gathered from 11 years of my experience with the eforia and completing my own tax forms

Lamb spits are in full spin mode for Easter this morning, but to us it’s just another day. In fact, I’m even working.

Easter in Athens

My fiancé opted to lie about our whereabouts this week to escape going to his dad’s village for Pascha (Easter). I don’t agree with lying, but it wasn’t my choice to make. Because we refused to be controlled and I didn’t like the idea of being paraded around church as the exotic American, we went to his mom’s village last year (see, “My village or yours“). Therefore, we were plied with guilt for the past year democratically obligated to attend the three-day Egg-stravaganza in his dad’s village this year. Attending the Christmas “thing” and dedicated dinners apparently counts for nothing.

The Pascha “thing” is different than the Christmas “thing,” namely because the theme of death continues past Christ’s resurrection at midnight Saturday. My fiance’s cousin was hit by a drunk driver and died tragically many years ago, so Aunt Eleni has forbidden all music, dancing and general merriment of any kind on Pascha Sunday. I’m told that it’s just a bunch of relatives eating, dispensing unsolicited advice, fighting, sleeping and starting the cycle over again. We get that on a regular basis already around the theme, “Where’s my grandchildren?” except without the traffic and 5-hour drive.

So instead of waking up in the village this morning to the sound of goat bells, I woke up to the sound of my landlords screaming, hammering and setting up a spit that has been groaning and squeaking for hours. The dog downstairs appears a bit nervous right now, presumably because he sees a roasting carcass that looks something like him.

You also wouldn’t know we’re in the southern suburbs of Athens. People from congested neighborhoods have come by bus or car and taken to our streets, beaches and roadside patches of land to start fires and create their own Pascha, which explains why the air is wrought with smoke even though our neighborhood is empty.

Holy programming

Anyone who has ever watched TV in Greece during Holy Week knows that there is virtually no regular programming at night, just movies with a biblical theme, and Solomon, Claudius, Caesar, King David. I like tunics and cassocks as much as the next girl, but every night on every channel of every hour? After seeing three crucifixions in one night, my fiancé said he was “Jes’d” out.

On the “news” last night, I was appalled by how a TV hostess exchanged her supposed star presence in a village for a free Paschal vacation, then demanded that all residents roast their lamb indoors and hide their red eggs because she doesn’t like them. This was followed by a plethora of footage about taking the light.

To Fos

It occurred to me that nearly everyone I know has a “taking the light” story.

The first one I heard was about Pavlos’ father. Before firecrackers were banned during Holy Week (though I assure you it’s alive and well), Pavlos’ father had various parts of his body burned and refused to get the light after enduring too many years of this. But because they are firm believers in tradition, Pavlos’ mother ended up locking him out of the house until he went.

In Yannis’ village, the masses bum rushed the priest when he appeared with the light and put it out. Putting out the light is bad, in case you didn’t know. The next year, the priest refused to come out of the church and scolded everyone from behind the door about their behavior the previous year. The mayor stepped forward and convinced the priest to let him in, and the light appeared after negotiations ended. The priest agreed to come out only if everyone stayed in their positions and respectfully took the light in an orderly manner. It’s been peaceful ever since.

Someone attending Nikos’ church grabbed the light from the priest and ran off with it one year, so a decision had to be made to light another or forget the whole thing. After some discussion, another was lit, but somehow the moment was lost.

My fiancé told me that in his dad’s village, people are so aggressive that they once kicked down the church door when the priest was hesitant to come out.

Why all this fuss for the light? In addition to what it symbolizes, the first person to take the light is said to be blessed more than others for the whole year.

I think we’re all blessed if we believe we are, and that’s that

Christos Anesti!

“Pascha reveals the spiritual truth that all things renew eternally. There is no loss without a gift to take its place, no pain without joy, no death without resurrection. Things change and challenges test our resolve, but Spring reminds us that new life is always ready to break forth. We must roll in the ashes of the past to celebrate the hope of a Phoenix rising, take risks and make hard choices to welcome a more authentic and joyful experience.”
– Rip Kastaris, artist and friend

The words I share with you come from an e-mail sent to me years ago, after I’d lost both my parents suddenly, was let go from my job, robbed within weeks of returning to Greece and had a mere .50 to my name. Because I no longer had a computer or money to visit an Internet cafe, it would be a month before I read these words, and I’ve found comfort and inspiration in them at least a few times since.

I revisit them today not for me, but for friends worldwide who have suffered much since the start of 2008 and were generous enough to share their pain and loss with me. Though death has been an intimate part of my life since I was 10, I will never pretend to know how anyone feels, nor conjure the perfect thing to say because each loss is uniquely personal. All I can do is love my friends, pray for their peace and healing, and keep kind thoughts in my head as they forge new chapters in their lives.

“The secret of happiness is freedom. The secret of freedom is courage” - Thucydides

I also revisit them for friends who have much to celebrate. As a testament that there is no death without resurrection, I have learned in the last days that the time to say goodbye to three friends is a reality. All are from California, all are Greek-American, all have decided to leave the cradle of Greece and return to careers, homes and futures in America. In hearing them talk about ‘why’ — which I know too well — the conversation is comfortable, but also difficult because the frustration surrounding my overdue and now complicated departure then surfaces. Pain somehow becomes more palatable when you are looking into the eyes of someone who mirrors your own. Yet, in the sadness of no longer having them here, something greater will be gained, namely the happiness and growth they deserve and everything good this journey called life has to offer.

Pascha is not only a time to mark the death of Christ and His resurrection, but also a time to reflect on our own resurrection.

Kali Anastasi!

* I dedicate this post to my friends NK, SN, JP, RK, RO, JG, N and RB, and DN, MM and NK.