CIC Meetings in December and January

The Rethymnon branch of the Cretan International Community meets on the first Thursday of every month at Svea’s Konditori, Kapetan Lemonia 3, Rethymnon, from 11am. The December meeting will take place on Thursday 04/12/08, and the January meeting will take place on Thursday 08/01/09. Everyone, regardless of membership status is welcome to attend. The CIC coffee mornings are a great way to meet others from the international community, and to find out about up-and-coming local events.

The local coordinator for the Rethymnon branch of the CIC is Anna Capernaros. Anna may be reached on 28310 57305. The President of the CIC is Eva Smith, her contact number is 6979 775400. You can find further information about the CIC organization itself on the www.thecic.eu website.

Christmas Charity Bazaars

The annual CIC charity bazaar will be held on Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th December in the Old Customs House in Hania - proceeds will be going towards ‘Megaloharis’ - Day Centre for Autistic Children, and ‘Odikip’ - the Gift of Love.

On Saturday 6th December, Friends of Animals (FAR) will be hosting their annual Christmas Bazaar. This will take place from 10am until 6pm at the ‘#2’ Primary School in Rethymnon (diagonally opposite the town hall). To make donations or book a table at €20, please call: Clodagh 6945170226 or Christina 6977130981 (in English), Antje 6976010650 (in German), Nelly 6937240399 (in Greek). The grand draw from the FAR Christmas raffle is scheduled to take place on 29th December: to find out more about this event and to learn about the activities that this worthy charity engages in check out the www.animals.rethymnon.org website.

PLEASE SUPPORT BOTH EVENTS!

Geocaching on Crete: Treasure Hunts with a Difference!

Many thanks to Jorunn Solheim and Hans Saetrevik for providing us with this great idea. Jorunn writes:

‘Geocaching is a worldwide game of hiding and seeking treasure. A geocacher can place a geocache anywhere in the world, pinpoint its location using GPS technology and then share the geocache's existence and location online. Anyone with a GPS unit can try to locate the geocache. You will find more information about this at the www.geocaching.com website.

There are about 66 caches on Crete. We have placed 7 in the Rethymnon area. One of them is on Vrissinas: www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=c287f1a1-ecc0-42fa-8b25-7218b0930aec

The other 6 are:

• The peak with the Timeos Stavros chapel south of Levkogia in the Plakias area, placed in 2005.
• Koraka beach near Rodakino, placed in 2005.
• Bonripari Fortress, placed in 2005.
• Ano Nisi on the ridge between Moundros gorge and Poros Gorges, placed in 2007.
• Vederon Gorge in Gerani, placed in 2008.
• Agios Nectarios, Gonia, placed in 2008.

To find the cache you use a handheld GPS where you log the coordinates for the cache you want to find. There are many facilities to help you, Satellites, maps, Google Earth, software to keep you updated, and online logging and seeking. There are also national sites in your own language to help you. The Greek site is here: www.geocaching-gr.com - on the Greek site you can find new caches, logs for placed caches and a forum - mostly in Greek, of course! Everybody can participate, but you do need access to a GPS. We really like geocaching because it takes us to new places, and prefer trying to find those caches that involve a bit of a walk….’

Cancer Support Group

A Cancer Support Group has been formed for people who have been through or who are undergoing treatment for cancer, as well as for someone who has recently lost someone to cancer. These are the needs of the current group. It is a diverse group for now and different groups can be formed later on an "as needed" basis. This is a support group not a therapy group, and confidentiality is a given. There is no fee. Meetings will be held on the first Monday of every month in Georgioupolis, at the Samaria in the square, from 11 AM - 1 pm. Carpooling available from Rethymnon. Any questions or comments can be directed to Chris - 6977559644 or email cparnassus@hotmail.com