Welcome to Gaia! ::

+-+ All Shop/Guild rules apply.

+-+ Any Islander or Lab Tech is allowed to post here, as long as they are at Thina's duplex (#6).

+-+ No god-modding, or whatever that is called. Thina is my character and I will RP her as I see fit... and if she doesn't say something, I do ask that your character wouldn't know IC. I have yet to see a psychic on the Island.

+-+ Hurting Thina is allowed, as long as you have staff approval beforehand. I get to RP how she responds/acts, however (and how much damage your attack may have caused... don't worry, I'll be as realistic as possible.

+-+ I will RP Thina speaking some Greek words now and then. Don't worry, I don't know many words, so it won't be extensive... and it will only be words already posted here (as they are words I am already familiar with).

+-+ If you want to set up a RP date, PM EchoLimaFoxtrot. While you caaaan start posting here in the journal, I think it would be polite to ask first as there may already be a RP going on.

+-+ Have fun. I will RP Thina as best I can, and I hope you enjoy yourself.

Name: Thina Arlia-Pavlidis (Saint/Ya-ya's-name = Thina //Gypsy caste = Arlia // Family name = Pavlidis)
Name-Day/Birthday: We'll just say May 21, 1960 (Thina does not celebrate her birthday, instead, her name-day)
Age: 46
Marital Status: Divorced (Orthodox allows a max of 3 marriages, why divorced will be explained later)
Religion: Greek Orthodox

Family (D) indicates person is dead
Parents: Vasilis (D) and Chloe (73)
Grandparents (Dad): Dimitris (D) and Thina (D)
Grandparents (Mom): Yannis (D) and Ana (D)

Brothers (and families):
- Dimitris (55) - m. Iris (47) : children Vas -male- (22) m. Tina (21) : Irene -female- (17)
- Yannis (52) - m. Kyriaki (50) : child Chloe (30) m. Stavros (33) and have child Drusilla -female- (11)
- Pavlos (51) - m. Maria (30) : no children
- Mikhail (48 ) - m. Angela (D) : child Kris -male- (31) m. Chloris (2 cool and have children Agathi -female- (12) and Mikie -male- (7)
......... - m. Sophia (25) : children Simon -male- (7) : Phoebe -female- (5)

Uncle (and families):
- Nikos (68 ) m. Athena (50) : child Ana -female- (27) m. Jason (30) and have children Nathanael -male- (8 ) and Adonis -male- (8 )

Spouse (Divorced): Kostas (49) m. Zoe (41) : children Leo -male- (25) m. Diana (21) and have children Effie -female- (8 ) and George (3) : Nicole -female- (21) m. Orion (23) : Mark -male- (18 )

Appearance: General
--Height: 4'10”
--Weight: 130 pounds
--Skin Tone: darkish olivey - tan
--Hair: Her hair is dark brown, to her hips, and starting to streak with gray. Usually, she leaves her hair down and loose, but when doing performances or in costumes, it is put together according to the protocol.
--Eyes: Her eyes are brown.
--Build: Due to the delicious food of Greek, Thina is not that slim. She isn't fat either, but she is of a pleasant build. It is a good thing that Greek dancing doesn't require extreme amounts of nimble-ness!
--Face: Thina has the face of, well, a Greek! It is a little rounder, in more of a heart shape. The cheekbones are more pronounced. She has the straight nose common in Ancient sculpture, and her lips are not very full, but they do have a kind of pouty expression to them. The right side of her face has scarring from an accident she had as a child.
--General Impression: She isn't very beautiful, and in fact has more of an earthy feel. In a crowd, she would be looked over if it wasn't for her scars.
Clothes: (This is in a category of its own, because of the situations involved require different clothes.) Please note, all colors are DARK -dark blue/green, brown, burgundy... preferably black
--Everyday, "around-the-house": Given her own choice, Thina wears clothes that she feels are comfortable. This is at times when she is around mostly other gypsies, and the occasional villager. This entails tank tops and shin-length skirts in the summer; ankle-length skirts and long-sleeve shirts in the fall and spring; and bundling up in long skirts, shirts, and sweatshirts in the winter. Let's not forget falling leggings that bunch at the ankles!
--Everyday, "outside-the-house": When Thina is outside of her house, she tends to where more conservative clothes. These times are when the group goes to bigger cities (usually Ionnania), have the potential to be in the presence of tourists and larger groups of people. She usually wears a full-length skirt and a shirt. In the summer, she'd wear a tank-top, but it would not show any of her cleavage (not even the slit! you know what I mean ><). At other times, the shirt would be more 'stylish' short and long sleeve, also with layering, especially if color-coordinating is involved.
--Religious Day: These times are 'dress-up times'. Thina would always wear a full-length dress (or dress-up skirt) of dark colors. The only skin that would show would be hands, lower arm, neck, collar-area, and face. Also, her hair would be in a kind of wrap or bun; however, she is able to style her hair so her right eye is still covered.
--Performance: Ooo, these are the FUN outfits! Every region in Greek has their own traditional costumes. Because they travel and play at performances, Thina has many different kinds. The only times she would wear the full ensemble would be for performing a specific region while being somewhere else. For example, she would not perform a Thracian dance while in the Thrace (because the villagers would do their dance, they do not need the gypsies), but she might do a Thracian dance while in Epiros.

Personality: Outside of the family, Thina is veeeery reserved. She is more open in a group of all women, but is still not very talkative -on 'important' issues, at least. This isn't so much what she feels, but more so what she has been taught. Even though their group has come in contact with many tourists (including those "loud, rude Americans"), Thina always has a more traditional sense in gender roles. She isn't incredibly religious, but she still goes to Church, venerates icons, yadda yadda. Like many other Greeks, Thina is very superstitious. Not so much black cats and broken mirrors, she is aware of bad things happening for a reason, curses, and so forth. She loves to dance. She actual likes playing music as well, but that is a man's role and usually cannot be done in public. Recently, given her age and years of secretive practice, she's been allowed to play her lyre at certain events more recently since women musicians are more and more being accepted. If Thina is given any reason, she will dance. There doesn't even have to be any music. Her style of dancing also varies, depending on her mood and the music. Some of them may be considered seductive -but not slutty, think a kind of belly-dancing- while other blatantly boring -think the Greek-circle dance, wooo. Many of her opinions on things are also very traditional (like her dancing). Matters of religious and moral decisions should be "as the Church says". While abortion is accepted in the Orthodox faith, Thina is against it due to her not being able to have children - more like, it's not fair that other women can abort their children and she couldn't even have one. Sex is a means to placate your man, usually your husband, but if he's a boyfriend, okay; it isn't considered enjoyable on the woman's part and when woman became a widow, she would usually be excited that she would never have to particpate in sexual encounters again. A meal is not complete until you have had bread. Smoking is a way of life -although Thina doesn't smoke herself. Drinking alcoholic beverages should be in moderation, what is really the point in getting drunk? Everything is on "Greek time"... okay, more HERE and in the next few posts.

Background-History:
The military junta dictatorship was still in power when she came into the world as a screaming, crying baby. The country had just had three successive wars (WWI, WWII, and their Civil War then the junta...not to mention their War of Independence that ended just years before and a 500 year rule by the Turks), and it seemed that nothing else could possibly hurt the little country any worse. The gypsy clan had only recently settled in the area of Epirus, where they were to make neighbor and friend of the once-hostile-towards-them villagers. They weren't very happy about the arrangements, either. For, the government was now demanding them to have one living place -traveling around was no longer an option-, demanding their children go to school, their sons to enter a military they wanted no part of, and become good citizens of Greece. Instead of fighting it too much, the Arlia gypsies succumbed to their fate and held one thing for prestige: music. From all their traveling, they had kept alive the different musics of Greece. And now, they had their living place settled they hired themselves out to play and perform at events around Greece, keeping their tradition alive.

Where and when, exactly, Thina was born is a mystery. Even her parents don't remember because it didn't matter. Probably in a small village in Epirus around May-ish? They were too busy with their other children and the world to really take note. She was named Thina after her father's mother, a common practice. The surname of her group is Arlia, a traveling gypsy clan who are the professional musicians and performers of Greece (there are other clans). She still celebrates her "birthday" on her nameday of May 21... for that is the only day she recognizes.

When she was about six years old, Thina got into an accident. Even though they weren't on Crete, fire was still a fetish among the Greeks during Easter. It has something to do with burning a strange man named Judas or something. Anyways, Thina was playing with her cousins and one of them gave her some firecrackers and other kinds of explosives children like to play with. Now, no one told her to get rid of the one in her hand before it went off. Well, I bet you can imagine what happened.... thing explodes, and Thina became scarred for life.

Growing up, Thina was exposed to about everything in Greece, despite her scars. She definitely was just a regurgitated little girl. Of course, some things she did that were not "publicly acceptable". For example, women don't play instruments...generally they sing and dance. But, in the privacy of the 'home', it is fine. So, Thina pestered her father and brothers in private for them to teach her how to play instruments, and they eventually relented. She learned to play the lyre, flute, drum, and the clarinet... in all the glory of regional variation.

Thina was taught everything she needed to know by the family. All her schooling, history, and so forth, were all "handed-down". Not everyone learned much English, though. Some knew other languages, but they tried to have at least one person know one of the common languages of the tourists. Thina knows basic English and French, with a little bit of German on the side. Despite all that, she was not schooled in such mundane things as literacy. So, Thina cannot read or write -in any language-.

Even though it was illegal for women to get married before they are 18, Thina was "unofficially-officially" married by the time she was 14. Of course, the government always has a hard time keeping track of the gypsies, so it really didn't matter. Strangely, life went on. Thina travelled, performed, ate, had a merry time... but could never seem to get pregnant -a defining aspect of being a woman and wife.

Despite their best efforts, Thina and her husband, Kostas, went childless. When Thina was 21, Kostas divorced her and took a new wife who was already pregnant with his child (bad Kostas!). No one wanted to marry her, because as superstitious people they truly thought she was cursed and her scars proved that. So, growing up, the girl was able to live and adapt with her apparant stigma... but as a woman, it was a sign of her barren womb.

How Thina Got to the Island: Generally, the gypsies do not leave other gypsies. Sometimes, they may leave the clan with a few others, but this is a rare and short-lived occasion. Anyways, the owner of a boat-cruise over the pacific came to one of the clan's performances and wanted to hire them to work on one of his round trips from Europe to the States. The group leaders agreed (for a large sum of money) and decided to send some people. The ended up sending 3 people, 1 man and 2 women. Looking at the group, they all could have been termed "expendable". Thina, of course, was cursed and couldn't produce children to keep the clan's name alive. The last two were an old couple, again. They had actually volunteered. You couldn't have a respectable dance with just one woman, it was unheard of!

Everything was going fine. They had a boat-ful of Europeans, splashed with a color of Americans. The gypsies would perform every night. Because of their affiliation and love of music, they knew more than just Greek music. They were able to play anything the cruise-customers wanted. When it came to their dancing, however, they all tended to stay out of the "Western" dancing which they considered inappropriate for themselves to get involved.

Thina had lost track of how long they had been at sea, probably just a few days. But, the program for that night was traditional Greek music. She had gotten into one of her costumes, one of the more elaborate ones -and one of her favorites. They had done a few of the dances, creating a classical dance circle with some of the guests.

The night was dying down, and Thina was taking a break, sipping her bottled water. A group of men had gotten themselves royally drunk, and much of the crew as well. They started yelling about the "good for nothing gypsies" and saying how they should rid themselves of such scum. It was about that time that one the drunken crew pointed out that their entertainers were in fact gypsies from Greece.

Well, they couldn't let that slide. First, they taunted the three older gypsies who were still performing. Thina was trained to not do anything, so she just stayed in her chair, clutching the lyre that was currently not being played. The men felt that bugging three old gypsies who looked as if they were about to die anyways wouldn't be effecient enough. Their eyes set on Thina, sitting quietly in her chair.

It was too late by the time others figured out what was going on. Thina fought as best she could, but one person against so many was doomed to fail. The other two gypsies were beaten when they tried to intervene, so the remaining guests just screamed for everything to settle down. Everything was in vain.

The men had carried Thina outside and to the back of the boat. They threw her off; lyre, skirt, water bottle, and all. Lucky for her, Thina knew how to swim, although it was difficult with her hands full and she was trying to keep the lyre from being destroyed. One of the guests that were not involved ran and through over one of the yellow, inflatable life rafts.

Thinas was able to get to it, but not the cruiser. She got to the inflated raft and flopped herself on, sodden skirts and everything....

...eventually, she floated for awhile before the "coast guard" of the Island found her. Thina was starving, burned, and pretty much delirious, by the time they found her. If it wasn't for her bottled water, her chances of survival would have been worse. They took her to the Island, where they... well, you know the rest...

+- Religion - Orthodox -+ Religion is the basis of Greek life. It is one of the traditional means they use to determine what it means to be "Greek". Minorities are officially determined by one's religion. Now, to really understand Orthodoxy (which even I fully do not), you also need to look at part of the history. It was formed when Christianity branched for the first time in about 900AD. While the two went their own ways, they still kept many similarities. But... I won't go into that. In Greece, the Orthodox masses are still said in Ancient Greek. Actually, most Greeks cannot speak the Ancient version of their language, so not many people get a lot out of that part. The homilies are in modern, so they do get those parts. Women are not allowed to be a part of the mass. The only thing they can do is attend and pray. No musical instruments are allowed, only the Byzantine Chanting is the method of music in the Church. Icons are representations of the Saints/Angels/Christ and treated as if they are those beings are really there. They are NOT worshipped, as many outsiders think they are treated as. Instead, they are a medium towards God. There are many many holidays, for a Saint's Day is celebrated as any birthday might be. Christmas is important, but not nearly as much as Easter. The Greeks go all out for Easter, with fire, celebrations, feasts, parades, and so much more.
-Women- Oh, women..... if you want to understand how the Greeks treat their women based on their religion, think of the Middle Ages with Catholics (the only other Christian religion at that time). Women are unclean by their biological association with Eve. Because of this, they've traditionally become separated from the "man's world". The home is the woman's domain, whereas the man deals with things outside of the home. Women aren't allowed to work with sheep (the pure animal) but are the ones who care for the goats (the unclean). The only way that women can be 'redeemed', though not cleansed, is with children within the marriage.
-Divorce- Divorce is accepted as long as a person does not go over three marriages. So... yeah.
-Abortion- This one... get's strange. Not only would Greeks be considered ProChoice... but it isn't even an issue for them. Greeks during protect themselves... in fact, abortion IS their (really) only contraceptive methods. No condoms, diaghrams (sp?), pills, etc.... They simply take their chances and get an abortion if they don't want any(more) children. There is no moral attachment.
-Sexual Encounters- Alright, again, this is the traditional feeling. Globalization have started to affect women's views on sex in Greek culture. But, since Thina was still in the traditional ideal while growing up, this applied to her as well. To be blunt, Greek women hate sex. It literally is not enjoyable for them. They participate in the act only for two reason: (1) to have children, which would give them purpose and redeem themselves; and (2) because their husband (yes husband and only husband) wants to have sex. To them, the act is just a duty, and obligation, that they have no control over and simply end up regretting.
-Non-Orthodox Christians- Especially Catholics and any denominations that ended up branching from that religion... the Greeks, especially Northern Greeks, are incredibly bitter towards. It has to do with a little thing called the Crusades. You see, during the Crusades, the Crusaders would go through Greece on their way to the Holy Lands. During those times, they would desecrate anything they could. Churches were pilaged.... used for barracks and stables... spat upon... and anything else the Crusaders could think of.

+- Tourism -+ There is mixed feelings about this. Overall, Greeks have a serious complex... whether that is superior or inferior well.... even I couldn't tell. I'll start with the Inferiority Complex. Greece could be considered a... 2.5-world country. They are still recovering, and much of the country is in legal poverty. The tourists are those from first-class areas like France, the UK, USA, Canada, Japan, and so forth. The Greeks -mostly the men, for they are, well... men- know that they aren't better than the tourist, but... by golly, they are GREEKS! Which brings up the Superiority Complex they have. The Greeks pride themselves in their history... mostly with Hellenistic Athens and the Byzantine Empire. Why, not, they were on top of their game for thousands of years. They had complex systems, had great philosophers like Aristotle and Pluto, made the foundations for democracy and the very western world. Heck, by their standards, the tourists were savages compaired to them. So... BLAH! Now, while Sourthern Greece and the Islands are more accepting to tourists, the Northern areas -especially Thessaloniki- are very reluctant to try for a tourist market despite the economic benefits. They do not want to open up their cities and doors to outsiders... or barbarians.

+- Turks -+ Saying the Greeks don't like the Turks would be a bit of an understatement. They despise the Turks. It has something to do with the Ottoman rule... that and, more recently, the Asia Minor Castrophe. I don't know how to really explain it, except for maybe two neighbors that just really don't like or trust each other. Sure, they'll tolerate the other if the Neighborhood council is watching (ie. European Union or UN), but otherwise they are peeking through windows and saying nasty things about each other. If you've seen My Big Fat Greek Wedding, the grandmother's reaction and comments about Turks is pretty close.

+- Americans -+ This one is very very confusing. Greeks don't like Americans either. Even though Americans were a big part in getting rid of German occupation in WWII, and helped tremendously with attempts at helping the country rebuild, they also blame the Americans for supplying the Junta with weapons and such. Actually, in my opinion, it's like was like a dictatorship in which the Junta took the money and then used it themselves for weapons and such. So, more like an indirect... good intentions with bad results. The best way I explained it is, if ANYTHING went wrong it was 79%% of the time blamed on the Turks and 20% blamed on the Americans, and 1% on someone else (and I mean anything, and that includes weather). Something that showed hostilities towards Americans was the Bombing in Athens of the US Embassy. [x]

+- Family -+ Ahh... family. This is the CORE of Greek life. Of course, nowadays things are slowly starting to change.... sort of. Family is still everything to the Greeks. You can always rely on your family. Many things are still done in a traditional sense: mom takes care of the children and the house, dad everything in the social light, and children are children. Sons are still preferred, that is simply the mindset. Daughters used to not be really wanted due to the dowry and the idea that when they married they were no longer a part of the family; but the dowry has been outlawed -legally- and they are now starting to remain a part of their birth family after marriage. Even so, a person's actions reflects highly on the family. Honor and social view is still huge. Strangely, viriginity is still preferred in unmarried women, at least with more traditional areas? Although, a friend of mine -a Greek- would always go on dates -set up by female family members- and one of the first questions her date would as is always "Are you a virgin?". Of course, it's kind of ironic, the unmarried men still fight for and try to conquer as many virgins as they can. Makes me smile, the circles they run in.

+- Houses -+ Well, as family is a central part of life, the house is as well. However, contrary to that it is only the INSIDE of the house that matters. Once you go outside the door it is considered public, and is ususally quite trashy in my opinion. It's the true idea "Cannot judge a book by its cover". Though, a bit extreme, I believe. Anyways, the inside of the house will reflect the family's prestige, money, and religious piety. The common area is usually the one "Man's" zone, that the husband can call his own. All the other rooms, ESPECIALLY the kitchen, belongs to the wife. Because of this, men tend to go to 'coffee shops' and bars -public places. A funny story - my roommate and I walked through the streets on a Sunday night, and every single bar/coffee shop/hang out had men.... no women. We stood in the doorways for one of them, and all the men went silent and stared at us as if we had grown tails and wings. We ducked out of there quickly. There was one place we saw those of the female gender, and it was a young adult place.

+- Gypsies -+ There are many different classes of gypsies. When most people think of real gypsies (not the old, traditional view of people wearing traditional clothes with gauwdy jewelry telling futures and travelling) they think of criminals, pitpockets, poor, uneducated, and so forth. When I asked one of my professors what she thought of gypsies, she said that she 'didn't mind' them but that she pitied them for their leaders would take the money the government gave the groups and would spend it on gambling and alcohol. That however is only one class. This is the class that usually ends up resorting to stealing, pit-pocketing, and trickery to survive in a modern world that doesn't have much room for them. Then their is what might be considered the 'handy-man' class. They are mechanics, plumbers, car towers, and they are very good at taking old appliances and cars and making them work. What I do NOT appreciate what they do, though, is them waking me up at 7am on Saturday mornings with their bullhorns yelling in the streets that they'll take our old/broken appliances (we had it translated; some days my roommate would go to the balcony and yell at them to shut up -in English). They did that every day... every day! *shakes fist* And then the other class that I was in contact with (there are about 2 more but yeah). This group is the important one for Thina, they are the musical gypsies. They are still poor and uneducated, but they found a place for themselves in the modern world. They are attributed with keeping the traditional music of the villages and regional areas alive despite globalizations. In reality, they've only been active in Greece for a hundred or so years, but the music they have kept is thousands of years old in some cases. Over the years, some influences have come into play; especially Turkish and Oriental music. These musicians learn by hearing it. Give them a sheet of notes and they wouldn't know what to do with it. The gypsies themselves prefer clarinets (and omg, the things they can do with a clarinet is phenomenal!) but they are also experts int he others; like the flute, lyre, harp, drum (yes, I said drum), and other old instruments.

+- 'Modern' Music -+ This makes me laugh and cry at the same time. The 'modern' music of Greece is the same as the American music from the 70s. It made some of the American students in class mad how when we played more modern music (from the early 90s, not even today's) the Greeks were wondering what the junky music was and how it must be so old they hadn't even heard it before. Like I said, I want to laugh and cry when they stated that.

+- Food -+ Oh, the food is delicious! Just thinking about it, my mouth is salivating. First off.... BREAD and WINE are the essentials in a meal. You cannot even have a meal without bread. One of my teachers laughed, saying her husband would even eat bread with his pizza because it wasn't really dinner without bread. Wine is also crucial, though not as required. It can be substituted by coke, water, or fanta. Now, there are some crucial meal types... and I will try to get as many here as I can recall:
-Tzatziki- This was a kind of yogurt, cucumber, and sometimes onions, bread dip; though, it was good all by itself. This was the typical appetizer, served usually with bread. Sometimes they put a whole olive and some olive oil in it, but it was usually on top and mostly for appearances. [x]
-Gyro- This is pronounced like "year-o". This is a pet-peeve of mine. It is NOT "jie-ro", that is a mechanical contraption. Anyways, these are greasey... and I mean greasey. I only ended up eating maybe three or four, and I am not sure I'll eat another. Anyways, these are wrapped in a pita. I liked it with tzatziki, thought that isn't required. The meat is preferably lamb (which I can tolerate better) but as lamb is expensive, it was usually pork. This is shaved off a HUGE thing of pork that is always rotating over a flame [x]. The next big thing are the french fries (or chips for ya UK residents (-; ). This is another of my pet-peeves with gyros. If it isn't about 59% meat, 40% french fries and 1% something else, then I don't consider it a gyro. The other 1% can be able anything else.... that can be tomatoes, onions, peppers, olives, anything you might want or think of. [x]
-Mousaka- This. Stuff. I. Loved. It's kind of like lasagna, only more macaroni-ish? Oh, it was delicious. I ate this whenever I could, though it wasn't until about 2 weeks before I left that I found out what it was. I want some *sniff* [x]
-Souvlaki- I think of them just as kebabs. Very good. I only had them a handfull of times. From what I remember, lamb and chicken were -naturally- my favorite. You don't eat them alone, you have to have other things. [x]
-Greek Salad- My favorite salad of all time.... all time. If you don't like tomatoes, you'd hate them. Why? Because a Greek Salad is made up of tomatoes instead of lettuce. Sometimes onions, cucumbers, and olives are added. Olive oil is the dressing and feta cheese are the croutons. [x]
-Kous Kous- This is actually a grain, but it is usually boiled. It can be used as a side dish during the meal or can be used with honey and makes a staple dessert. For dessert, they make it in so many ways. I've had it as a kind of pudding, a cake, and once added to fruit.
-Calamari- I don't know what to say... it's calamari. It's very very common. A little disturbing to see them everywhere at the market and stuff, but at the tavernas they were very good with how well they were prepared. [x]
-Baklava- This originated in Turkey but had been completely assimulated into Greek dishes. Most people know what this is, and I am not sure what is in them, but I will try. It is wrapped in thin philo bread and has nuts in them drenched with honey. Oh, it is delicious; be careful, it's sweet..... [x]
-Pasta- Just like in the USA, and everywhere else, pasta comes in many forms. It is another Greek staple in their diet. I don't know if I can really describe the goodness of fresh pasta just made that morning and bought at the open market from the farmers directly.
-Crepes- While they weren't traditional, their crepes were amazing. I called them "Heaven in a wrap". My favorite was a nutella-strawberry-and banana crepe. It was so good. Even though it was way too big for me to finish on a normal day, I made sure I ate every. last. bite. I know I can get crepes here, but... I dunno.... maybe it's also eating the crepe at the ruins of an Ancient Roman castle at the middle of the night that just sets the mood....
-Nutella- This isn't Greek, but I simply LOVE the stuff. You can buy it in the US, but it is so horribly expensive. Mmmm... nutella....
-Others- There are many many more foods. I cannot remember all of them right now. I do remember a pastry treat that had creme filling was was just to die for. There was also these thin zuccini deep-fried chips that I just inhaled (and I usually don't even LIKE zuccini). Oh, and then this strange eggplant thing... not the dip, that was so good too!

(Sea Slug Forum)
Species: Glaucus atlanticus
Common Name: Blue Glaucus, Blue Sea Slug, Man-o-War (Sea) Slug
Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: AEOLIDINA
Family: Glaucidae

Glaucus atlanticus and its close relative, Glaucilla marginata, live in close association with what Sir Alistair Hardy described many years ago as "The Blue Fleet" - the siphonophores such as Physalia, Velella, Porpita and the other associated animals including the "Violet snails" of the genus Janthina. All these animals float on the surface of the ocean being carried by the currents and the winds. Most of us are only aware of their existence when days of onshore winds blow great fleets of them on to the beaches, causing pain and angst for swimmers.

Both species spend their life floating upside down in the water, partially bouyed by a gas bubble in their stomachs.

The two nudibranchs feed almost exclusively on Physalia, and as Tom Thompson and Isobel Bennett reported some years ago, it appears that they are able to select the most venomous of Physalia's stinging nematocysts for their own use. Like most aeolids, they store the nematocysts in special sacs (cnidosacs) at the tip of their cerata .

There are a number of reports in Australia of kids engaged in "Bluebottle" fights - where they throw stranded Physalia at each other - being badly stung by inadvertently playing with Glaucus and Glaucilla, both of which, by concentrating the most venomous of Physalia's nematocysts, are much more deadly.

Another interesting feature of the two species is their colouration. They both exhibit a textbook example of colour countershading. Their foot and undersides of the cerata, (which because they float upside down is effectively their dorsal surface), is blue or blue and white which helps to camouflage them from predation (sea birds) from above. Their true dorsal surface, which faces down in the water, is silvery grey to effectively camouflage them from fish looking up from below.

(Wikipedia)
Glaucus atlanticus, also known as the blue sea slug, is a nudibranch of the suborder Aeolidina. Its distribution is throughout throughout the world's oceans in temperate and tropical waters. G. atlanticus preys on the Portuguese Man o' War (Physalia physalis), Velella velella, the Blue Button (Porpita porpita), and the violet snail (Janthina janthina).

With the aid of a gas-filled sac that is located in its stomach, G. atlanticus is able to stay afloat at the surface. Due to the location of the gas sac the blue sea slug actually floats upside down. The dorsal surface, actually the foot and underside, is either a blue or blue-white coloration. The true dorsal surface is completely silver-grey. This coloration helps protect G. atlanticus from predators from both below and above.

G. atlanticus is able to feed on P. physalis due to its immunity to the venomous nematocysts. The blue sea slug will consume the entire organism. After consumption it will select the most venomous nematocysts and use them as a defense.

(Symptoms) Helpful Field Guide
"A sting from one of these nudibranchs is not unlike that of the coelenterate itself."
(see below)

A large number of cnidarians can produce painful and dangerous stings to humans. The characteristic stinging cells or nematocysts consist of a minute capsule within which is a coiled, barbed tube. When activated, this barbed tube penetrates into the victim and acts as the conduit for the injection of venom. Millions of nematocysts maybe present on the body of a single cnidarian. Some jellyfish can be extremely dangerous and can kill a person in only a few minutes or less. The sea wasp (Chironex fleckeri) is considered to be among the most dangerous of marine animals. Similarly, the stings of Man-O-War (Physalia physalia) can produce extremely painful and debilitating stings. Symptoms associated with stinging are highly variable and can range from mild irritation and rashes to severe pain, systemic shock, and death. Other symptoms are known to include headache, abdominal pain, general discomfort and muscle cramps, chills, fever, nervousness and hysteria, diarrhea, vomiting, and cyanosis. Lesions and welts are common at the location of the sting. Although most lesins dissipate within a few hours, the skin may remain reddened for a day or so.

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Arrival RP (+ ???)
First Meeting (+ Joliette)
Poppin Wheelies (+ Cody)
Hopping Down the 'Bunny' Trail (+ Newton)