If you’ve been reading this blog for any time, you know I’ve been having ongoing problems with my shoes. Well, to be more exact, I’ve been having trouble with my feet. I came here with shoes of course, but within a month and a half, they were too small for me. I bought some shoes in Malta in order to avoid some real foot issues, but they were too nice to walk around here. So I ordered some more shoes and my mother shipped them over to me. They did fine, until I went home. For some reason, they are now too big. I think what I really need is a size smaller, but in a wider width. Right now, the only shoes I have that fit well are sandals. That’s OK, but it’s really disgusting when it rains and my feet are just filthy all the time. I need shoes.
Now that I’ll have this teaching gig, I’ll also need some actual work clothes, and shoes of course. I started looking around for shoes today. Ideally, I would get one pair of decent looking shoes for work and another set for general walking around. I still have my sandals too. The problem is that most of the shoes here are total crap. They’re cheap, but they are crap. I found one place selling decent shoes (mostly Italian and French) but of course they cost just as much as they do back home. $125 is absolutely crazy money here for a pair of shoes. I just read an article about traffic and traffic cops (more about that in another post) in the newest paper. According to them, the average salary of a traffic warden does not exceed $100. I hope to God they mean per month, but they may not.
Another problem I have is that my feet are really large. I think I need a size 46 (european thank you very much), but most places only stock up to a 45. I’m going to try a bunch of shoes and pray that they are bigger than other brands… If all else fails, I should be able to get some shoes in Athens, but I shudder to think what kind of prices I’ll see there…