Episode 3 - GREEK FREAK AND THE PICKLE LIBERATORS! 

Pickles, Pepperoncini, ground beef, yellow mustard ( ever so lightly) and cheese!!!

Greetings from Athens. Nikos seems to be a really genuine guy and a very cool person. Greece has a mandatory army service for all adult males. If you study you can get a deferment for as long as your studies last. I understand that the US army is professional and people who volunteer for this kind of career can find themselves deployed in some kind of war zone, so the term ''veteran'' is broadly used nowdays. But generally the way I understand it and basically most people in Greece is that the term ''veteran'' applies to a former soldier that saw combat. Im a sgt of the Engineers Corp in reserve, I served in the Hellenic Forces of Cyprus, but Im telling you that if i ever described myself as a ''veteran'' here I would be laughed out of the room. Simply because in that sense EVERYBODY here is a ''veteran''. When you are called in for service, the district you live doesnt play a role for your assignment with the exception of people who live close to the border lines that are potential lines of contact in a war with Mordor. What plays a role is your level of education and skills, other than that its pretty random. We dont get payed basically and seriously its a major problem because when you are called in for service, the army does cover the expenses that concerns their part, but there are alot of army related expenses that are basically on you (basically your parents). From a simple allowance that will enable you to go out for a beer or lunch on the hours you are not on duty, to transport costs that are not covered by the service. To give you an idea, when I was in the army the ''payment'' was 3 euros per month. Basically they didnt cover the cost of shaving cream and toilet paper. Because I was in the Hellenic Forces of Cyprus and I served outside of Greece in Cyprus (duh), it was the Cypriot state (not the Greek) that payed compensation aka salary to us. At that time Cyprus was not yet in EUrozone so I got payed as a sgt, the amount of 250 Cypriot pounds per month. Cypriot pound then was actually worth more than the British pounds so that makes it like 550+ dollars. When I got home after 14 months there, I got the Greek army ''payment'' that was still running at home while I was away for that period. It amounted to the princely sum of 150 euros (back then the euro was much stronger so that would be about 180 dollars) lol.

Great podcast - it’s even better watching on the TV 😂 - Love the Greek Freak 🥰

Sorry to say, I do not eat the handles of a pizza slice. I think fried pickles would be amazing as a topping.