November 6, 2000

We headed off on one of our frequent afternoon walks with our neighbor from the university (we say neighbor, but he has also been kind enough to be our translator, our tour guide, our expert chef, our bargain-hunter).

In recent days we've detected the odor of olives everywhere we go - when farmers take their olives to the press, they not only get the oil - they also get the solid and liquid waste matter. Because there are no facilities to deal with the stuff, they dump it where they can. Our neighbor is seeking funding for a project which would use the waste for other things like fuel and animal feed. This has attracted Elizabeth's environmental attention, particularly as the wastes can have pretty devastating effects on the land - we're told it takes years for the soil to recover from the toxins.