by Bob Newell | Jul 30, 2015 | Opinion
Some call it a modern-day Greek tragedy; others refer to it as the new normal for the country of Greece. Because my wife, Janice, and I moved to Athens, Greece, in 2005 and lived there for more than nine years and have many friends affected by it, we call it the...
by Bob Newell | Jun 2, 2014 | Opinion
When we founded PORTA–the Albania House in Athens, we chose its name for strategic reasons. Porta is found in both the Greek and Albanian languages, meaning door or gate. We knew that this word would help to open a larger universe of possibility for Albanians....
by Bob Newell | May 26, 2014 | Opinion
On Dec. 1, 1990, Phillippe Cozette, a French construction worker, reached a grimy hand through a tiny crack in a rock wall and grabbed the similarly dirty hand of Graham Fagg of Great Britain. That handshake, between a Frenchman and an Englishman, with its careful...
by Bob Newell | May 2, 2014 | Opinion
For the first time since before we opened PORTA–the Albania House in Athens seven years ago, we planned a paint day and a work day. Because we want to leave the facilities in the best possible shape when we depart this field and relocate to Texas in September, and...
by Bob Newell | Apr 23, 2014 | Opinion
On Sunday, Sept. 3, 1967, I had recently moved into a graduate student apartment and was about to embark on an academic journey, which would lead to my first master’s degree. My personal life was happily consumed with the delightful challenge of adjusting to the...
