What did my parents make of Greece? They didn't like the food much, but I can't really blame them coming from such a spice-rich culture as we do. They liked pretty much everything else, and I think part of them now understands why I wanted to leave Britain. They were supremely impressed that the garbage is collected daily, seeing as how they have to cope with a twice monthly collection in the UK and had maggots in their bin last summer.
I forgot, however, to warn them about the Greece Invented Everything conversations, which come flying at you from every direction on your first visit to Greece.
"Macedonia, yes they like to call themselves a country, but Macedonia is Greek"
"That's a Greek word."
"This rock/monument/yiayia is over 5000 years old. Imagine that. 5000 years."
"XYZ came from Greece. So and so's ancestors were Greek."
Is this adorable pride in your history, or is it like a fading beauty who has removed all the mirrors from her house so that she doesn't have to face her less than dazzling present, choosing instead to brood over images of a glory long passed?
Anyone with Greek friends will notice that few of them can just stand around and admire that something is pretty - they are obliged as a term of their nationality to tell you the entire history of everything, even if you've heard it a 100 times and even if all you want to do is look at how beautiful it is. Which is fair enough. It's their country after all.
What's the nicest thing about having family and friends visit you in a foreign country? It helps you look at the familiar with new eyes and appreciate the details that you take for granted, like how the laiki is not infested with flies, or how despite there being no physical barrier to getting on the metro without a ticket, most people will still do the honest thing and line up to buy a ticket. It helps reinforce my belief that after all the tears and the upsets, I have done the right thing for my life.
Image: adapted from http://www.funonthenet.in/images/stories/forwards/Taj%20Mahal/taj-mahal.jpg
Posted by bollybutton at 10/30/2007 01:51:00 PM
6 comments:
Ειμαι γατα!
The greek
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“Δεν είμαι ο Έλληνας που έχεις συνηθίσει…”
THE WORLD OF THE GREEKS
"Εγώ Γραικός γεννήθηκα, Γραικός θε νά πεθάνω."
(Eng: I was born a Greek and I shall die as a Greek.)
"We are all Greeks. Our laws, our literature, our religion, our arts, have their root in Greece."
MACEDONIA=GREECE
ΕΘΝΙΚΟΣ ΥΜΝΟΣ
Why we should be proud to be greek
* Because we are European Champions in Soccer
* Because we are European Champions in Basketball
* Because Paparizou (singer) made us Eurovision Champions
* Because we buy whole watermelons and not in slices
* Because we buy whole lambs and not in pieces
* Because when we buy feta we buy at least a kilo and not 150gr.
* Because nights in Greece finish in the morning
* Because flirting is our national hobby
* Because we are world champions in sex
* Because we always moan about the public sector and everyone seeks to get a job in it
* Because we go out almost every night even if we are penniless
* Because we respect our Grandmothers more than our wives
* Because we know how to spend better than we know how to save
* Because we never visit others empty-handed
* Because there is no way to explain to foreigners what kapsoura” is… (a
burning desire for someone)
* Because we do not share the cost of petrol with those we give a ride
* Because for the sake of a woman we would wage war for 10 years (Trojan war)
* Because we are everywhere around the planet
* Because we love and hate with passion
* Because the word “filotimo” (a synonym of honour, helping someone because it is the right thing to do) doesn’t exist in any other language
* Because whenever the foreigners can not find a word, they bloody steal one of ours
* Because we spend our high and low times with our friends and family, not with therapists and counsellors
* Because Socrates, Platon, and Aristotle were Hellenic and the whole world still quotes them
* Because we invented theatre
* Because we gave birth to Democracy
* Because we discovered logic
* Because we jumpstarted science
* Because we are proud of our culture, not of our wars
* Because Jesus Christ’s best friends where Greeks
* Because when others were discovering meat, we already had cholesterol
* Because when we were building the Parthenon, the others were still
sleeping under trees
* Because when others created wars, we created Games to stop wars
* Because we have a distinction between Eros (falling in love) & Agape(innocent love), while we feel both passionately
* Because we don’t use ketchup or mayonnaise with our food. It tastes damn good anyway!
* Because we tossed our ancient alphabet to the Romans and our medieval alphabet to the Slavs
* Because we get angry quickly but forget all about it even quicker
* Because we are not ashamed to cry
* Because we dance when we are sad and party when we are happy
* Because we work to live and we do not live to work
* Because 97% of the stars’s names are Hellenic
* Because we always talk about getting in a diet after we had our meal
* Because although we know danger well, we dare
* Because when you shout “brother” in the streets, everyone turns around
* Because “Greeks do not fight like heroes, heroes fight like Greeks” (Winston Churchill, 1941)
* Because we speak loudly and laugh even louder!!!
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