Almost like the Hora

Just experienced my first real Greek event last night... well mostly this morning.I have been saying now for months that Greeks just don’t dance. We go out to bars and clubs where there is music pumping and we can hardly find anyone that is even swaying their bodies. Despite this normalcy in Greece, this weekend has been full of Greek people breakin it down. First off, on Friday it was so warm that we ventured out to bar that has outdoor seating. This is no normal outdoor seating. It is an area carved out in between tall buildings and seats are found on all different levels of rock. Tables are put in alcoves and attached to trees...well, pretty much everywhere. When we arrived there were no open tables. Instead of feeling defeated we spied 3 hammocks set up in a cluster down yonder near the corner of the outside bar. Naturally there were 6 of us but we didn’t see this as an issue. Two people squished on each hammock only to find that it was really uncomfortable on the ass as gravity smashed you into each other. Clearly the only solution was for one person to straddle the other one, which ended up being extremely comfortable and warm. Note: So in Greece, gay people aren’t quite accepted openly. Well the 6 of us girls pretty much looked like 3 lesbian couples as we snuggled with each other on the hammocks and sipped our cranberry vodkas. HA. Well, we might as well embrace it. Compliments of Claire’s friend from America each “couple” was given a back story as to how their relationship was going and the passion that it involved. Needless to say, it made for some good entertainment and also for another chance to look as foreign as possible. Chairs are so overrated.

After the hammock debacle we headed to our typical dancing spot: Spirit. Usually there is an average of 3 other people in the bar besides us on the weekend. Well, we enter the bar and it is beyond packed with people dressed looking mildly goth. Huh? What the hell is going on here? There are people inhabiting the bar... AND they are dancing.... We soon come to find out that it is Michael Jackson night. Damn! Do Greek people love MJ or what!?! So we are slightly uncomfortable with the amount of impostors in our bar but we decide to try it out anyway. Soon a dance off breaks out and 3 guys are getting down on the dance floor. This shit was serious. One guy was wearing something like tap dancing shoes and a full black suit with a white tie. The others were in jeans and T-shirts. Soon we were surrounded by full splits, split jumps, break-dancing, moon walking, jiving, don’t even know the name of the other moves... But in any case, it was hilarious. Eleni forced me to dance with one of them and I was awful. I am not good at the dance on command and follow after me thing. I’d say I’m more of a free spirit when it comes to dancing... (maybe a little bit of sugar coating for I’m really not good). In any case, we danced to some Michael, saw some moon walking and saw some Greek people loosen up and have a good time, I’d say the night was a win.

Saturday night: So by now I have about two solid Greek friends. One of my two Greek friends I met at the grocery store. No, I didn’t just happen to run into this random girl shopping... she was the cashier. It was in the first month of being in Greece and as I attempted to communicate in Greek and shy away from using English... I failed. The girl ended up speaking perfect English and she told me that her aunt is from the US. Not only is her aunt from the US but she lives 15 minutes from AU. Weird. Let me explain something very quickly. When you are in a country where not that many people speak English well enough to chat for a long period of time, you cling to those that can hold it down. We exchanged numbers and decided that we would hang out, maybe she would teach me some Greek and I would teach her some English. A month or so later we finally hung out. My Alpha Vita (grocery store) friend ended up being mad cool and has connections all around town. Last night she brought Eleni and I to a Greek concert. The two artists were Dimitris Mitropanos and Peggy Zhna. Mitropanos is a 75 year old Greek man and is considered to be the best Greek singer in the world right now. Let me tell you, that is no lie. This wrinkly old man knew how to use his lungs. Despite the fact that I really couldn’t understand anything, I loved it! Once in awhile, my translators would fill me in on the lyrics, such as I bleed for you or you will think of me 1,000 times and I won’t be there 1,000 times. The other singer was a 30-something year-old blondie who knew how to groove. She had a lot of energy on the stage and as people threw flower after flower AT her, she chucked them back into their faces once in awhile. I found this quite comical. You go girl. Then, all of a sudden there were a ton of people on the stage breaking it down Greek style. Where did all of those people come from? Wait, anyone can just go on the stage and dance? Sooooo, we were off! We descended from our table on the top floor and made our way to the stage. Flowers everywhere, people everywhere, the instrumentalists everywhere! I could talk to the violinist (who by the way was wearing a Rock & Roll shirt and a bandanna while rockin out on his violin), ogle at the bouzoukia players and watch them while they were in the zone and even yell to the singer if I wanted to. It was truly awesome. This is what I have been waiting to see from the Greek people! I was actually saddened and surprised when I was home for Christmas and someone asked me to show them traditional Greek dancing. I had to tell the that indeed, after being there for 4 months I have not seen one traditional Greek dance. Well, let’s just say I have seen it now. The slow hip movements, the crossing of the feet, the twirling, the slow sensual arm movements, the circle dances, the groups of people squatting and clapping as their star dancer breaks it down in front of them. It was almost like heaven. My AB friend and her friends came down to the stage also and taught me their ways. It took a minute or two to get the hang of it but once you are on the rhythm it just kind of happens. We could stand 3 feet from the singers. This would never be allowed in America because of our paranoia or maybe the violence that people tend to show. If I were at home and this was happening I might worry for the singer’s safety but here people were more focused on their dancing than on talking to the star. Needless to say, after about 2 hours of dancing and 4 hours of sitting at the table it was time to go... it was 6am! Apparently you need to stay out until 6am to see Greek dancing. I usually only make it until 4am. Now I know, I need to man up and pull through until the end.

Return to the G-land

Yep. Definitely Greek.


The view from a mountain top near my house. Favorite place to go!

Back in the Greekland.

Welp, public transportation is still striking at least 3 times a week, so that hasn't changed... oh Greece. Coming off of the plane and leaving the airport seemed so natural to me. I knew exactly where I was heading and exactly how to get there. Let's just say that Athens definitely feels like a home to me now. Despite this fact, it was not very pleasant to lug around my 50lb suitcase full of unimportant shit that I felt the need to bring back with me. Some "essentials" that I brought back: Twizzlers (both red and black), an abundance of hair accessories, string to make bracelets, the heaviest books I own, multiple mosquito nets, and much more. Carrying luggage might be one of the worst things in the world. Between having my rolling bag flip over as I'm rolling it, to getting my hair tangling in the multiple bags attached to my body, I am usually uncontrollably sweaty and exhausted by the time I make it to my destination. Let's just say that this excursion back to my house was no exception. Alas, I made it.

It feels good to be back because Greece is a cool place but its also endlessly frustrating because of some of the "Greek" ways of life. Unreliable, unorganized... let's just say Mediterranean. Despite their faults, there are a lot of good things that we could learn from their style. One: Maybe Americans could learn how to relax every once in awhile... sit back and get coffee for 2 hours, eat dinner with friends and family for a few hours without giving the waiter the evil eye when you expect the bill, go out and party every night... (not sure this one is feasible). A saying I would like to live by: Work to live, don't live to work. This is one thing that I believe the Greeks know how to do very well. Sometimes I sit back and think about what the hell I am doing in life... and then I come up with no clear answer. One thing I do know though is that I don't want my life to be consumed by my work. I want to be able to have a social and personal life outside of work. Here in Greece I am definitely awarded time to live my life. Enough of this shit. Onto the first day of school.

On our first day back to work I enter the teachers lounge (where my desk is) and am surprised to see about 60 people crammed into the room, excitedly chatting in the usual LOUD Greek manner. Huh? I make my way to the English teachers and inquire as to what the occasion is. Apparently it is "the pita' cutting. And by "pita" they mean cake with one coin baked into it. And by cake they mean a 4ft x 2ft sized monstrosity considered to be a cake. You could have lived off of this cake for at least a month... I have never seen such a large baked good in my entire life! How do you even bake something like that? It was one solid cake. That must have been the biggest oven ever! Awesome. So I am sure you are wondering why we have a cake as large as a coffee table. Well, it is a Greek New Year's tradition to do a "pita cutting". The pita is cut into even pieces and one piece is given to each person at the cutting. After each person is given a piece they look at the bottom of their cake to see if they have the coin. The person who ends up with the coin in the bottom of their cake is said to have good luck for the next year. Just so happens that a small, old Greek lady was the lucky winner of the coin this year at our school. Maybe next year... I do love the tradition though. I think its a very fun activity that brings people together. Anyway, thought I'd share this little piece of Greek culture before I forgot to write about it. OH and along with the pita the teachers brought in at least 9 bottles of champagne. Goooo elementary schools! Nothing like getting a little loopy to teach a lesson. Needless to say I didn't drink any because it was about 9am. Still bad at day drinking.



-to post soon
Rob