Its a cultural thing: 1

Happy belated Fourth of July from Greece! This is the time of year where we celebrate our freedom, our independence and our rights, a time where we can set a whole day aside and appreciate our history and country as a whole.  People set off fireworks representing the wars and battles our country has faced to get to where we are today.  Kids run around with sparklers, dripping wet from swimming in the pool with watermelon juice plastered on their innocent cheeks.  Families get together to partake in traditions set up by the generations that came before them, laughing more than they usually do, and drinking more than they probably should.  Being in another country on such an important day has given me a different perspective on what it means to truly be an American. 

            There are hundreds of cultural differences I have noticed while over seas. I could type pages upon pages analyzing the contrasting beliefs/ practices, however, I want to focus on only a couple for right now so I don’t loose your interest.  I feel that it is appropriate that I say this before I begin; I love being an American and I take great pride in the beliefs of the American culture and society.  This blog is not meant to bash America by any means, just to document some of the discrepancies between Americans and Greeks.

            As I’m sure every one of you knows, Americans have the stereotype of being fat and lazy.  In Greece, things are laid out differently.  The whole country is set up in sections, neighborhoods if you will.  Every neighborhood has a plateia which is a central square where one can find shops, grocery stores, fruit stands, parks etc.  For example, the plateia for our neighborhood has a small grocery store with a fruit stand, a bakery, a couple of restaurants/ bars, a crepe place, gelato place, and a playground for the kids to play on which is surrounded by a concrete area that the older kids hang out at and where the parents can sit and watch their kids.  The grocery store is extremely small and you cannot buy anything in bulk.  It is part of the culture that the women of the house will make daily trips to the store in order to buy fresh ingredients for the meal she is to prepare that day.  This “trip” is made by foot more often than by car being as the grocery store is less than half a mile away from any point in the neighborhood, and it would be silly to take a vehicle to go such a short distance. This proves two points; the Greek people are already walking more than the average American, and eating fresher ingredients all around. At night, families are out, either playing at the park or at the soccer fields.  I was amazed to see that some of the parents were allowing their kids (we are talking between the ages of 3 and 10) to stay out playing until 10 or 11 at night!  In America, the kids are typically stuffed with a meal, allowed to watch TV or play video games until 7 or 8, bathed and put to bed.  I think it is so awesome that the kids here are encouraged to play outside versus staying cooped up in the house.  They are exposed to an extra couple of hours of exercise than the kids back home in America.  They can spend more family time together being active and engaged in one another and less time hypnotized by flashing images on a screen that have little to no impact on our daily lives.  I understand that there are exceptions to every rule, but this is just one of the little things I have noticed while I have been living in Greece.  More to come!