Back in Greece at last!

Been back in Naousa for nearly 3 weeks, but locked out of my blog's dashboard. Fortunately, I just discovered a work-around. 🤓

The trip via Lufthansa was thankfully uneventful. And my tiny apt was in excellent shape considering that I last walked out on 12/3/19. After laying low for a few days, I had a negative Rapid Test in the town square and got started reacquainting myself with life in a small town in N. Greece. 

Then came a record heatwave, way too hot even for Greece in August and which spawned horrific wildfires -- notably around Ancient Olympia, just outside Athens, and on the island of Evoia.  Most people do not have AC. I invested in a second fan which sounds like a wind tunnel, but helps me sleep and will be easy to store.

Most vexing is the tragic international problem of vaccinated vs. unvaccinated. While "Don't ask, don't tell" is often the path of least resistance, it is no help re staying out of harm's way with the steady uptick in cases. And I have gotten into too many endless arguments. The reality is that Iraklion, Crete, has gone into lockdown for at least a week including the big August 15th religious holiday. I just spent 3 days in Katerini (about 1.5 hours away), where I visited with Girls School grads and even went to the beach. Still the first question re any sort of socializing has to be "have you been vaccinated," a deal-breaker in some cases.

It was not an easy decision to come to Greece now given the multi-layered Covid complications. And that I can stay only 4.5 weeks instead of my usual 3 months. So my first reaction to the paralyzing effect of the heatwave was deep disappointment that it cramped my style...Then I realized that just hanging out, shopping here and there, and just being was good enough -- now with a few select side trips. What was once a faraway memory is now delicious reality, no embellishment needed. That's how much I missed Greek life with all its real and imagined "kousouria" (shortcomings) -- Covid, be damned.

Now about 10 more days to move through my ever-growing ToDo List...opa!

Testing 1-2-3

"Menoume spiti"... even on March 25th!

Today is March 25th, Greek Independence Day. Normally we go to church ("The Annunciation," with the Tin Ypermaho hymn), then to a patriotic parade of students and groups in traditional costumes, and finally to a feast of fried cod with garlic sauce. Children wave small flags and adults  say "Hronia Polla" on their way to ubiquitous coffee shops. Not this time...


March 25th parades had long been cancelled and even The Church told everyone to stay home.  Greece is on lock-down since Sunday midnight. You can go to essential jobs, the pharmacy/grocery store, the doctor or walk your dog only by permit. So a lot of people probably did not have "bacaliaro me skordalia" on the menu. Instead, "Menoume spiti!" ("We stay home!") was the order of the day. Flags were hung and at noon many people sang the national anthem from their balconies.

What all Greeks do have is television, where the esteemed Dr. Sotiris Tsodrias gives the daily COVID19 briefing with both guidelines and data. Greece closed schools etc. relatively early in the game, but there is an uptick that has prompted the government to do more...to ensure that Greece does not become Italy or Spain.

Yesterday, the new President of Greece Katerina Sakellaropoulou gave a rare televised address. She underscored the responsibility of each citizen to follow all the guidelines, allayed fears, and sounded the trumpet for what it means to be Greek. Next year Greece will celebrate the 200th Anniversary of the Greek Revolution.

Today's data shows 821 cases and 22 casualties...plus the first case in the county of Imathia where my town of Naousa is located. A 49-year-old who recently returned from a business trip to the US has been hospitalized in Veria. Most Naousa citizens have been staying home since March 13, as have many Greeks. "Menoume spiti" is the new normal.

But I am not there. I did not make it back to Greece after my 90-day exile and before all the border closings. So I can only monitor what's happening via local blogs and by exchanging messages with my friends/relatives. I am thinking especially of those who are older, like my dear friends Voula and Giorgos. And my uncle the germophobe who was at one time Naousa's most esteemed doctor and is now around 95. When I finally return to Naousa, someone I know and love may not be there.


Meanwhile, "Menoume spiti" in Greece and almost everywhere else in the world...even on March 25th.

Kavala Tobacco Museum well worth a visit!

The weather in Greece was fabulous right up until the end of October, and I took full advantage by going to Kavala for the OXI Day weekend. It was a long-overdue trip to a beautiful city north of Thessaloniki and across from the island of Thassos. (It was also, of course, a chance to meet up with 5 AFS Girls School graduates who live around there.)

There is a lot to see and do in Kavala: Beautiful beaches/marina, remnants of the Roman Via Egnatia, a Byzantine fortress, multiple reminders of the Ottoman occupation (1387-1912), the ferris wheel in Luna Park, and the decadent allure of Iosifidi "kourambiedes" (butter cookies smothered in powdered sugar). The Apostle Paul landed at Kavala on his first journey to Europe.
 

But it was the Tobacco Museum that really caught my attention.  Once-upon-a-time, Kavala was the center of the tobacco industry in Northern Greece, beginning around 1820. The Municipal Tobacco Warehouse built in 1910 stills stands a few blocks from the museum.  Area production and trading of Basma, a fine oriental variety, reached its peak around 1920.  After  the war years, the Kavala tobacco trade never regained its former importance.


Nevertheless, I remember a succession of tobacco execs who came through the American Farm School circa 1968-78 when I was there. Most of all, I remember villages where producing tobacco was still very much a way of life.  In the summer of '74, I visited my student Maria and her family in the village of Doirani, Kilkis, wondering  exactly how tobacco growers lived and worked. It was a real eye-opener!


We went to bed early and got up around 4 am to head for the family's fields, riding along a bumpy dirt road in a wooden cart pulled by a donkey. As soon as we could see well enough, we snapped mature leaves off the tobacco plants -- something that can only happen when the stems are firm.  So when the sun came all the way up and the leaves started to sag, picking time was over. Home we went where the leaves were to be strung up to dry. At that point, Yiayia and any other available relative became part of the crew. (Tobacco farming required 100% family participation, which often restricted educational and other pursuits.)

Dried tobacco leaves would later be bundled for market to be further processed -- examined for quality, weighed, sold, and then repackaged according to size and destination -- as exhibited in amazing detail at the Kavala Tobacco Museum.  Tools, machinery, tobacco samples, photos, documents and much more also tell the stories of the people who made it all happen.


The museum showcases an important facet of Greek history and a slice of rural life not to be forgotten. It is definitely well worth a visit.


NOTE: 37% of all Greeks are smokers, the most of any EU country. Only 44% say they have never smoked a cigarette. Every year, approximately 20,000 people die from by tobacco-related diseases. And smoking bans are routinely ignored...

4th AFS Girls School Reunion: Mission Accomplished, Onward & Upward!

The 4th AFS Girls School Reunion took place last Sunday, and I had a blast -- perhaps because I suddenly realized that all the work to make that happen is now basically done...So here indeed is a good story.

In June 2015 I had come to Greece for a 6-week visit, including my first to Northern Greece in over 30 years. I had worked at the AFS/American Farm School in Thessaloniki from 1968 to 1978, bonding especially with the students of the Girls School Dept. (home economics/handicrafts) and their families. The AFS was then a school solely for kids from villages, and visiting the students in their villages was my favorite thing to do during holidays and summer months.

There being no current information at the School in 2015 as to the whereabouts of the women grads, I set out with 2 of them to find the rest. What would they think, would they even remember me? By the time I left, I had visited and/or spoken with 51 of those women. We were all simply overwhelmed with joy at the reconnection -- especially since the Girls School Dept. had been closed in 1978. Wow!

So with the invaluable help of grads already located, I continued to look for all of them -- and thus also initiated my ongoing 3-month/twice-a-year stints in Greece.  In April 2016 we had the first reunion; 120 women attended a veritable festival of reconnection.  Soon thereafter I moved from Thessaloniki to Naousa, a Macedonian city of about 23,000 people one hour NW of Thessaloniki where my father was born and where I still live when in Greece...and where I have lived through a good chunk of the financial crisis.


Over time we have located every one of the 232 women who graduated from the AFS Girls School Dept. (1967-1978), plus others who attended for only one year -- some found after extensive "investigations" (for lack of a better word). Most still live in their Northern Greece villages or have moved to Thessaloniki. 17 are unfortunately deceased. A handful of those who went to Germany to work still live there. 7 live in the US/Canada. Over 50 are on Facebook and members of a secret page where they share info and news. All have been provided with a list of their classmates with current addresses and telephone numbers.

We also connected with the current occupants of what was the Girls School campus, the Asylo Paidiou (a not-for-profit school for 370 kids from pre-school to 6th grade) -- asking to come in during a Sunday when the school was closed to have a picnic on our old stomping grounds.  Picnic? They rolled out the red carpet along with all the tables from the dining room. What great people!

 

We have now had 3 reunions there, all volunteer-driven...adding to our lists women who attended the original Quaker-run iteration of the Girls School (1945-1967). When they heard about our reunions, they just showed up, and we have been blessed with the presence of women who graduated from the School in 1949-50-51...plus visits by 3 of the younger women now living in the USA. Double wow!

Yes, this is a very good story. The grads of the AFS Girls School Dept. -- who 4 years ago were mostly out-of-touch with each other -- are now in constant contact by phone, at coffee klatches/ tsipouro parties and even field trips. Our Travel Team has gone to Cyprus -- where we met up with AFS guy grads/another amazing get-together -- and will soon be going to Madrid. Triple wow!

The Girls School grads themselves are now charged with organizing a 5th reunion. Meanwhile, I can happily say, "Mission accomplished, onward & upward!"

Back in the Greek Saddle

The 4-step journey from Miami to Naousa is tough, especially as I grow older. Nevertheless,  here I am on the last leg,  the 6:15 pm bus from Thessaloniki that takes about one hour fifteen.

I can't help feeling emotional as I see the oh so familiar, heart-tugging landscape whiz by. Sun-kissed farm fields in various stages of use (or not), bales of hay, tractors awaiting their next assignment, homes in distant villages, a water tower here and there, sheep and their shepherd -- and now the toll booth on the impersonal "Ignatia Road." Impersonal because the bus no longer goes through villages except on a couple of non-"express" runs each day. There aren't even any signs to say, "Valtohori this way"...

Most disturbing are the abandoned buildings for homes or businesses that were never finished or later closed down -- and now stand still in silent protest to all that has befallen Greece financially in the past 10 years. Those snake-bit buildings are everywhere. The setting sun only accentuates the negative.

No matter what you hear, things are not yet good for the average Greek citizen. And despite the cheerful demeanors, everyone on this bus knows it. 

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The Anti-Greek Toronto Riot of 1918 (Never again!)

Finally had a chance last weekend to check out the "Taste of the Danforth" in Toronto's Greektown (reportedly the second largest Hellenic community outside of Greece). Regularly referred to as Canada's biggest street festival, the 3-day event is really just a big souvlaki fest -- meats of all kinds on a stick for $4. You can also find yummy spinach/cheese pies and "loukoumades" like my Yiayia used to make...or pay Battle Sports to smash some plates. Opa!

Walking along Danforth Avenue and watching Canadians of all stripes patiently line up for their souvlakia, I couldn't help wondering who there -- Greeks or non-Greeks, old or young -- had any concept of the grim (and timely!) history of Greeks in Toronto, who originally lived around Yonge Street.  

101 years ago, Greek-Canadians were the victims of a race riot which lasted 4 days (August 2-5, 1918).  It was the worst riot in Toronto history, with thousands of Canadians furiously beating up on Greeks and destroying their property.  

World War I veterans had been in town to voice their many concerns.  Canadians were misinformed about Greece's role in the war, thinking that Greece -- which remained neutral until 1916 -- was not on the side of the Allies. Moreover, Greeks in 1918 were simply not thought of as being "white." * So when an alcohol-impaired vet was removed from a Greek restaurant, the incident was blown way out of proportion...Greeks, who were already perceived as not doing enough to help Canada, had allegedly mistreated a vet!

On August 2nd, 600 Canadian vets stormed the White City Café on Yonge Street, destroying everything inside and looting the kitchen...and that was just the beginning. An estimated 50,000 people joined the fray on both sides, and police went from doing nothing to indiscriminately attacking rioters and innocent bystanders. The city was on lock-down. Some 500 people were injured and Greek businesses suffered $1,000,000 in damages by today's values -- all due to an almost (but not quite!) unimaginable act of hate an violence.**

To make a long story short: Greek-Canadians ultimately rebuilt and became a vibrant, productive and beloved part of modern-day Toronto -- a town that now prides itself in being multi-cultural. 

But first they relocated to Danforth Avenue.

*In the USA,  Greek-Americans -- just like other immigrant minorities -- were targets of the Ku Klux Klan, leading to the establishment in 1922 of the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (AHEPA).

**For the whole story: "A century later,  a vicious anti-Greek riot in Toronto offers lessons for today" by Toula Drimonis (Maclean's Magazine, 8/1/18)

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Think of Greek farmers when you next eat a peach or an apple!

Yes, think of Greek farmers, whose trials and tribulations these days are almost too many to bear.

Let's start with the epic storm that hit Northern Greece on July 10th. Galeforce winds of 60 mph came out of nowhere, leaving 7 dead and at least 100 injured in Chakidhiki, not far from Thessaloniki. Aftermath photos/videos of the village of Nea Playia remind us of hurricane damage we see somewhere in Florida every year. But for the Greeks it was not business as usual.

News of violent storms, floods, and earthquakes around the globe rarely takes us past damage photos and casualty reports. What happens down the line to real people who have to pick up the pieces literally and figuratively? For some farmers in Northern Greece, July 10th was a total disaster.

80.000 stremmata or 20,000 acres were devastated in the Nomos of Imathia alone which includes the municipalities Verria, Alexandreia and Naousa -- with a total of nearly 100,000 acres affected throughout N. Greece...Some families lost entire crops. The freak storm was preceded by 3 hailstorms in the Naousa area, damaging peaches, nectarines, cherries, apples and pears. Hail brings heartbreak and hard times for people, especially those who live in villages working their farms just like they have for decades.

On July 10th, entire trees were uprooted, greenhouses were destroyed, and irrigation systems were knocked out. It's a long road back as government compensation may not come till the end of the year when total losses can be analyzed by two agencies. Meanwhile farmers have to pay their bills, including insurances/fees and loans. Some farmers say that without immediate monetary aid they may have to throw in the towel.

Many farmers already have, digging up trees to either plant something else or to just get out of the game. Climate change and the dreaded hailstorms too often make selling fruit for juice the only viable commercial option. Actual income from farm production is often poor and/or unreliable. It is not unusual for distributors or coops to pay late. I have met farmers who were waiting after a year to be paid or had not been paid at all...


And what about the ongoing EU Embargo against buying goods from Russia prompted by the 2014 annexation of Crimea and the retaliatory Russian sanctions against buying EU goods? At that time, Russia absorbed 90% of Greece's peach exports and 60% of the strawberries -- much of which then ended up rotting in trucks at the borders. 30% of all Greek agri-food exports had been going to Russia. Redirecting exports has been one solution, while another has been going through "middlemen" like the Eurasian Economic Commission. Flimsy, inadequate markets only add to the woes of Greek farmers who simply may not be able to sell what they grow, let alone make a profit.

The ongoing financial crisis has, of course, presented another set of problems. Approximately 1/2 million Greeks have left to find work in other countries, causing a serious "brain drain."  Greece has the highest unemployment rate in the EU at 17.6%. But a marked distaste for working in the fields -- especially by people under 30 (40% unemployment!) -- has caused farmers to rely on foreign workers, mainly from neighboring Albania...much as US farms depend on Mexican workers. Still, there is a farm labor shortage this year for critical jobs like thinning out the cling peach trees so that the fruit will be bigger.

So when you next eat a peach or an apple, think of Greek farmers. For some in the Naousa area, the freak July 10th storm may have been the straw that broke the camel's back. 

　

Greek elections not for the faint of heart!

BREAKING NEWS: Nicholaos Karanikolas (ENA MAZI) will be the new mayor of Naousa beginning September 1st!
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Sunday, May 26th was election day throughout Greece. Greek citizens 17 and older voted for municipal mayors/councils (DIMOTIKES), local councils (KOINOTIKES), regional governors/councils and European Parliament representatives -- marking 4 separate paper ballots by hand in 2 adjoining rooms (mostly in schools), each with 2 secrecy booths and 2 acrylic ballot boxes. And at the end of the day, the votes were counted by hand.

By joining the campaign of the only woman running for mayor of the Naousa Municipality ("DIMO"), I got to be a poll watcher with a birds eye view. And while the above might sound practically impossible to execute, I am proud to report that voting went amazingly well -- certainly no "hanging chads"or malfunctioning voting machines. Each polling place was run by a designated lawyer; ours was extremely capable and cordial. Everything was clearly done "by the book."


For Naousa mayor, the 5 candidates had each formed a "parataxi" or grouping. Each group had a name like "Koinos Topos" or "Ena Mazi." Pre-voting activities included 2 debates, public speeches, articles in local newspapers, videos on Facebook, and campaigning that extended to the 19 surrounding villages -- not to mention political pressure applied every which way and lots of decisions being made strictly according to personal relationships.


Each mayoral grouping was on a totally separate ballot -- paid for by the campaigns! -- with a list of Council candidates that was at least 40% women. On Election Day, each voter was handed  a white envelope and all 5 ballots (+ a blank sheet or "lefko" for abstentions) and could choose one, automatically giving that mayoral candidate one vote. The voter then made a cross next to up to 4 names on that ballot, sealed it in the envelope and dropped it into the ballot box. Polls closed at 7 pm, and by 10 pm we had the top mayoral results from 71 polling places.


Official Turnout: 64.32% of 33,102 voters registered throughout the Naousa DIMO with 1.27% "lefka" and 3.53% nullified because of the way they were marked. (Voting up to the age of 70 is compulsory, but many elderly voters did turn out. Also exempt were voters who were 200 kilometers from their place of registration. Conversely, many voters traveled even great distances to go back to their places of registration. Citizens are automatically registered and listed by the government when they turn 17. And there appears to be no current penalty for not voting.)


In Greece (as in most European countries and many others) there is no "winner take all"; it's the percentage of votes that counts. No Naousa mayoral candidate got a majority, and only 37 votes separated the two top vote-getters. But the top vote-getter got 12 seats on the City Council by virtue of the percentages, and the top vote-getters on his list won those spots. The breakdown by candidate was 12, 11, 4, 3, and 3 = 33 total seats. And each candidate not becoming mayor automatically gets one of the Council seats his or her group won.


On Sunday, June 2nd, there will be a run-off for Naousa mayor between the incumbent Nikos Koutsoyiannis and upstart Nikoloas Karanikolas. Unfortunately, Ilia Iosifidou did not make the cut, even though some say she was the most qualified.


Meanwhile, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras acknowledged that his SYRIZA party was thoroughly beaten in the European Parliamentary elections by calling for "snap" Greek Parliamentary elections. They will be held on July 7th instead of October as previously scheduled, and during a summer month for the first time. At the moment it looks like SYRIZA will go down to the New Democracy Party largely credited with steering Greece into the financial abyss in the first place circa 2008...


Greek elections are indeed not for the faint of heart!

Archbishop Stylianos Harkianakis buried in his beloved Australia (as promised)

Surreal. That's how it felt to watch the funeral of Archbishop Stylianos Harkianakis in Sydney, Australia, live via YouTube this past Saturday while sitting in Northern Greece. On the one hand I was heartbroken to hear that my forever friend had left us on March 25th -- but on the other uplifted by the fact that he passed away on Greek Independence Day and the feast day of The Annunciation, coincidentally the name of both his church in Sydney and mine in North Miami. I am not a super-religious person, but it was a lot to take in. 

It also brought back many memories of precious time spent with His Eminence when he was Abbot at the Moni Vlatadon in Thessaloniki circa 1970; things were a whole lot simpler then. Next he was unanimously elected Exarch of Mt. Athos, and in 1975 made Archbishop of Australia (Exarch of Oceana). A brilliant theologian/writer and charismatic leader, he was at the time only 40 years old!

Many years later, I couldn't even begin to fully describe or list the Archbishop's many accomplishments and good deeds -- from establishing churches, day schools, St. Andrew's Theological College, a myriad of benevolent organizations, and so much more. In his spare time, he served -- for more than 2 decades! -- as the Orthodox Church's lead in the official "Theological Dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church." A prolific poet, Stylianos Harkianakis earned many accolades for his 40+ published collections, including the Award for Poetry from the Academy of Athens. (Details can be found in the beautiful 16-page memorial booklet published online by the Australian Archdiocese in both Greek and English.)

On a personal note, I will never forget the kind, gregarious man born in Crete who did not take himself very seriously. I remember him pulling his hand away when you tried to respectfully kiss it as prescribed by our Orthodox faith.  He was happy to meet my parents when they visited Thessaloniki in 1972 and to see them again years later when he visited the USA. Nearly 4 years ago, I wrote about that friendship and rekindled correspondence. But I knew then that the Archbishop was is poor health and so was not surprised when his letters became shorter and shorter...
.

A Facebook post reported that his nephew Nikos Kaliouris -- now a lawyer in Athens and like a son to him -- had been by His Eminence's side night and day for the past nine months. I was very moved to watch Nikos stay close to him  right up until the very end .


In his first days and months in Australia, the newly-minted Archbishop was often moved to tears by the Greek people so far from home. He totally dedicated himself to their needs and well-being...doubling down by saying that when the time came, he would be buried amongst them in Australia.

And so before my very eyes it came to pass on Saturday, March 30, 2019, after nearly 44 years of service in Australia.  Stylianos Harkianakis' wooden casket was lowered into the ground at the Rookwood Cemetery in far-away Sydney (as promised).


May his memory truly be eternal.

Ammochostos "Ghost Town" ridiculously inhumane -- and also forgotten?

I recently returned to Cyprus with a traveling team of 10 Girls School graduates.  We covered a lot of ground in 5 days, but aimed primarily to reconnect with a group of  17 Cypriots who became students at the American Farm School in October of 1974, most as war refugees. Our visit was amazing -- we toured, we laughed, we danced, and were duly appalled at what we saw firsthand in the occupied town of Ammochostos (aka Famagusta).

In case you have forgotten, Turkey invaded Cyprus on July 20, 1974, bombarding primarily the north including Lefkosia and subsequently occupied 36.5% of the third largest island in the Mediterranean. The occupied areas are recognized as an entity only by Turkey. The rest of the world recognizes only The Republic of Cyprus, member of the European Union and a country wrongly partitioned.
 


(Too many people have either forgotten what transpired in Cyprus or simply have no clue about the politics of the region. A recent email from a friend in California admitted: "I was not aware there were still occupation issues between Greece and Turkey." Cyprus is an independent country populated mostly by people of Greek/Orthodox origin; until 1960 she was ruled by the British and never joined with Greece. The Turkish invasion came in  response to a coup supported by the Greek Junta, while the USA stood idly by...Click on this LINK to my previous Cyprus report for more background information.)


Not only did 200,000 Cypriots become refugees in 1974, but occupied Cyprus was Turkefied in every possible way -- including the illegal transfer of Turkish citizens to occupy lands and homes that belonged to Greek Cypriots. We were privileged to be shown around the occupied areas of Cyprus by refugee friends, a couple that was living peacefully in Ammochostos when word came that Turkey was about to bombard the city. People fled south fearing for their lives, leaving everything behind. 30 years later, Sophocles and his wife Koula were allowed back just to have a look. They knocked on the door of the home they had built and went in to see the possessions they had left behind: glassware, furniture, rugs, etc. - all carefully preserved/used by the  not  particularly friendly Turkish woman living there. How would you feel about that?


In Ammochostos  we suddenly came upon what is called "The Ghost Town" of Varosha -- a sealed-off area which before the Turkish invasion had been a modern, high-end tourist enclave and home to 39,000 Cypriots...and a favorite of Elizabeth Taylor's, no less.  Now it is surrounded by barbed wire fencing decorated  with ominous signs forbidding people to enter or even take photos. Hotels, homes, churches, schools, and  stores  are in a perpetual state of decay -- a monument to both the 1974 invasion and the ongoing unwillingness of Turkey to allow reunification of Cyprus. In 1984, UN Security Council Resolution 550 ordered Turkey to hand Varosha over to the UN for resettlement by the people who were forced out; Turkey did not comply.  Varosha has become nothing more than a bargaining chip for the firmly entrenched Turkish president and provocateur Recep Ertegan.


So what about the ghosts of said "Ghost Town?" They happen to be real people, watching and waiting for justice.  Have they been forgotten, too?

Year-End Report: Greek glass half full at best

For the record, I have lived part-time in Greece for the past 3 years, or 18 months out of 36 -- mostly in a rented studio apartment in my father's hometown of Naousa, a traditional yet modern town of about 20,000 people in Central Macedonia about one hour northwest of Thessaloniki. From there I have visited a number of Girls School/American Farm School grads in their villages around Northern Greece and beyond. In September I spent 5 days in Cyprus. You have read many of my "Dispatches from Greece"* -- so you won't be surprised that I have mixed feelings about the Greek reality as we gear up for the New Year. Let's call it a glass half full at best.

Naouseans are preparing for the holidays enthusiastically just like you and me. Christmas decorations have filled store windows for weeks. "Kazania" -- the traditional boiling of grape skins to produce stronger than ouzo tsipouro (together with a requisite on-site party) -- continued well into November.  Religious and other holidays are surrounded by name days, concerts, seminars, organizational events (like those hosted by the Pontian or Vlach Associations) and pretty much any excuse for a party. Education may be king, but skiing is now in ascendance after the first big snows at 3-5 Pigadia. Naousa also has admirable programs for the elderly, people with special needs and families who need assistance. And on the weekend of December 7-9, she becomes the "City of Wine" celebrating the renown Xinomavro grape. Opa!


The devastating economic situation, however, has not exactly gone away despite published reports to the contrary.  Unemployment may be down, but that's from 28% to 20.8 %.  And "the brain drain" continues, over half a million people having left the country since 2008. You may not realize that the now extended Russian embargo of EU food products in retaliation for sanctions has taken it serious toll on exports of meat, fish/seafood, vegetables, fruit (especially in Naousa!) and dairy products. 35% of all Greeks live in poverty or close to it...


On August 20th Greece officially exited the bailout program, but at what price? After 3 "Mnimonia" (memoranda of virtual servitude to the European Union) and pursuant demands for privatization, Greece has sold control of the Port of Piraeus (China), 14 airports (Germany), and a railway system (Italy). Greeks -- including me! -- pay the most for electricity in Europe, 42% in taxes and fees. Heating oil is more expensive this year with record snows predicted for year's end, so how will 60K refugees living in "hotspots" fare? Official reports may peg the average monthly income at 1000 euros, but too many people live on about 400 euros due to severely reduced pensions or part-time jobs.  Things are happening, investments are being made, but the reported turnaround has simply not yet trickled down to the average Greek citizen.


Pensions are scheduled to be cut one last time in a few weeks per Greece's contract with the banks. For awhile the Tsipras government said it wasn't going to happen, but the Lenders came back with, "Not so fast, a deal is a deal." May 19th elections are looming on the horizon, so those last bailout bits have become predictable political footballs. The Syriza government -- which has dealt with this mess with a proverbial gun to its head for 4 years -- is down in the polls by double digits to the New Democracy Party which helped create the disaster in the first place. Who should Greeks trust? (And most basically trust no one.)




On the bright side there is a woman running for mayor of Naousa, which has never put a woman in charge. Ilia Iosifidou is a civil engineer and mother, who is smart and energetic in the face of 4 male opponents. For some time I have been asking, "When will Naousa have a woman mayor?" After years of uninspired leadership, Naouseans now have a chance to elect a woman who seems to embody transparency and hard work over grandstanding and unfulfilled promises. 


Will Greece really turns the page in 2019? Greeks have swallowed a lot of very bitter medicine no matter what we think about the historic economic meltdown. They now deserve our very best wishes for a Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous New Year.  Kali hronia, to you and yours, too!

What do you really know about Cyprus?

Especially now as the plot surrounding the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi thickens with Turkey and its President Recep Ertogan right in the thick of things. Turkey is always front and center here in Greece.  And certainly no less in the Republic of Cyprus -- an island surrounded by Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Egypt. Cyprus won independence from the British Empire in 1960...only to be partitioned in 1974 when Turkey invaded in response to a coup cultivated by the Greek Junta to overthrow Archbishop/President Markarios and join Cyprus with Greece. The coup failed, 3,000+ Cypriots lost their lives (many more, including children, still unaccounted for), and 200,000 Greek Cypriots became refuges overnight. 


On the plus side, Greece suddenly became a democracy again following the collapse of the Junta and return of Konstantinos Karamanlis -- but not before a rather scary (I lived through it!) General Mobilization of many thousands of military reservists in anticipation of war. Turkey would eventually claim 36.5% of the island and create the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, recognized today only by Turkey. The two parts are separated by a UN buffer zone, the Green Line, and a Turkish flag flashes brightly over Lefkosia every night from the "katehomena"  (occupied  territory) to add insult to injury. Many thousands of Turkish nationals have been repatriated to occupied Cyprus in defiance of the Geneva Convention. And 44 years later, Greek and Turkish Cypriots are in perpetual reunification  talks constantly complicated by the hostile demands/actions of Recep Ertogan.


By now you might have forgotten about that Green Line and focused more on oil/gas drilling confrontations or a financial crisis (now mostly resolved) caused in part by a sudden influx of big Russian money. But did you know that 3 percent of Cypriot territory is still under foreign military control? And did you notice that during her recent confirmation hearings, the new US Ambassador to Cyprus had trouble acknowledging the events of 1974 as an invasion by Turkish troops? Ouch!

It's no wonder that there is not a whole lot of love lost between Cyprus and the UK because of the military bases, Greece for their role in the ill-fated coup, and the USA for supporting the coup and doing nothing to thwart the Turkish invasion. Thank you Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger. 

Last month I revisited that Green Line in Lefkosia (aka Nicosia), which bears little resemblance to what I saw in 1976 when barricades were manned by Greek and Turkish soldiers screaming obscenities at each other while UN Peacekeepers patrolled a tiny strip in between them. I had gone then to visit with the families of 17 boys we took as students at the American Farm School after the Agricultural High School of Morfou had been closed by the invaders. The students adjusted incredibly well at the School. But in Cyprus things were super bleak as many lived in refugee camps or over-crowded homes. From certain vantage points we could see untended crops that had simply dried up. At that point in time there was precious little to look forward to.

Today one can cross back-and-forth through checkpoints along the Green Line. In Lefkosia, show your ID at passport control and go right ahead. The Turkish side is sadly dated; I saw a man in a small, dingy shop actually stuffing a comforter with cotton by hand.  No Burger King or Starbucks there. You can buy cigarettes and pharmaceuticals sans EU taxes and then have a leisurely lunch -- just don't be thinking you can get your property back.

My Farm School graduate hosts Spyros and Nikos introduced me to their wonderful/most hospitable families and drove me all around free Cyprus. We visited a raft of towns, villages and other sites, including the front gate of the British airbase along the beautiful southern coastline of Akrotiri.  Then, of course, a pilgrimage to the final resting place of Archbishop Makarios  at Kykkos Monastery in the Troidos mountains -- about 11 km from mountaintops planted with British radar stations. You can read about it, but not fully feel it until you are suddenly told "You cannot be here" by a British soldier on an idyllic Saturday afternoon.

Most memorably, I was able to visit with half of those students who came to the American Farm School in 1974 at a special "mini reunion" dinner. There were stories, laughter, selfies, great food (love that sheftalia and halloumi!)...plus special music. While several grads do work in agriculture, Andreas is a music teacher and Tony Solomou a well-known singer/composer/activist. Tony was especially touched when I showed him a photo of me and his family circa 1976 (see above), as his mom had died about a year ago. His singular compositions about occupied villages like his own Aghia Marina are both wistful and defiant. Have a listen.

Then think about what you really know about Cyprus.

"500 Years of Greeks in America!"

As the 83rd Thessaloniki International Fair comes to an end, it's a good time to stand back and take a deep breath.


Even as the United States was the honored country this year -- last year China and Russia the year before -- there is a not so subtle anti-Americanism that colors almost all political conversations/arguments here in Greece. Everything and anything bad is America's fault, don't you know? Now with the Macedonia question on top of the various financial/refugee issues, the plot (συμφέροντα!), of course, thickens...

The fair's USA Pavillion focusing on technology -- Google, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, etc -- was indeed impressive and well-attended. But I was super-surprised upon entering the Greek Government Services Pavillion to suddenly be standing in front of a stand-alone display extolling the virtues of Senator Paul Sarbanes. Then one for Olympia Dukakis, Pete Sampras, Maestro Dimitris Mitropolis, Dr. Georgios Papanikolaou, Maria Callas, Constantino Brumidi (Google him!) and many others.  All under the heading "500 Years of Greeks in America." Wow!

Even more amazing was the sponsor of that exhibit: "The General Secretariat for Greeks Abroad" of the Greek Foreign Office (www.ggae.gr) -- "the government's coordinating body for the implementation of state policy with respect to Diaspora Hellenism," about 5 million people of Greek descent on 5 continents and in 140 countries...an agency created to "support the the interests and the expectations of the Greeks abroad." Who knew? 

Three million people of Greek descent live in the US, thus the long list of distinguished accomplishments -- plus a multitude of organizations, schools, churches, restaurants, newspapers, radio/TV stations, etc. The first Greek in the "New World" was Don Theodoros Griego (1528) and the first Greek colony was in St. Augustine, Florida (1768). The first Greek Community was founded in New Orleans (Holy Trinity/1864.) New York, Chicago and San Francisco are all important to the narrative, but who can possibly ignore Tarpon Springs?

More significantly, there was a wave of American Philhellenism that did its part in support of the Greek Revolution of 1821 -- bolstered by Thomas Jefferson,  James Madison, Daniel Webster, Sam Houston, and Henry Clay. Others actually fought in Greece against the Turks, including Samuel Gridley Howe and George Washington's cousin William Townsend Washington. It was a fitting effort to help Greece towards independence while the USA itself was still in its democratic infancy. To this day there is an active, bi-partisan Hellenic Caucus in Congress fighting for Greece!

The USA has contributed much to Greece in the last 200 years and still supports Greece in many ways. Those efforts/policies may not always be perfect or altruistic,  but they are way too often misunderstood or taken for granted. On other hand, it's very clear that Greek-Americans have contributed much to the USA -- 500 years' worth to be exact. 

I am proud to be a Greek-American and part of the Greek Diaspora story still being written, thanks to my immigrant father and 4 grandparents who worked very hard for a better life. It's a rather tricky thing being Greek-American and living part-time in Greece -- which is why I'm standing back and taking a deep breath. Somewhat hard to explain, but I'll keep trying.

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Making Memories with Basketball, Gin Rummy and Refried Beans

So, I was walking up the street in Naousa when someone called my name. Turning around, I saw a man approaching whom I did not recognize...until he showed me a of photo of himself when he was a student at the American Farm School in Thessaloniki when I worked there (1968-1978). John Dourakis -- one of my very best English students! -- has lived in Naousa for 13 years working for an agency that coordinates Greek peach canneries. I had absolutely no idea. But about 10 days ago a mutual friend happened to mention my name to him. Stunned and amazed, he had then been on the lookout for me. Wow!

We, of course, reminisced about our years at the School -- including when he an a few other students took me to see a big, important soccer match between PAOK and Olympiakos. I've been a PAOK fan ever since, but I also swore never to set foot in a large soccer stadium again. Standing on bleachers for all 90 minutes, we were constantly being pushed towards the brink. I was sure we would be trampled to death, but did live to talk about it...45 years later!


More importantly, you'll notice that John is wearing a Delta College basketball uniform -- and no accident that talk then turned to my pal Ernie Marcopoulos. Many years may have passed since he, Josie and their 3 kids -- from my hometown of Stockton, California -- spent their sabbatical year in Thessaloniki  at my urging. But the revered Coach of the San Joaquin Delta College Mustangs has not been forgotten here in Greece.

Ernie volunteered to coach basketball and teach PE at the Farm School for basic "room-and-board."  He brought with him some retired uniforms and worked tirelessly with the boys. John was a left-handed sharpshooter who might have excelled further had he not continued his studies in England.

Everyone at the School got super excited when Ernie was asked to also coach the PAOK professional basketball team for that one season.  We all became PAOK fans.

Behind the scenes, however, the Marcopoulos clan and I did our own thing...religiously. Every Tuesday night -- my day off from my Girls School Dept. dormitory duties -- I headed over to their apartment for our weekly Mexican Food Night and Gin Rummy Marathon. Ole!

Josie -- of Mexican decent, but who NEVER made tortillas in Stockton -- did, in fact, make tortillas from scratch every week thanks to a rolling pin that our friend Harry Theocharides graciously cut down to size. I learned to make them, too, along with refried beans and salsa. There may have been some carne asada and beer involved. The adults played cards until our (self-imposed) 12 o'clock curfew. Who was "World Champ" is still in dispute.


That's what happens when you live in Northern Greece and need a Mexican food fix -- which, in fact, I still often do. But I don't think I'll ever be able to top basketball + gin rummy + refried beans.

"No, I am not an enemy of the people" (a Greek story of reunification and quasi-redemption)

Sticky wicket might well describe the role of communism in Greek history -- as the promises of the Bolshevik Revolution crept into the consciousness of the working man, captivated some, but  fell  down during a crushing Civil War following WWII.  In Naousa, bitterness and mistrust  still  simmer under the cover of normalcy. But little-by-little, lost facts/secrets are being uncovered and confronted...occasionally by people seeking their roots.

So when I heard that a book entitled No, I am not an enemy of the people was going to be presented at the Naousa cultural center a few weeks ago, I immediately assumed that the reference was to the Greek people with some sort of apologia for someone who had simply been castigated as a Communist.  But it was a human story much more complicated than that.

Markos Markovitis was born in Naousa in 1905, the eldest of 9 children in a relatively prosperous family. He was not alone in falling under the spell of the communist promise. But by 1925 and with a messianic fervor, he was one of the movement's hard core evangelists in Thessaloniki, where he was arrested and condemned to death in 1931. Managing to escape, he went to Russia, the Communist "Fatherland." There he studied, married, and tried mightily to become a citizen. But in 1937, it all came apart for Markos. He was arrested in a Stalinist purge and condemned to death as an enemy of the state -- prompting the writing of two poignant letters to Stalin.

"No, I am not an enemy of the people,"  Markovitis wrote to convince Stalin that he was dedicated to the Communist cause. That he had come to Russia full of joy and hope to serve Stalin and the State. That he wanted to stay and live out his dreams. But those letters were never read by Stalin. Markos was executed and buried unceremoniously in a mass grave. Meanwhile, his family in Greece had long lost track of him. 

In Russia he had a new family, with children. After the execution, that family  disappeared  itself in order to survive -- his children going into orphanages under assumed names. It wasn't until 1957 that the KKE (Greek Communist Party) learned of Markovitis's fate, but his family was not informed until 2002. By then his parents had died and other relatives ("down to the last cousin") had also been hounded and stigmatized as Communist sympathizers -- all due to a lost son of Naousa who had died in Russia 80 years ago as a suspected traitor to the Communist cause!

 

Reunited Markovitis Family

Enter Markovitis's grandson Dimitris, whose search for the real Markos Markovitis led to the discovery of the two letters in Russian archives -- bringing him into contact with his family in Greece and with Marios Markovitis, nephew of Markos and the author of the aforementioned book..a labor of love with a double meaning in terms of political consequence and historical perspective.   

The room for the book reading was full and captivated, especially by the author whose closing comments were so very powerful on several levels: Markos Markovitis,  he  declared, died twice in 1937 when he was executed and, even worse, disappeared as a person -- and now in 2018 the truth comes out and "we can mourn him properly."  He named others who had suffered much the same fate.


Why did it take so long to find and publicly talk about Markos Markovitis? Because "history is written by the victors," as you may have heard before.  But in Greece, victors have been few and far between. 


NOTE: In Greece, as in many parts of Europe, the Communist Party is a legal/viable, if not particularly successful, political party. Indeed  the KKE in Naousa recently staged a public event to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution. But a certain kind  of  paranoia/hostility abides due to that Civil War which fully impacted Naousa -- and where a pipeline for Communist abduction of young people literally ran down Andarton, the street where my father grew up so many years before.  

On June 3rd we are going to Makronisos!

Not because we have been rounded up by the Greek police due to our political beliefs, but to never forget the 100,000 detainees who were held on that island 1946-1953 and tortured until they recanted theirs. There were other islands/prisons where enemies of the state (mostly communists)  were held or exiled for random, indeterminate lengths of time -- an ugly kind of political punishment favored in Greece during other periods in her history, too.

Makronisos

I recently stumbled upon the not exactly well-known Makronisos Museum and the Museum of Political Exile Agh. Straty -- both located in the same building at 31 Asomaton in the Keramikos area of Athens. Lucky for me, the latter was offering an educational program aptly  entitled "My whole world in a suitcase." It was a heart-breaker regardless of your political leanings, and it also resolved some lingering questions that had haunted me since living in Greece under the military dictatorship of 1967-1974. By then Makronisos had largely been abandoned...so those resisting the Junta were reportedly exiled to Giaros and Leros, and/or held at prisons in Oropo, Aegina, Hania and Corfu. But in our then mind's-eye, our hero friends were all being "sent to Makronisos*."





Trikeri

Makronisos and Agh. Straty had facilities often built by the prisoners themselves -- Agh. Straty subsequently becoming more palatable post-1950 due to growing criticism voiced by European allies. A theater there begat plays like "Perses"  (Act I), with hand-made costumes and hand-painted backdrops. There was regular feel-good (censored) correspondence with "greetings to those you know." Prisoners  created  poignant "works of art" with whatever materials they could find,  including rocks and bones. And a rather remarkable official holiday photo taken on Trikeri  clearly  shows to what degree detainees literally put their best foot forward to show that they were all right and still loyal to their beliefs. Just like a bunch of girlfriends on a summer vacation.




Agh. Straty

But political exile/detention with was no vacation, especially on Makronisos if you were forced to carry a large boulder uphill on  your back while tangled up in barbed wire. 95% of all detainees  finally  gave into the programs of "reeducation," disavowing their beliefs and signing on the proverbial dotted line to go home. There are too many stories "pou then leyontai" (which cannot be discussed), despite the creation of the museums, annual pilgrimages and a free press. Fearful former exiles destroyed documents to protect their children...or maybe to cover up their own capitulations. Many  NEVER  spoke about time spent on Makronisos, Agh. Straty, Trikeri, or any other island of torture and dehumanization.


It was, after all, a period in Greek history defined by a cruel Civil War* that followed the German/Italian occupations: Government forces (supported by the UK and USA) versus Communist insurgents (supported by the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Albania) who had also fought  as partisans during WWII. Brother against brother. Neighbor against neighbor. Too much of what happened then is still under wraps with the hope perhaps that certain people will forget or simply fade away -- a sentiment shared here in Naousa, where bitterness and mistrust still  simmer under the cover of normalcy. Occasionally some bit of information slips out if you dig deep enough, but the cycle of silence continues...


Some Greeks disgusted by the current financial/political situation have rather casually dared to say: "Bring back the Junta, they gave us discipline and built roads." Those people should be first in line to visit Makronisos on June 3rd for a much-needed reality check...never forget, or ever repeat!


NOTE: Visit Makronisos** by calling PEKAM (National Union of Those Held on Makronisos) at 210-3247820 or by sending an email to info@pekam.org.gr.  The Makronisos Museum at 31 Asomaton Street is open on Tuesday-Friday 10 am - 1pm and on Saturday-Sunday 11am-2pm free of charge. The Museum of Political Exile has identical hours Tuesday-Friday, but is closed Saturday-Sunday.


*For a very good understanding of this terrible time in Greek history, please read ELENI by Nicolas Gage (Random House, 1983)
**Makronisos became a Greek Historic Landmark on May 16, 1989 [1285/24255], a decision signed by then Minister of Culture, Melina Mercouri.