Month: May 2014

κάτι πίο πολύ ωραίο (something nicer)

apparently, three years of posting blog items about graffiti and economic conditions isn’t going to cut it, so let’s look at something nicer: meteora. meteora – literally, “suspended in the air” or “middle of the sky” – is a collection of six greek orthodox monasteries situated on sandstone pillars. although we couldn’t take photographs inside the sanctuaries, where all the really beautiful frescoes are (including a truly gruesome one of all the ways the early martyrs met their deaths – some of the pagans were quite inventive), we still saw plenty to marvel the eye.

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ας μάθουμε λίγα ελληνικά!

we are moving to athens this summer, and we went to larissa, about four hours north of the city, for a one-week language immersion course.  greece, as anyone who is paying attention knows, is in the midst of a deep economic crisis.  the numbers suggest that the country is finally pulling out of it, having recorded a primary surplus and re-entered the international bond market; nonetheless, for the average person, the economic contraction and high unemployment of the past 6-7 years remains a constant.  i was curious to see first-hand how the crisis “looked” on the streets, and while every block has at least one storefront that is vacant, to me the graffiti was more interesting.  it is everywhere: in alleys, on storefronts, on private houses, even on churches.  with that in mind, ας μάθουμε λίγα ελληνικά! (let’s learn a little greek!)

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this first one translates roughly to “f— the state.” here we have some boys kicking their fallen friend in front of “stand against state terrorism” last, “s— to fascists” next to posters of alex tsipras, head of the leading leftist anti-establishment party, syriza.

culture awaits!