My Greek Odyssey

The Greatest Generation

2012-01-25T18:46:03-05:00

Το κλαρίνο βαρεί το μοιρολόι.... Το μοιρολόι..... Και θαρρείς πως κάθε τι γύρω σου μεταμορφώνεται. Μεταμορφώνεται από μια άχαρη και συνηθισμένη τσιμεντούπολη σε δάσος, σε χωριό, σε πετρόχτιστα σπίτια, σε κάρα, σε αλέτρια, σε αργαλειούς, σε γάστρες. Το μοιρολόι φέρνει θύμησες, από αυτές που μόνο οι παππούδες γνωρίζουν.... Σαν βγαλμένα από μια άλλη εποχή, έρχονται το ένα μετά το άλλο να σε στοιχειώσουν τα φαντάσματα εκείνα. Τα άταφα σώματα Ελλήνων στρατιωτών, οι υπέρτατες θυσίες των Ηπειρωτισσών, η χαρά της απελευθέρωσης και ξανά η απόγνωση και το κλάμα της σκλαβιάς των Βορειοηπειρωτών. Το ΟΧΙ του 1940, που τόσο αβίαστα το προφέρουμε σήμερα, δεν υπήρξε πραγματικά. Δεν είπε ο Μεταξάς το ΟΧΙ. Αλλά ο Ελληνικός λαός, μην υπολογίζοντας ζωή, περιουσία, υλικά αγαθά, ρίχθηκε στον Αγώνα για την σωτηρία ενός ιδανικού που υπερβαίνει κάθε άλλου... της Ελευθερίας. Και πίσω από τους στρατιώτες, οι Ηπειρώτισσες γυναίκες, εξαθλιωμένες από τη φτώχεια και τις αγροτικές εργασίες, απελπισμένες από τους άντρες, τους γιους και τους πατεράδες τους, που έφυγαν να πολεμήσουν στα απάτητα Ηπειρώτικα και Βορειοηπειρώτικα βουνά, δεν δίστασαν, αλλά παρακάμπτοντας κάθε εμπόδιο, κάθε περιορισμό του φύλου τους πολέμησαν στο πλευρό των ανδρών μεταφέροντας πολεμοφόδια και σε μερικές περιπτώσεις, πολεμώντας κι όλας. Εκεί, στην Πίνδο, στην σημερινή Αλβανία, οι Έλληνες Βορειοηπειρώτες, λίγο σκάβουν και ανακαλύπτουν ακόμη τα κόκκαλα των Ελλήνων, όσων δεν είχαν κανέναν μαζί τους να τους θάψει με τις τιμές ηρώων, όπως τους άξιζε. Και εδώ, το μοιρολόι αυτό, ο επικήδιος θρήνος, ας ταξιδέψει στους ουρανούς να αποδόσει Τιμής Ένεκεν ένα τελευταίο αντίο και ένα...

Pogoni Region, Northern Epirus

2012-01-24T19:23:59-05:00

ΜΙΑ ΖΩΗ ΒΑΣΑΝΙΣΜΕΝΗ ΗΠΕΙΡOΤΙΚΟ ΓΛΕΝΤΙ ΕΡΧΕΣΑΙ ΣΤΑ ΟΝΕΙΡΑ ΜΟΥ

LEFTERIS ANTONIADIS 1925-2012

2012-01-17T13:27:56-05:00

"ξέρω πως όταν πεθάνω θα τυλίξουν το φέρετρό μου με την ερυθρά ημισέληνο, αλλά η καρδιά μου θα είναι γαλάζια με σταυρό.. Tens of thousands of Turks filled a stadium to bid farewell to Lefteris Antoniadis, one of Turkey's top football players, who died at age 86 in Istanbul. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan attended the funeral ceremony on Sunday at Fenerbahce's Şükrü Saraçoğlu Stadium to honor Antoniandis, known to Turkish fans as Lefter Küçükandonyadis. Born in 1925 in Istanbul to a Greek father from Turkey's minority Greek community and a Turkish mother, he was the first player from Turkey to play abroad. From an early age he showed his great love for football. He began his football career in Taximspor, a district team of the City. After a four year stint in the Turkish Army, he joined Fenerbahce in 1947, where his talent was immediately recognized. In 1951 he played for Italian Fiorentina, the first player from Turkey to achieve recognition by a foreign team. He returned to Fenerbahce, where he helped win two championships, founded the national team, and helped to earn three titles (1959, 1961, 1964). From 1947 to 1964 he played 615 games scoring 423 goals. His prowess on the field and legendery status earned him the respect of all Turkish fans. In the season 1953–1954, he was the top scorer in the Turkish league. After ending his career in Turkey in 1964, Küçükandonyadis played a single season in Greece with AEK Athens the team of...

ΠOΛΥΤΣΑΝΗ

2012-01-15T21:49:11-05:00

Scroll to the bottom of the page for the English version of this post. Δεν ξέρω γιατί με τραβούσε ένα μέρος το οποίο το γνώριζα μόνο από τα παραμύθια της γιαγιάς μου. Ένα μέρος γεμάτο φαντάσματα, γεμάτο λύπες και χαρές. Αυτό το ορεινό χωριουδάκι όπου γεννήθηκε, μεγάλωσε και πέρασε τα καλύτερα χρόνια της ζωής της. Γιά εμένα ήταν ένα όνειρο θολό που δεν τελειώνει ποτέ. Κάτι που δεν μπορούσα να σβήσω από την μνήμη μου. Όταν είσαι νέος και ο κόσμος ανοίγη μπροστά σου, δεν σε νοιάζει τίποτα. Νομίζεις ότι πάντοτε θα είσαι νικητής και θα κάνεις την ζωή σου ότι θέλεις. Μόνο όταν τα χρόνια περάσουν καταλαβαίνεις ότι η ζωή, σου κάνει αυτή ότι θέλει. Αρχίζεις να επανέλθεις και να καταλάβεις που έχεις πάει και που πας. Τότε ρωτάς : «τι σημασία έχει η ζωή μου». Πως να απαντήσω στο ερώτημα αυτό χωρίς να βρω την αρχή ; Χωρίς να βρώ, όπως γράφει ο ποιητής Καβάφης, την Ιθάκη μου. Μόνο εκεί θα μπορούσα να καταλάβω την ιδιαίτερη σημασία της ζωής μου. Ο θάνατος του πατέρα μου, το καλοκαίρι του 2007, προκάλεσε σε μένα μία ανάγκη μεγάλη. Να γυρίσω στην πνευματική και γενέθλια πηγή μας. Στην πατρίδα όπου γεννήθηκαν οι πρόγονοί μου. Ένα ξεχασμένο κομμάτι του Ελληνισμού. Μία φλόγα που δεν θέλει να σβήσει. Ο χωματόδρομος που πάει στην Πολίτσανη είναι μακρής, δύσκολος, επικίνδυνος και ανεβαίνει συνέχεια. Θα περάσεις από ποταμάκια, χαράδρες και τεράστια βουνά, γεμάτο πεύκα. Νιώθεις επάνω σε αυτή την τοποθεσία την μεγάλη δύναμη του Θεού αλλά και...

The Worst Five Seconds

2012-01-13T18:45:19-05:00

Resilience in Adversity

2012-01-11T20:33:32-05:00

"Do not be surprised that you fall every day; do not give up, but stand your ground courageously. And assuredly, the angel who guards you will honor your patience." -- St. John of the Ladder Open a newspaper these days and you will be sickened by what you read. Our world seems to be careening downhill out of control. In many respects we have been taking a vacation from history. We having been living large, as they say, trying to ignore what is going on around us. We often forget that life is difficult, and it has a nasty habit of reminding us now and then. Our world can be turned upside down overnight. No matter how hard we try to avoid them, adversity and suffering find us. When they do, they invariably have much to teach us. The disasters, large and small, in our lives create the ability to bear them and have the ability to make us stronger. Our eyes weaken as we grow older, but we begin to discern many things more clearly as we age. What was seen as a devastating blow in our youth, later appears as a less threatening but worrisome obstacle. As we grow in experience and wisdom, obstacles become less fearful and are reduced to difficult challenges. Later, difficult challenges are viewed as valuable lessons. And valuable lessons become learning experiences that change us forever. My mother-in-law, Maria, the closest thing I have to a mother these days, has taught me about...

Searching for a Brother Lost in Albania's Gulag

2012-01-07T20:51:27-05:00

The Greek American community has lost one of its clearest inspirational voices, Dr. Nicholas Stavrou, Professor Emeritus at Howard University in Washington, D.C. As a champion of Hellenism and a leading Balkan expert he was a spokesman for the rights of the Greek minority in his native Northern Epirus. Born in the village of Griazdani, his family was targeted and persecuted by the regime of communist dictator, Enver Hoxha. They fled to Greece through the mine filled mountains arriving in Ioannina, Greece after enduring terrible hardships. His older brother Grigorios (left) decided to play an active role in the struggle against the Albanian communists, fighting to free Northern Epirus and his Greek brothers who lived there. Eventually he was betrayed by a close family relative after returning to Albania despite the warnings he received from his commanding officers in Greek Intelligence that the Albanians had set a trap for him. He was eventuallly wounded and captured after a six hour battle. Despite repeated torture and a show trial Grigorios remained defiant, ridiculing the regime and angering the judges. Standing before the judges he shouted: "I know, that you will execute me, but you cannot execute Hellenism." He was thereafter summarily executed. Nicholas Stavrou later immigrated to the United States, simultaneously working three jobs and attending college, earning a doctorate in political science. He swore that he would not die until he found his brother’s bones and buried them alongside his parents’ in Greece. Unfortunately, despite his herculean efforts and exhausting...

The Nobility of Failure

2011-12-27T10:29:00-05:00

Growing up in Greek America, all the Greek grown-ups in my life, struggling immigrants like my parents, seemed to my childish eyes, like part of one big extended family. No wonder I bestowed the honorary appellation of "Thio" or "Thia" (Uncle and Aunt) on all of them whether or not they happened to share any familial connection to me. They seemed so much like my own parents, in countless ways, that there was no denying some sort of mystical, unbreakable linkage existed between us. After all they reveled in doing things that appeared so strange to normal people. Normal people didn't stare at the sediment in an empty demitasse cup of Turkish coffee trying to divine the future. They didn't carry lighted candles home from the midnight Resurrection service to burn the sign of the Cross above the doorway of their front door. You never heard our American neighbors singing nostalgic off key songs about faraway little villages with unpaved streets and barefoot children. Normal people didn't do that sort of thing, only Greek immigrants like my parents and their gaggle of like-minded countrymen, far from home. Families, when they weren't going to school or work or church, were going to each other's homes where the women competed to see who could cook more food and the men competed to see who could tell the tallest stories. These gatherings were vociferous to say the least, punctuated by the incessant chatter of men, women and children. The aromas and the sounds...

Great moments of Greek Cinema

2011-12-04T17:37:51-05:00

Thermo

2011-11-26T17:29:19-05:00

The bus ride to Thermo took nearly four hours. The bus made its way through the mountain passes to the coastal route along the southern coast of mainland Greece, heading west. I wasn't yet ready to return to Athens since I had promised a friend to visit the town and write about the nursing home being built there. Having spent a few days with my son, a monk, in the monastery where he lived, my mind was full of many mixed emotions. Yet God in his infinite wisdom would bring me some semblance of peace amongst strangers. Thermo a small town with a population of two thousand is located in the perfecture of Aeotolia, on the banks of the largest natural lake in Greece named Lake Trichonia. The town is about 10 km from the Messolonghi, the scene of much fighting during the Greek Revolution and a stones throw from the village of Mega Dendron, the birthplace of Saint Kosmas. The people of Thermo and its surrounding villages are part of the "other Greece" I often write about. The remnant of a Greece where faith, tradition and filotimo are still prized, where children play outside, fresh laundry sways in the breeze and the church bells call the faithful to prayer. There is an old Russian saying, you get the priest you deserve. In this regard the people of Thermo are truly blessed to have Father Konstandinos, as presbyter of St Demetrios Church. God has given them the kind of priest...

The Revolt of the Greek Jews

2011-11-14T23:50:32-05:00

The Revolt of the Greek Jews from MovieTeller on Vimeo.

PONTOS LIVES!

2011-11-14T11:46:00-05:00

Heroes

2011-11-12T11:39:04-05:00

Charlie was one of the lucky ones. I think he realized that more than most people, having survived the tough slog from Normandy to the heart of the Third Reich itself. As a paratrooper in the 101st Airborne he had jumped into Normandy on D-Day and later into Holland during Operation Market Garden, attached to the British 1st Airborne Divison. Wounded at Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge he had left more than his share of buddies buried in shallow graves along the way. So many close calls, punctuated by that ever present gut wrenching fear and the sleepless nights. The horrific images of combat seared into one"s brain never go away, even with the passing of the years, yet he seldom talked about his experiences in the war. In 1945, Charlie's unit liberated Berchesgaten, the location of Hitler's mountain retreat known as the Eagle's Nest. It was there that the young battle hardened soldier who had come such a long way, would sit in Hitler's chair and rest his weary feet on the oak table around which Hitler's henchmen plotted so much mayhem. The son of Greek immigrants, Charlie had grown up during hard times in the great depression, in a small mill town in rural Maine. At a time when he should have been looking forward to starting out in life, he was forced by events beyond his control, to join the Army and go off to war. Yes, he was one of the lucky ones, he...

The New Bosses Are Coming to Town

2011-10-27T22:44:36-04:00

27 April 1941 This is Radio FREE ATHENS Greeks! The German invaders are on the outskirts of Athens. Brothers! Keep alive in your souls the spirit of the front The invaders are coming to a deserted city with its homes closed to them. Greeks! Keep your heads held high. Attention, the radio station of Athens will in a short time no longer be Greek. It will be German and spreading lies. Greeks, don't listen. we will continue to fight until the final victory. LONG LIVE THE NATION OF THE GREEKS! 27 October 2011 Reuters. Greek sovereignty was further undermined by eurozone leaders today, as Germany demanded a "durable" supervision on the ground of its economic policy-making under the terms of a second €130 billion bail-out. The new rescue package, which comes with a 50 percent debt cut by private lenders and is to run until 2020, will include a "monitoring capacity on the ground" instead of current visits every three months by the troika of European Commission, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European Central Bank lenders, the summit communique said. The aim of the mission will be to "advise and offer assistance in order to ensure the timely and full implementation of the reforms." German Chancellor Angela Merkel pushed for the permanent presence instead of the current set-up, which sees the troika "coming and going every three months." In a dark blue jacket reflecting the mood in and about the eurozone, Merkel abandoned her usual cautious rhetoric warned outright of...

Kukla: The Life of a Greek Stray

2011-07-31T22:43:16-04:00

When I lived in Greece in the 80s, strays were part of the landscape. They were ever present, sleeping in the shade where they could find it or sitting while watching you patiently with big sad eyes as you ate at a sidewalk taverna. Occasionally someone would toss them a tidbit, they would wag their tails in thanks and slink off somewhere to enjoy it far from prying eyes. Back then Greeks looked upon dogs as serving a purpose. They were guards dogs and hunting dogs, living on the food their masters discarded. During the famine in World War II dogs were a coveted source of food, disappearing for a time from the Athenian landscape. Even in the best of times Greeks didn't keep dogs indoors and they certainly didn't sleep on their sofas or beds. Keeping dogs as pets was just coming into vogue yet even those kept as pets weren't dressed up in cute costumes nor did they receive healthcare services on a par with humans. If they were lucky they had a courtyard as their kingdom, sometimes they lived on high Athenian balconies, spending their time pacing back and forth or barking at some percieved intuder. A few were chained up on invariably short chains, often in the blazing Mediterranean sun with an empty water bowl to keep them company. Needless to say, many escaped. Who could blame them? Some were turned loose to fend for themselves when their owners tired of them. They were forced to...