A Xeno's View of Greece and Greeks Pt. 5: "Play That Funky (Greek) Music…"

Greek Music, when you first hear it, can sound a bit like a cat in heat on a steamy summer night in Athens. And take it from someone who has been awakened by said cat more than once, it's not pleasant. Especially if you're unlucky enough to hear some older nisiotika, or "island music". Consisting of very screechy violins and equally unbearable clarinets droning on in a mind-numbing audio attack, this music is enough to drive you to leap from the beautiful cliffs of the aforementioned islands into the sweet silence of death. Okay, perhaps it's not that bad – but it's close, especially if you are not at all used to the oriental sounds of Greek music.

Most people only know one or two Greek songs, if that. Everybody's probably heard "Zorba's Dance", which is the prototypical and stereotypical piece of Greek music. Repetitive tune, bouzoukis, clarinets, upbeat tempo - you can almost feel the shards of china cutting your legs as they break plates with glee (crazy Greeks…). But once you have the opportunity to learn a bit of the language, and about the harsh reality of the recent history of the Greek people, the music really begins to make sense, and, for me at least, conveys the true meaning of what it is to be Greek. When Greeks stir themselves up into a frenzy at a concert or dance ("bouzoukia"), there is a feeling and a sense of euphoria known as "kefi". Kefi is a difficult word to translate, but can best be described as the spirit of joy, passion, enthusiasm, high spirits, or frenzy when the soul and body are overwhelmed with an exuberance that must find an outlet through singing, dancing, drinking, throwing money or carnations, or smashing plates. I have seen kefi in action, and it is contagious. You will do and say and sing and drink things you would otherwise never think of taking on. And the best part is, even if you're a xeno like me, and you don't know all the words, or all the steps to the dance, no one is going to make fun of you (at least not to your face). On the contrary, Greeks will take time to be there next to you, encouraging you in your attempt to feel their spirit, in your endeavor to experience what it's like to be Greek, at least for a little while.

My first exposure to Greek music was while I was dating my wife, and it was, to my ears, second-rate disco music in a strange tongue. Because she likes dance music, I was only hearing more modern songs, which don't have the same appeal to me as more traditional Greek music. But the longer we were together, the more chances I got to hear more traditional Greek music, and to hear it in its proper settings: weddings, dances, bars, restaurants, and best of all - in Greece. The more I heard, the more I liked it, and that includes the "dancey" stuff, too. Now, it certainly doesn't hurt that nearly every popular female Greek singer I have seen is a goddess. It is a scientific fact that hotness enables men to do things that they may not otherwise enjoy. I cannot say that this was not the case with me, but I can say that I also enjoy listening to male Greek singers, although I think most of them are pretty hot, too!

While in Greece we've been able to buy a bunch of bootleg CDs, and I have since downloaded dozens of CDs online so that our Greek music library is quite sizeable. In fact, you are probably more likely to catch me listening to Greek music than to anything you'd hear on American radio. Maybe it's because it reminds me of Greece, maybe it's because I'm bored with (or too old for) most popular music today. But whatever the reason, I genuinely enjoy listening to Greek music, and I probably listen to it more often than does my wife.

I have been to see four large Greek concerts in Atlantic City and have enjoyed them all immensely. My first show was Elena Paparizou, fresh off her EuroVision success with "My Number One". Her opening act was Nikos Kourkoulis (hot). It was only my wife and me, and, while we enjoyed the show, it wasn't as good as it would have been had we shared the evening with others. Our next show was the legendary Peggy Zina, and we sat second row with a large group of friends and family. Here is where the Kefi kicks in. A few drinks, an opening act, and by the time Peggy hit the stage we were throwing carnations at her and dancing on the chairs and tables. This continued for 2 straight hours of pure joy, and none of us were ready for the show to end at 11pm. Good thing it was at the Taj Mahal so we could carry the kefi on to the gaming floor for a few hours.

We then saw Despina Vandi with Stelios Maximos, and again it was second row with two tables full of family and friends and was another fantastic experience. Most recently it was my favorite Greek singer,  Natasa Theodoridou, with Marinella and what a performance.  I didn't really know Marinella at all but by the end of the night I loved her and she really stole the show!
Before I knew my wife, I had no idea concerts like this even happened. Now I consider myself lucky to be able to experience nights like those, and I look forward to the announcement of Greek concerts the way most people look forward to the "normal" summer concert schedule being announced every spring. The ultimate in concerts for me will be the day we can go to a bouzoukia in Greece to see one of the big acts at one of Athens' best clubs. Top of my list?  Kelly Kelekidou.  I missed her when she was here recently, and hopefully she'll come back before we visit Greece again, but if not, it will be a highlight of our next trip to see such a show.

Σας ευχαριστώ για την επίσκεψη (Thank you for visiting)
Todd

Next Month – Part 6: Birth, Marriage, Death

A Xeno's View of Greece and Greeks Pt. 4: Ελλάδα Μου (My Greece)

I am a Philhellene. I am totally in love with the country of Greece. Not the politics, the corruption and rampant cronyism, the government's support of people like war criminal Slobodan Milosevic and terrorists like the PLO, the high unemployment rate, labor strikes, and bankrupt economy or any of the other countless day-to-day worries that any country faces. But rather the physical beauty of the landscape of Greece, the overwhelming sense of history and timelessness that I feel whenever I am there, and the spirit of the Greek people. I have visited three times, staying for a total of around 11 weeks. With my wife and our two sons, we have been to all corners of this beautiful country and there is no place we have been that I would not recommend to people. Greece has something for everyone. From our base in Athens, where my wife's family lives, we have gone east to the Aegean and the island of Samos. From here we cruised to Turkey to see the magnificent Greek ruins at Ephesus. We have explored the Attic peninsula, visiting Kaiseriani and much of the greater-Athens area, Rafina, the beach at Loutsa, and up to the island of Evia.  Beautiful drives along the Saronic Gulf coast lead to the mega-yacht-filled Flisvos Marina, and on through exclusive Glyfada to take in the stunning views from Cape Sounion and enjoy the small secluded beaches along the way. We have driven north, past the snow-capped Mt. Olympus and through the rugged Vale of Tempe to the waterfalls of Edessa; to Greece's second city, Thessaloniki, and then to Kavala and the beautiful green island of Thassos.  We've driven west from Athens and crossed the Corinth Canal and the spectacular Rio-Antirio bridge to visit Lefkada, Kefalonia, Ithaki, and Corfu in the Ionian, and Ioannina in the northwest, stopping at places like Arachova, Nafpaktos, Arta, and Parga on the way. We visited Piraeus, took a ferry to Aegina, dropped in on ancient Elefsis, Corinth, and Delphi. We have been to every prefecture of the Peloponissos, seeing Diakofto, Kalavryta, Patra, Killini, Pyrgos, ancient Olympia, Gialova and the amazing Voidokilia beach on the western side of the peninsula. Heading east we enjoyed the waterfalls at Polilimnio, drove through Kalamata and the wonderful mountain roads across the high, Alpine-like Taygettos range to Sparti and on the the fantastic Monemvaia, with it's close, dark medieval streets full of tavernas and shops. We finished off the Peloponissos visiting Epidavros, ancient Mycenae, and our favorite place in all of Greece – Nafplio.

If there was one place in the world I could live it would be this little port town in the Argolis surrounded by olive groves, mountains and beaches. Greece's first national capital, the old town of Nafplio is filled with tiny streets full of shops and cafes, bright flowers and sleeping cats. The harbor front is protected by the island fortress called the Bourtzi, and is filled with tavernas and cafes where you can have a fresh seafood dinner or a 2-hour frappe. By night the tavernas on the small side streets come to life with impromptu table-side concerts as families celebrate life with one another. Their children run and play safely through the pedestrian streets long into the night as the adults eat, drink, tell stories, and sing the songs their parents passed down to them. The marbled Syntagma Square is ringed by cafes, and all is presided over by the imposing figure of the Palamidi, a Venetian fortress atop a hill, floodlit at night and appearing as a halo over this idyllic spot by the sea. A short walk around a point of land brings you to Arvanitia Beach, where you can spend the day swimming in the warm waters, lying on the pebbled beach, and people watching. I feel at ease in Nafplio, relaxed, at home, despite the fact that I've only spent a total of 9 days there during three visits. It holds some of the fondest memories I have of Greece, and I will return there on every visit I make.

Many people write off Athens as a noisy, dirty city that they only visit for a day to see relatives and to use the airport to the east or the ferries in nearby Piraeus to get to "better" places. I love Athens. And I love that I get to see it as an Athenian sees it by virtue of my wife's family living in the section of eastern Athens called Zografou. I get to see real neighborhoods, shop at the weekly "laiki" or street market, and eat at real neighborhood cafes and restaurants. I get to enjoy the night air on the taratza, away from the noise and congestion and tourists downtown. And I get to travel throughout the city – when I'm lucky - on the back of my brother-in-laws' motorcycle. (Our oldest son, on his first trip to Athens at age 5 got to ride with his Theo on his motorcycle. Needless to say, this was the highlight of his entire vacation, and he took every chance he could to ride again on our most recent trip.  Our youngest rode too on this trip, but was a little less enthusiastic) My first view of the Parthenon, perched atop the Acropolis, came from the back of a motorcycle. As a lover of history, sights like this are almost overwhelming the first time they are viewed. I really can't take it in enough – the scale, the beauty, the antiquity of it all. And this type of thing is EVERYWHERE in Greece. Subway stations, beside the train tracks headed to Piraeus, under the sidewalks (with plexi-glass viewing areas to look beneath the surface), in fields as you drive around Attica or the Peloponissos. The backdrop for much of this is the mountains that rise around Athens and extend to points north and west. Then there's the sea that surrounds this beautiful land, in myriad shades of blue the likes of which you have never seen before – unless you've been to Greece. There's simply nothing not to like when it comes to the splendor that is Ellada.

Σας ευχαριστώ για την επίσκεψη (Thank you for visiting)

Todd



Next Month – Part Five: "Play That Funky (Greek) Music White Boy…"

A Xeno's View of Greece and Greeks Part 3 - What? You No Speak-a the Greek?

This week we address the Greek language. Being the root of much of what we say today, you'd figure maybe you'd understand a bit of Greek if you heard it. Sorry - you're wrong. When first encountered it is not a beautiful language to listen to by any means. It sounds nothing like any other language you are likely to have heard, and very few words are discernable at all as the Greeks speak so fast that even my wife can't understand them sometimes, and she is fluent.

My first exposure to the language was, of course, the curse words, which I still use (and quite well, I might add) to this day. There's something inherently funny about telling people who don't speak your language to say all your dirty words. Not sure why, but I've done it myself with non-English speakers and it's a good time (this was in 3rd grade, people, not like it was yesterday).

After the bad words, I went on to learn the letters and the numbers, and a few words here and there. On my first trip to Greece, my wife's Theo Niko (Uncle Nick for you xenoi) gave me, as a parting gift, a book and CD set to help me learn Greek. He told me "When you come back, you will know how to speak Greek!" Needless to say, 6 years later upon our return to Greece, I was nowhere near fluent, but I do understand and speak much more than I did in 2001 during my first visit. I used the book and CD, I watched Greek TV, listened to Greek music, asked my wife a million times "How do you say…?", even read the old kindergarten-level primer Theo Niko also gave me. It's just damn hard! I found at my age, it's very difficult to do any meaningful learning of this language without being completely immersed in it. I can read Greek pretty well – I just don't know what all the words mean. I can speak Greek at a very basic level, which is great for talking to our kids, to whom I speak Greek as often as my Greek wife, if not more often.  I'm the one talking in Greek to them while she tells them things in English. Go figure. If my kids ever speak Greek to you and you wonder why it's a little off, it's because they were taught by a xeno.

The language barrier has never been too big an issue in our marriage, as my wife is almost always around to translate whenever necessary. But the fact that the little Greek I do know I speak very well (I've been told I barely have an accent) has gotten me into situations where I have no idea what is going on. When we visit Greece, I try to speak Greek as much as possible, and only speak English once I know the person is comfortable speaking it to me. When we go shopping I will greet the shop owners in Greek and, because I sound so good, they think I'm fluent, so they start rambling all kinds of Greek gibberish and I don't have a clue. Fortunately, I know how to tell them in Greek that I don't understand. "Den katalaveno!", I say quickly. "Milate Agglika?" "Do you speak English?" And they almost always do.

I am so envious of people who are bi-lingual. I'm pissed off that they stopped offering Greek as a foreign language in high schools (and even at my university). If my wife had been Hispanic, as I first thought, at least I would have had 4 years of Spanish classes as a foundation. I wish I knew what it was like to hear another language and not have it sound foreign to me, but instead to have it be just another way of communicating. I listen to bi-lingual Greeks talk and they go in and out between Greek and English all the time. I don't think they even know they're doing it.

I won't give up trying to learn Greek, and I feel like I'm always getting better. I will be sure to speak as much of it as possible to my kids and to learn along with them. I'm not too proud to use a Level 1 primer with cartoon pictures - whatever works!

When we visit with my wife's family here and they speak Greek to me, I feel more at ease, and I can usually provide at least elementary answers or replies. On visits to Greece I feel more comfortable getting around and speaking to people. The worst part is that after spending a month there, when I really start to pick up the rhythm of spoken Greek, and am feeling great about trying to speak it - it's time to come home. I guess the only solution is to pack up and move there. Talk about expensive language lessons….

Σας ευχαριστώ για την επίσκεψη (Thank you for visiting)

Todd

Next Month, Part 4: Ελλάδα Μου (My Greece)

A Xeno's View of Greece and Greeks Part 2: Clash of the Frypans – Release the Gyro!

Previously on "A Xeno's View"…… I met my beautiful bride-to-be, was introduced to her enormous family, and began my assimilation into Greek-American culture (for a recap, check out the blog archive for Part 1….)

When at last I was deemed worthy by my wife's family, I was shown some philoxenia (hospitality +) and offered a drink, or some bread and feta, some soup, or leftover pastitsio from that night's dinner. It wasn't long until the real love affair began – with Greek food. The seafood: fried and grilled kalamari, grilled marinated octopus, shrimp giouvetsi, fresh grilled fish, sea urchin, raw clams and mussels, taramoslata (a creamy fish roe spread). The meats: keftedes (lamb and beef meatballs), loukaniko (sausage), lamb, goat, marinated roasted chicken, kontosouvli (marinated grilled pork). A special mention here to two Greek staples, and two fine examples of "street food": souvlaki and gyros. Nothing is as tasty as a souvlaki from Thanasi's in Monastiraki, Athens. And gyros – I don't know what the hell is in those things, what conglomeration of mystery meats they press together and then shave off of a pole, but damn is it good!

Now as I was saying…The vegetables: fresh Greek salad, fakes (lentil soup), fasolada (bean soup), imam bayaldi (stuffed eggplant), horta (dandelion greens), roasted potatoes, stuffed peppers and tomatoes, green beans in spicy tomato sauce. The pasta: pastitsio, makaronia me kema, orzo. All made with delicious olive oil, fresh Greek oregano and/or healthy amounts of garlic and lemon.

I have come to enjoy Greek food so much that I eat the stuff that even Greeks don't eat – patsa (tripe), magiritsa (see below), kokoretsi (lamb offal wrapped with intestine and grilled), lambs brains and eyeballs (all Easter favorites). The first time I went to my wife's family's house for Easter, I really wanted to try the magiritsa. For those of you who don't know, this is a very rich soup that consists of lamb meat and all of the lamb's organs that is traditionally served at Easter as a way to recoup all of the oil and fat people have forgone during their 40-day Lenten fast. As I walked back to the table with my bowl of hot soup, I was approached several times by members of my wife's family asking, "You do know what's in that, right?", and "Ewww, you're going to eat that? Nobody eats that. Only the old people!" Well, I do, and I love it. It's one of the reasons that Greek Easter is among my favorite holidays.

My wife's aunt has always been very nice to me, and has always wanted to feed me. Plus she can cook her kolos off, which doesn't hurt. I would learn that this is the way Greeks are, and there is no way to tell a Greek woman "no" when she puts food in front of you. You have to have at least a little bit, or you will actually hurt her feelings. I remember when we visited Greece for the first time, we were invited to one of the myriad aunt and uncle's homes for "dessert" at around 10pm. They knew we were coming over after dinner. They knew we had to get up early the next morning to go on some tour, or catch a flight to one of the islands or whatever the case was. Regardless, we were given beer, wine and mezedes upon arrival: dolmadakia (stuffed grape leaves), spanakopites (spinach pies), tiropites (cheese pies), fresh bread with delicious feta and melitzanosalata (garlic and eggplant spread). This was followed by the main course of pasta carbonara, with dessert and coffee finally reaching the table sometime after 1am. There was no refusing any of this. It would be rude to do so, and these people were so genuinely happy to see us and feed us that I would feel like a complete jerk to turn any of their hospitality down. This has been the case with my wife's family at every event I have ever attended.

My parents got their first taste of this when we took them to meet my wife's family for the first time one Christmas. Again, this was supposed to be light food and desserts, which of course meant a full spread of Greek and American favorites followed by honey-drenched and powder-sugar-covered Greek desserts. I told my mother a little secret: put a little of everything on your plate and spread it around so the sauces cover the whole surface and it looks like you ate a lot. I have found this to be the only defense against a Greek family hell-bent on stuffing your face to the point of gastrointestinal illness. You can show your dirty empty plate and smile in lieu of trying to futilely explain to your native-Greek-speaking hosts that, "I really can't eat anymore because I'm going to throw up!", only to have them not understand a word you say and promptly offer you more of everything while saying, in broken English, "O-K, O-K, Good! Eat more?"

Σας ευχαριστώ για την επίσκεψη
(Thank you for visiting)

Next Month, Part 3 – What? You No Speak-a the Greek?

A Xeno's View of Greeks and Greece - Part 1: How I Became a Greek American

Greeks. Greece. What did I know about these things before marrying a Greek girl? Well, not too much, but probably more than the average American. You see, I have always enjoyed history, as far back as elementary school. I used to look at black-and-white photos of the Acropolis in my Middle School textbook with as much wonder as a 12-year-old boy can muster for 4000 year old granite. I took Philosophy in High School, where I was introduced to the likes of Socrates and Aristotle, with admittedly very little enthusiasm on my part.

I went on to get a Bachelor's Degree in History, with a minor in Geography. My studies gave me more than a little information about Greece, but not much in the way of practical knowledge of the country or its people. I knew a few Greek people as a kid. My mother had an old friend who was Greek, but Sylvia's kids were named Buck and Mandy – not your typical Greek names, and we never did anything "Greek" with them. The girl I knew in high school lived just down the street, but I never saw any "signs" that she was Greek. I just thought she had a funny name (Effie). I knew two Greeks in college, though only in passing. But 2 of these 3 people from high school and college ended up at the first Greek wedding I ever attended with my wife, before we were married, showing me very quickly how closely connected the Greek community is.

So I met my bride-to-be at work in 1995. When I first saw her, at the end of 1994, I thought she was Hispanic. Captivatingly beautiful, with dark skin and long dark hair - I was smitten from the get-go. But I had no idea she was Greek. I didn't really know what Greek people were "supposed" to look like. Her name wasn't "typically" Greek, with an "-opoulos" or "-akis" at the end to tip me off. Not until much later, when I actually asked her how to pronounce her last name, did it come up that she was Greek. I was pretty shy when it came to asking girls out, but I did manage to muster the courage to do just that. And was quickly turned down. More than once. But I kept trying and, finally, she agreed to go on a "date" with me and a bunch of mutual friends to a baseball game. Thus began the relationship that would, 4 years later, lead to our wedding day.

As we continued to date I got to know more about this exotic Greek beauty and her family. But I never got to meet any of these people when I dropped her off at night. I later found out that she was afraid that her overbearing Greek family would scare me away, so she kept me away from them. (She wasn't too far off –about 6 months into dating her I was told by her uncle, through one of his sons, that I needed to either marry her or stop seeing her) It was probably several months before I ever set foot in her house, and when I did it was literally for only a few seconds. She would bustle us out before her aunt and uncle, with whom she lived, could "scare" me with their old-world Greek attitudes about a "xeno" dating their niece. That's right, me. The "foreigner". In the country of my birth, with a family tree showing relatives on this continent back to the 17th century, I was being called a "xeno", an outsider, because I was not Greek.

Eventually I was allowed in the door long enough to actually meet the people who lived there. In this part of the family were an aunt and uncle and their 7 children, 3 of whom still lived at home, with 3 others living nearby. Now, I come from a small Methodist family in the suburbs. I have one older brother and two actual cousins. That's it. So to be plunged into the mayhem of a large Greek family was absolutely a shocking experience. The noise, the yelling (which I was told is "just how we talk"), the coddling of boy children and the over-protection of the girls. But she was worth it, and all-in-all, it was fun to become part of such a big family....

Σας ευχαριστώ για τιν επίσκεψη
(Thank you for visiting)

Stop back next month for Part 2 of A Xeno's View - CLASH OF THE FRYPANS: RELEASE THE GYRO!