COMMENTARY – Page 24 – Letters from Athens

December Q&A: the Internet startup

The December Q&A involves two people – the sister-and-brother team of Sofia and Nikos Pattakos. Like a lot of young people nowadays, they decided to use technology to start their own business, wordigs.com, an online application for the study of English vocabulary. To understand the importance of this, one must know that all forward-thinking Greeks put a huge premium on learning foreign languages, since not many outside Greece speak their own.

Tell us a little about yourselves:

Sofia: We grew up in Athens in a pleasanty protected social environment, but then, everything used to be like that in Greece at the time… more simple. I studied French Literature at the National Kapodistrean University of Athens, then went abroad to get a postgraduate degree in Marketing Management, and finally started working in the communications sector. For years I was in corporate marketing in telecommunications, and ended up in COSMOTE (a leading telecommunications company in Greece) where I was fortunate to get involved in many extensive and special projects, both commercial and charitable. I like to spend my spare time with people I’m close to, doing things that help me escape everyday stress, such as climbing and music… always in good company!

Nikos: I studied Chemistry in Athens and worked in sales of pharmaceuticals to multinational companies. In 2012 I completed an i-MBA at the Athens University of Economics and Business. In my spare time I play tennis, read and watch movies. Also, having grown up in the noisy environment of Fokionos Negri street in the 80s I’m an extrovert who never misses a chance to be out and about in Athens, always in a crowd of friends, of course!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Sofia and Nikos

In 2014, the two of us started our first collaboration as brother and sister with the founding of wordigs.com, an innovative online learning tool for English vocabulary.

What were the major difficulties you’ve faced in the last five years?

The last five years have been a time of major upheaval and decision-making for us. Times are difficult and, while both of us had jobs in large and ‘safe’ companies, we were becoming increasingly worried, each for his own reasons, by the professional and psychological daily stress. Then Nikos had an idea and we started looking into it, to see if we could make it work despite the risks involved. We both had some savings from our work and so we started researching and developing wordigs. Our aim was the creation of an educational tool that would allow students of all levels to learn English vocabulary in a creative and entertaining manner.

Did anyone help or inspire you?

The idea for wordigs was discussed widely amongst our close circle of family and friends, as well as with several English language teachers. The positive response we got was the main motivation for going on with the project.

What are your hopes/plans for the future?

Our plan is work… a lot of work so that wordigs will thrive and reach the people it is aimed at, that is, everyone who is learning English. Our hope is that all this effort will bear fruit in a healthier social environment, that it will coincide with our country’s emerging from the crisis. Our dream is that at some point our efforts will bring some balance to our lives.

What are your hopes for Greece? What changes do you hope /would you like to see?

That’s a difficult question! There are days when all of us wake up with dreams and expectations for changes in Greece and other days when reality pulls us back. In our case, we left ‘safe’ jobs to start a new business in Greece, taking a huge financial and psychological risk. Because we believe that in this country there are a lot of people like us, who have dreams, who are hard-working and persistent. We want to believe that, in the end, all of them – all of us – will manage to change the prevailing climate so that action and movement in every sector win out over remaining idle and blaming others. Because, truth be told, only work will work!

Have you considered leaving? If so, where would you like to go, and why? If you have decided to leave what would make you stay?

Sofia: Personally, in the past I’ve often cried ‘Why did I ever come back?’ But that was years ago. Having grown older and reviewed my priorities I’ve come to the conclusion that, for me, most important are the people surrounding me, from whom I draw energy. So I’ve decided to work as hard as I can in an environment where I’m surrounded by people close to me… In my mind, there are no geographical constrains.

Nikos: Leaving Greece would be a last resort decision for me. As long as I can earn a living in my country my place is here, near my family and my close friends. If I was forced to leave I’d prefer a Mediterranean country. Of course, in life, never say never!

Are you actively doing anything to help with the situation? Is there something you would like to do?

What we actually do is very little compared to what we dream of doing. Collecting clothes and supplies or simple money donations to various movement that help people in dire straits… is all we can do for the moment, given we have been working incessantly the last two years and have no time to volunteer. Our immediate plan is to make our educational tool available for free to kids who cannot afford to buy it, while in our more optimistic moments we dream of having the time to involve ourselves in more voluntary projects.

How do you see Greece in 5, 10 years?

Nikos: 5-10 years is not long enough for really significant change in a country that needs to change from its roots. I believe that a general reorganization of the educational system would be a good start towards developing a collective conscience in each new generation – so that Greeks move from thinking about ‘I’ toward thinking about ‘we’.

How do you cope with obstacles and frustrations in your everyday life ?

Inconsistency and failure to assume responsibility! These are the two characteristics that we find hard to understand, process and manage! The truth is that we have to face them on many different levels. I can’t understand why so many people have this fear, when a simple “My fault”/ “I’ve no time”/ “I don’t know” would solve so many problems and avoid confrontation.

What are the positive sides of living in Greece? Have you had any good experiences lately?

Sofia: Family and friends! Daily moments you can share so easily when your friends are close by! And something that moved me this year… the support for my new venture by old colleagues. Proof that hard work and cooperation do not go unappreciated.

Nikos: Greece is a very vibrant country with a lovely climate while despite all the difficulties it has remained a very safe place with low criminality. With the exception perhaps of Athens, in Greece you can live relatively cheaply and enjoy all its natural beauties. The mountains, the sea, magnificent islands, nightlife, extroverted people and, most important, a huge cultural heritage.
A lovely recent experience was a hike I did with friends on Parnitha. Five hours of climbing, fresh oxygen and plenty of laughs were an ideal escape from my demanding daily routine!

To browse around wordigs, click on the name!

The Christmas Tree

Today I would like to share my favourite Christmas poem, The Christmas Tree, by Cecil Day Lewis (1904-72), a man who lived for poetry. He was poet laureate, a member of the poetry panel of the Arts Council, a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and a director of the English Festival of Spoken Poetry.

The Christmas Tree

Put out the lights now!
Look at the Tree, the rough tree dazzled
In oriole plumes of flame,
Tinselled with twinkling frost fire,
Tasseled with stars and moons – the same
That yesterday hid in the spinney and had no fame
Till we put out the lights now.

Hard are the nights now:
The fields at moonrise turn to agate
Shadows as cold as jet; in dyke and furrow
In copse and faggot
The frost’s tooth is set;
And stars are the sparks whirled out by the north wind’s fret
On the flinty nights now.

So feast your eyes now,
on mimic star and moon-cold bauble;
Worlds may wither unseen,
But the Christmas tree is a tree of fable,
A phoenix in evergreen,
And the world cannot change or chill what its mysteries mean
To your heart and eyes now.

The vision dies now: candle by candle
The tree that embraced it
Returns to its own kind,
To be earthed again and weather as best it
May the frost and the wind.
Children – it too had its hour; you will not mind
If it lives or dies now.

Happy Christmas, everyone!

A Greek Christmas

In the Greek Orthodox tradition, Christmas ranks second to Easter, but it is still a very important holiday. For the devout it is preceded by a period of fasting so food, unsurprisingly, plays a major role in the festivities. But more of that later.

In Greece, Santa Klaus or Father Christmas is Agios Vasilios (Saint Basil) – so gifts are opened on his name day, January first.

On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day children go from house to house singing the Kalanda (carols whose name comes from the Roman calendae, the first days of the month) and accompanying themselves on small metal triangles and sometimes harmonicas. They knock on doors asking ‘Na ta poume?’ – ‘Shall we say them?’ They are rewarded with money, sweets and sometimes dried figs and other fruit. Then the householders wish them ‘Kai tou xronou’ – ‘Again next year’. They will do the same on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, but the carols are different.

Of course, the quality of the singing varies a lot. I’ve opened my door to blond little angels with voices to match, tinkling away on their triangles – and, a few minutes later, to hulking, spotty teenagers who expected to be paid for playing the Kalanda on their smartphones!

As far as decorations are concerned, there is the yearly debate of the Christmas tree versus the wooden ship. Changing fashion tends towards one or the other. The modern Christmas tree came to Greece with the country’s first king, Otto of Bavaria, who ascended to the throne in 1833; it did not, however, become popular before the 1940s. Some Greeks still consider it a foreign import, although use of decorated greenery and branches around New Year is recorded as far back as Greek antiquity, and there is evidence that some sort of Christmas tree existed in the Byzantine empire.

The ship, by contrast, is viewed as a quintessential Greek symbol. Greeks have been seafarers for thousands of years and the country is still one of the world’s leading shipping nations. Children on the islands sang – and are still singing – Christmas carols holding illuminated model boats.
The Christmas ship is made of paper or wood, decorated with small, colorful lamps and a few, simple ornaments. It is usually placed near the outer door or by the fire with the bow pointing to the interior of the house. There are many symbolic connotations attached to it: love of the sea, welcome to those returning from a voyage or honouring of those away at sea and a token offering for their safe return. With golden objects or coins placed in it, the ship also symbolizes a full load of riches reaching one’s home. However, it also has connotations of partings and absent husbands and fathers, and that perhaps is why the tree has found favor with many.

Spanakopita - spinach and cheese pie — Spanakopita – spinach and cheese pie

Some households still display the traditional shallow wooden bowl of water with a sprig of basil wrapped around a wooden cross. Once a day, the cross and basil are dipped into holy water and used to sprinkle each room of the house. This ritual is believed to keep the Kallikantzaroi away from the house. Kallikantzaroi are ugly and malevolent sprites which emerge from underground to bring trouble to families.

Outdoors, streets, stores and homes are decorated with garlands of lights and illuminated ships or trees. Town streets are full of people doing their last minute shopping of presents while carols are played everywhere, adding to the festive mood. In most major towns, there are concerts, theatrical performances and other cultural events promising wonderful entertainment.

Each region tends to have its own Christmas traditions. For example, in the villages of northern Greece, the man of the house chooses the sturdiest pine or olive tree branch he can find. This, named Christoxylo (Christ-wood) is put in a newly cleaned fireplace to slowly burn over the whole twelve days of Christmas. This is symbolically meant to warm the baby Jesus in his cold stable, and also to keep out the Kallikantzaroi who supposedly come down the chimney.

A lot of the traditions have to do with food, of course. The Christmas feast is looked forward to with great anticipation by adults and children alike, and especially by those who’ve followed the 40-day Advent fast.

On almost every table there will be a round loaf of Christopsomo (Christ Bread), decorated on the top with a cross, around which are dough symbols representing whatever it is people do in life. Fishermen will decorate the bread with fish, farmers with lambs, and so on.

For starters you might get a fresh, colorful salad of green leaves and red cabbage sprinkled with pomegranate seeds; a lemon-chicken soup called Avgolemono; home-made pies and pastries made with spinach and feta, pumpkin, or meat; or cabbage leaves stuffed with meat and rice, in an egg-and-lemon sauce.

The main dish is pork or lamb, cooked following some regional recipe, or perhaps wild boar; or a roast turkey with a mince, pine nut and chestnut stuffing.
In most parts of Greece, pork was the meat of choice at Christmas, a pig being slaughtered specially for the occasion and cooked in many different ways according to the traditions of the area.

Last, but not least, are the sweets: Diples, crisp fried pieces of dough drizzled with a honey syrup; Melomakarona, made with semolina, cinnamon and cloves, dipped in honey and sprinkled with chopped nuts; Loukoumades, deep-fried puffs of batter also served with honey; and Kourambiedes, buttery, crunchy bites flavored with rose water and dusted with flurries of icing sugar. In the islands they also serve Amygdalota, a kind of almond cookie.

After the meal, at night, some people choose to stay home and watch a Christmas show while others prefer to party the night away in nightclubs and bouzouki joints.

For some great traditional Christmas recipes, click here.

The photographs of the lovely food were kindly supplied by Cake&Cookie co, who make all kinds of delicious cakes, cookies and deserts, and also do catering for various festivities. Go on their site and your mouth will water!

Bad news keep rolling in

Despite the fact that Greece is still a terrific place to visit – it’s one of the cheaper and most popular destinations for this coming Christmas – for its inhabitants life continues to be difficul. Here’s a sampling of the latest headlines:

On December 8:

*The government is studying an increase in income tax RETROACTIVELY for 2015. How the hell is one supposed to budget or plan anything? I’ve a suspicion this must be unconstitutional but, in any case, I sustain it is unjust and unethical.

*Since the train lines are blocked by refugees, trade from Asia – and especially China – towards Europe will be diverted from Pireas to other ports. Hewlett Packard, the first multi-national to choose Pireas as a hub for its merchandise, has sent cargo through Slovenia. Another blow for the economy – Pireas had been thriving lately.

*Taxes are going up on all fuels, again. Also needy families who were getting help with heating fuel are having their allowances cut.

*New Democracy, the main opposition party, is still embroiled in the fiasco of choosing a new leader, instead of actually doing any work. The cost of the elections they are planning is estimated at €800.000.

*The government have announced massive firings of state hospital directors, presumably to be replaced by people close to the ruling party, regardless of qualifications. This refusal of the political system to abandon the tradition of appointing people for their political affiliation rather than their competence is the despair of forwards-thinking Greeks.

*A family boutique was totally destroyed by demonstrators throwing a fire bomb in the Exarhia neighborhood. 40 years of toil down the drain. Time and again, a handful of hooligans manage to wreak destruction. Can they not be stopped? Five cars were also burnt, and damage done to bus stops and park benches.

On December 9:

*Another 20.325 refugees and immigrants arrived on Greek shores in the first six days of December, despite the measures supposedly taken by Turkey to process them there. During the crossing, 6 children lost their lives.

*The front pages had pictures of soldiers putting up fences on European borders, to keep people out.

*Meanwhile, Britain and France have joined the US and RUSSIA in bombing Syria, a measure hardly likely to slow the flow of refugees.

On December 10:

*Theodore Giannaros, the governor of the ‘Elpis’ state hospital, learned he had been relieved of his functions while fundraising for the hospital in Los Angeles. Giannaros had managed to get the hospital out of its financial doldrums, and had recently been given an award for this work by the Greek-American Council in California.

*The government is at war with the Troika over pensions.

*The ministry of finance has been involved in verbal jousting with journalists both because of its declaration about retroactive increases in income tax (see October 8) and because of a complicated law about people having to present invoices concerning their expenditure. In yet another surreal attempt at communicating, the ministry denies having announced the first measure (!) and keeps changing its mind about the second. Meanwhile, people are being threatened with having to pay fines for something which they are not even sure is applicable.

*The army has freed the train lines – after untold economic damage had already been done – and the refugees have been returned to Athens, with no plan whatsoever for dealing with them as winter is upon us.

Waking up every day to face all this – uncertainty, hopelessness, being held hostage to circumstances beyond one’s control – has resulted in an atmosphere of uneasiness, disappointment, and chronic fatigue. There is a social malaise compounded by joblessness and straightened family circumstances. Young people have had to return to their childhood bedrooms, grandparent are dependent on their offspring as their pensions are slashed. Yet family is the only thing that has held the fabric of society together. And the continuing good weather has at least meant less need for heating fuel…

But Christmas is approaching, and a big effort will have to be made to conjure up a smidgen of seasonal cheer.

From Greece –Guest Author — M.L. Kappa

Charles Roger Clanton kindly invited me to write a post for his blog. Do wander over to read his “Reflections based on poetry, music, visual art, book reviews, history of science, first-person history and philosophical essays”. There is something there for everyone!

Charles Clanton Rogers

international Blogging Guest – M.L. Kappa

Summer Festivals

How many people associate a visit to Greece with going to the theatre? It would be interesting to know. But, time it right, and your trip could afford an unforgettable experience. Imagine sitting in the same place as a Greek or Roman did thousands of years ago, to watch a play under a starlit sky – although in those days, plays were held mostly during the day to take advantage of natural light. Some of Greece’s ancient theatres are still used for selected performances every summer. Obviously a lot of those are plays by Aristophanes, Sophocles or Aeschylus, and would be incomprehensible unless you speak Greek. However, a wide variety of high quality shows are put on every July and August during the Summer Festivals.

Author’s “self portrait” M.L. Kappa

Many important theatres were built by the Greeks, in Thoricos and Corinth…

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Autumn’s bounty

While the last of the pomegranates are splitting on branches now covered in bright yellow leaves, the oranges are ripening.

It’s olive picking time.
Soon the newly processed oil will be on our tables, and what better way to appreciate its aromatic flavor than as a dip for fresh, crusty bread. Bread and oil, with maybe an onion added – the poor (Greek) man’s caviar!

The cyclamen have been replaced by pale blue crocuses and tiny green orchids, as well as the first anemones, fooled into flower by the unseasonably warm weather.

We took advantage of this to visit the Haris Estate where, amongst other cute creatures like bantam hens and miniature ponies, they keep alpacas – yes, alpacas in Attica! They hang about, looking woolly and making a high-pitched ‘mmmmmmmm’ sound – really too adorable! I want some!

We also went to a dog show where a friend was exhibiting her champion ridgebacks. There was the usual hilarious array of enthusiasts with their pooches, from a huge white Pyrenean mountain dog to the tiniest, fluffiest, pristine Pomeranian. The dogs were all beautiful (otherwise they wouldn’t be there, I guess), there were lots of kids milling around, music, souvlaki at the canteen. Everyone was enjoying themselves.

It’s still been warm enough to have lunch by the sea – outdoors! Note the kid in a t-shirt. As we ate, someone on a paddle board went by. No wind, so no windsurfers today – but quite a few swimmers. The sea is still warm, warmer than it will be in early June.

As we head into winter, it’s good to make the most of this beautiful weather.

Speaking of poor man’s caviar and looking at the photograph of food, I wanted to mention the guest post, called Postcard from Greece, which my friend Nadya invited me to write for her blog, The Exceptional. I re-blogged it without managing to write a few words – this is the first time I’ve done a re-blog, and I must have hit the wrong button! I wanted to thank Nadya for asking me, and to urge everyone to wander over and take a look at her blog about her life as a PhD student and mom.

Postcard from Greece

magerei

“Postcard” is a monthly column featuring guest bloggers from around the world. Today we received a postcard from M. L. Kappa (Greece) who blogs at athensletters.com. Do check out her exceptional blog about life and times in Greece, it’s highly recommended! If you’ve been wondering how things change and how the Greeks cope with ongoing crisis, M. L. Kappa shares with us the individual and social choices that people make in terms of food. Let’s read her thorough postcard:

Most people love to eat – they like to go out to restaurants and cook at home. Food is a large and enjoyable part of life. But what happens when money becomes short?

In the last five years, two things have affected eating habits in Greece: the trend for fitness and the crisis. We want our food to be healthy, and we need it to be cheap.

Greeks have…

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Battered by the daily news

The morning news make for grim reading at the moment. I take a quick glance through the headlines, my stomach knotting. It’s all a big mess, worldwide. Violence. Terrorism. Domestic murders. Killers on a rampage. Scandals. Corruption. Fighting. Destruction. Climate change. Of course it’s all fact, but sometimes the press seems to enjoy wallowing in it as well. After a summer spent stuck in front of various screens, I avoid turning on the television as much as possible.

In Greece things are still looking bleak. The private sector has mostly borne the weight of the crisis so far, the public sector being traditionally regarded by every government as an untouchable holy cow. It is enough to note that salary reduction in the private sector has reached 20-23%, whereas in the public sector it is barely 12,5% – without even mentioning the fact that most public offices are still employing a large number of people, many of whom do nothing. The increase in unemployment is also much higher in the private sector. Capital controls are still in place, and every new law passed seems to contradict the one before.

While being unemployed is horrible whatever your job, surely having a vibrant market would benefit everyone in the long run. This policy has created a downward spiral: international competitiveness is at an all-time low and every means of getting out of the crisis has been scuppered. A increasingly large number of firms, including shipping companies, are getting out and basing themselves elsewhere, mostly in the Balkan countries and Cyprus. There is also a huge loss of human capital as individuals are emigrating as fast as they can get a job abroad.

Not only are people given zero incentives to stay, but often special opportunities are lost as well. For example, a few weeks ago I read that Jason Bourne’s next adventure, set against the backdrop of the Greek financial crisis, is being shot in the Canary Islands rather than Athens. Why? Because the film’s makers were put off by red tape and a lack of tax breaks.
Last year culture minister Nikos Xydakis had proudly announced that the Bourne film would be made in Athens — claiming the effect on local jobs and trade would be akin to setting up a “small factory”. But afterwards the government failed to make good on promises of tax breaks offered in most countries. So now Spanish advertisements and street signs in Santa Cruz de Tenerife have been covered over with ones in Greek, while a local plaza is doubling as Syntagma, Athens’s central square. Walls have been daubed with graffiti in Greek and locals signed up to stage anti-austerity rallies.
It makes you want to pull your hair out.

And who is doing something about all this? Not our politicians, that’s for sure. As has always been the case in our long and troubled history, they are busy squabbling (still).The government is in above its head – rumors abound they’re not going to last long – and often does not even get the support of its own party; and as for the opposition, they’re having a ridiculous and costly fight over electing a new leader.

Christmas is approaching. I wonder how we will be able to conjure up a seasonal festive spirit this year.

Red Alert

I feel so sorry for the people in Paris who went out to have a drink on a Friday night and lost their lives. I feel for their families and friends. But I feel a lot of anger as well. Have we lost the right to even walk in the street safely anymore? Is this the new face of 21st century Europe?

Is it just me, or is there a dire lack of leadership in the western world? They all meet at vast expense to the taxpayer and a huge carbon footprint (five star hotels, fleets of planes and cars, police escorts…) but – whether about the climate, the refugee crisis or the terrorists – nothing gets done. A total lack of a coherent policy on which everyone agrees. It’s frightening. After each terrible event, people get arrested, words of bravado are flung around, the dead are remembered. But – do we feel something is actually being done to protect us? Not enough, with all due respect. I ask, what is the use of bombing in the Middle East, when most of these terrorists have French, British or Belgian passports?

Greece is now facing the borders being closed, and we’ll be stuck with half a million refugees in a tiny country with a population of 11 million (of which one million are already immigrants, mostly from Eastern Europe). Compared to this, the USA has said it will take 30.000 over the next two years… And who meddled in those countries, creating all those refugees, may I ask? Not Greece, that’s for sure. It’s all about financial interests, oil, the arms industries, etc. And, everywhere, it’s the man in the street who pays. The taxpayer, the citizen who wants nothing but a quiet life, as well as the true refugee who will now be regarded with suspicion by all.

Forgive the rant, but does Europe really need to be dragged into another war?

Category: COMMENTARY