γεια σου! Life in Greece

Hello, many of you have asked me how life is in Greece, how things are going, and so on. To make life easier for all of us, I decided to write about my experience here. Just to give you some background, my husband and I chose to move to Greece by God’s grace and with the guidance of our Bishop in order to assist our Assyrian community here in connecting with the Church and maintaining our beloved language. We’ve only been here for four months and have only had a taste of what it’s like to live abroad.

I will share what I know so far and that is that we are enjoying our time here, meeting our community, spreading the Word of God, learning a new language, and adapting to a new culture that is not so different from our Assyrian culture. Safe to say, we have a lot of things in common, so there’s no culture shock for us, thank God. Something amazing is that the Greek Orthodox Church has a big influence on the country, some would say they are as powerful as the government here. Some of the country’s public holidays and breaks, to name a few, coincide with the Church calendar throughout the year: The feast of the Epiphany, Pentecost, and St. Mary’s Commemoration are all public holidays. It’s not uncommon to see a priest walking around the city or down the street, or to hear the sound of church bells on a daily basis, or to see a church! Being surrounded by all of these things is truly a blessing.

It’s interesting to note that all of the shops are closed on Sundays, which I assume is due to Sunday being a holy day. There are some exceptions when stores are open on Sunday, but they are rare. These are definitely some of my favourite aspects of the country! According to my observations, the people here are friendly and live a relatively simple lifestyle; life is not as hectic as it is in Sydney, which is a welcome change and relief for us. The Greeks enjoy spending time with one another over delicious food and taking their time. In fact, there are a few days during the year when you sit with your loved ones all day, eat, and catch up; I’ve heard it’s an all-day affair, haha! One of those days is known as “Tsiknopempti,” and it is observed 11 days before the Great Fast begins. On this day, everyone in the neighbourhood has a bbq on their roof with their loved ones and picks at it all day! You smell it all day in the air!

The suburb where we live is known to have always had Assyrians in it, and this is still the case today. If you tell one of your Assyrian relatives about “Egaleo,” they will almost certainly be familiar with the area. We currently have the largest number of Assyrians living here, around 40, with others dispersed throughout Athens and Greece. I’m sure there are plenty more Assyrians that we haven’t discovered yet. Please contact me if you have any relatives who live in this area!

 We love our neighbourhood; it feels unusually like home to us, and I believe our Assyrian neighbours have contributed to this. It’s not your posh, modern neighbourhood; it’s humble, old, and far removed from the stereotypical image of Greece, but it’s just right! Believe it or not, it only takes us 6 minutes to get to the heart of Athens city via metro! Going into Sydney’s city was always a chore for me, haha!

We are looking forward to the summer because our neighbours have raved about it. For what seems like an eternity, we’ve been stuck in winter. There hasn’t been a day in the last four months when I’ve left the house wearing only one layer of clothing! The minimum is always two or more. I believe the Greeks hibernate during the winter; we rarely see anyone outside when it’s cold. Today was different, there were a lot more people out and about today because it was a nice and warm day. In the summer, it’s apparently normal to go out to a cafe/restaurant at 9 p.m., have dinner around 10 p.m., and not return until the early hours of the morning, regardless of age! What amazes me is that they have work the next day and that does not stop them. My Sydney heart and mind can’t do it; I adore sleeping, and no amount of food or company can prevent me from doing so… But, who knows, Greece may or may not change my mind about that, haha. When it comes to sleeping, it is pretty normal here in the summer to sleep on the roof of your building! They did the same thing in Syria and Iraq. That is something I am willing to try.

 Another thing you’ll notice here is a lot of homeless people. Many businesses and people suffered as a result of the crisis, and they are still recovering, which is heartbreaking to see. There are also many empty shops and buildings, which I assume is for the same reason. I hope things improve for them here. Even though they don’t appear to have much here, they manage to find time to relax and enjoy each other’s company and I find that very special.

Some have asked if we have ever felt homesick; yes, there have been times when we have, but we always remind ourselves that we have been given the opportunity to spread God’s word and help others rediscover a sense of belonging to the community they once belonged to. That is the most important thing in our lives; the rest will be taken care of by God’s Grace and Mercy. Thank God for technology, we get to speak to our loved ones as often as we want via video and that fills that gap we have at times. I am sure there is so much more to learn about living here, after all, we have only been here for 4 months. That’s all from me folks!

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me in the comments below or privately. God bless and Καλημερα!