Idiosyncrasies

One of my favorite parts of being here in Greece is witnessing and experiencing many of the idiosyncrasies that make this country what it is. I dedicate this post to some of the oddities that I have seen, and smiled at.

First of all, a good amount of the graffiti here is not like the graffiti at home—it is rather beautiful and interesting art in a frowned upon medium. I have included two examples of such artwork. So much emotion and thought goes into each piece and it truly is ubiquitous. It graces trains, apartment buildings, and even schools—no part of town is free from its influence.

A piece of graffiti art not far from our apartments.

Many advertisements here in Greece are spelled in endearingly phonetic ways; concepts are boiled down to most basic parts. At a diner in Olympia, we picked up the menu to peruse and were charmed by the spelling of the word “cheeseburger:” the people who had created the menus had spelled out “cheisburger--” spelling out the concept with the typical accent included. A few examples of the simplistic approach to American concept are the KFC advertisements that declare that they offer “Hot Leg” meals as pictured below. Another, was a sign I saw for Lipton tea which was advertising “Ice Tea,” omitting the telltale final “d” in “iced” because, let’s face it, us lazy Americans are sometimes very lax in enunciating the certain consonants. The repercussions of such sometimes show up in very unlikely places ergo Athens’ metro stations.

The "hot leg" option of KFC.

The women’s fashion here is impeccable. Harem pants are still going strong here—a vast majority of the women sport them. One of my friends, Lizzie, actually purchased a black-and-white-patterned pair from the local H&M, and swears they are the most comfortable thing that she has ever worn. If anyone can make this fashion a fad in the US, she is the woman for the job: she is a modern day Jackie O. Another fashion that is everywhere is wedges and pumps: they are literally everywhere.  You will see women riding scooters or motorbikes while sporting wedges, and even hiking up to archeological sites in them. Last Sunday, when Professor Hutton, Claire, Maura, and I were hiking to the top of the Philappapos Hill, a woman in a short white dress and five inch royal blue stilettos was picking her way among the cobble stones in order to get up to a church about a hundred feet up the path. The last fashion I feel is worth mentioning is the pantsuit—they are worn with pride and a tasteful display of femininity and confidence. Lizzie, also purchased an article of this type of clothing as well and she rocks it. The women here are just so beautiful in the way they hold themselves: with poise, confidence, and just a hint of attitude.

The group taking a silly picture. Lizzie is the one on the far right and is sporting the harem pants.

Other random things:

·      Trash is picked up late at night as opposed to in the early morning like in the states.

·      Coca-Cola, Powerade, and other sugared beverages here are really tasty. As corn is not a main product of the Greek diet, corn syrup is not used here to sweeten drinks. Instead, real sugar is used.