An Amerikanaki in Athens

Yiasas! I am off to Greece for the first time since 2000. First time in a plane since 9/11.
I won the proverbial "free round trip ticket to Greece on Olympic Airlines." Attending the annual dinner dance of the "Argonauts" of Magnesia on March 1st, I bought a raffle ticket. I never win raffles. But I had a feeling this time. When the first prize was anounced for "C. Sirigos" I was thrilled but not shocked. Once again Dean's belief that God does not have a script for us comes under fire. We'll see. If my trip results in a job or a fiancee, you are all invited to the party. The plan is to leave April 4 (after my birthday) and return May 3.

I will look into job opportunities there, so if you have any leads, let me know. As for fiancees, the good job must come first, and my dad signed off on my marrying a woman who was not Greek before he passed away -- may he rest in peace -- my mom tried to make him take it back, but I said "a blessing is a blessing". Still, the fiancee is unlikely, though I hope to meet some nice english-speaking ex-pats from other countries since the diplos and others won't be away on THEIR Easter vacations. A job in Greece however might be interesting. Staying in Greece for a while or one splitting time between Europe and the States? Sign me up for that. Will anybody miss me?

I plan to update the blog at least every few days with words and pictures from Athens, Thessaloniki ( my first trip to northern Greece), Sifnos for Pascha (where my family is from) and maybe I'll finally set foot in Peloponessos with a day trip to Corinth. I'm told that Greece in springtime, especially Sifnos, is beautiful. Fields of red poppies and other flowers, lots of green stuff that the sun burns up by July. And I'm not a beach person, so I won't miss July and August.

My only concern is the fact that when I was thirteen I swore I would never fly Olympic Airways again. One of those classic bad experiences with that outfit. I have only a handful of superstitions: baseball, women and flying, so I had to think about this carefully. But it will be ok: its not called Olympic Airways anymore (Olympic Airlines now) and I won't be giving them any money: the taxes go to the Greek government, wherever THAT is. A numbered Swiss bank account?

I wonder if the strikes in Greece will continue. They are all outraged over pension reform. I don't get it, and people I ask don't get it. They refuse to work more years to save their pensions but from what I'm told, they barely work any years towards their pension now --and refuse to do the math that shows that without reforms the systems will be bankrupt. Reminds me of former Archbishop Spyridon demanding (and getting) a pension at FULL salary for his three years of failed service that was about to tear apart the Greek American community, while my father did not get a dime for his 20 years of service to the Church. Mind you, I believe Spyridon is a good man and a good clergyman, but he was in over his head as Archbishop of America and when it was time for him to go (sorry but there are no resignations or retirements for bishops in the Orthodox or Catholic Churches: changes are made through depositions) those financial demands (according to the press) were too much. When my father was able to finally become a priest, he was so excited he willingly agreed to go without a pension, even though his early retirement from his prior work wiped out virtually all of his retirement benefits. So I understand the concerns of the Greek workers, but compromise in such matters is not only necessary, its a civic duty. Pension reform is inevitable when people no longer live 67 years, more or less. Without reforms, in order to pay people 70-100 years of age you must tax the heck out of younger workers. Not fair, even though I no longer count as a younger worker.

Back to my trip to Greece: pray for me to keep my mouth shut about such matters. Mr. Common Sensopoulos moved out of Greece centuries ago. However, I'm told Greece has made great progress. More young greeks have education and work experience in other countries etc. and Athens has become a world-class capital city since the Olympics and the new Metro and of course, the new Acropolis Museum, which I will report upon.

So...yiasas and Kali Anastasi--Happy Easter.