Saturday, March 12, 2011

Letter #40 from Greece

Letter #40 comes from Demetra from Greece.She lives in the capital,Athens.She says a myth claims that the city was named after goddess Athina and that the ancient city was dedicated to Athina.She says that ancient Athens was not as democratic as people like to think,if you compare them to the Spartans,which were more ahead of their time.

Modern day Athens is a city of 3 million people and the entire population of Greeece is 11 million.She says it's a very noisy city with a lot of traffic and people in its center.She also says that it's a city to love and hate.She dislikes that it's overcrowded and that the people are very suspicious of strangers and just plain hateful and grumpy people.I think it's pretty sad that the people are this way since she lives in such a great city,but I guess you have to overlook the negatives and focus on the positives. :)

She loves when it's spring time because she enjoys getting coffee and walking with friends around the Acropolis or just wander around the green hills that are full of scattered ancient stones.Sounds lovely.Her favorite place in Athens is Exarchia.She says that the mass media has unfairly given it a stigma of being a ghetto because of the many anarchists that live there.She says that it's actually one of the most politically activated areas and that it welcomes anyone with an open mind and an opinion to argue.

She says the rest of Greece is more quieter and less stressful.She is originally from the island called Lesbos (my daughters remember reading about that island).It is located right opposite the coast of Turkey.She says the island isn't a very touristic place because it's farfrom the mainland and can be quite expensive to take a ship or plane there.

Here are some random facts that Demetra shared with us:
-Greeks enjoy learning foreign languages and expect every young person to speak decent English
-Greece is a cultural mix of Europeans,Asians,mostly Balkans and even some African,although she says racism is on the rise there
-Like the Spaniards,they love to enjoy an afternoon siesta after eating.They also eat dinner after 9pm. (My husband is from Bangladesh and would eat dinner around 10 pm,but we try to eat dinner between 5-6 since 10pm is too late for me and for our kids to eat)
-Demetra was named after her grandmother and her name comes from the ancient greek goddess of earth
-She is studying psychology in Athens and wants to become a therapist and work with kids...that's a great job to have Demetra!

Below is her lovely letter and ticket,she says there was a bookmark,too,but the envelope arrived torn,so obviously,it got lost in the mail. :( Thanks so much for your lovely letter and ticket Demetra!

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