I’ve already blogged about my trouble/experiences with men in Greece and Italy. Now that I’m back in Canada, if I were to add anything else, it would be this:
I no longer see any real harm in the kind of attention Greek/Italian men pay women, or even believe that relations between the genders in Europe are so very different from what they are here in North America.
If they “ciao bella”, are they necessarily objectifying or simply admiring beauty? If they open the door for you and let you pass first, is it chauvinism or chivalry? Are North American women more liberated simply because they split the dinner bill in half? Must tradition automatically be translated to conservatisms and a closed mind or can it mean something more nuanced?
I don't mean to imply by this that my ideas about gender have altered so very greatly. Rather, what has changed is my interpretation of how these ideas play out in reality.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Privilege
Something that threw me off guard in Athens was the fact that students my age didn't have part time jobs. I myself have been doing the juggling act between school and work and all the other craziness thrown my way since I was thirteen years old. Working, earning a wage and using it to pay for the things I want, rather than depend on my parents for these things seemed the norm to me. Some of us even pay our way through school, which as we all know, is not a matter of loose change…So working, either during the summer or throughout the school year sometimes even is a necessity here in North America.
But Greek students don't have this problem – university education is free. Also, the campus cafeteria provides healthy daily meals for practically nothing (lunch + dinner = €2). To top all these, Greeks, who are very family oriented people see it as their duty and pleasure to take care of their kids until they are married.
Example:
A friend from Greece: male, 22 years old, finishing off his degree in university. He lives in an apartment, but his parents give him a monetary allowance to pay rent. Week-end visits home ensures the fridge is always full with pies and other homemade goodies. His clothes are bought for him by his mother, and the allowance he gets can more than cover his monthly entertainment and miscellaneous costs.
Perhaps this particular case is not exactly typical, but from what I’ve seen and heard, it comes very close.
So what exactly am I saying? Do I feel annoyed by this easier lifestyle that my friends in Greece have? Yes. Do I think my Greek counterparts are just lazy? Maybe a little. Do I think that growing up in North American is more rewarding or that the lifestyle and system we have here are more correct? No.
I suppose one can be privileged in various ways; and what it boils down to is this - the education system in Europe privileges their students in a way that North American one does not.
But Greek students don't have this problem – university education is free. Also, the campus cafeteria provides healthy daily meals for practically nothing (lunch + dinner = €2). To top all these, Greeks, who are very family oriented people see it as their duty and pleasure to take care of their kids until they are married.
Example:
A friend from Greece: male, 22 years old, finishing off his degree in university. He lives in an apartment, but his parents give him a monetary allowance to pay rent. Week-end visits home ensures the fridge is always full with pies and other homemade goodies. His clothes are bought for him by his mother, and the allowance he gets can more than cover his monthly entertainment and miscellaneous costs.
Perhaps this particular case is not exactly typical, but from what I’ve seen and heard, it comes very close.
So what exactly am I saying? Do I feel annoyed by this easier lifestyle that my friends in Greece have? Yes. Do I think my Greek counterparts are just lazy? Maybe a little. Do I think that growing up in North American is more rewarding or that the lifestyle and system we have here are more correct? No.
I suppose one can be privileged in various ways; and what it boils down to is this - the education system in Europe privileges their students in a way that North American one does not.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Culture shock or discovering the culture or whatever it is…
Police officers who try to pick you up, the national guards who wear the most ridiculous uniforms but purr at you when you walk by them, middle aged men who check you out at the super-market…I was stunned at how incredibly sexually aggressive Grecian men can be.
In Toronto, way back in April, I was wandering down Young Street looking for a Greek-English dictionary/phrasebook to take with me to Athens. By coincidence, I happened to walk into a shop run by a Grecian. During our little chat he said, and I quote, “be careful of the Greek boys. When I was young, I used to take the girls by the arm and into the caves, you know…don’t go near the caves”. Right.
And it’s true…Grecians are not afraid of expressing themselves to women in public. They live for the pleasure of that day or this night. I have to admit guiltily, that this was a wonderful confidence booster at first. And apparently, I’m not the only one who thinks this way, cause statistically, Athens has one of the lowest rape rates in the world. A friend tells me that this is because Greek men simply don’t have trouble getting their women. Sometimes though, this behavior is irritating or just plain insulting. For instance, I’ve been mistaken for a prostitute more than once since my arrival here and the line between paying attention or compliments and harassment is crossed too often and too easily.
But hey, don’t get me wrong, all Greek men are not creeps. What I’m trying to say is that I’m simply not used to this type of open sexual dialogue between strangers in the public space. Canadians are way more stand-offish. But I am learning. Learning to adapt to this new world and staying safe at the same time.
In Toronto, way back in April, I was wandering down Young Street looking for a Greek-English dictionary/phrasebook to take with me to Athens. By coincidence, I happened to walk into a shop run by a Grecian. During our little chat he said, and I quote, “be careful of the Greek boys. When I was young, I used to take the girls by the arm and into the caves, you know…don’t go near the caves”. Right.
And it’s true…Grecians are not afraid of expressing themselves to women in public. They live for the pleasure of that day or this night. I have to admit guiltily, that this was a wonderful confidence booster at first. And apparently, I’m not the only one who thinks this way, cause statistically, Athens has one of the lowest rape rates in the world. A friend tells me that this is because Greek men simply don’t have trouble getting their women. Sometimes though, this behavior is irritating or just plain insulting. For instance, I’ve been mistaken for a prostitute more than once since my arrival here and the line between paying attention or compliments and harassment is crossed too often and too easily.
But hey, don’t get me wrong, all Greek men are not creeps. What I’m trying to say is that I’m simply not used to this type of open sexual dialogue between strangers in the public space. Canadians are way more stand-offish. But I am learning. Learning to adapt to this new world and staying safe at the same time.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
The Environment
Prior to even booking my flight, people warned me about two things I would have to prepare myself for in Athens. One, it was going to be bloody hot. Two, the pollution was unbearable.
The deteriorating air quality due to smog and CO2 pollution has been a concern for Athenians for several decades. Many factors contribute to this problem, smoking, brush fires that start up during the hot seasons in Attica, the lack of parkland and green spaces within the city etc. The biggest problem however, is the exhaust from vehicles. The thing about Athens is that parts of the city’s infrastructure have been the same layout since ancient times. This means that everyone wants to go to the same places at the same time and because of this, the city center gets congested with traffic very easily.
When I first came to Athens, I laughed when a Greek friend was able to quote statistics on how many Athenians (especially the old) die each year in the summer due to the pollution. But as cool May passed into to hot June and stifling July, there was a noticeable difference in air quality. By mid afternoon it gets difficult to breath and suddenly, those statistics didn’t look so hilarious anymore.
From what I see, the responses to this problem are varied: the public are concerned about their environment and want to see changes, but they depend on those changes to come from the government. The government is a sticky bureaucratic spider-web, where things are done very slowly if they are done at all. But since the 1990s there’s been a push to cleaning up the city and although, change has been painstakingly slow to come, I find the overall outcome admirable nonetheless.
What particularly impresses me is the intricate public transportation system that services not only the Athenians, but anyone living in the suburbs of Attica who commute into the city. First there are the buses (both inter-city and long distance), which are fast, efficient and reach every corner of the Grecian mainland. Some buses use natural gases while other known as ILPAP run using electricity. Next, there is ISAP, the clean electric railway, the Tram line that runs along the coast, again using electricity. There is also the incredibly fast and cheap Attiko Metro, which took a long time to construct because while digging, construction workers kept running into important archaeological finds. Some of these finds are now displayed behind beautiful glass cases in the metro station itself.
And so, bit by bit, the city of Athens is starting to repair itself. Over the next few decades, I believe the environment here will have healed considerably, and I hope I come back to see this living change.
The deteriorating air quality due to smog and CO2 pollution has been a concern for Athenians for several decades. Many factors contribute to this problem, smoking, brush fires that start up during the hot seasons in Attica, the lack of parkland and green spaces within the city etc. The biggest problem however, is the exhaust from vehicles. The thing about Athens is that parts of the city’s infrastructure have been the same layout since ancient times. This means that everyone wants to go to the same places at the same time and because of this, the city center gets congested with traffic very easily.
When I first came to Athens, I laughed when a Greek friend was able to quote statistics on how many Athenians (especially the old) die each year in the summer due to the pollution. But as cool May passed into to hot June and stifling July, there was a noticeable difference in air quality. By mid afternoon it gets difficult to breath and suddenly, those statistics didn’t look so hilarious anymore.
From what I see, the responses to this problem are varied: the public are concerned about their environment and want to see changes, but they depend on those changes to come from the government. The government is a sticky bureaucratic spider-web, where things are done very slowly if they are done at all. But since the 1990s there’s been a push to cleaning up the city and although, change has been painstakingly slow to come, I find the overall outcome admirable nonetheless.
What particularly impresses me is the intricate public transportation system that services not only the Athenians, but anyone living in the suburbs of Attica who commute into the city. First there are the buses (both inter-city and long distance), which are fast, efficient and reach every corner of the Grecian mainland. Some buses use natural gases while other known as ILPAP run using electricity. Next, there is ISAP, the clean electric railway, the Tram line that runs along the coast, again using electricity. There is also the incredibly fast and cheap Attiko Metro, which took a long time to construct because while digging, construction workers kept running into important archaeological finds. Some of these finds are now displayed behind beautiful glass cases in the metro station itself.
And so, bit by bit, the city of Athens is starting to repair itself. Over the next few decades, I believe the environment here will have healed considerably, and I hope I come back to see this living change.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Out or in?
Strange, but the realization that I was actually in another country (continent!), living side by side with people of a different culture, didn’t really settle in until weeks after my arrival in Greece.
Perhaps this is because Athens, like Toronto, is a cosmopolitan city; most everyone speaks English, the cityscape, at first glance looks much like any other and the people seemed to wear the same type of clothes and do the same type of things. Learning Greek is not a prerequisite to live in Athens and neither does one need to make any drastic cultural or social adjustments in order to adapt to life here. At least, that is what my first impression was.
But the Mediterranean lifestyle is one that creeps up softly and settles inside your mindset. One usually cannot resist its charm (busy mornings, silent afternoons, late meals on loud patios, life at night), but those who do (i.e. silly tourists who insist on visiting the city in the stifling heat of mid-afternoon, when all the locals are comfortably napping) risk being always an outsider – a visitor of Greece. Athenians have two ways of dealing with these outsiders: the first is by exaggerated but disingenuous flattery and friendliness, in order to extract as much money out of them as possible. The second is by complete and utter indifference, and perhaps even rudeness. But the same rude Athenian will transform into a true and honest friend if they see that you yourself want to share in their world. Somewhere in the process of this transformation, you become a part of their ‘family’. And once you are, food, drink, laughs…everything is shared.
Perhaps this is because Athens, like Toronto, is a cosmopolitan city; most everyone speaks English, the cityscape, at first glance looks much like any other and the people seemed to wear the same type of clothes and do the same type of things. Learning Greek is not a prerequisite to live in Athens and neither does one need to make any drastic cultural or social adjustments in order to adapt to life here. At least, that is what my first impression was.
But the Mediterranean lifestyle is one that creeps up softly and settles inside your mindset. One usually cannot resist its charm (busy mornings, silent afternoons, late meals on loud patios, life at night), but those who do (i.e. silly tourists who insist on visiting the city in the stifling heat of mid-afternoon, when all the locals are comfortably napping) risk being always an outsider – a visitor of Greece. Athenians have two ways of dealing with these outsiders: the first is by exaggerated but disingenuous flattery and friendliness, in order to extract as much money out of them as possible. The second is by complete and utter indifference, and perhaps even rudeness. But the same rude Athenian will transform into a true and honest friend if they see that you yourself want to share in their world. Somewhere in the process of this transformation, you become a part of their ‘family’. And once you are, food, drink, laughs…everything is shared.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Photo Journal
This is all that is left of the once monumental Temple of Apollo in the ancient city of Corinth.
The city of Athens is so rich of monuments and archaeological sites that on my first day here, I stumbled across Hadrian's Arch.
Walked a marathon to get to Marathon. Saw the beautiful lake and the marble dam that contained the water. Met true village Grecians, were welcomed into their midst and experienced their wonderful hospitality.
Sounion was a more intense experience.We went to see the Temple of Poseidon, but got distracted by the spectacular vista from the top of the cliffs.
However, the Temple itself, at sunset, is not a sight to be easily forgotten.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Defining my culture:
Often, in our determination to understand what a particular culture constitutes of, we forget that the very nature of a culture is paradoxical. I can say, for instance, that I am a Sri Lankan, I speak Tamil and that I have faith in Hinduism. At the same time, I would not be contradicting myself when I say also that I am a Canadian, I speak English and French and I am an atheist. As a child of the Diaspora generation (i.e. uprooted from our native lands in order to relocate), I have been acutely aware of this increasingly glaring aspect of culture for the most part of my life.
Let me explain. Perhaps I can show you what I mean.
As a Tamil-Sri Lankan, my claim to this culture has united me with my fellow Tamil-Sri Lankans. Through common language, values such as modesty in dress, respect towards elders and teachers, childhood memories of communal upbringing, playing cricket, big families, loud dinners, high tempers, etc. etc. There is also something less easy to define that unites us: an instinctive kinship.
On the other hand, this same culture has divided us: socially from Sinhalese-Sri Lankans, to the point of a bloody civil war, physically from our native land and remaining families and politically from each other as we form factions according to our beliefs.
My culture is something I share with those interested in knowing more about it. I have helped my Chinese friends pick out sarees and take pleasure in inviting them to eat Tamil food. But it is also something I guard and protect from those I consider outsiders: I do not like the idea, for instance, of taking someone of a different ethnicity to my favorite Temple. It is a place too personal, too my own to be shared.
My culture inspires pride. I am proud to say that my maternal language is Tamil or that I can eat a bowl of raw chili without flinching, while others would probably spontaneously combust. Unfortunately, it also sometimes inspires shame. Especially when I read in the newspaper or see on television the recent behavior of Tamil youth, who seem to think that gang-violence is a justified outlet to express the frustration they feel towards the situation in Sri Lanka.
My culture defines me, I know it’s inside me, and I feel it clinging to the outside of me. But it is also something I sometimes feel the need to escape from, to shed or grow into.
What then is the result of all these contradicting forces of culture that has shaped me?
I have no clue.
Perhaps I’ll find out one day.
Or maybe, if you ever meet me and get to know me, you’ll be good enough to tell me.
Let me explain. Perhaps I can show you what I mean.
As a Tamil-Sri Lankan, my claim to this culture has united me with my fellow Tamil-Sri Lankans. Through common language, values such as modesty in dress, respect towards elders and teachers, childhood memories of communal upbringing, playing cricket, big families, loud dinners, high tempers, etc. etc. There is also something less easy to define that unites us: an instinctive kinship.
On the other hand, this same culture has divided us: socially from Sinhalese-Sri Lankans, to the point of a bloody civil war, physically from our native land and remaining families and politically from each other as we form factions according to our beliefs.
My culture is something I share with those interested in knowing more about it. I have helped my Chinese friends pick out sarees and take pleasure in inviting them to eat Tamil food. But it is also something I guard and protect from those I consider outsiders: I do not like the idea, for instance, of taking someone of a different ethnicity to my favorite Temple. It is a place too personal, too my own to be shared.
My culture inspires pride. I am proud to say that my maternal language is Tamil or that I can eat a bowl of raw chili without flinching, while others would probably spontaneously combust. Unfortunately, it also sometimes inspires shame. Especially when I read in the newspaper or see on television the recent behavior of Tamil youth, who seem to think that gang-violence is a justified outlet to express the frustration they feel towards the situation in Sri Lanka.
My culture defines me, I know it’s inside me, and I feel it clinging to the outside of me. But it is also something I sometimes feel the need to escape from, to shed or grow into.
What then is the result of all these contradicting forces of culture that has shaped me?
I have no clue.
Perhaps I’ll find out one day.
Or maybe, if you ever meet me and get to know me, you’ll be good enough to tell me.
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