Between parkland and Athens

So I have now spent more than a week in Greece and feel I have some what of a basic understanding between the differences in their culture and mine. For the first time the other night about half of our group went out dancing or what some of the cooler kids would call clubbing. Most of the culture I have been experiencing really seems to be me going around as a tourist looking at things from the outside. Not that going out to a club means Im not a tourist, but it really gave me the feeling of being more on the inside.

The first real difference that was noticed, is the time that younger Greeks like to start partying at night. They go out late, we didn't even get to the club til around midnight and there were barely any people inside. Not to worry though, it really started to get packed over the next couple hours or so, standing room only. The security at the door was very accomodating for us, as they realized we were not from around here. But that is the other thing I have noticed here, the Greek people really are big on courtesy, or how do I want to say, they are very inviting. I recently read the Illiad and in the book kept thinking how all the characters were very quick to take in strangers as guests to their homes. Every interaction with the locals reminds me of the book and this courtesy thing that seems to be steeped heavily in honor. Honor, sometimes a word I feel most Americans only know from movies or stories.

Another noticeable difference in the club was the lack of a dance floor. Really? A dance club without a dance floor. Ok, I will try anything once. It seemed once again that Greeks are more interested in conversation and substance than moving around in a form that some would call dance. I liked that, only problem is, I don't speak Greek. Most Greeks speak english, but not enough for me to feel I am being understood correctly, and the last thing I want would be a misunderstanding that could go very bad very quick. So like the stories we are reading in class, about the jews and how they had to make tough choices of what part of a foreign culture to absorb and what part to resist. The group I was with had to make this tough choice also. In the end we chose to resist. We danced and danced. It was the first time that I felt like we were back home. I know we got alot of looks that night, but they were not bad looks, and we actually got complimented on how we danced. Thank you Greece.

The ride home with the taxi driver was also a great experience. I left a little bit earlier than the rest of my group and took a cab by myself. My cab drivers name was Dimitros and he was from Sparta and very proud of it. He took me the long way home so we could converse. Those clever Greeks and their conversations. The craziest part was, that Dimitros didn't want to take any money for the ride home. I guess he thought I was interesting enough and that good conversation was payment enough. Again, thank you Greece.