Today is the day that Greece entered WWII, when it denied free passage to Mussolini's fascist Italian army (October 28, 1940) and then successfully repelled a military invasion. This is often referred to as "the NO anniversary" (i epeteios tu OHI). Unlike other European countries, Greece does not celebrate the end of WWII or even the withdrawal of the Nazi German army from Greece (they had to come in and do the job that Mussolini couldn't) but the day of its attack and refusal to surrender.
Some of us are starting to see this as a sign of a culture of victimization, insularity and conservativeness. "Foreigners attacking the country" is a popular motive for interpreting all sorts of political events up to this day, and if you've lived here for some time you are sure to have been fed a good share of it.
On a personal level...
This month, after having heard about 2,500 NOs in the past year from my 2-year old, I've heard some occasional (4 or 5) YESes! You can call it a sign of maturing...
Many of us have decided to say a different kind of "no", or rather "no more". On Saturday noon, we went to a photographic store to have our pictures taken for the US Diversity Visa Lottery... There must be about 500 photography stores throughout this city. Right before us, there was another family who were there for the exact same reason...
This blog will continue for at least the next year and a half - possibly much longer than that, even from a distance.
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