Contemporary Greek Culture!

Like every other place in the world Athens had its street artist… You guessed it we went on a Graffiti tour around the city. It reminded me a lot of New York. There is meaningless art and ones that have a meaning or a certain message they are trying to convey. In my opinion they did not really capture my eye. But, I get the importance of pieces that spark conversation and makes people think deeper than surface level. It was a really hot day after the tour we were trying to find something to do and voila! We just so happen to find a ice cream festival which made me question ice-cream back home. They had what seems like hundred of different flavors and cones which was fascinating. We had a couple hours to kill and dedicated that to buying souvenirs in Plaka. It baffles me how many shops sell the same exact thing. After we met up with the larger group to have a group dinner.

Christopher Hernandez

By day 7, I had realized that a lot of the things in Athens have been impacted by their recent economic crisis. I have been asking around to people about the impacts of the crisis and how are they surviving and making it through. Some people told me the crisis was caused by the United States. Some people blamed the European union. Monica explained to us a couple of days ago that young people did not have the opportunity to have their first job because of the crisis. Older people lost their retirement or only received a portion of it. People in their 40-50s could not find a job that fit their standards. A lot of people are still facing extreme poverty. During this day, we learned about how graffities around the city are linked to the economic crisis and sometimes serve as a way of protesting. We also learned the importance of the gas station in Gazzi to develop the country’s economy. There is also so many beautiful murals around the gas plant that reflect contemporary Greek culture!

Juan Breton