Can we learn to be a hybrid?

We are a hybrid of our parents. We are a hybrid of two or more ethnicities passed down from our parents, but can we learn to be a hybrid? Can we learn to be a hybrid of American and Greek cultures while in Greece for one month?

While we will never be Greek, we can adopt the traits of the Greek people and grow from our experience abroad. I can’t think of a better way to be a more compassionate, understanding, and caring person than to experience the life of someone so different. I like to think of a hybrid as “the best of both worlds”. Every second in Greece is a chance to soak up the lifestyle and reflect how a mix of American and Greek cultures could create a better person.

Within my first couple days in Greece, I can’t help but notice the overwhelming generosity of others. Even more surprisingly, people are generous to “Us Americans”. It is no secret that we can be stereotyped as we travel abroad, but the Greeks have welcomed us with arms wide open.

Every morning the class gets coffee and breakfast at the same place. Our very first morning, we were pleasantly surprised to receive a delightful strawberry tart. This pattern repeated every day and it was always a mystery as to what treat we could receive each day.

I am sure you have read other posts about this magical café, but it shows how impactful Kekko has been to all of us. Demitrios (a prominent worker at Kekkos) is an example of kindness that is hard to find and we could all be a little more like him. I hope to go home and practice generosity and humbleness like that shown as Kekkos.

I can imagine other students traveling abroad this January are experiencing new and different cultures that enhance their education at PLU. Each individual experience in Greece, England, or the Bahamas is drastically different than our traditional lives in the US, but as we come back together on campus and share our stories, we get a glimpse into another life. From the vendors at the farmers market to the clerk at the pharmacy, there is a deep respect for kindness that is a refreshing change.

Perfectly red tomatoes from the farmers market.

Fruit Salad (yummy yummy)

Pretty much every morning we take a short walk to Kekko’s, a local café. I indulge in a Greek yogurt fruit salad and an amazing coffee or a fresh smoothie. The employees there are extremely friendly and love talking to us. They’ve tried to teach us a lot of new words and each day they give us a free little and delicious pastry that they make, I have yet to be disappointed. Kekko’s was the first place we went in Athen’s and I feel like it will forever be my favorite café. The hospitality and acceptance is amazing. This adorable cafe represents hybridity by trying to adapt to our culture and by helping us attempt to adapt to their culture. 

Kylie Paine, Katelyn Thompson, and I enjoying ourselves at Kekkos- January 9th

Hybridity in religion is viewing all gods as three, but in general terms, hybridity is a mixture produced through cultural assimilation and adaptation. So far in Greece, I’ve noticed the culture is a big mixture of ethnicity. Everybody seems to be accepted no matter where you are from. It definitely puts off a different vibe than back in America. I’ve never travelled outside of the United States before but feeling this accepted and at home was not what I was expecting when traveling abroad. 

Even though there is a pretty prominent language barrier, I feel as though communication is not difficult. The people here are all very kind and accepting. They definitely try their best to communicate and really enjoy when we try to speak Greek, though quite often they giggle at our very American attempts to pronounce words we have no idea how to say. Though we have barely been outside of Athen’s, I have learned to adore this culture and I am excited to see how or if it may differ throughout different cities in the country.

A King, a Wall, and Jesus Christ

The phrase “a picture’s worth a thousand words” is a cliché for a reason. There is power in imagery – not only in pictures and physical images, but in our ability to create them. In ancient Mesopotamia, imagery of Marduk (the storm god) in the creation story, Enuma Elish, was used every New Year as royal propaganda to reinforce the King’s claim to the throne. In a nutshell, the King of Mesopotamia played the role of Marduk, who cleverly and mightily destroys his mother, Tiamat, whose body then becomes the earth. This victory makes Marduk the all-powerful high god of the universe. The imagery, repeated annually, depicts the King as Marduk himself, reinforcing the idea that he was chosen by Marduk to be King, so the people cannot and should not question his authority.

“A picture’s worth a thousand words.” The Parthenon at the top of the Acropolis.

Imagery continues to be used in propaganda today – successfully, at that. For example, President Donald Trump proposed a great, protective wall to keep our beautiful oasis of a country safe from the turmoil and desert that lies beyond. Said desert is filled with murdering, trafficking drug lords who slink quietly through shadows, mile after mile, until they’ve infiltrated our border, stolen our jobs, and hooked us all on opiates. While there is no photographic evidence to support the propagandist claim, the imagery fulfills its duty to persuade the seer into believing the image.

Today, I visited the Metropolitan Church of Athens Evangelismos Theotokou, settled in a sea of white marble tiles and surrounded by the bustling shopping district downtown. It is a Greek Orthodox church – the first I have visited (that I can remember). I entered the church and felt a chill, first from the astoundingly high ceilings, painted in blue and gold, and second from the suddenly brisk air, which was colder than outside. I dropped a euro into one of several donation boxes, heard it clink and echo throughout the sanctuary, and took a long, thin memorial candle from a nearby stack. After lighting my candle and watching the flame flicker and dance for a while, I let my eyes wander around the pews, altar, and various depictions of Jesus Christ. I noticed an old man crossing himself and watched as he bent at the hips to place his forehead on an image of Christ. He repeated this action upwards of seven times – with every image of Christ he encountered. I watched some more as other church-goers followed suit. I was humbled by the amount of respect and honor these visitors obviously have for the image of Jesus. A brief Google search revealed that the kissing of Jesus’ feet reminds Greek Orthodox followers that Jesus came to earth only to die for the sake of humanity.

These three images – a King represented as a god, a fear-instilling image that appeals without reason, and Jesus Christ – are all related, particularly in how humans react to them; through worship. In the first case, the people of Mesopotamia accepted the myth, accepted the King’s authority, and treated him similarly to a god. In the second case, imagery of a hostile land attacking a peaceful one strikes a call to action in the imaginer, inspiring support of the dream wall and its President. In the third and final case, a bow to acknowledge the humility and endless love of Christ, serves as a reminder to Christians that Christ sacrificed himself in place of humanity for humanity’s sins.

I took only a mental picture of the Church of Athens, and that image will last me forever.

The Power and Emotion of Images

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  The view of the cascading buildings as far as the eyes can see.

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  A view from a museum, as I climbed the stairs to see the city.

A picture carries great power within each individual pixel or frame. Whether it is the power of a happy memory or a sad memory, we can take out a phone and document a experience. We have the privilege of living in an age where all things can be documented within an instant. Though this brings great power and opportunity to remember things exactly how they are, do we miss what was there in front of us when we reach for our phones? Do we lose the sense of personal memory when we decide to take a photo of the breathtaking landscape of towering buildings?

I do not know the answer. Theses are words spoken into the void. I believe the power of a photo can do miraculous things. They convey emotion. Emotion is something to cherish. It can heal, it can hurt, or it can numb, but a image can change the way we see the world. This is what was done here in Athens.

The images that have changed me the most here in Athens that I have taken, are the pictures of the city. This city is mesmerizing. The panoramic views from the top floors or rooftops of buildings almost seem to cast a spell over me. They take my breath away. They humanize me and make me remember how beautiful life is and how we must remember it is a short time. The emotions I feel when I look at the images of cascading buildings and the sun peeking through the clouds, I am reminded of this opportunity to stand in the place I am and take the time to make sure that not only will I have a picture of my memory, but how can it be used to help me remember the real thing.

I always do my best to refrain from pulling my phone out of my purse for a while before I wish to take a photo. I make a mental memory first. I glance at the image in front of me, the lights and how its hits an object, what the temperature is around me, am I outside feeling the wind brush against my face, or am I inside warm from the inside out. But most importantly, what emotion am I feeling in that moment. I take the time to stop and create the memory so I can use the photo as a tool to bring all these sensations rushing back. I take deep breaths, simply exist, and then take a photo. To me, the photo now has so much power. It will bring back all the things in the moment and I can appreciate the opportunity of my experiences now as I continue to look back at this adventure.

With a picture comes great power. It can take us as high as the skies or bring us to our knees with just one look. It can educate us and even bring the past into the future. Athens is no place short of being photogenic. Images have power within them as long as you search for a meaning within it. Allow the things around you to touch your heart and fascinate your mind. And that image you decided to take will make a mental memory come alive and flourish like it was the first time. As the wind blows my hair and sends a chill down my spine, the memory lives on in my mind and in my heart. The buildings make me learn to appreciate what is in my life and who is in it. Athens is huge and the pictures I bring home will do great things in conveying the beauty, but it will have nothing on the experience of standing and taking in the moment.

Images Words that Come to Life

Have you guys ever seen something so beautiful that you have no words to describe it? That because of the environment that the scene is depicted in, the world stops and stand still and you experience a feeling that you can’t describe. This is the feeling that I recently have experienced when I went to visit Areopagus. Areopagus is a rock that is below the Acropolis and overlooks the entire city of Athens. What some people might not know is that is the spot where Apostle Paul gave his sermon to the Greeks introducing them to a God who was all power, but one they have not known about. Now Apostle Paul was very important in the New Testament because he was spreading the “good news” to gentiles, which was no common since it was always viewed that God was only for his chosen people, the Israelites. This subject matter is one that is very important to me because as fate would have it my church an I are studying Apostle Paul and his letters. So the fact that I am able to stand where he was preaching to many, allow the words to come to life. As I was standing up on Areopagus, I began to wonder how has Athens changes from biblical times? what is the structure that has not yet been discovered? And what hardships has this place seen that historians have not yet discovered? This is the thought process that my mind went through, revealing to me that images are more than just drawings on a paper, canvas or seen in nature, it takes the human mind to interpret them with deeper meaning. For if we as humans don’t interpret them and relate them to our own lives, most likely that image and the feelings associated with it are to be lost. My visit to Areopagus has led me to a realization that once you know the story about an image or a place, that place then becomes ingrained as part of your story forever.

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  -View from Areopagus-