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Greek Dances - What do they mean?

Excerpt from: Typical Greek Life (click for full article)

 

So Greek dancing is all about expressing emotions and telling stories. Traditional Greek dancing had plenty of stories: some were to ensure fertility, preparing for war, celebrating victories, overcoming depression and even curing illnesses. They are usually named after villages or places where they originated from.

The 'Zebekiko'
This is a solo dance usually performed by men (eh but you get the odd 'modern' woman sneaking in these days too!). The songs that you dance the 'Zebekiko' to (can also be called the 'vareto') are always very passionate and often reflect struggles and broken hearts. Hence, why it is also known as the 'drunken' dance... It's usually performed very late into the evening (once the booze has taken full effect, you know how it is...). The moves are generally actually very sporadic and drunken looking and although there are some signature moves, it is generally freestyle; just moving to your emotions. It is always danced with an audience knelt down in a circle clapping you on and appreciating your deep felt expressive emotions (unless you're in a fancy dress apparently...)

The Island Where People Forget to Die

Excerpt from: The New York Times (click for full article)

 

Six months came and went. Moraitis didn’t die. Instead, he reaped his garden and, feeling emboldened, cleaned up the family vineyard as well. Easing himself into the island routine, he woke up when he felt like it, worked in the vineyards until midafternoon, made himself lunch and then took a long nap. In the evenings, he often walked to the local tavern, where he played dominoes past midnight. The years passed. His health continued to improve. He added a couple of rooms to his parents’ home so his children could visit. He built up the vineyard until it produced 400 gallons of wine a year. Today, three and a half decades later, he’s 97 years old — according to an official document he disputes; he says he’s 102 — and cancer-free. He never went through chemotherapy, took drugs or sought therapy of any sort. All he did was move home to Ikaria.

I called Moraitis a few weeks ago from my home in Minneapolis. Elpiniki died in the spring at age 85, and now he lives alone. He picked up the phone in the same whitewashed house that he’d moved into 35 years ago. It was late afternoon in Ikaria. He had worked in his vineyard that morning and just awakened from a nap. We chatted for a few minutes, but then he warned me that some of his neighbors were coming over for a drink in a few minutes and he’d have to go. I had one last question for him. How does he think he recovered from lung cancer?

“It just went away,” he said. “I actually went back to America about 25 years after moving here to see if the doctors could explain it to me.”

I had heard this part of the story before. It had become a piece of the folklore of Ikaria, proof of its exceptional way of life. Still, I asked him, “What happened?”

“My doctors were all dead.”

Malaria Creeps Back Into Greece Amid Health Budget Cuts

Excerpt from: NPR (click for full article)

 

After a 40-year hiatus, malaria is returning to Greece.

Some 70 cases have been reported there this year, and at least 12 people appear to have been infected in the country. (The others picked up the disease elsewhere.)

That's a concern for health workers because it means malaria may now be endemic to Greece — and not just hitching a ride with travelers.

Plus, the parasite is showing up in regions where it has never been reported, the U.S. Centers of Disease and Prevention said in a statement last week.

What's fueling malaria's comeback?

Budget cuts have been tough on Greece's health services, causing medication shortages and a sharp rise in HIV cases over the past year. Cuts to public health spending could also be contributing to malaria's reappearance, says Dr. Apostolos Veizis, who directs Doctors Without Borders' operations in Greece.

The majority of municipalities around Athens did not have enough funds to spray for mosquitoes this year, Veizis tells Shots. That's why West Nile Virus appeared in the summer. Bednets have not been readily available, either.

But Veizis thinks there's more to the malaria story than just budget cuts alone. "It's a combination of factors that make Greece more vulnerable to the reestablishment of malaria," he says. Warmer winters may be lengthening the malaria season, for one.

Epitafio Problems!

Excerpt from Typical Greek Life: (click for entire article)

So last night was the very important "Epitafio" at Church whereby Jesus' "tomb" is decorated with flowers in each Greek Orthodox Church around the world and then carried out into the streets while all the Greeks walk behind it holding candles. This is the night when Jesus died on the cross and is a serious time of mourning and should be respected.

Of course I did take it seriously in my heart, however there are comical moments in our culture that no matter how serious it is, you gotta just laugh and I like to share those moments, so sorry if you got offended!

It's time for the Greek Diaspora to stand up

From YouTube:

We're a national network of highly-trained advocates and community leaders who advance issues important to the Greek American community on the local, state and national level. We work for the greater good, here in the United States and abroad. Join us at http://www.hellenicleaders.com/signup