The 2010 Heritage Greece Program provided talented young Greek Americans their first opportunity to study and travel in Greece. The National Hellenic Society and The American College of Greece are committed to transforming Heritage Greece into a comprehensive and large-scale academic and cultural program that in the future will enable thousands of young Greek Americans to visit Greece for the first time, strengthening their ties to their ancestral legacy as well as relations between Greece and the United States, while learning about Greece, her people and something transformative about themselves.
June 9, 2010
June 19th – Standing right at the center of the universe, the Omphalos Stone, which according to Greek Mythology is the point where the two eagles sent by Zeus met, wasn’t enough to make the Heritage Greece trip to Delphi exciting. Being there with fifteen Greek-American students was.
There we were: a group of young people with a shared history – Greece – that we were exploring together.
The trip to Delphi started at 8.30, when the student group left the premises of Deree and jumped on the bus – our devoted carrier for these two weeks.
After some quick naps on the bus and a stop for coffee and a sandwich on the National Road between Athens and Lamia, we started getting excited about visiting the ancient oracle, dating back to 8th. Steadily the scenery outside the window started to change. The urban buildings and billboards gave way to pine trees and firs. We were on the southwestern spur of Mount Parnassus and our destination was now visible. The moment we set foot in Delphi and looked up the hill, we saw the relics of a great civilization dating back to the 8th century BCE, which had prospered right where we were standing. “I had no idea that this place is only two hours from Athens,” someone said.
According to the various myths, the temple of Delphi was dedicated to Phoebus Apollo because he killed the pair of chthonic serpents known as Python, for attempting to abduct Leto, his mother, while she was pregnant with him and Artemis. The pair of pythons was draped around Apollo’s staff, and he killed Python even though he would be punished for it, since it was a child of Gaia, the primal Greek goddess who personified the earth. As punishment for his murder, Apollo had to carry out tedious menial tasks for eight years, but the Pythian Games took place every four years to commemorate his victory. The stadium at Delphi could seat 6,500 spectators. Nearby, stood the treasuries built by the various Greek city states to thank the Oracle for her advice, the theater, and the rock where the Sibyl, the mythic priestess, sat to deliver her prophecies.
The all-knowing tour guide, Ms. Viki Kirki, gave us a wonderful account about the Oracle, the monument, and the museum. When in the museum, students were amazed by the cultural wealth and the artistic brilliance of the ancients and how greatly it has affected and set the foundations for the world we live in today. The Greek-American students stood in awe in front of the exhibits; taking pictures in front of the Omphalos Stone was not enough for them to move to the next exhibit – some of us even wanted to sit on the rock before leaving the vantage point that Greek Mythology offered.
Having walked up and down the Oracle like an ancient would do, the Heritage Greece students jumped back on the bus and headed for Galaxidi for lunch by the seaside in one of the best sea-food restaurants around the area. The main dish was pasta with shrimps, mussels and clams, appetizers with octopus and calamari, zucchini pie, salads with seafood and other traditional specialties with baked vegetables and fruits.
After the good lunch and taking some group pictures in front of the small port of Galaxidi, Heritage Greece walked back to the bus to return to the Deree Residences. The same night, students experienced the Greek way of nightlife by going to Thalassa, a special type of night club with live music, also called the Bouzoukia. The Greek night life and the loud music pushed the students off their seats to dance and sing the songs of Despina Vandi along with the rest of the Greek fans, devotees of the famous Greek singer.
Andreas Aktoudianakis
June 22, 2010
June 18th – The students of Heritage Greece do not find it hard to realize significant ceremonies and meet with high-status political and religious personas that one would only find in the activities schedule of a nation’s leader.
Today students met with the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Spyros Kouvelis, and the Archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Church, Ieronymos. Earlier in the day, the Heritage Greece laid a wreath at the statue of the Unknown Soldier in front of the parliament building and kept a moment of silence in honor of the ones who sacrificed their lives in the name of freedom.
The Heritage Greece obtained special permission by the Athenian Prefecture to lay a wreath at the monument of the Unknown Soldier. This type of permission is rarely granted to anybody other than national or religious leaders. Greek-American students Adam Stathas and Cynthia Tassopoulos laid the wreath during the momentous ceremony, bestowing the student group with pride and honor.
At the Deputy Minister’s office, students expressed their gratitude for meeting with a member of the Hellenic Parliament and Mr. Kouvelis said that “it’s important for Greece and the Greeks of the Diaspora to reconnect with the motherland, its cultural heritage and values”. Mr. Kouvelis underlined that the future depends on the young people who are going to become the new leaders of tomorrow and added that the Greek Diaspora is one of the government’s big concerns in its political agenda.
Later, at the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese students met with the Archbishop who gave them his blessings and wished them good luck to fulfill their future aspirations. The Archbishop discussed with Ms Claudia Carydis, Executive Director for Alumni Relations and Development of the ACG, about the relations of the Greek Orthodox Church with the Greek-Americans of Diaspora and underlined that “the Greek Orthodox Church may be only a part of Orthodoxy but it extends its faith to all the Greeks living in Diaspora.” Upon their departure from the Archdiocese, Archbishop Ieronymos offered his gifts to the students, a copy of the New Testament and a crucifix with his signature.
An hour later, the Heritage Greece went on an urban walk in the Streets of central Athens and Dr. Katsas, professor of Sociology at the ACG, walked with the students through the historical center while they were listening to him discussing the symbolic representation of ethnic identity through the architecture of the urban setting.
The day’s activities ended with a dinner at Kafeneion and a surprise from the Greek State television. While dinning, Heritage Greece students saw themselves on television, on a reportage about their visit to the Deputy Minister’s office earlier that day. The Heritage Greece clapped joyfully to the comments of the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs about the program’s first-time success.
Andreas Aktoudianakis, Editor of the ACG Observer and student at the Heritage Greece
June 21, 2010
It is Saturday already! And the weather, as always, is hot hot hot.
We woke up early to depart to Delphi. I have to admit I had to balance my intense
desire for sleep with our tour guide’s stories.
Below is a link to the story of the Oracle of Delphi. She was known as Pythia.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article611319.ece
The theory is that the gasses in the temple caused anoxia which in turn made her hallucinate.
The museum was my favorite part though. There was a sketch of what Delphi was thought to look like
and many of the ancient stone artifacts. It is so hard to imagine what it actually looked like outside, but
seeing the painting helped me better understand what life could have been like for these people.
Moreover, I think my favorite sculpture in the museums were those of people.
The Greeks made their work come alive through focusing on different lines and shapes, ergo
adding volume and movement to the figures they created. They looked so real and full of emotion.
After Delphi, we hopped back on the bus to Galaxidi. Probably my favorite lunch! I love octopus
and there was no better day to eat some! Kai tote, we hopped back on the bus for the three hour
ride to Athens.
Love,
Nicole
June 21, 2010
Just wanted to recognize a wonderful surprise we received today which was the arrival of Art Dimopoulos!! Though we had a late night and early morning, which has been like most of our days here, we were all thrilled to be greeted this morning by Art who acted as a surrogate father to the fifteen of us when we left the states. So to Art and all the fathers, Happy Fathers Day
!!
June 21, 2010
Hi Everyone,
Things have been going by so fast So I am going to back track blog. After finishing the art exam
we started our modern Greek class. After being dragged to Greek school for a few years, I cannot even
explain how much I appreciate my parent’s push for me to stay connected with my past. This
class has been more than a refresher and prof. z has been so clear in her instruction.
After months of struggling with different sentence structure, I finally began to see things
through a much more simple lens.
Modern Greek class has been stuffed into very full days though. It all seems kind of like a blur
right now. We had the opportunity to meet with the minister of foreign affairs (we saw ourselves
on tv later that night!) and the Archbishop of Athens. Not only that, but two HG students,
Cynythia and Adam, got to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Solider Memorial -an honor, our
group discovered, that was usually left for the political elite.
We also went on an urban walk with Dr. Katsas. You can see two pictures of Athens, one of a church and one of the busy streets, that we found along the way.
And after a long day of shopping and shouting out GROUP PHOTO…we finally grabbed dinner and made our way. It was quite the day!
Love
Nicole
P.S. I promise more pictures to come!
June 21, 2010
June 17th – The minor strike in the centre of Athens did not prevent the students of Heritage Greece from exploring Ermou Street and the historical Byzantine Church of Kapnikarea that dates back to 11 A.D.
The students left the bus and walked on the side of the Greek Parliament building and after passing by the Πλατεία Συντάγματος (Constitution Square), they entered the street of Ermou.
Ermou Street is the shopping center of Athens listed among the classiest streets of the world like the 5th Avenue in New York and other famous Streets in Europe. Also, it is a popular choice for night walks since it is located in the historical center of the capital and shares looks with the Parliament and the Acropolis.
After going through the shops, the artists and the small sellers of coconut sticks and ice cream, the students gathered around the historical Byzantine Church of Kapnikarea dating back to 11 a.d. and professor Dr. Katsas gave a brief history of Kapnikarea, which was built on the foundations of an older church built by Evdokia, the Athenian wife of Emperor Theodosios. Also on the same location there used to be a temple devoted to a female goddess, probably Athena or Dimitra.
The big walk in Ermou and the hot sun gave place to the traditional cuisine and the gourmet delights of Tzitzikas and Mermigkas, a well known restaurant in the street of Ermou. The food was ready and students dinned with their professor Dr. Katsa and the coordinator of the program Melita Leoussis. The menu was full of spécialités and tastes ranging from sea-food to Chios mastiha, and from Cretan cheese pie to desserts from Smyrna like Ravani.
After the long day’s activities students returned to their residences in Agia Paraskevi, to take some sleep and prepare for Friday’s meeting with the Archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Church and visit the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Andreas Aktoudianakis, Student Editor of the ACG Observer and student of Heritage Greece.
June 18, 2010
The Heritage Greece crew in Mykonos
Instant connections. We have been together on this journey for only seven days now, and surprisingly I feel like we have know one another for much longer. Though we have all traveled from different states, even Alaska, we have a common thread that binds us together, our Greek heritage. Heritage, A heavy word with great meaning to us all. We are a unique and lucky group of individuals that were so blessed to have received this opportunity, thank you National Hellenic Society, and The American College of Greece Deree.
Sidenote: Even a guy from Philly and a girl from Chicago are friends after the Stanley Cup Finals! Go Hawks!!
June 17, 2010
I LOVE HERITAGE GREECE!!!!
June 17, 2010
The title says it all. It was super hot outside.
Outside of that though…
We woke up this morning well-rested and ready to go! We started of at National Museum of Contemporary Art (EMST) and the Museum of Cycladic Art. Both of these depicted very different types of art. Yang Fudong (one of the artists) was particularly interesting to me when he noted in his film, “Why are people in love always apart?” His film was beautiful and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Also at the EMST was Kostis Velonis, a Greek artist who examined the world through Greek democracy and often commented on Russian politics through his work. (As you can probably guess other HGers, I’m writing my essay on both of these artists for class as we speak).
At the second museum we examined the Nuds exhibit and the work of Louise Burgeois. What we all thought was a work of flowers by Burgeois was actually a comment on nature and the relationship between the mother and child! Oops! Nuds was even more interesting though because it forced us to interpret what looked like stone and was actually stuffed socks bended into shapes. We even had the opportunity to create drawings of it. I have to admit it has been a while since I have picked up a pencil to draw.
Between the museums we had some pastichio (those of you back home know this is one of my favorites). I got to sit next to professor h during lunch as well. And while her conversation with Amalia (a DEREE student) was in Greek, I think I could pick up the basic gist. They were discussing the art work in relation to life and death which just happens to be a part of our essay assignment tonight: How does a cultural tradition like the Greek antiquity influence contemporary identity? (Apologies if I seriously messed up the translation).
It’s funny to think today is the last day of our art module. We have a test tomorrow and then four hours of modern Greek. I am so excited to get my Greek on! Hopefully I can make up for some of those less productive Greek school classes.
Ok, I’m off to cool down from today’s oh-so-hot weather.
Best,
Nicole
June 17, 2010
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