My STEP project was focused on learning the Greek language and applying it to my culture. I was fortunate enough to travel and practice my Greek in Greece. Throughout the process I gained an even higher appreciation for my culture.
While working on my Step project, I gained not only a deeper understanding of myself, but of my culture as well. Being Greek is something I’ve always been proud of. My main, and pretty much only, connection to my culture was being Greek Orthodox. When I was younger, I had the choice between playing church basketball or attending Greek school. I loved basketball so that is what I chose. I’d attend church and play with all my buddies against other churches. It was great and I loved it. But a little part of me always regretted not learning the language or figuring out a way to do both. When I arrived at OSU, I knew that’s what I wanted to dedicate my STEP project to. I had weekly Greek lessons with my Professor Pantelis, a fellow Greek from Chios – the island of my Yiayia (grandma). Through my Greek lessons I was able to finally learn how to understand, speak, read and write Greek. Not only did I learn about the language, but I also learned so much more about our culture.
A lot of what I learned came from Pantelis, we’d meet weekly for about a year. 52 of the lessons were covered through STEP and I continued taking lessons after up until my internship this past summer. Through our lessons Pantelis taught me a lot of words. But he also taught me how to use them and the meanings behind them. Our lessons about food stand out to me when thinking of this. We eat some of the same Greek foods however there are so many more that I didn’t even know existed. I knew things like Feta, Spanakopita, tiropita, lamb, saganaki, etc… He taught me so much more. He spoke about the markets of fruit in Athens and the best places to visit for each food. That was really what he did with each lecture. It was so interesting to me not just because I’m Greek but because of how passionate he’d get when speaking about Greece. I could really tell just how much Pantelis loved Greece.
This past summer, an opportunity arose to travel to Europe with my girlfriend and meet up with her family in Athens. It was the perfect opportunity to apply my new found language skills and also see firsthand all of the things Pantelis had told me about. Right upon landing I could see why Pantelis felt so connected to his country. Greeks are a bit of a stubborn group of people and if you look like a tourist like I did, they tend not to be the most patient. But when I spoke Greek to them, their faces would light up and it’s like you were part of the family. This happened everywhere we went and I never got sick of it. We stayed with my girlfriend’s cousin’s place for part of the trip and got to see firsthand what it was like to live in Athens. They took us out for the day and showed us how fun Athens is. Markets were all along the streets in. I had a lot of fun bartering with the local venders for various items. During the night, they took us to a place to view the Acropolis only the locals know about. Being an architecture
The Old Prison
major, the experience was truly incredible.
We didn’t just stay in Athens either. Both my girlfriend’s parents were born in Greece and her whole family speaks Greek fluently. Her Baba rented a car, and we traveled around Greece for one week. It was amazing. We’d have conversations in Greek while driving, order food in Greek and speak Greek really all the time. I got to taste authentic Greek cuisine day in and day out. For 3 days, we went to see her Baba and Mama’s villages. They were both in the middle of nowhere Greece. Two very small villages called Drosato and Veyronia. While there I got to meet her Nono’s Nona’s and her Pappou. They were all very nice and comforting people. We also went to Thessaloniki, the second largest city in Greece and also where the picture of the castle I included was. The second picture is of a monastery build into the mountainside onto of mount Olympus for Saint Dionisius. That was also a great experience being able to learn more about my religion.
The Monastery dedicated to Saint Dionisius
It’s my belief that just the act of being in a different part of the world is destined to change your views on certain things. I really enjoyed Greece for this. All the people there are hardworking but know how to relax. Sometimes I get so caught up in my schoolwork that I leave out space to put the computer down and go take a walk. They seem to know how to balance this well and It’s something I’ve tried to take away from my time there.
Through these opportunities provided through this STEP project, I’ve been able to learn so much. I may have still been able to go to Greece without the project, but the value of knowing the culture and language provided me with irreplaceable experiences. The excitement of talking to random Greek people and seeing them understand me and be able to understand their responses was awesome. Knowing what I was eating and how it was cooked/ where in Greece it’s most prevalent was great. Most importantly, being able to speak with her Pappou, who there’s a good chance I may never be able to speak to again due to his age, is irreplaceable. These were all significant memories I will carry forever with me through life. Without STEP, none of that would’ve been possible.