Makrynitsa and Mt. Pelion...

So the past two days were field trip days. Cool stuff, but truthfully I'm getting somewhat tired of the constant bus rides and stuff. So here are some quick highlights:

First of all, I need to get this out there. Panos, our guide, keeps saying things like, "This village isn't very old. It was founded in the 1800s," etc. What I find funny about this stuff is the fact that what is considered "not very old" to a Greek is actually older than the country I'm from. Weird. Now onto the actual stuff.

So we went to Makrynitsa yesterday, and it was fantastic. Imagine every Prego commercial you've ever seen that's set in a tiny mountain town with some old woman speaking Yiddish. That's Makrynitsa, accept it's in Greece and instead of Yiddish it's Greek, although for the most part I can't tell the difference because 1) I don't know Yiddish and 2) the locals speak so fast that it all sounds quasi-jibberishy to me.

Seriously though, it's a very spiritual and aesthetically gorgeous town. Being there feels like being transported back in time. I kept looking down at the city off in the distance. It was surreal, like I was actually removed from the world and its twisted, unsatisfying ways. Like Makrynitsa was imbued with a sense of peace, and simply by being there I was given that simple gift for a few hours. I'll never forget it.

Today was pretty nice too. More sightseeing on Mt. Pelion. Mt. Pelion, by the way, is known throughout mythology as the home of the centaurs and the summer home of the Gods. Very cool. And the place has a voice of its own with the gorgeous fog rolling in through the olive trees and apple orchards, the one lane cobblestone roads, the wooden taverns which line the road, and the view of the ocean and Greek islands that goes on forever. It's amazing.

Something that really struck me is the reality of WWII from Europe. Like I said, Greece was struck particularly hard for several reasons. Firstly, Mussolini tried to invade butt the Greeks whipped his butt, so when Hitler finally succeeded he treated them rather spitefully. Then in return, the Greeks formed one of the strongest resistances to the Nazi regime. They're truly a people of indomitable will and strength. But like I said before, they paid dearly. One third of the country died of starvation alone. Thousands upon thousands more were slaughtered outright.

A few things stick out to me about this whole things. What struck me first is the fact that I've talked about this stuff in school for years, but I saw it as a long gone reality and the world as we know it has move past it. Not true. It's still very much a part of life here in Europe. It's memorialized everywhere, it's talked about daily, it is in no way forgotten. The war has become a deep root of their cultural heritage that informs who they are today. That was an intense realization for me. I honestly hurt for them.

The second realization was that this war didn't just effect Jews. What I had learned in school is that Hitler invaded and the Jews were shipped off and killed but everyone else was pretty much fine. Sure, they were living under occupation, but if they kept their noses clean life was good. Again, not true. MOST of the deaths here in Greece were Gentiles. They were people who heroically stood up against an evil man. They put their lives at risk for what they knew was right and payed the ultimate price. What courage! What strength! It's unbelievable!

Again, I'm beginning to see that throughout history this kind of thing has become status quo for the Greek people. They see a need and they meet it. When they're on their own, they're a very relaxed and simple people, but when in the face of struggle they unite under one banner and are impossibly strong. I can't wait to learn all I can from this amazing culture so that I might become a better person through it and take some of that back with me to America. We have a lot to learn, I'm afraid.