Greece and the Rest of the World
I don't think it has fully sank in how lucky I am to have been able to travel to Greece. To see the ruins of ancient history, the unreal magical island of Santorini, and the fairytale land of Meteora and its monasteries. The Greek people are incredibly kind and accommodating. They are full of light and warmth, despite the fact that they are still picking up the pieces since their economic crisis. There are many differences of course, between Greeks and Americans. Greeks and Israelis. Greeks and Me. But I don't want to get into that here. So often we like to fit our countries and its people into boxes. To make sense of each other. They are like this and this, and that place is like this and that. And it's like this here and we are like that...No...We are all the same. Complicated and nuanced no matter what place we are from.
They say that the US is a melting pot. I think every country, every city, every village, every household in this world is a melting pot. Yes, there are similarities and patterns. Yes, there are stereotypes that ring true. But whether you live in the heart of New York City or the small town of Kalabaka...you will find uniqueness and differences that don't fit into any one mold. It's not about where you are or where you came from, it's about who you surround yourself with, and what you do with your life. How you choose to see the world and how you let it see you...So yes, maybe Americans are loud and proud. And maybe Israelis are blunt and intrusive. But there are so many more adjectives I would choose to describe the people I actually know that come from these backgrounds. Kind and warm and caring and hilarious and strong and brave and silly and weird. So I refuse to put them in any single box. Besides, they won't fit. Nothing is exact. No one is seamlessly placed in any one spot on this planet. And that's the beauty of this world. As long as we keep exploring, with open hearts and open minds, only good can come out of it.
