Punk Patriot

allieinathens:

For starters, I’m safe. Yes, the Parliament Building (where all the chaos is happening), is very close to my apartment. So close that it only takes about seven minutes to walk there. In fact, I went  to the protests this morning with one of my classes. Mind you, the march in the morning was a very different scene than what’s occurring now. There were no Molotov cocktails being thrown, no tear gas, no violence. What I saw was a unified group of people peacefully expressing their concern for the dire economic situation they’re currently faced with.

It seems as though the news often depicts Greeks as some sort of lazy group of angry people who are tearing apart the entire city of Athens. But with a reduction of 150,000 service sector jobs, a 22% reduction in the minimum wage, and a 20% (and rising) unemployment rate, the generation currently attempting to enter the workforce will be the first that is unable to make more than their parents. It’s no wonder they’re upset and acting out of frustration. I’d be pretty angry too. I’m not condoning the destructive behavior that often escalates out of these situations, but I’ve definitely gained a different perspective on what’s going on here.

Whenever I watched the protests on TV from the comfort of my living room in the States, I envisioned the entire city of Athens in flames as a result of frustrated people unwilling to find jobs. But this is so, so far from the truth. The protests are contained to one part of the city, in front of the Town Hall in Omonia, and in front of the Parliament building in Syntagma. Even though I’m literally a seven minute walk from the riots and I can even hear chanting on my way home from school, I would have no idea that protests were happening without auditory signals. It’s not as if people are running around the streets lighting things on fire. Well, they might be lighting government property on fire.. :P but they’re not out to hurt people..except maybe the police. Joking aside though, I genuinely feel badly for the people here. I can see the effects from the economic crisis in my immediate surroundings. Small business closing. Empty store fronts. Homeless people begging on the streets in a country where homelessness has NEVER been a problem before.

I didn’t mean for this to be a depressing and politicized post, but it’s hard not to become involved in what’s going on around here when I’m literally surrounded by it.

On a positive note though, my education here has clearly not been limited to the classroom. I’m learning so much and experiencing history in the making. Kinda cool.