25 March 2015 Celebrations in South Africa
On the 22nd of March 2015 all South African Greeks came together to celebrate Our National Independence day.
It was an overcast and windy day but all communities attended the celebrations at Saheti School in Bedfordview, Johannesburg, to march with pride... holding the Greek flag up High.
Many Greeks in Greece will probably wonder…what does it mean for a South African Greek…. to be a Hellene…
Socrates once said “Anybody can be a Hellene, by his heart, his mind, his spirit.” So it poses the question, what does it mean to be Greek?
I would like to share with all of u what it means for me as a Greek living in SA …what it means to be Greek.
"It dosen't matter if you have the passport... If you speak the language... If you eat the food... if you know the land of Greece... If you have a Greek name... you need the PASSION... you need to be pround to be Greek, you need to give your HEART when you dance and sing...you need to give your SOUL when you pray…you need to give your VOICE and you need to say with passIon :
"eimai ELLINAS/ELLINIDA!"
Here are compilations of a lighter note….On being Greek!
Enjoy!
WHY GREEKS SHOULD BE PROUD FOR BEING GREEK...
Because we buy whole watermelons and not in slices
Because we buy whole lambs and not in pieces
Because when we buy feta we buy at least a kilo and not 150 gr.
Because nights in Greece finish in the morning
Because we take our coffee slowly, while smoking and not in "shots"Because flirting is our national hobby
Because we are world champions in physical love which is our national sport
Because we are not puritansBecause we never visit others empty handed
Because there is no way to explain to foreigners what "kapsoura" is... (burning desire for someone)
Because to Greeks, family is still something valuable
Because we do not share the cost of petrol with those we take in our cars
Because we always make it, albeit in the last moment
Because for the sake of a woman we would wage war for 10 years (Trojan war)
Because we are everywhere on the planet
Because we love and hate with passion
Because the word "filotimo" (a synonym of honour, helping someone because it is a shame not to) doesn't exist in any other language
Because whenever foreigners cannot find a word, they steal one of ours
Because we spend our bad and low times with our friends and family, not with therapists and counselors
Because Socrates, Pluto and Aristotle were Greek and we still quote from them
Because we invented theatre
Because we gave birth to Democracy
Because we discovered logic
Because we jump started science
Because we are proud of our culture, not of our wars
Because when others were discovering meat, we already had cholesterol
Because when we were building the Parthenon, the others were still sleeping under trees
Because when others created wars, we reated games to stop wars
Because we can give anything up just to make love
Because we have a distinction between Eros (falling in love) & Agapi (innocent love), while we feel both passionately
Because Eros was a Greek God
Because "Greeks do not fight as heroes, heroes fight like Greeks" (Winston Churchill, 1941)
Because we don't use ketchup or mayonnaise with our food - it tastes damn good without it
Because we tossed our ancient alphabet to the Romans and our Medieval alphabet to the Slavs
Because we get angry quickly but forget all about it even quicker
Because we are not ashamed to cry
Because we dance when we are sad and party when we are happy
Because we work to live and we do not live to work
Because 97% of the stars' names are Greek
Because although we know danger well, we dare
Because when you shout "brother" in the streets everyone turns around
Because we always talk about getting in a diet after we had our meal
Because a woman with a big behind is just as sexy as the woman with the small one
Because we speak loudly and laugh even louderSomething to learn by heart because it comes from the heart…
XRONIA POLLA
MAY OUR GREEK FLAG ALWAYS FLY HIGH.
BY EFH KANAVOU
E. Kanavou( ΚΑΘΗΓΗΤΡΙΑ ΣΤO JOHANNESBURG
SOUTH AFRICA)
MEΛΟΣ ΤΗΣ ΟΜΑΔΑΣ
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