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Greece Is the Word

The Day’s Most Fascinating News Stories from Throughout the Greek Diaspora

Vol 1, 12 Aug 2020

1. 

Σπίτι μου σπιτάκι μου και σπιτοκαλυβάκι μου. (“Which is mean, ‘Home, sweet home’”) 

Have you ever wanted to go back home? I don’t mean back to Ohio or Jersey or Illinois or wherever your folks settled when they made it to the U.S. I mean back home home. To Greece. Like this guy did. Or like this college kid did. He was homesick so he decided to ride his bike back to Greece from… Scotland. In sort of the reverse, this U.K. couple got stranded in Greece during the lockdown and couldn’t leave. 

By the way, some Americans are moving to Greece and living well for less than $1,000 per month. Home sweet home indeed!  

2. 

THE CRETAN MIC DROP 

America is the land of apple pie... and plenty of good, old-fashioned racists. Let's keep it real, though: We all know a few David Dukeopouloses in our respective communities. And that’s why Maria Nicolacakis from the City of Angels had to bring the Cretan machete out. Alexandra Taketzis had a different approach to dealing with racism. Hers involved preheating the oven. 

Speaking of Crete, check out this Nat Geo We Are What We Eat video in Crete. Makes me proud to be Greek. Makes me proud to have a Cretan Godbrother. Makes me proud to eat veggies, drink wine, and talk loudly. 

3. 

DOIN' DONUTS   

All of my friends keep asking me for my "Greek donuts" recipe, but I can't give out the secret that's been in our family since my yiayia's yiayia's yiayia's yiayia was selling loukoumades at the Olympic Games in 776 B.C. I can give you this tasty loukoumades recipe to impress your friends with or start a Greek donut side hustle, though. And if you need some summer coffees to go with those donuts, try any of these. 

Speaking of food, Ja Rule’s commercial for Papa Cristo’s Greek Grill is id-i-o-tic (and also hil-ar-i-ous).

Oh, and check out Snoop Dogg holding a bouzouki at about 29 seconds in this ridiculous ad for Just Eat.  

4. 

WHAT’S LOVE GOT  TO DO WITH IT 

Way before Gary Chapman published his book The Five Love Languages, and people everywhere started referencing that book in couples’ counseling, the ancient Greeks had already come up with eight types of love. 

Speaking of love, Greek singer Glykeria used her love for Ellada and her music to help fund Greek island hospitals in a really cool way.

5. 

THIS DOCTOR HAS HEART 

This story kind of reminds me of that movie Doc Hollywood. Michael J. Fox is off on a road trip to California to pursue a high-paying career as a plastic surgeon, but he crashes his car on a small-town judge's property in South Carolina and has to serve his community service at the local hospital assisting the aged town doctor. This story is similar to that except for pretty much all the details.

Speaking of medicine, let’s hope that this Greek is an oracle.

6.

GIMME THE LOOT, GIMME THE LOOT...

Christos should be a goalie. Nothing gets by him. "Over the last fifteen years, Tsirogiannis has identified approximately 1,100 looted artifacts within auction houses, commercial galleries, private collections, and museums worldwide. In alerting Interpol and other police authorities, he has played a significant role in securing the repatriation of many antiquities." Even though in many instances the major auction houses -- seemingly deliberately -- don't do their due diligence, Tsirogiannis has made quite an impact. The Bravo Sou Award this week goes to Professor Christos Tsirogiannis! 

Oh, and speaking of loot, it’s no myth: Myths make money. Greek myths, especially. In its launch month alone back in 2018 the uber successful video game, God of War, based on Greek mythology, made $131M. Not a bad month.  

7. 

GOOD LORD

If this is what a vow of poverty looks like, I'll take it. 

Maybe the way to resolve this debate is to have the whole congregation play spoons? Once a parishioner gets four of a kind then everybody in church scrambles for the remaining spoons to take communion? Whoever is slowest has to use his hands? “Cup your hands, Ioanni!”  

If you think you can pick out the person at the airport trying to bring a gun on the plane think again.  

Finally, if you want some good news, “gospel”… it comes from….  

8. 

RYAN LOVE’S GREECE

His name is Ryan Love. And he loves Greece. He’s on the Greece Is the Word squad and this is the first in his three parter about an island that we at GITW love on a spiritual level: Ikaria. Enjoy!

9.  

THIS WEEK'S TIPS AND TRIVIA 

What famous Greek American was born in Washington D.C. on August 12th, 1971 and seemed to be allergic to clay? 

Looking to teach your kids (or yourself) Greek during the lockdown? Here you go. You’re welcome. 

Thirsting for some good Greek wine? Check out these Wine Enthusiast recommendations.

10. 

GREEKS INVENTED RUNNING 

Okay, that might be a stretch, but we get some credit for being early to organized sports. Ancient Greeks valued athletics as much as their modern counterparts love gambling. And Greece Is the Word is wearing her lucky Big Lebowski bowling shirt today because we’ve got our very own Stonie giving us the exclusive rundown on all things sports. The dice are out folks… and no, despite what Sophocles reported, Greeks didn’t invent dice.  

Oh, wait, one last, quick sports-related story before we sign off. The Greek Freak and Disney doing a thing? Yes, please.

If you enjoyed this newsletter, please share it with your community (click here to share it on Facebook) and/or support us on Patreon. And let us know what you think - we welcome any and all feedback! Word up. 

Also, the Greece Is the Word podcast is going to drop soon. We'll be interviewing some amazing people in our community, so look out for that. 

Opa!

Peter and the Greece Is the Word Crew

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