Life in Greece has been pretty standard for the past few weeks. Besides for going away on a few weekends, its daily life as usual in Thessaloniki, but I’ll tell you about 2 events that shook things up a little bit.

1.The US Election – Throughout my time in Greece, whenever anyone heard us speaking English or heard that we are from America, they would – in the middle of conversation – shout “OBAMA!” Throughout my travels in Europe as well, people were overwhelmingly in love with the man. No one ever really said anything about Bush even; all political talk was centered on Obama. So when election day came around in Greece we were all excited and anxious about the outcome. If McCain had won, we would have been in trouble in the states, but maybe even more so in Europe. A McCain victory would probably have increased anti-Americanism ten-fold, something I would not want to have to experience for the last 2 months of my journey. Because of the time change, we were all well-aware that it would be at least 6 am before we heard anything, but more likely much later than that. Kathryn and I however, kept a live stream of the results on her computer all night long and we listened as we drifted in and out of sleep. At 6 am, right as the polls on the west coast closed, we heard that Obama had won. It was definitely an exciting moment, but I went back to sleep and asked Kathryn to wake me up to hear the speeches. McCain’s speech really impressed me, and if he’d ran his campaign to the tune of that speech, the outcome may have been different. Obama’s speech was fantastic, as we’ve come to expect from him, and even made me tear up a little. What a historical moment for our country and the world. I never thought that there would be a black president in my lifetime, but his victory proves that race lines are diminishing. One part of his speech really struck a chord for me. He said something like, “And for all the people in the far off corners around the world huddled around their radio…” That was us! While we did have video, we were huddled around a computer to watch this historic event. The following day walking around Thessaloniki, I’d hear “Obama” in the middle of several conversations, mainly because it’s a word that clearly stands out in a jumble of Greek language. Besides from that though there wasn’t much more mention of it than that. One of the things I’ve noticed though is that people respond much more favorably when I tell them that I am from the states – which leads into my next event.

2.Polytechnic Day – November 17th marked the 35th anniversary of the Polytechnic riots in Athens against the military junta and the influence on it that America had. In the years following the riots, polytechnic day was a celebratory event with parades and pride that people stood up against the government. However, in more recent years, polytechnic day has become increasingly violent in both Athens and Thessaloniki. I don’t know why violence has erupted, but I think it has to do with tradition and wanting to relive the events of the day. The US Consulate sent a Warden’s message warning about the riots, which have in recent years included Molotov cocktails and firebombing cars and banks and the few American establishments left in the city like Starbucks and McDonalds. We were all a little on edge about the whole thing because while we live in a very safe neighborhood, the university campus is just down the street. The road that the university is on was blocked off all day and there was a huge increase in police presence and command posts popped up all over the city where riots usually occur. A few of my friends wanted to see what the riots would be like, so later that evening they walked down by the campus and what did they find? A concert on the quad. Because Greek people like Obama, and now America, polytechnic day was peaceful for the first time in years. I don’t know if it was the same in Athens, but Thessaloniki experienced a peaceful day.

Next up – Istanbul!