Greece Day Three

We woke up at eleven and ate breakfast in the communal hostel kitchen. The staff at the hostel were eating too and we found out they are only fifteen and seventeen years old! They’re siblings from Canada and their parents let them come to Greece for a couple months to work at the hostel. What an awesome job it would be to work at a hostel at this age- they get to meet people from all over the world and live by themselves in an awesome city. After finishing breakfast, we went to go find the Athens marketplace and on the way, we walked through a farmers market and ended up buying bananas (the biggest bananas I’ve ever seen), sweet strawberries, olives, and huge jugs of local, homemade wine for only two euros each. I love the vibrancy and energetic atmosphere that marketplaces hold, people are more friendly and talkative here than they’d normally be in a regular grocery store. Then, we caught a bus to the Athens marketplace which was super crowded, expensive and touristy.   

Ben and I

After, we went to a travel agency to book a ferry for Crete Island and then had to rush back to our hostel to change for Shabbat. On the way back, we saw a protest for workers rights and learned that the government had just cut workers’ pay by ten to twenty percent. We caught a taxi from our hostel to the only synagogue in Athens and although Casey really didn’t want to go, I pulled her along and told her it was really important for me to go. The synagogue was a big, square white building and as a woman, I had to walk upstairs to the ladies section. Casey was a bit offended by this but I understand and completely respect the men/women segregation in synagogues. To put it simply, men and women have different roles in life and should also have different responsibilities in the synagogue and in Judaism. The windows were colorful, stained glass prints and the chairs were old and wooden. It was a beautiful, antique building but only five women were there and about ten men because there’s only two to three thousand Jews in Athens. It’s a bit sad to see an empty congregation like that especially after going to Poland where I saw dozens of empty synagogues that used to be lively and swarming with Jews. After services, we followed the whole congregation back to the Rabbi’s house for dinner. We walked up pitch black stairs(because on Shabbat, one cannot use electricity) and sat down at one of the five tables. Around forty people came- some from Australia, Brazil, France, Mexico, and the States. The Rabbi grew up in Israel and moved to Athens for one reason only: to strengthen the Jewish community there and serve as a Chabad house for travelers. He believes that as a Jew, he must care and look out for Jews all over the world. The biggest tragedy to him, he explained to me, is to lose a Jewish community, especially after the Shoa where we lost tons of them so he came to Athens to lead services, have everyone over for Shabbat every week, and try to inspire the Jews to move to Israel. His goal is to move back to Israel but he won’t leave until every Jew in Athens does, also. We ate a wonderful meal and I felt so proud as different people from all over the world sang Shalom Alechem together, all people who share the same history and traditions. 

After dinner, we left and walked towards the center of town we were drawn into an underground bar with Greek folk music. A banjo player and two guitarists played music for us as we sat and sipped disgusting Greek liquor called Raqui. Raqui is cheaper than water is Greece so wherever you go, whether it be a restaurant or a bar, the waiter will instantly give you free shots of the repulsive drink. 

We left and then walked to the city square where there was a huge congregation of hippies pounding on drums. There was also a large Arab population hanging out there and after talking to an Arab man who moved to Greece as a refugee from Turkey, we found out that we were at a fundraiser/demonstration for the Turkish refugees. They moved to Greece looking for a better life in a democratic state.  We hung out for a while, talking to lots of different people when all of a sudden, I heard two gunshots and everyone instantly dispersed and ran in all different directions. I felt the energy of the street turn from chill to instant chaos and anxiety. I grabbed Casey’s hand and we dashed away with the crowd until I saw an open restaurant that we quickly stepped into. My throat and nose started burning and my eyes started watering like crazy. I had no idea why until I realized everyone else that had just run in the room had the same problem. We had been tear gassed!  The waitress ran around, passing out free water and warm milk to sooth our throats. Some people ran to the bathroom with bloody noses. When we finally thought it was safe to leave, we caught a taxi back to our hostel and I drifted off to sleep thinking about my ridiculously crazy day.