I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Greek

From the number of churches and holy sites with icons, it would be easy to think that Patmos is the most religious place on earth.  Tiny Hora alone with a giant monastery which houses a large, gorgeous church still has numerous churches throughout and even more "mini-churches" housing only icons. Travel the island and these "mini churches" exist in places you wouldn't expect anyone to go and pray, although they add a lot of charm to the island. If you assumed every Patmos permanent resident prayed three times a day, the number of religious structures still don't seem to even be supportable. Go to Lipsi, the smaller island next door and the number of churches and religious structures in proportion to its 700+ population makes Patmos look almost secular.

However, when you consider Greece's greatest struggles of the past thousand years, the reason for it suddenly becomes clear. The Great Schism of 1054 formally divided the Eastern Orthodox Church from the Catholic Church due to irreconcilable differences over what amounts to a few key words in the liturgy. Like everyone, the Eastern Orthodox Church needed to develop markers that made clear the definitions and boundaries between "us" and "them". So it developed more distinct styles and practices which included icons and a uniquely regional architecture that today – in absence of the Byzantine Empire – we mostly associate with Greece

In 1299, the Seljuk Turks began to create the Ottoman Empire that over the next 150 years took hold of the region, eventually taking over Constantinople (today's Istanbul) the seat of Eastern Orthodoxy and shifting Asia Minor, the Middle East and much of Southeastern Europe to Islam. But not Greece. One has to assume that defending their religion and identity was a challenge and one way to approach this is to make sure that anyone and everyone – on land and sea – knows that any given island is Greek Orthodox. 

At roughly the same time, on the other side of the world, the Hindu Majaphit dynasty, finding itself increasingly isolated by the spread of Islam in the what is now the Indonesian archipelago, took the same tactic in Bali. The king and his court had fled their former capitol in Java which was falling to muslim armies, retreating to tiny Bali which they were able to hold. The Majaphits, known for their arts used what they knew best to create a defense for Bali and built seven wondrous Hindu temples – several of which include Ulu Watu and Tanah Lot are at key points highly visible to passing ships. The message was "This island is Hindu – stay away". 

The Greeks seemed more unified in their small region and were somehow able to withstand 400 years of Ottoman rule, remaining true to their culture and religion. The liberal use of churches and icon houses was element of a defense. It's a notably very different approach than Jews of the Middle East – including in contemporary Israel – where synagogues were and are made practically inconspicuous and are surrounded by much grander places of worship including the Dome of the Rock. The Al Aqsa Mosque, the Church of the Holy Sepulchur, the Bahai Gardens and Temple of Haifa and many more. It's always much easier to spot a mosque than a synagogue.

The Greek resilience required to remain Greek despite in different times and places invasions and takeovers from Venice, The Ottoman Empire, Italy, Germany and Britain is one of the core strengths and distinguishing traits of the Greek people.

As I get to know more people on Patmos – some from Patmos, others Athenian working the summers here – I become aware both of that the struggles Greeks face to find their place in a rapidly changing world driven largely by countries far away challenges them – and requires them to tap into their characteristic resilience.

"You see here," Stefanos said pointing to the houses around the harbor and up the hillsides, "right now it looks like paradise. That's not how it was a few months ago. The sea is hard on everything. The windows get covered in salt every winter when no one is around. Every three years, you have to repaint the houses white again. It's expensive. This winter, the water came up and flooded over here," he said pointing to the port and front of the Skala town square. "The water got inside the buildings. It was a lot of damage. The sea is very rough to everything near it."

Stefanos owns a guesthouse and several rental properties in Skala and nearby Meloi beach. He also rents cars and scooters and is a cousin of our friend Nichola. He does well by Greek standards and even has a condo in Athens he regrets having purchased at the peak off the real estate market.

"It doesn't matter anyway. I bought it for myself and my family, not to rent or sell. So, it's ok. In ten years, I will finish paying the bank and it will be done. You cannot do that anymore, the banks don't give money now. No more loans. People cannot buy property anymore."

This is something we've heard from numerous people. Greece's austerity measures required by the bail-out loans which prevent Greece from being expelled from the Euro Zone mean the banks have cut virtually all mortgage lending while they cope with all the bad debt they saddled themselves with 10 years ago. Restricted access to capital means stifled entrepreneurs and people for whom the "Greek dream" is now out of reach.

Unless you're part of a group, you can never really know what it's like to be them. If you aren't one of the group, you can at least connect better when you speak their language and can begin to immerse yourself in their culture. I don't speak Greek and what's more their generally strong ability to speak English allows us both access to converse and gives them the ability to keep us at a distance. It's like culturally, they step out of their front doors to talk to us, rather than invite us in for a visit. I often wonder if that's to maintain some kind of a facade, especially in a place like Patmos where tourism matters so much. Even more, I wonder what it's like to be Greek. 

We know the tourism is the largest sector of the Greek economy – and that's clearly what has so many Athens residents coming to Patmos for the summer – operating businesses, particularly retail establishments. Irini and Alessandro whose traditional Greek and natural foods shop we pass daily are busy stocking in the mornings. They try to keep the classic retail hours of 9 to 1 and 5 to 11, but in the peak of the tourist season, they're stocking early on the days they get shipments and they need to be present whenever a cruise ship calls on Patmos – which is often in the early to late afternoon. They also stay open until midnight or later if they tourist crowds remain out and present. When we arrived in June, they spent a lot of their time sitting outside, chatting with other business owners and locals. Now they hustle to give people tastes of their best honeys and olive oils, explaining black garlic and recommending the best ouzo for gift giving. Making a living off inessential retail is a hard business. However, they seem good enough at it that they can go back to Athens for six to seven months of the year without working and maintain homes in both locations.

George spends a lot of his day in an office by the beach in front of Skala talking on the phone to people I suspect are largely friends and family. In his forties, he's tall, handsome, speaks impeccable English, is well traveled and from Athens. George had a career in commercial banking and in the aftermath of the economic shifts that contained his industry decided to downshift and instead rent and manage luxury properties on Patmos. He and his partners buy some vacation houses here and manage/rent those of others under their elegant branding. Living in Patmos and dealing with high-end clients seems to suit George, but I suspect from our conversation that this was a good place to parachute to – but not necessarily what he had envisioned for himself. He still feels like an Athens businessman who misses the game.

Michaelis, who I refer to as The God of Laundry, and his family run the only full-service laundry in Skala and right now, you can barely see the back of their shop for all the linens hanging from the ceiling. They can't wash, fluff, fold, iron and dry clean fast enough for the many restaurants, hotels, guest houses, villas and vacationers who rely on them. Michaelis may be one of the happiest and definitely the nicest people in town. His family is looking to sell a house they rent-out near Kampos Beach which he claims is booked from May through October every year in order to get the capital they need to buy another shop in Skala – I believe an additional business. being Patmosian, their property holdings and family business have been good to them and like Stefanos, they are generally surfing on Patmos' good fortune in recent years as it gains more high-end tourists.

Many of the employees we know sing a very different tune. The August busy season has them working hard, long hours – perhaps no one mores so than Valentis, the head delivery-man for Alpha Beta. He's training several new seasonal employees while schlepping groceries around Patmos, particularly up to Hora where cars and motorcycles are forbidden except for deliveries and service vehicles. Given 90% of Hora is occupied by seasonal tourists, there are a lot of people who phone in their orders and have their groceries brought up the steep hills and narrow streets for them. In the hot sun, with growing numbers of orders and a team of novices under him, Valentis has an understandably tough job. However, he seems less bitter about it than many others – such as the staff at the gelateria or some of the waiters at the restaurants – perhaps because he gets tips along the way. Ever since his first delivery to our house, I've made sure to tip generously because it helps to have someone like Valentis want to help us out rather than resent it and from what I've seen Greek employees often resent their work.

When Emily and I first visited Greece, it seemed easy to pin the Greek attitude toward work on what could be perceived as a lack of work ethic. I'm still not sure that they have the classic "Protestant Work Ethic" of the Anglo and Germanic countries. However, I am starting to get from some employees that their social contract has been broken – loyalty for security. The fact that someone might have only seasonal work and then need to find an alternate means of employment during the off-season seems to be offensive to some and greatly disappointing for others. This issue is hardly confined to Greece. Every major world economy has been breaking ties with the traditional job-for-life with a pension paradigm and forcing increasing numbers of people into contract work, self employment and the gig economy. It makes sense that a country in financial straits whose largest industry is seasonal would face a particularly strong shift to seasonal employment and it makes equal sense that angst and insecurity stems from this. Perhaps it's even more at odds in a where people's lives and communities are much more strongly tied to one another than in the Anglo countries. After all, people who hug, kiss and catch up outside their polling place on Election Day might understandably expect more of one another.

The lady at the gelateria works from 4 pm until 2 am seven days a week with no break or days off four at least four months. When the season is over, she may or may not have work depending on what the owner decides about how long he'll keep the shop open. Usually that means finding another job for a portion of the year on an island that doesn't have a lot of work. It's easy to understand why that doesn't feel like a good deal.

The problem is the global economy doesn't give Greece and its entrepreneurs much choice. The country's economy no longer lives in isolation and unlike the average Balinese who work a about 30% of their week, food doesn't fall from the trees year-round and every Greek family doesn't have its own land and family compound. Ironically, the cash-poor Balinese actually have better distributed means and therefore, more luxury with their time and resources. Greece's economy is not well diversified and while its summers are spectacular, its winters are not mild enough to maintain a year-round tourism sector. Nor does it have enough other sectors to make its values and its means align. Like the rest of the developed world, Greece's have's and have-not's seem to be parting company and no one is quite sure what to do about it – especially with limited access to capital.

The other side of the coin seems brighter. 

"Good values. This is a place that still has good values. You can trust each other. People care. Sometimes the people are very simple. But I like simple people here much better than the smart and elegant ones from elsewhere. They are good people and you can trust them. I once went to see a client in Hora who was descended from Pakistani royalty. He had money and a very rich, elegant home. But he was not a good man and you could not trust him. Riding away from his house, on the hillside I noticed a man with a goat farm and a small house. I saw him bringing his donkey inside his house, so I went to see why. The man said the evening would be cold and so he made a bed on the dirt floor of his house and had the donkey sleep there because the donkey worked hard for him and he depended on the donkey. I thought that was a very good man so I offered to make him my client (acupuncture and massage) for free. He is the kind of person I want for a client," Victor told me last week.

Last week, one Greek woman told me that at her favorite taverna, the food is good but the family is the best. It wasn't the yelp review or the whether they made the best eggplant or fish – but the quality of the people that made the difference. 

One of the most annoying things about driving around Patmos is that sometimes, someone's car or truck is stopped in the middle of a narrow road, blocking everyone. Once in awhile, it's a delivery to a restaurant or shop and the problem is unavoidable. More frequently, it happens because one Patmosian slow or stops to yell out to another to say good morning or to chat about this and that before driving off again. They don't care much that it might inconvenience some visitor to the island. This is their community and their way of life involves being a daily part of one another's. It would be offensive and wrong not to say hello.

Of course just because they care and are bonded, doesn't mean that everyone necessarily likes each other. Nine years ago when Nichola used to drive by Emily and I walking to or from the center of town, he would pull up and offer us rides. Inevitably, he cruised the main road around the marina, window rolled down, slowing or stopping to hell "Hellas!" to this person, "Kalimera!" to another and to have a quick chat with yet a third – making a two minute drive a ten minute one. One conversation seemed particularly warm and convivial. As Nichola drove away, he rolled up the window and said to Emily and me,

"He's an idiot. I don't like talking to him. He doesn't know what he's doing," and gave a dismissive hand gesture.

"But it seemed so friendly when you were talking to him," Emily said.

"He's my wife's cousin. I have to."

This of course drew a muffled laugh from us, but I have thought of it often because it is the essence of social cohesion and in a sense, civilization itself. American society in the 1990's seemed to take a shift that gave us permission to end relationships, cut ties, label people toxic and focus on our nuclear families, friends and "families of choice" – which can all be beautiful. But in claiming the right to associate with those we choose, we sever what in Greece and many other countries are considered the ties that bind. Being friendly to the idiot cousin is a burden, but also an act of compassion and part of what keeps the community healthy and happy. Maybe it even pulls the idiot cousin along for the ride, keeping him from being as problematic or idiotic as he might otherwise be. Perhaps what is an act of obligation for one person is an act of compassion to another? It's impossible for anyone to know – but perhaps knowing isn't the point.