A pair of Greek born sisters opened up their doors to a flood of presidential candidates a few days ago in the run up to the New Hampshire primaries. Connie Farr and Maria Saitas have owned the Merrimack restaurant for 27 years and have been entertaining would be presidents and the hordes of media that follow them. Bill Richardson is in first, and then comes Hillary Clinton. Fox News sets up in the back, Charlie Gibson is in the front, "I just tell everyone to come whenever" Connie remarks at the pandemonium taking place.
Bill Clinton loves the place and the sisters report that he too over the years has been their favorite leader of the free world.
Two months ago, they report that they opened the restaurant for him on their day off, and that he spent three hours chatting them up.
"He came in and took off his coat and said, 'well I'm on a diet,' " reports Maria. "Then he ordered the chicken fingers and onion rings."
washington post
posted on Thursday, January 10
The General Secretariat of Greeks Abroad is again organizing a great program in which 130 children of the diaspora ( 18 - 25 ) will have the chance to travel to Greece and partake in the "Program of Greek Language and Culture", that lasts from January 6 to January 28th, and is completely paid for by the government. (One would only have to pay for airfare to Greece, all other accommodations are taken care of.)
The program aims to improve knowledge and use of the Greek language and reinforce Greek cultural identity for youth of Greek descent. Moreover, the program is meant to develop ties of friendship among youths of Greek descent and youths living in Greece.
Activities include courses in the Greek language and literature in collaboration with the University of Athens; lectures by experts on several matters; workshops for traditional dances, theatre and music; excursions to Nafplio, Mycenae, Delphi, Galaxidi, Meteora, Dion and Thessaloniki; and visits to many museums and cultural sites.
Eligibility for participation:
- At least one of the parents should be of Greek descent
- The age of the young people should be between 18 and 25 (they must have turned 18 before the start of the program)
- Participants should be permanent overseas residents
- Participants should not have been in any such program in the past.
DF: We have heard GREAT feedback from this program. Again this is only for readers from South America, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. (North America and Europe we are sorry!) To get the application, please get in contact with your local embassies. List provided below.
List of Greek Missions
posted on Monday, November 12
Students studying in the Greek program at CIS (Coeus International School) will benefit even more from the schools extensive program after AHEPA and CIS announced the beginning of the Koios Fund.
The Koios Fund will support Hellenic language and cultural education at Coeus International School (CIS) and will provide scholarships for students to enroll in the school's Greek-English dual-language system. ( An International Baccalaureate-based program that runs from kindergarten through twelfth grade.
The Fund will also provide support for the acquisition of curriculum materials and related resources for the preservation and study of Hellenic culture, language and history; as well as set up trips to Greece and provide scholarships for those studying Greek.
DF: Coeus International School, located in Washington DC, not only offers dual-language program in Greek but also in Arabic, French, Mandarin or Spanish.
Coeus International
posted on Monday, November 12
The 'marble people' came out again in force this year. The group from Marbles with An Attitude, with ring leader Lazaros Filipidis, handed out over 1,200 leaflets to British Museum in London visitors in an effort to influence the answer to the ever growing question of whether the Marbles will make their final home in Athens.
DF: Great job again everyone.
posted on Thursday, October 25
Last week, events were held in two separate countries (UK and Ireland) to raise funds for Greece's fire victims. An effort that communities all over the world are partaking in.
Our first images comes to us from London, where an event at Cavadish No 5 drew around 150 people and helped raised £1550. The group will continue to collect funds until Thursday, before they donate the money to the National Bank of Greece. Thank you to Irene for sending us the info and pictures. (Pictures below are from that evening.)
On a special note, DF received am email from the President of the Hellenic Community of Ireland. (Yes there is a small yet 'very proud' community there as well.)
'Here in Ireland we are a small Greek community, but as you very well know "ούκ εν τω πολλώ το εύ" or "the quality is not in the quantity". So like all the Greeks around the globe we saw the disaster and felt for our compatriots in Greece. We teamed up with Irish friends, specifically with three great Irish philhellines Ms Gemma Deery, Ms Dimphne Ni Bhraonain and Mr Paddy Sammon, and we held a fund raising music night on the 4th of October in Dublin. The event aimed to raise awareness of the issue but also to inform the Irish public that there is an active Greek community in their country and to get the two peoples to know each other. The gig featured traditional folk music from Greece and Ireland and we were honored by the presence of the Ambassador of Greece to Ireland George Alexander Vallindas. We are proud to say that we have gathered the amount of approximately €3.5 K."
Dancers from a Greek dance troupe hailing from Northern Ireland.
DF: We are truly under every rock are we not?
posted on Tuesday, October 16
A Greek blog site is claiming that a village has been discovered in eastern Iran that to this day speaks a Greek dialect, and whose villagers claim to be descendent's of the soldiers of Alexander the Great. The village, whose name is Saron, is located near the site of Persepolis.
DF: Interesting to note, and not a first. This story is similar to the Kalas Tribe in Pakistan; to who this day wear traditional Macedonian costumes and speak an ancient dialect of Greek up in the Himalayan mountains. They also claim to be descended from the Greek soldiers who had settled in the area after Alexander the Great invaded the region.
noctoc (greek only)
posted on Monday, October 15
The Evening Standard recently published the 1000 ‘Most Influential people 2007’ for London, and amongst the ranks were 2 Greeks listed. Sophia Neophitou Apostolou Edior in Chief of 10 Magazine and 10 Men, and Prince Pavlos of Greece were the ones that made the cut. The top 5 influential people are Nikesh Arora UK VP of Google, Charles Dunstone of Carphone Warehouse, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, Lord Rothermere Chairman of the Daily Mail and James Murdoch CEO of BskyB.
DF: A bit of a surprise that not more Greeks appeared on the list considering all the traders, real estate moguls and general business types that are based out of London.
thisislondon
posted on Wednesday, October 10
Newly promoted Asteras Tripolis, a rapid climber up the country’s soccer divisions in recent seasons, stunned visiting Panathinaikos 1-0 yesterday for the club’s first-ever win in the country’s top-tier league. (Asteras has just entered Greece's top soccer division.)
Panathinaikos desperately looked for an equaliser and were perhaps unlucky not to be awarded a penalty themselves when Dimitris Salpigidis was tripped in the area in injury time but Asteras held on for a shocker win.
DF: Tripolitsiotes around the world, we know you're proud.
Chat about the latest soccer news at Greek Soccer.com
posted on Tuesday, October 9
Brussels, Belgium
“Teaching the Greek language is Western European countries” was the title of the 1st international congress organized by the Benelux Education Coordinator’s office, in cooperation with the Brussels Free University’s Modern Greek Studies Department.
Melbourne, Australia
A report published in The Sunday Herald Sun indicates that Chinese businesses are gradually encroaching on what has traditionally been a Greek area in busy Lonsdale Street in Melbourne. In fact, one of the Chinese owners of property in the area has been accused of renting premises only to Chinese tenants and that posters advertising leases are only in Chinese.
Can anybody confirm?
Budapest, Hungary
After 56 years, the Hungarian state approved the reestablishment of the historic Greek-Orthodox Community of Budapest which had been violently shut down by the regime in the past. According to the local Greek community the reopening paves the way for the restoration of the Church of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary in Budapest.
posted on Friday, October 5
Police on Sunday issued arrest warrants for four young Germans accused of beating up three Greeks in a racially motivated attack in Berlin.
A police spokesman said the four individuals, aged 17 to 20, were released on bail until until the case comes to court. The Greeks were set upon by a gang of 13 youths when they stopped to fill their car at a petrol station in the east Berlin suburb of Pankow.
The men received hospital treatment for facial injuries. Witnesses said the group also hurled racial abuse at the Greeks.
DF: There has been a marked increase of racist incidents in Germany the past few months.
posted on Monday, October 1
