📸 by Alethia Torres
To say that Alethia and I were not motivated to leave the US for political reasons would be a lie. As a trans Latino, I wanted to get to safety, but I also felt a responsibility to help create positive change in the US. So we told ourselves that we would continue to use whatever power we had, to make contributions of our talents, for our friends and families back in the States, while focusing on bigger, better reasons for coming to Athens, Greece.
Alethia is of Greek descent, which means she has the right to citizenship with proof of her grandparents' Greek nationality. I remember when she told me that when her grandparents settled in the States, they changed their family name from Adamopoulos to Adams, to avoid ethnic discrimination. I was surprised to learn that European immigrants were pressured to abandon parts of their heritage in favor of American whiteness.
So, I encouraged my wife to reclaim her heritage and reconnect to her motherland, to the great mythos of the old religion. I find that the best way to dismantle corrupt power structures is by replacing them with healthy traditions. I'm just along for the ride, someone who happens to have dreamed of visiting Athens all their life. Maybe I was being selfish, but I also wanted to witness Alethia thrive when rooted in the strength and wisdom of her most powerful ancestors.
All that to say, we are not tourists.
I have a lot to say about modern tourism and the ways that the industry, as it is today, is harmful both to the environment and to the native population of any given locale. At this point in time, money does not adequately compensate for such damages. I also have ideas for solutions. I'm a Sun Sagittarius after all. Alethia is a Sadge rising according to the sidereal system. But we'll get to the big visions in another blog.
Customs
In the months prior, we watched tons of videos and read travel blogs to help us prepare for our arrival. We were warned that while standing in lines, Greeks aren't accustomed to the concept of personal space. This is the first lesson we learned while standing in line at customs. As the minutes crawled by, the people behind us crowded in.
Imagine taking a photo with friends, and the photographer asks you to push in together, bodies touching, and say cheese. That's what it was like, except these were total strangers creeping into my personal space, and for no apparent reason. It's a good thing we were warned about this. All I could do was tell myself that this was normal.
We were also warned that staring is a friendly way to invite a stranger to make eye-contact. As the group crowded in, I felt an arm here, a knee there, breath down my neck, I also felt eyes on the side of my face. I told myself, This is okay, that person probably wants to say hello. I was able to avoid taking offense, but I couldn't bring myself to make eye-contact, let alone make friends.
The customs process was easy. You stand in line. Go to the window they tell you to. The person at the window takes your passport, stamps it, and tells you to scram. If you have a US passport, you can stay for three months without a visa, no questions asked.
The customs workers were great at identifying one's nationality just by looking at them, a form of racial profiling, sure, and of course, we were pegged as Americans and spoken to in English.
Learning Greek
I was told that Greeks learn English in elementary school, so most Greeks can speak English. Although some have lost it, others never used it, while some have no interest in speaking English at all. I could be wrong, but I think Greeks with college degrees have built upon their elementary foundations, as it seems that professionals are the most fluent.
Still, Alethia and I have been taking Greek language lessons. First we used GreekPod 101, and then moved onto the Pimsleur method, which is one of the more expensive apps, but it's also the most effective and practical language-learning tool I've encountered thus far. It's an investment.
Duolingo will have you reading, writing, and saying stuff like, "The black owl knocks on the bathroom door," lol. While the Pimsleur method focuses on listening, recalling, and speaking. Pimsleur only teaches practical phrases that you'll actually use while traveling.
The first time I walked in to a mini-mart in Athens, I was greeted with "yassas," which surprised me as I was expecting to hear "heretei," so I panicked and responded with "hello." I swear the guy winced at my response. I got the feeling he was done talking to me.
It's kind of arrogant to go to someone else's country and demand that they speak to you in your language. I get that. So from then on, I made it a point to use as many Greek words as I could, as often as I could.
By the way, anyone applying for a residence permit will likely have to pass a Greek proficiency test. Learning Greek in your 40s is no easy task. It's all Greek to me!
One day we got into a taxi. By the way, they do not have Uber here, but you can use your Uber app to call a taxi, and you should, because the Uber app shows you the route in advance, and how much it costs, making it less likely for a driver to rip you off. But anyhow. I digress.
We got into a taxi to the Agora, which is a huge swap meet in Monastiraki Square that runs alongside the ruins of the Ancient Agora.
The driver greeted us with "Yassas."
Of course we replied, "yassas." As the cab drove off, I went on to ask, "How are you doing?" But he didn't reply, so I said, "Ti kanete?"
He promptly said, "Kala, kai esy?"
I thought for a moment and said, "Poly kala, efcharisto."
He glanced at me through the rearview mirror and said, "Bravo.... Americanos?"
"Uh... Emai Americanos,"
"California?" He asked.
"I am from Hawai'i, and my wife is from Florida, but her grandparents are from Kalamata."
"Ah..." the driver said. "Kalamata inai poly kala."
Satisfied with the conversation thus far, I decided not to push my luck. That was about all the Greek I knew, lol. So, I sat back and watched the scenery. Upon leaving we said, "Efcharisto!"
Knowing the basics of the native language really enhances one's experience. It turns out that Americans have a pretty horrible reputation in Europe. We are seen as spoiled, obnoxious, and ignorant. I'm both proud and ashamed to be American. I hope to break the stereotype by approaching the Greek people with humility, respect, and a good effort to learn their language, history, and culture. This is the attitude I intend to take with me all over the world.
Jet Lag
As soon as we landed in Athens we were hit with a full week of jet-lag. Some say it's better to deal with jet-lag on the islands where you can bake in the sun all day, but it was the off-season so we just stayed in our apartment. They say you need a day of recovery for every time-zone you travel through. For a flight from NYC, that put us at eight days.
Also, Alethia caught covid on the plane. During our flight, we were so concerned with our dog who was drugged up under the seat in front of us, that we forgot to put on our masks. On top of that, the Athens city center is far more urban than we are used to. There's lots of pollution and not enough green spaces. We bought a house plant for Alethia's night stand to help her lungs heal while sleeping.
In the meantime, I walked the dog three times a day, went to the minimart to buy our groceries, and while I was out, I realized that I hadn't seen any unhoused people. No camps, no tents, no one begging for food or money. So I did a little research.
Social Services
Athens is similar to Los Angeles in population size, geographical characteristics, and climate. In 2023, LA had 3.8 million residents while Athens had 3.1. While LA statistics show that they had about 46,000 unhoused inhabitants in 2023, Athens only had 342, and half of them were in shelters. I've been in Athens for a month now, in the city center, and I've counted a total of three unhoused individuals. Three!
Greek citizens also have free public healthcare, but isn't actually free. It's paid for by taxes, but private doctors are available to those who have higher incomes, or legal residents and visitors. When I went to the pharmacy to get medicine for Alethia, the pharmacist wanted to know her age, height, body weight, a description of her symptoms, and for how long she had them. She then recommended products and wrote down a regimen for the meds. She gave a genuine smile and said, "Come back and tell how she is doing, yes? Come back and tell."
I was like daaaaang. What service! It turns out that when everyone is invested in the healthcare system, no one actually wants you to be sick.
If you, as a visitor, need to see a doctor, I recommend MobiDoctor. You can make an appointment on your phone to see an English-speaking doctor virtually, who can write a prescription immediately. Alethia used it while recovering from covid, and we didn't have a problem getting the prescription filled.
I learned that Greek citizens are also entitled to tuition-free college. Any Greek kid with the aptitude for study, can do just that. College kids can actually focus on learning, instead of juggling two jobs or living in their car. Can you imagine?
In addition, the government provides free child-care and pre-school programs.
When I reported all this to a friend, he said, "It's incredible to think that after the Greek recession in 2009, and again in 2017, they still found a way to take care of their people."
Americans, take notes.
Greece is renowned as the founder of western democracy, not some developing nation experimenting with socialism. They've been at this western civilization thing for millennia, while the US is only a few centuries old. When it comes to western society, the Greeks are our wise elders.
Yet Greece is not a utopia and the Greek people have plenty of struggles, but that's not for me to speak on.
Also, these entitlements are for Greek citizens, not foreign residents.
Food
I'm addicted to Greek salad. My mom may have made it once or twice when I was young, but it wasn't authentic and I was too young to appreciate the subtle flavors of veggies. It wasn't until I spent Thanksgiving with my Greek-Am father-in-law, and together we prepared a full authentic spread, that I fell in love with the dish.
Lamb gyros with tzatziki, moussaka, herb-crusted salmon with kalamata olives and feta, fasolakia lathera, fresh baklava for days, oh the anise-flavored ouzo, and of course, the salad.
As my father-in-law stood in the kitchen, directing Alethia and I as we prepared the meal, I'll never forget him yelling as I poured the olive oil, "More than that! Keep going! Don't be shy with the olive oil!"
Did you know that Greeks "taste" olive oil like one might taste wine? Here's an interesting article in which native Greeks share their love and wisdom of olive oil, and not only in the kitchen.
Greeks are known for their long life expectancy. Could it be in part because the Mediterranean diet is inherently healthy? My father-in-law is 92 and still going strong.
So, get out there, try everything, eat your heart out, but be careful with the ouzo. While there are higher-proof spirits out there, they say ouzo has a tendency to creep up on you.
I also noticed that the foods at the market have less added sugar. Jellies and jams, cookies and fruit juice are significantly less sweet than their American counterparts, and I love it. I can eat three cookies without getting a sugar high. Although we can't read the ingredient labels, I know that Europe has banned a lot of toxic stuff that's allowed in the US.
Well, that tends to happen when CEOs are allowed to profit off cancer and diabetes.
Last week, Alethia saw an obese person on the street and turned to me in shock. "Obesity is less common here. I didn't realize it until..."
I thought for a moment. "Oh my god. You're right."
According to the World Health Organization, Greece ranks as the 43rd most obese country in the world, while the US ranks at 10th.
Customer Service
Here in Greece, it's laid back. People spend hours at the table in restaurants, eating, drinking, and socializing with no pressure to leave. Holidays often include a post-holiday holiday so everyone can nurse their hangovers, and no one needs to call in. Most stores are closed on Sundays, and no one is expected to rush to get things done.
The downside to American capitalism is obvious to us. Burned-out employees are expected to sacrifice their social lives, their family lives, their physical and mental health for fast productivity and efficient customer service, and that is what we get. When Europeans call us spoiled, they're not wrong.
Last week, the lady who owns a boutique below our apartment knocked on our door, letting us know that her office was flooded and we needed to do something about it. Of course we dropped everything, apologized, and went to assess the damage. Turns out there's a busted kitchen drain pipe that's spilling, not only from our apartment, but also the two apartments on top of us. We called our landlord, who sent an emergency plumber.
The plumber came a few hours later, took one look at the job and left. He didn't say anything to us, just left. I emailed the landlord asking what was going on, asking if we were free to wash our dishes. We didn't get a response until the next day. The landlord said that the problem was out of their hands, that the manager of the apartment needed to handle it. They also said it was wise to "minimize" our water usage. So I started washing dishes in a big pot and emptying the dish water into the bathroom sink.
If we were in the States, a second emergency plumber would have come by the end of the day, and the pipe would have been fixed by the next morning. If not, the building manager would be liable for negligence, right? This is a health-code violation, right? A lawsuit waiting to happen. As a homeowner, I know that a professional plumber can fix this in one hour. Well, the emergency order was put in seven days ago, and I'm still washing dishes in a pot, and this poor woman's office is still being flooded with kitchen grey water.
We have experienced other such lapses in customer service.
We know that behaving like a karen does not speed things along. It's like riding someone's tail on the highway. The slow driver is more likely to slow down than speed up.
While I agree that hustle culture is toxic and I love the laid-back European vibes, we need to understand that hustle culture is tied to the high quality customer service we're accustomed to. As we unravel hustle culture, we need to come up with creative solutions to maintaining high quality customer service, while relieving workers of toxic demands.
I am learning to do without, but it's not so easy.
Local Vibes
Graffiti is everywhere in the city. In the US, graffiti often signals low income, "ghetto" attitudes. Our middle-class neighborhoods try to paint over graffiti. But here, no one bothers. It seems to me that graffiti is a form of free speech. And I don't mean just the beautiful murals. Random spray-paint scribblings are seen as valid forms of political expression. I think it's dope.
I noticed that when I'm not with my wife, I sometimes get funny looks. Like, Great, another American tourist. I usually meet these stares with a respectful nod. Being from Hawai'i, I understand the struggle of having vital resources allotted to tourists at the expense of the locals. They don't know I'm not a tourist. They don't know my wife is Greek. So I try not to take offense to these attitudes. But I also notice how, when my wife is with me, the locals really roll out the red carpet.
Judging by their energy, I imagine the women saying stuff like, "Wow, you are beautiful, Greek daughter. Welcome home, my love. Come, sit, and tell me everything. Where is your family from?"
Sometimes I imagine the men saying things like, "Beautiful Greek goddess, why this, your husband? You deserve a handsome Greek man, like my son, Christos Herakles Ptolemy XVII. A Greek man with real balls! Come, let us send this Americanos back to States."
Needless to say, I'm learning to stand behind my wife and let her get the attention she deserves. After all, this dynamic was reversed when we were in Hawai'i.
So finally, one day about three weeks into our stay, Alethia got out of bed and said, "Okay, I think I feel well enough to go to the Acropolis today."
Me, a Sadge Sun, Aries rising: "Say less, my love! Let's go!"
By the way, when we were in Portland, around 2018, the last thing we would say to each other before we went to sleep was, "Sweet dreams, my love. Meet me on a rooftop in Greece." It only took seven years to materialize! Well, we made it to the balcony, not yet the roof.
I quote Pitbull, "Paso corto, vista larga," or "short steps, long vision."
The Acropolis
They say that January is the off-season and the museum isn't crowded, but it was plenty crowded to us. I can't imagine how uncomfortable it would've been during the peak of tourist season.
These photos don't do justice.
On the Acropolis, you're allowed to take photos with your phone or a DSLR. But you can't bring a fancy Netflix-approved camera without paying 1,000 euro for a permit. Alethia took these with her iPhone, and the captions are hers, too. But she plans on getting better shots with her DSLR very soon.
The big question for us was, "Can you leave offerings to Athena at the Parthenon?" No, you can't leave offerings to any deities at any of the ancient temples. The archeological sites are museums, not a places of worship. Instead, we erected an altar in our apartment where we left offerings of olive oil and incense, before visiting the temple.
Religion
Although Greece is officially a secular nation, the Greek flag bears a Christian cross, and in 2020, a staggering 90% of Greeks identified as Orthodox Christians. While there is a movement of Greek folks whom are actively reconstructing the old religion, now called Hellenismos, aside from the above website, we haven't yet found them.
I do notice that Greek Christians seem to respect their Pagan roots. There aren't any far-right groups vandalizing the ancient temples or demonizing the old gods. They acknowledge that their ancestors were Pagan, and they're proud of their ancestors' accomplishments. The old religion doesn't pose a threat to the new one. So why wage unnecessary war?
As a Pagan transqueer, I feel much safer here than I do in the US.
Here, there are no preachers in the streets condemning anyone to hell. No "god-hates" signs, no one beating you over the head with a Bible. The people speak of their religion with peace and reverence, not condemnation and condescension.
I am happy to talk with Greeks about the gospels and the differences between denominations. The churches are masterfully crafted works of art, and in the absence of blatant religious abuse, it almost makes you want to go inside.
I'm not saying there isn't religious abuse here. I'm saying that it isn't blatant and unrelenting like it is in the US.
LGBTQ+ Protections
Greece has a mixed reputation for being one of the safest travel destinations in the world, boasting gay beaches and gay cruises, and plenty of gay bars in Athens, yet LGBTQ+ workplace protection wasn't signed into law until 2016; hate crimes protections didn't come until 2019, and same-sex marriage wasn't legalized until 2024.
However, in 2022, a national ban was enacted on conversion therapy for minors and surgeries on intersex infants, a common-sense move the US has yet to make. With the Trump-Musk administration rolling back protections and trying to erase transgender Americans, Greece is looking more and more progressive, despite it being dominated by Orthodox Christian values.
Here's a list of LGBTQ+ rights in Greece. There's a long way to go, but I think it's important to celebrate our wins.
A few months after the historic same-sex marriage win in 2024, a travel warning was issued by the British Foreign Office after two transgender folks were attacked in Thessaloniki with verbal assaults and thrown bottles. This is not okay. Not now, not ever.
I'm not here to minimize the abuse that my trans siblings were subjected to in anyway. And, I want to highlight that in the US, dozens of transgender folks are violently murdered every year, and most of these murder victims do not get media attention, let alone inform a travel warning.
The Humans Rights Campaign reported that in 2024, thirty-six of our transgender siblings were violently murdered in the US alone, about half of them being Black trans women. Worldwide, the total number of murdered transgender people in 2024 is over 350.
Yes, I do feel safer here than I do in the US, but it's still important to remain vigilant.
While I have not yet been to Gazi, the center of Athens' gay scene, in hetero spaces, I have seen only one public display of affection between a lesbian couple. I've seen no openly gay men, and certainly no expressions of androgyny or multi-gender fashion. I don't know how safe Athens would be for nonbinary folks who don't pass for binary.
While Athens feels much safer to me, a transqueer who mostly passes as cis/het, it's important to note that attitudes, even within our community, are conservative.
To my trans family, if you are seeking asylum, here's a website that provides resources to help you navigate fleeing to a safer state or country.
By the way, I'm having top surgery in Thessaloniki this week. My next blog will center that experience. I'll also cover airport safety for trans folks wearing medical prosthetics, and we'll show you another part of Athens, much closer to the Aegean Sea.
Racial Diversity
In terms of skin color, Athens is much whiter than Portland, OR, with Portland whites coming in at 70% while Greeks make up 98% of the population in Greece. But I understand that Greek whiteness and American whiteness are not the same.
American whiteness is defined by American history, including the enslavement of African peoples, and the genocide of Native peoples. White supremacy has always been a part of American culture, and will remain until "we the people" dismantle it. We have to understand it so we can see it. When we can see it, we can take objective action to remove it from our society. To banish race theory from education is to regress into a state of denial and complacency. Burying the past is repression, not healing.
Here, Greece has a completely different history, including in more recent history, the Nazi occupation of the 40s that resulted in the genocide of 40,000 Jewish Greeks, and the rise and fall of neo-fascism only a decade ago. I'm relieved to know that the neo-fascists have been soundly defeated, but I'm just scratching the surface here.
I've a lot to learn before I can speak on racial dynamics. All I can say is that I do feel othered, sometimes with curiosity, other times with contempt, but I don't feel the threat of violence. I feel much safer here than I do on Turtle Island, despite Greece being much whiter.
Most Greeks have been warm and friendly toward me. Here's an interesting article about racism in Greece.
Do they clock me as a Latino immigrant? Do they see me as a Filipino? Do they wonder about the Hawaiian flag on my cap? Can they tell that I'm trans? Do they care? I just don't have enough information. But I do know, judging by the graffiti on the walls, that they are aggravated with tourists and expats pushing locals out of their homes, and rightfully so.
Once I went to a store and was asked if I'm --the man put his hand to his mouth, and made sounds like-- "whoo-whoo, Indian?"
He was excited, smiling, and applying great effort to find the right English words, so I know he wasn't trying to be offensive, so I just said, "The word you're looking for is Native American, and yes, I'm mixed Taino."
He replied, "Oh, very fascinating culture. I like 'whoo-whoo' Indian culture, fascinated."
"It's Native American."
"Yes, yes."
Fuck, I tried. :/
Whenever I spot someone of Asian decent, we almost always make eye-contact, like, Hey, I see you... I'm not going to say hi, but I see you....
Once I was crossing the street and I saw a man of Filipino decent driving a car. We stared at each other for a full five seconds, like ...Is that really another Pinoy? Whoa....
I have yet to spot another, but I do see "Filipino-style noodles," on menus of pan-Asian restaurants. My thinking is, if they don't know what it's called, they probably aren't doing it right. Then again, it's probably the Greek population that wouldn't recognize a Filipino word if they saw it.
By the way, it's called pancit.
I've seen a handful of Black folks, but not many. I've spoken to only one, a man with an African accent, who pegged me as a Bob Marley fan (then again, who isn't?) and sold me a red-yellow-green friendship bracelet. He kept saying, "Peace, love, and blessings to you and your family," so I couldn't say no to him, lol.
I haven't seen any obvious Polynesians here, but a few "poke bowl," spots and "Hawaiian" restaurants. I dare not get my hopes up.
If you're looking for Asian products, you'll have to hit up an Indian market. They have all the basics from sesame oil and soy sauce to instant ramen and mochi ice cream. By the way, my barber is an Indian man. I'm sure he noticed the absence of an adam's apple while shaving my neck, yet he has been kind to me. I seem to gravitate to Indian folks, probably because they are both brown and Asian. They feel closest to home, to me.
I've met two Latine Americans, both of whom approached me speaking Spanish, and I find it easier to practice my Spanish with them. Maybe it's because we are so rare here that I feel kinship where I once felt shame and otherness.
When asked where I'm from, I say Hawai'i, not America, yet I call myself American not Hawaiian, and that's confusing to some, but unless they're ready for a Hawaiian history lesson, their confusion isn't my problem.
By the way, we all know there are racists, sexists, and bigots everywhere in the world. Whatever their issue is, it's theirs, not mine. I do not give them the power to ruin my day, but micro-aggressions do tend to add up, no matter where you live.
Travel Tips
The ancient ruins of the historic city of Athens is a must-see for any traveler. I recommend staying in a hotel rather than an Airbnb, unless the Airbnb is owner-occupied. Otherwise, you're taking part in pricing out the locals and making housing unaffordable.
Consider spending your week of jet-lag on one of the islands, and coming to tour Athens after you've done your island-hopping. You only need a few days to a week to see all the archeological sites and shop for souvenirs.
If you're going island-hopping, be sure to check this website to stay updated on the earthquakes and possible volcanic activity on the islands.
If you're coming as a tourist, you'll want to stay in Plaka or Monastiraki. These areas are designed to cater to tourists, much like the Las Vegas strip. Kolonaki is the spot for an upscale experience. You won't need a car to see the sites, and you won't want to drive in Athens, anyhow. All the signs are in Greek!
If you're of Greek descent and you're considering a move back to the motherland, you'll need to contact your local consulate in your home country, and make sure you have proof of your ancestor's nationality. I'm talking birth, marriage, death certificates. DNA test results is not an accepted form of proof. The consulate will help you register your family in the municipality of your ancestors, free of charge, and this registration certificate acts as proof of citizenship.
It might be easier to survive here if you're a remote worker, since unemployment is an issue. Also, wages are low compared to the US, so if you can keep your US salary, you'd be contributing to the economy by bringing capital in, instead of taking opportunities from the locals. Either way, the locals seem to welcome their own with open arms.
Note that the city is crowded, noisy, not very green, and not very ADA accessible. If you can't hike a steep hill without help from a wheelchair or walker, getting up to the Parthenon may be a challenging endeavor.
At the Agora, if you're pegged as American, vendors may try to sell products at twice their ticket price, especially if you're carrying a shopping bag. Compared to US prices, it may seem reasonable or they might try to rip you off. If it the prices seem steep, feel free to haggle your way down to something that feels a little more comfortable. For me, if the price is reasonable and I have the money, I'll pay what they're asking. A lot of these folks are just trying to put food on the table.
There are women who offer flowers for free, insisting that it's for a festival. Except they're not free, and usually, there's no festival. They'll then try to pickpocket you or bully you into giving them money. Watch your backpacks, phones, and wallets, especially when its extra crowded.
I have no patience for scam artists. There are plenty of ways to earn a buck without stealing from the common folk. Take these guys, for instance:
Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for more!
PS. This is just a first glance. I realize that I may be wrong about everything.