It's hard to live in a country that is in such a bad financial state without noticing the effects, and believe me, there are many, but not all are bad.
One of the most prominent, at least for me, a tourist, was the lack of staff at historical sites, museums and other tourist attractions. At some places, it didn't make much difference, while at others exhibits were closed off or the hours were extremely minimal, defying the hours that were promised on the website. Still, we managed to work around it.
It's pretty much impossible not to notice the amount of people that go around begging for money, since they will come right up to you and start speaking to you in Greek, telling you their pitiful story that tugs on your heartstrings...at least, I'm guessing. There are people, we called them gypsies, who sat on the side of the tourist streets and tried to win your affection; children with their cute puppies playing the accordion, women with their little baby all swaddled up. There were even black men in the flea market trying to sell knockoff designer bags. Most of these people appear not to be from Greece, and I was informed by my art history teacher, that Greece has open borders, so anyone who is trying to make it into Europe can do so through Greece. Because of this, there are tons of immigrants from other countries, middle eastern countries in particular.
Going into this trip, we had heard a lot about protests and riots, bus strikes and power outages, but we did not see a single sign of any of these activities. In fact, every time I went to Syntagma square (the main site for riots and protests since it's the location of the parliament building), I didn't see any indications of past or future riots.
In terms of hospitality, the Greeks were extremely hospitable, particularly in restaurants. We rarely dined at a Greek style restaurant without being offered free deserts, free shots or the like. I'm not sure if this is in response to the financial crisis, maybe an attempt to gain regular customers, or if it was just a result of the Greek culture, in which business is usually done with people you know and are close to, and dissatisfaction spreads quickly. More than likely it's a little bit of both, but regardless, it was a positive effect of the financial crisis...if you can really call any of the effects of such a terrible situation "positive."
I didn't expect to see so many Greeks spending money so freely. The articles and resources I read in preparation for this trip all seemed to agree on the fact that the financial crisis is affecting just about everyone. No one is really getting by unscathed. While I'm sure it affects some people worse than others, you would never guess that based on how often you see them out and about, shopping, getting coffee and other extra-curriculars that cost money. I will say that when they do go out to restaurants and bars, their purchases seem to be minimal; maybe one small cup of coffee. But I'm guessing all those cigarettes aren't cheap either!
One of the positive effects (again, not sure if that is the right wording) that I really enjoyed was the month of July, during which all stores on Ermou street (which is basically Greece's 5th avenue) have incredible sales; thirty, forty even fifty percent off! Seriously, these sales just about put Black Friday to shame. It was pretty clear that the Greeks enjoyed it too!
Overall, I'm sure that I can't even begin to comprehend all of the effects in the short amount of time that I spent in Greece. There were some that were very evident in day-to-day life, though I'm sure I don't know the half of it. In the future, I really hope Greece can come out of this financial state and make a comeback.
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