It is a universal truth that there are two types of people in this world: those who are Greek, and those who wish they were Greek. The lucky ones, who were born Greek, wave their blue and white flag, sand and sea while belting out all 158 verses of the "Hymn to Liberty." The kitchens smell like olive oil, oregano, and lemon, and their skin is always clear. What about the weird cultural norms? We all have those.
1. Your Yia Yia and Pappou treat you like a child, even though you're 25.
2. And you're probably living with your parents until your married.
3. You're constantly asked if you know other Greeks.
4. You constantly got told what an attitude you had.
5. Your name was never pronounced right in class.
6. Weekly Greek School was the most annoying thing in the world.
7. And Greek dance practice...we definitely learned to love it.
8. You had "Greek" friends and "Non-Greek" friends, and mixing them together was never a good idea.
9. A small headache means you're terribly matiasmeni, and whoever gave you that evil eye needs to be taken out.
10. Your parents beg you when you're going to give them a grandchild.
11. Your parents, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers-next-door-neighbors-best-friends-sister....has the best man for you...wait right here.
12. March 25th and October 28th are like the Fourth of July to us!
13. You're all too familiar being confused for Mexican, Italian, Spanish, Brazilian...you name it.
14. You've seen this look when bringing home a non-Greek boyfriend...
15. You had to be late to everything, all the time.
16. BUT NEVER MISS CHURCH ON SUNDAY.
17. Unless you wanted to be smacked by a...(insert household item here)
18. Baptisms and weddings are the most exciting events.
19. Lent is the worst period of the year followed by Pascha, the BEST TIME OF THE YEAR.
20. You look forward to Greek Festival 10x more than Spring Break.
21. No matter how tired you get of all the questions, you love being Greek. You are proud of being from one of the most amazing cultures in the world; the dancing makes your heart soar, the music fills your spirit, the church carries you through life, and *this is for you mama* you're excited to raise your kids with that same pride.
