Being Greek is exactly like the movie “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”. I have a huge, loud, and loving family. Everyone is named the same because, in Greek tradition, you name the baby after its grandparent as a sign of tradition and respect to the elders. Example: both my sister and cousin are named Sophia. My name is Viviana and my grandmother’s name is Vivian. Translated into Greek it’s Paraskevi which means Friday but also doubles as a saint’s name. There are some minor differences from the movie which are that I’m not required to marry a Greek man, but it’s highly recommended. Also unlike the father from the movie, my family encourages further education. Besides that, everything is the same.
My parents are both Greek so they are both fluent in the language. At the age of six, I was put in Greek school which occurred every Saturday for five hours. At this time I was taught by nuns how to read, write and dance traditional Greek dances. Dances are complicated and there are many different kinds. There are only a couple of times that this skill is needed which are weddings, baptisms, and other big parties held in halls. It might have been embarrassing to hold Pavlos hand while you did the Kalamatiano but fast forward seven years and being able to dance it at your cousin's wedding with 30 other family members made it all worth it.
It's also very easy to spot a Greek when you hear that their name is Yianni Stathopoulos. Last names are dead giveaways. Sticking to the movie story line and stereotype of Greeks owning diners, not only does my father own a diner but my cousin does too. My father never let me work at his diner but this summer I waitressed at my cousin’s diner which was so nice being surrounded by so many Greek people and so much culture. It was just like a scene from “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”.
Another similarity that we share with the movie is how proud we are to be Greek. There is no such thing as a Greek that is not proud of it and that shows it off. My sister has a Greek flag sticker on the back of her car, and my mother has Greek flag hanging from her mirror. Whenever another Greek spots it they usually beep and point to their flag that they also have hanging too. Just like the father from the movie, my parents have a similar trait. Every time my mother or father would help me with a spelling test and a Greek word would come up like “monogram”, she would, of course, have to explain that mono means one and gramma means letter, so monogram would be when you use one letter to represent a name. If you’re Greek, don't expect to go to school with a ham and cheese sandwich. You will most likely be getting last night’s traditional Greek meal of moussaka or avgolemono soup. In the movie, the Portokalos family would cook a lamb on a spit for every big occasion. We do that too but only on Easter when we have a big celebration which is almost always on a different Sunday than American Easter. Greeks are known to be big drinkers, and a popular drink that Greeks drink is Ouzo. In the movie, the in-laws took shots of it but the way we drink it is we put it in a glass with water and ice which turns it a milky, white color.
I will leave you with one last similarity from the movie. Spitting on someone is a real thing. It’s more the sound of spitting rather than actual saliva, but I was last spit on when I showed my Grandmother my prom dress and she made the sound “ftou, ftou” to keep the devil away and so I wouldn't get jinxed. I am so proud to be Greek and have nothing but love for my country and its traditions and how it has shaped me into the person that I am today.
