You know those people who are so true to something at heart they won't ever let it go? Those people who say "I was born on the wrong side of the country, I'm a New Yorker to my core," but were actually born in Las Vegas? That's me, but on a different scale.
I was born in Brooklyn, New York but to be honest with you, I should have been born somewhere in Greece, or even maybe Italy. In contemplating why I feel this way, a few reasons come to mind. You can Find them listed below:
The first being that every time Summer comes around, I look forward to going back "home." Now, some people may say this is just the excitement of a vacation but it's much different. It's the feeling you get when you land in the motherland, the tears that roll down your face knowing that you're back where you feel your most confident and comfortable, it just feels right.
Even going back to Greece to return to a little village, that's where my heart is, and that's where I feel at home.
The second reason for my feeling of displacement is that every family party I go to, I tend to speak more of Greek (or sometimes Italian) than English. Some people may look at this and say "oh it's because her family doesn't speak English" but the truth is, most of them do, I just find it more comfortable to speak in Greek; in fact, my first language was actually Greek, so it makes sense.
A third reason is when get-togethers happen, the tendency to sit down during "American music" and get up to dance to Greek music speaks VOLUMES. For example, at my cousin's engagement party this past weekend, while my head was bopping to the American music and I would occasionally sing along, I was in full motion dancing and sing/screaming all the lyrics to any Greek song that ever came on.
Certain traditional dances would come on and I'd be the first one up to dance them.
One last reason I'll give, although there are so many more, is giving up your Summer to work for the family business. You know the movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding"? Yea, I live that life on a daily basis. Working for the family business, doing whatever the dad wants, never having less than 60 people over, that's my life.
Unfortunately this Summer I will not be returning back to the motherland, and the thought of that alone breaks my heart. What it's like to be a true European is to live the European lifestyle while still living in the United States. While I love living in New York, if I could move out to Greece I would do it in a heartbeat.
