Stories About My Grandfather

My grandfather - "Papou" - was named Dionysios Marusi. He came from a farming family in the area of Pakia, in southern Greece. Family lore has it that he decided to move to America to escape the military draft in Greece at that time. This would put him squarely in the family tradition of resistance to war. He came from Greece in 1907 on a ship called Principe di Piedmont, out of Naples. For some strange reason, at Ellis Island his English name was given as "William." He arrived with his wife, Alexandra, his 2-year old son, my Uncle Spiro, and a young woman, perhaps a relation, who cared for the baby.

They settled in Minneapolis, Minnesota, a kind of mecca for Greeks at the time, and, with money from his well-to-do wife;s dowry, purchased a candy store, all the time adding children: Antonia, Maria, Stavroula, my mother Christine, and two more boys- Nikos and Charles. There was also another daughter, Minerva, who died very young. All of them, following the Greek custom, bore "William" as their middle name.

Around 1918 or 1919, America went through one of its periodic "morality" spasms, and one by one, states passed laws against the consumption of liquor. One would put a sign in the window that said "DRY" to signal that this family too wanted the law to pass. My grandfather posted a huge "WET" sign in his window. Despite his effort, the law passed and Prohibition became one of the dumbest laws of the land ever - and there is much competition for that honor. During the Depression, he lost his store, but, as my mother always said, "rolled up his sleeves" and went to work in a candy factory.

In 1940, with the Italians and the Germans were poised to invade, Dionysios Marusi went back to Greece, to try and sell some of his wife's ancestral land near Gythio, a lovely port town quite close to Pakia. In this he was unsuccessful, but he did visit the home of his nephew, my Uncle George, and there attended a wedding of a cousin. A photo was taken of this occasion, and imagine my amazement 65 years later to arrive in Pakia at the home of my cousins and see my grandfather looking out at me from this photo. Word has it that he was quite the life of the party - he loved to dance and got so drunk that when he went horseback riding he fell off his horse. "WET," indeed. He hated Germans until the end of his life, given the atrocities committed by Hitler's Army during the occupation of 1941-44.

Later, when the family had moved to San Francisco, he had a house on Westgate Drive, where I lived before my dad came back from the Pacific War. There was a dog named Lucky and a haunting picture of Jesus, whose eyes, it was said, would open and close if you stared at them long enough. Every day, my grandfather would down a glass of lemon water and a tumbler of wine, first thing in the morning. He spoke no English. I used to sit next to him at the table and he would show me his hands, which were wrinkled and veiny. "Nyonyo (my nickname) look. Papou old man." We all, my cousins Denny and Danny and myself bore his name in one form or another - "Denny" and "Danny" were the usual translations of Dionysios; "Bill" was the extension of some immigration officer's moment of twisted inspiration. He died in 1960, at the age of 80 or so.

One story about him especially bears repeating: One Sunday, my grandmother and all her daughters attended a wedding at the the Greek (now Armenian) Church on 7th street in San Francisco. Before the wedding they were waiting outside and one of the daughters asked, "When will the wedding party get here, mother?" At this moment, my grandfather, who had slipped away to have some drinks, came around the corner, smashed, and leaning on a building for support. My grandmother pointed to him and said, "I don't know, but here comes the bride."

Things I Like About Greece

My Favorite Things About Greece (So Far)
For this blog entry I wasn't exactly sure what to write about, so I decided to make a list of the things I find particularly enjoyable in Greece so far and why!

1. Going to the Farmer's Market- I love going to the market every Wednesday and Saturday in Kalamata! All the food is so fresh and most of it is organic. There are so many varieties and you see things you would probably never see in the U.S. It is completely crowded too. Everyone and their mother goes to the market. I literally have to hold onto my dad, Jelly or Sylvia so that we won't get separated because the hordes of people are pushing from all sides.
2. Biking in Kalamata- Jelly and I rented bikes here and now we are able to go to cafes or the center of town regularly. It is really easy to bike here because of the bike lanes provided by the city that have made a route from the beach to the center of town.
3. The Olives- The olives here really are just the most amazing thing. The Kalamata olives are so fresh and rich with flavor, I haven't tasted anything like to them anywhere else in my entire 19 years of living.
4. Relatives- So far we have only met some of the relatives here in Greece. The ones we have met though, Patty and Nikki are so amazing. They were so welcoming and hospitable. Both of them had amazing stories about the area where they live (Pakia) and WWII. I really enjoyed staying with them for a few days and learning more about my family history in Greece. The best thing was getting to know them and hearing their opinions about the current state of affairs in Greece.
5. The Beach- Here in Kalamata and all over Greece the ocean and beaches are so beautiful. The water is clear and you can see everything at the bottom. It is a little cold when you first get in, but once you swim around the water is perfect.
6. Learning Greek- Although I haven't been as studious in my Greek studies as I'd like to be, because I am always engrossed with loads of online homework, I hope to concentrate on it more. Every Tuesday from 1-3 we go to Greek classes with our teacher Katerina. She and another woman run a language school to teach Greek kids how to speak English in Kalamata. So far, we have only gone twice, but I have learned a lot. Our teacher is really kind an patient with us and she is a really interesting person to talk to. She like many other Greeks is very vocal about her opinion on the current political/ economic situation, so it's interesting to hear about it from a true Greek.
7. Going to Cafes- Something that I don’t really do or have time for in the U.S. is sitting in cafes and doing work on my computer and just watching the people go by. In Greece you see so many people sitting in cafes outside, just enjoying their day and company. They sit for hours on end just talking, smoking and drinking coffee. The only reason I really go is to use wifi and do my online schooling, but it's nice to see how other people socialize and spend their time, especially when its so different from the United States.
8. Visiting the Ruins- So far we have visited the ruins at Messini and Olympia and they are so amazing. It's really astounding to see ancient ruins here that I hear about in my history classes. Many of them are pretty well preserved and really show you how people use to live. Some of them date back to the 1st and 2nd century AD and just amaze me every time that they are over 2,000 years old and have survived through so much war, conquest and change that has taken place over the centuries.
9. Eating New Food- Even though I am a pesco-vegetarian, I still find some really great new food that is Greek. My favorite is tiropita, which is feta cheese inside filo dough. It's so good and is usually eaten at breakfast. Plus, it is a nice alternative to spanakopita, which is like it, except it has spinach and has been my least favorite food since I was about 4 years old.
10. The Nice people we have met here- Sometimes when traveling you are lucky enough to find people who are genuinely nice and make your time that more memorable. Patty and Nikki definitely go under this category. Along with our Greek teacher who is really informative and gives us good advice about where to go for good bargains. Then there is Maria, who owns the cottage we are staying at. Even though, she doesn’t speak very much English, I see her everyday and she always has a smile on her face and a warm welcome that never gets old. Hopefully there will be more people to add to this list, but as of know those are the few I can think of!
Hope you enjoyed my list and that it gave you some insight into our life here in Greece and some of the things that continue to make this trip awesome!

- Vita (:

Messinian Ruins!!!

Hi! It's Cynthia again and for this entry I want to talk about the Messianian ruins we saw. One day we took a road trip to these ruins and wandered around looking at all the cool looking structures and columns. We soon started taking pictures and posing for them like insane people like us do. I thought it was really peaceful and enchanting, knowing that people have been using them since 2nd century B.C. It was kinda weird to know that ancient people stood, sat, talked, laughed, and gossiped the same place that I was at, and how crazy it was that it was still there. The ruins used to include a track for racing, an amphitheater, areas just to hang out, and a temple to Artemis (goddess of the moon, archery, and maidens). Anyway it was a lot of fun to do some exploring around ancient ruins and I had a really nice time! Until next time...


- Cynthia Nayeli Moncada

Gythio Lakonia

Monemvasia