See this?
Looks like home, doesn’t it? And sometimes it feels like we are the only country struggling with these issues of immigration. But guess what. This poster isn’t from Arizona, or Florida, it’s part of a sign on a wall on Ermou Street in downtown Athens.
It’s not the only one, either. The country is under terrible economic pressure and it’s fraying things. According to our very sweet taxi driver, despite the rumors of wild spending on services, Greece does not provide for the homeless or the poor – at least not enough. And the people coming into Greece want jobs and “a better life” but “they aren’t taking any food from me!” He’s with the marcher s- but there are plenty on the other side too. We know it’s true in France and Germany — and that Mohamed is one of the most frequent names for new babies in many European countries. But as you can see the sympathy hasn’t completely eroded. In addition to these posters, there are many stencils, borrowed from Paris, look like the one below, also from a wall in our neighborhood here.
For more evidence of how bad things are — look at this sure coal mine canary: Squeegee men vintage NYC in the 1980’s – all over town.
I’ll keep you posted as we move through the islands – assuming things will be different there. Would write more but it costs the earth to use the web on this “yacht.”