In Greece

The last 10 days I have spend back in Europe. I was in Athens to facilitate an international conference (WeGrow).
It’s the first time since I have come to Egypt that I went back to Europe and it stroke me how much I have changed, how many things have become very normal to me and how much I have forgotten.

3 Stories:

I believe I have so far always seen Greece as one of those southern countries that are quite disorganized, cities are dirty, public transportation is in bad condition, things are cheap and traffic is frightening.
I came here and I was amazed of how clean everything is, how modern the subway is, how very neatly the traffic is following the rules, how fresh the air is and how expansive the food. I did not see that in comparison to Cairo. I just saw the streets. They are clean. There is nothing on the ground. The garbage is in the garbage cans. I don’t think “it’s clean compared to Cairo”. I think “Wow! It’s clean!” and I have a hard time imagining how anything would be cleaner than that. And so I assumed that well, Athens is just a much nicer place than I imagined. But then the other Europeans here in my team don’t quite share that opinion. They find it dirty and disorganized. And I wonder: Have I forgotten really how clean streets look like? Or has my standard of “normal” shifted? Or have I developed a new sense of appreciation?


I walked out onto the streets with a red light and nearly got hit. It did not occur to me that there could be a street light. And even if: I would think the car can see me stepping onto the street and would have somehow reacted and not just kept on going. 20 years I spend in a country that has street lights! And I forgot that it’s not normal to step in in front of a slower looking car!


We were having a pretty perfect facilitators premeeting. We really did. We have modern transportation the office, we can all use the wireless internet there, we have comfy chairs to sit in, we are in the centre of Athens, there are lots of stores and restaurants around us, we get to see the site 2 days before the conference and we get even food reimbursed (and we have food!). I have not found anything to complain about. Yet, in these 4 days I think I heard as many complaints as I haven’t heard in a long time. My European friends are finding many things not quite meeting their standards. Apart from feeling slightly annoyed about that, I actually carry a smile inside myself. I know I was just like that. I like to complain, I still do. But I wanted to change that. I wanted to work on that and these few days have just proven to me that I did manage to do so. At least a little bit. :-)