who knew? the Hellas edition*

Americans, it seems, do not have the same type of European love affair with Greece as they do with Britain or Italy. As a result, there aren't the type of Greek cultural anecdotes floating around our society that would color a visit here, (e.g. "Parisians are mean," "British food is bad.") The advantage of this absence is that we didn't come here pretending we knew more than we did. Unfortunately this also means that a big chunk of the world's money-holders, mostly Americans, don't know how great of a place this is to visit. Which has led me to create "who knew?", an ongoing blog series where I get to share interesting facts and anecdotes that are telling to me about a particular place/subject. The Kosovo installment will be of particular note, but for now, enjoy knowing what you did not know before.

• If you are up and about before 9 a.m. here, you are a chump. Lunch is taken around 3 p.m., and dinner is anywhere from 9-11 p.m. In the meantime, you can find most people in the afternoon at the local cafe drinking frappes, a strong instant coffee drink made with milk and sugar.
• Greeks are the largest consumers of cheese in Europe. Baked or fried feta is a legitimate part of a meal for normal weight, healthy adults, a food item that I can't imagine going over back home. We have had goat cheese, lamb cheese, the more traditional cow cheese, feta, edam, hard cheese, soft cheese, cheese you can spread, cheese shaped like a wheel, cheddar cheese, and the list could go on.
• The Greek national basketball team, the defending champions of the Eurobasket tournament, was defeated last night by Spain 82:77. We tried to get dinner at 9:30 p.m., but the restaurants were deserted as crowds were glued to cafe TVs to watch the game.
• Greece's national elections take place today. Voting is mandatory, and because local elections are also taking place, everyone must return to their home village. In Thessaloníki the streets are desolate and most of the shops are closed because so many people are gone.
• Greece is formally the Hellenic Republic, and the Greek word for the country is pronounced "Hellas". These differences are known as exonyms and endonyms.
• One of the most offensive hand gestures you can make is thrusting an open palm with fingers spread towards someone. It means approximately, "You are nothing."
• It's not "Macedonia," it's "The Former Yogoslavian Republic of Macedonia," pronounced as the acronym FYROM, (fee-roam). Greeks consider the small country to the north to have stolen what is historically a Greek heritage by taking the name of the ancient region of Macedonia, that while included some of FYROM, was based mostly in Greece. It's the most heated subject we have come across in discussion here.

*facts sort of verified