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Greek-Americans flood Athens

Heritage, pride, volunteerism rise at Games

updated 9:17 a.m. ET Aug. 21, 2004

ATHENS, Greece - Greek Americans have turned up at these Games in droves, viewing these Olympics as an opportunity to explore their heritage and give something back to the country of their ancestors.

“This is the first time I have ever been to Greece and I was determined to come now,” said Vanessa Xannis, a native New Yorker in Athens with her father and his friends. Xannis’s great-grandparents were born in Athens and came to America in the 1920s, but the generations between them have done nothing to weaken her strong Greek identity.

“So much in my life is Greek – the food we eat, our music, our religion,” she said.

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Unlike many other immigrant groups whose culture gets diluted after one or two generations in America, Greek Americans have maintained a strong connection to their roots and have been able to pass that feeling down to children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. My Big Fat Greek Wedding isn’t just a movie – it’s also true. Parents send their children to Greek school, cook Greek food and instill in their kids a strong sense of Greek national pride.

According to the 2000 Census, there are 1,153,307 Greek-Americans in the U.S., with the largest communities located in New York and California. Like so many other immigrant groups, Greeks came to America in the 19th and 20th centuries to escape poverty and wars and to give a better life to their children.

Peter Karamitsos’s grandparents came to America in the 1930s from Kalamata, an island best known for its olives. With both a Greek and American flag waving from his backpack, Karamitsos follows Greek and American athletes participating in the Olympics and is as proud of being Greek as he is of being American.

“If someone is of Greek decent, he is immediately looked at as a Greek,” said Karamitsos, who lives in Chicago, Ill.

The close bond that these Americans feel with their heritage prompted many to volunteer their professional services to the Games.

Brooklyn-born Steven Mirones knew from the time the Games were given to Athens that he wanted to be involved, and he put together the first team to treat athletes’ feet and ankle problems.

“This is my homeland so to speak; it is the birthplace of my father,” said Mirones, whose parents came to America from the island of Chios.

The thought of taking money for their efforts is almost offensive to these volunteers, who say they feel strongly about giving something back to the country that has given so much to them.

“So many other Greeks are volunteering for the Games, and I decided to as well,” said Alexios Manpoulis, a photographer for the International Olympic Committee, who also had an opportunity to get paid for his work.

The Baltimore native spent the past year on the island of Corfu – his parents’ birthplace – and says he feels as Greek as he does American. Although his parents left Greece years before he was born, he spent many family vacations on the island and easily fits in with his many relatives.

“Being Greek, it’s the most important part of my identity,” he said.

Postcards from Athens


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