Open and Closed

Anonymous Today was our last day in Rhodes and also our last day trip. This time we were exploring Lindos, a city on the eastern side of the island. Lindos was a quaint little village with all white buildings and a gorgeous view from the Acropolis.

Despite the breathtaking glimpses of sea and the refreshing sea breeze, the most memorable parts of this particular day trip were the people. One of the inhabitants of Rhodes with whom we interacted today was open and friendly; he made the trip a fun experience. Dimitrios, our Greek tour guide, was a character. In addition to teaching us a bit about the history and agriculture of the island, he tried to inform us about the culture and lifestyle. He talked about his own family--he was always full of mother-in-law jokes. His easy going attitude and jokes about his own culture entertained us while we were exploring the city. I cracked up laughing when he explained how, while Rhodes is generally quite safe, there are some reckless drivers who refuse to wear their seatbelts. In order to get around police officers or cars that don't start unless you put your seatbelt on, the Greeks have invented t-shirts with a black stripe resembling a seatbelt on it or a device that is essentially just the end of a seatbelt so you can click it in without actually having to strap yourself in. With stories like these, Dimitrios really added another level of enjoyment to the trip; it felt like we were truly getting to know Rhodes instead of just observing it.

Unfortunately, we had an encounter with another inhabitant of the island who was not so pleasant. A member of the faith community at a Byzantine church outside of Lindos treated members of our group in an entirely different manner than our tour guide. She was incredibly disrespectful to our group for no reason; while she claimed to be a person of God, she was full of hatred. This experience left me feeling really upset, especially because I feel as if our group has done an excellent job of being guests as opposed to customers in this country. We have enjoyed the hospitality of the Greeks and responded with our best "Epharisto." To have someone claim otherwise seemed like a slap in the face, even though we knew that we had done nothing wrong to her. In the end, it was just another lesson: wherever you go, there will be people who refuse to see any opinions other than their own (although it seems like these people are usually Americans...). I'm just glad to say that our group has been kind and courteous everywhere we've gone during the last three weeks. I think we have learned from every encounter we've had in this country, whether good or bad, but I have been pleased to find that nearly every Greek we've interacted with has been kind and welcoming to our group. I'm going to miss this friendly attitude when I go back to th often sterile, cold atmosphere of the U.S.