Something I have found particularly interesting during the last fews days is the graffiti in Greece. It doesn't seem to be remarkably different from the graffiti in America- the style is very similar to what we're used to seeing. A lot of graffiti doesn't make sense to most people; it's not often actual words or thoughts that are easily recognized by everyone who sees it; it is a completely new language, spoken only a select group. Occasionally we fine graffiti in Greek and sometimes in English, but when we do find it in characters or words we recognize, it's rarely a complete thought. We have found phrases like 'Punk Rock' and 'Athens burns', as well as commentary on the police. We have found simple phrases in Greek that we can translate, but they make little sense without understanding the context in the 'code language.'
The other interesting part of graffiti in Athens is the casual disregard for antiquity. There is graffiti on the ancient churches and in the excavated ruins; it doesn't seem to be there because those structures are significant, they just happened to be the place to make a statement. This makes more sense when we think of our own experience; are we reverent of the landmarks we are most accustomed to? How about the Space Needle, in our case? We seem to take these things for granted, and it was a strange realization to me that structures of antiquity might be regarded similarly here.
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