I have a very good friend who’s name is Elena. It’s not her real name but because of safety reasons I can’t unveil her real name andinstead I will give you the name she has chosen to be named with. She grew up in Antwerpen but she has Greek origins and she now lives in Greek with the husband and two children. If you would know her you would agree that she is a wonderful women. So why am I writing about Elena here on 43rumors?
For years now we got bombarded by a huge amount of information about Greece. And it is for years now that I weekly and sometimes daily talk with Elena about the very daily and normal aspects of her life in Greece. She told me so many little stories that I never read on any newspaper. She unveiled me the real struggle to live in a situation like that as a mother of two children.
I thought it’s pity that we don’t hear/see/read that kind of stories in our newspaper, TVs or radio’s. So an idea came to my mind. I bought an [shoplink 14832]Olympus E-PL1[/shoplink] for very cheap at [shoplink 22691 ebay]Olympusmarket[/shoplink] and sent it to her. She got the camera yesterday. And I asked her to share the stories she usually tells me with the 43rumor audience.
She is not a journalist nor a writer and she is very shy. So she still needs time to get comfortable with the writing. She wrote a couple of test articles on her website and I still feel she needs you reader to push her, to be less formal and less focused on the big themes we hear every day of.
She still has to learn how to write in order to communicate what I know she has inside her feelings. I ask you to help her to get out the most from her stories. Make questions, criticize and she will learn and open you a little and deep world.
So invite you to visit the website which is http://www.greekdiaries.me/. As I told you, if you are interested int he matters push her, contact her and ask here to show some pics done with the E-PL1. I feel what’s happening in Greece may be important for our future too!
Thanks guys!
Your 43rumors admin
UPDATE: I just created the facebook page for greekdiaries. It’s here: https://www.facebook.com/Greekdiaries. Click on “like” to follow the stories 🙂
33 Responses
As a German, one of the most hated people right now, I’d say +100, very fine, good idea!
I am half German and half Italian. So I am quite in trouble when it comes to talk about the European Crisis 🙁
Let’s just say I am against the antigerman feelings an I am also against the usual clichè that says south europeans are lazy (some are of course, but many people really works hard in near impossible conditions).
I don’t think there are kind of racist anti-German feelings. I think more and more people here think that the German monetary politics are simply wrong, and the Euro (and the Union) may fall for that reason.
Personally, I think that if that happens, the most stricken country will be Germany (as most of its export goes to other EU countries).
Great idea!
Great Job, @ admin!
I’am also half spanish and half german 😐 (no comments here please)
… but it doesn’t matter. I lived 10 years also in Argentine. I Lived in first person the fucking (in)famous “corralito”…
it doesn’t matter where u come from, what it matters is what r u capable to do & feel …
+10000009999
Im half nordamerican & half spanish !!!
Great idea!
Wonderful idea and a very admirable gesture by Admin but I fear this is a political thread and nothing to do with 4/3 rumours.
Geoff, I think it’s incredibly presumptuous to try and tell Admin what might or might not belong on their website. How hard is it to just avoid the occasional thread you might not be interested in. Not trying to sound rude- I’m sure there are others who feel similarly to you. But for me, thanks Admin. I’ll check it out. I’m interested in what is going on in Greece and am hoping for a Syriza victory.
There are many other sites where this kind of thread could be run, I am not in any way trying to tell Admin what he/she cannot do, simply stating that this is out of place here. Like you I am also interested in the current situation in Greece along with Spain, Portugal, Italy and Ireland along with the rest of the World, we are indeed in very troubled times.
However, we must be careful about what a site such as this deals with (4/3 Rumours), not what people on holiday get up to (yes I have checked the diary out). I like you feel a Syriza victory will be good for Greece but what will it mean for the rest of the Eurozone countries?
Okay Geoff. Well, I respect your opinion. And I think Admin has a tough skin and doesn’t take offense easily so perhaps I should have kept quiet.
Friends in 4/3rds, above all else…
I think every policy that tackles the inequalities between the income of the working people and of the capital owners is good for the working people all over the world (and thus in Europe too), and furthermore strengthen the economic system too (because the basis of the economic crisis is the growing inequalities). But of course that could lead the owners of capital to not invest their money. This is the basic (and rather without solution) instability of the system.
Admin i follow your site everyday the last almost three years (thus i like your jod very much) and also i love my e-pl1 and the accompanying lenses i have managed to have (pana 20mm, zd50mm, zd70-300mm, mzd9-18mm, samyang 7,5mm, samyang 85mm).
And to our co-readers i would like to suggest: Consume selectively, both information and gear.
By the way this is a comment from Greece, if that matters.
Let’s discuss equivalence instead. 😉
Love Greece – beautiful country, especially the seaside. Been many times there on holiday and never had any problem with Greek people. I’m very sorry all of this is happening to them.
Thank you for that! I really like her blog.
Nice idea to promote this. It is an interesting website, but I think it would be improved if you gave her the same template you have on 43Rumors. Then people could comment on each post and others could read the comments. Then perhaps one day she will be as famous as you! 🙂
By the way I’m British, so hated for being out of the Euro! What a mess, I think we need the Euro, but it is not working in it’s current form.
I Don’t think this is 4/3 rumors area of operation. However, I’ve been there several times, I like it and concur with your action. I echo Miroslavs and others comments. I will be visiting the site from time to time. I also hope you put up little progress reports or item from time to time.
You did send an SD card as well?
What can you say? Because the previous Greek governments were full of greedy liars the common people now have to foot the bill.
The Germans are now supposed to pay for the faults of others (Ireland, Greece, Spain, Italy and who knows else) because of what? Loosing the war?
It would be great if we could make those who caused this make pay, at least bring them down from their millions to what now common people in Greece have to put up with!
But as always the biggest criminals get away…
What is happening now in Greece will soon be extended throughout the European Union. Ireland, Portugal, Italy, Spain for the moment and life goes on…. It’s a fight between pound, dollar, yen and euro, that has no end
Greek users can share their views here http://www.dpgr.gr/forum/index.php?topic=47630.msg711521;topicseen#new
I’m normally critical to many of Admin’s posts, (I’m regular reader here) but I wellcome occasional links to other subjects with social theme. I can handle more of it. It’s the same boat we are sitting in – Greeks or Germans, Swedes or Indians. Some of us just don’t understand it yet.
In the meantime – remember those 25 or 50$, you have saved on recent Amazon discount for “xy” camera and “xz” lens? You can use them to become a social enterpreneur (in the footsteps of Nobel laureate Mohammed Yunnus). Check “www.kiva.org” and read their policy, projects they run, and make a life to somebody with 25$ . Don’t worry, you don’t have to leave your room to do it. It goes through Paypal and you choose the project by clicking. You can’t make profit on that tough.
Don’t worry, I have no profit advertising Kiva.
And who am I to litter this nice photosite with this? I live in a small country somewhere in between (geographically and financially) Germany and Greece. No Yetis here (except me), but we do have Alps.
Oh, to stay on the official topics – I do think EM-5 is great, but I use 4/3 DSLRs and expect more of them from Olympus.
I guess the EU was a good idea when everything went right. Now I just hope Portugal pays the debt, cleans it’s face, and gets out of it (in it´s actual form), but I must say that the guilt for this mess lies over the Portuguese Political class, and no, the Germans don´t have to pay for what’s happening but it’s obvious they get a profit out of the situation – The countries of the South help to lower the value of the Euro and that is good for those countries that do export.
By the way I work 48 hours per week, it’s illegal here, but if I want a job I have to deal with it. Obviously there are people here that live from the work of others.
I admire the Germans for being such clever workers, but also the British which I like a lot, the Greeks gave us Democracy and the foundations of the European Civilizations which they share with the Italians. The Portuguese followed by the Spanish, brought the world much closer so see, We all depend on each other.
Here is an interesting article in French about the situation in Greece:
http://www.lesoir.be/actualite/monde/2012-06-16/la-crise-grecque-n-est-pas-economique-elle-est-culturelle-921789.php
And I can say that it really reflects my impressions on the field – I’ve been working for almost 8 months in Greece and got to talk with lots of greeks about the political and economical situation. Almost everybody told me the same story: we were living for ourselves and avoided paying taxes on a huge scale. And nobody did nothing to stop it.
Just to have an idea about the scale of unpaid taxes problem, in the tourism sector before 2010, for every 100,000 Euros made, only 15-20,000 were declared and taxed. And I’ve heard this from lots of business owners that did it openly because it was the way everybody did.
Combine this with the fact that lots of businesses and fortunes were operated in the name of the Orthodox Church which was tax exempt (in Thessaloniki they operated at the time the largest casinos and night clubs).
Should we continue with the widespread corruption in the distribution and management of the European Development Funds (remember that a big chunk was paid by the greek government)? Lots of horror stories on this side also. Bussiness owners who were taking european money to build new production facilities or hotels to (supposedly) expand their businesses – and in the same time building a new villa/hotel under a relatives name. Either they would declare the highest quality materials for the buildings but use cheap ones and pocket the difference; either they would use the high quality materials on their own villa/hotel and poor quality materials on the business side. The final result was the same, after 2-3 years, the original business would get bankrupt.
That sounds like the stories about no one paying taxes that I’ve heard from a number of Bulgarian friends who travel in Greece, or own property in Halkidiki (near Thessaloniki) in the North. It’s a shame.
Halkidiki is gorgeous! I was there a few years ago. It’s only a 5 hour drive from Sofia. You stop and buy a box of fresh figs along the road. Can’t wait to go back!
This is the Admin’s page/site. Bottom line. I personally DO want to hear from real people in our world and not stick my head in the sand by claiming ‘ thats political’.
I have really enjoyed all the posts following the Admin’s initiative. There’s a lot of caring, thoughtful and compassionate people on this site which makes it all the more richer for me.
Admin, you may have stumbled onto an offshoot. Perhaps you could create a tab/link to articles featuring photojournalists who happen to use 4/3’s and mFT equipment just to keep it at least in orbit with the original intent of the site. This makes fascinating reading and such an approach will also pull it off the mainline in case anyone takes offense (ah, politics, we in the US know how it can fracture a society all too well). You could then provide periodic announcements of clusters of new articles (including your own) on the main page.
Admin, this is a great idea. I love your site but sometimes I feel there is too much talk about gear. I will follow Elena’s site.
About the Euro… You can not make a common currency without a common tax policy, the Euro was a project made from Politicians and many economists warned it was not realistic.
Nice idea admin.
Being Greek i have to admin that i am ashamed many times for my country. As Chris said, a big percentage of people avoid to pay taxes. So the result of that is that the rest of us to have to pay taxes that we simply cannot handle.
Some Greeks, that are not narrowminded, can see what Chris is describing. Everything is working the wrong way here. Noone respects the laws, everyone steals money and the goverment does nothing to fix the situation. That happens so way too many years.
However there is a percentange of Greek people who are not civil servants and *have to pay* taxes, respect their country. These people get nothing in return. The whole system is broken here.
Otlichno mne nravitsy.
I am Greek. I live in Greece. I love German people. I hate German government and German media. I hate Greek government and Greek media. It’s not about countries. It’s about immoral politicians and lame journalists that serve a highly unethical and flawed global economy.
all governments are armies of occupation…
all politicians are politicians, because it is the easiest place for them to steal from the rest of us…