Greeks in Buenos Aires

After this morning's liturgy, the priest (Padre Ioannis) told me "no te vas!," or don't leave! Bishop Tirasios of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of South America was there, and he wanted me to meet him because he spoke English. It turns out, this same bishop came to my church five years ago and knows both my father and grandfather pretty well. His first cousin is a presvytera (priest's wife) in Joliet, outside of Chicago, and he attended seminary with another family friend. Small world, right?

Bishop Tirasios adopted me for the day, introducing me to just about everyone at the parish and telling them I was a journalism student and a priest's daughter from the Chicago area and that they should meet. A local nursing home for older Greeks happened to be having a Glendi (Greek dance) and luncheon fundraiser that afternoon, and Padre Ioannis and the Bishop insisted that I come. I rarely say no to Greek fellowship or free meals, so I figured I'd join them. The president of the organization that runs the nursing home and his wife drove me there, and the bishop's chauffeur drove me back. Spoiled much?

We arrived at the luncheon and because the Greek Orthodox population of Buenos Aires is not huge, the bishop is on a first-name basis with pretty much every family. The interesting thing about the population is that the majority of them are older immigrants from Greece to Argentina, and there is a huge generational gap in the parish. Bishop Tirasios explained the reason for this is inter-marriage, because when the children of these Greek immigrants grew up in Buenos Aires, they did not all marriage each other and continue breeding Greek children. Nobody can expect that in such a small population. He was pretty upset by this and said the non-Orthodox spouse has usually overridden the Greek Orthodox church, so then their kids grow up Catholic. I'd be curious to return to Buenos Aires in 10 to 20 years to see if a Greek population still exists, because the only way it would be possible is if more Greeks from anywhere in the world move here.

Greek band

I was seated at the clergy table with the directors of the organization and three priests. It's funny how far a family name can take you, because Bishop Demetri of the Chicago archdiocese did the same thing to me at lunch when he came to Columbia, Missouri. We had an excellent three-course meal with Greek dancing in between each course. Many of the parishioners offered me their addresses and phone numbers in case I need anything while I'm here, which was very hospitable. I'm sure being adopted by the bishop for the day, as he called me his "spiritual daughter," helped this matter, but it was still a nice gesture. Of the ~150 people at the luncheon, just about all of them spoke both Greek and Spanish. Therefore, we conversed in Spanish the entire afternoon, and when the bishop wanted to tell me something he didn't want others to hear, he spoke in English.

Greek dancers

I'm glad I stuck through this experience and learned a lot about both the universities around Buenos Aires and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese's presence in Buenos Aires simultaneously! I haven't Greek-danced since St. Luke's and Sts. Peter & Paul's dinner dances, and it was fun to do so while communicating in Spanish. They even had a bouzoukia, a Greek band, and thankfully the emcee spoke in Spanish (instead of Greek) so I could understand what the fundraiser was for. We ate Greek salad and chorizos (sausage) and bread as appetizers, spanakopita and chicken and carne souvlaki for the main course, and a chocolate-dulce de leche cake with ice cream for dessert. YUM. The table probably went through five bottles of wine between seven people in the span of two hours; impressive Argentine-Greeks (and clergy)!

Real life begins tomorrow with my internship and classes starting, wish me luck!