Late Night Conversation with Christo & Leonidas

“Here in Greece,” Leon said, “We have president on top” holding his hand up as if to signal the president’s position, “and we have prime minister just below president.” Leon then took his other hand and held it about an inch below the symbolic presidential hand. “It is prime minister who goes to White House to deal with your President. Prime minister who makes decisions about public. Prime minister is man in control, not our President.”
Again I chimed in “Your president is just a figure-head!”
“Yes! Yes! Yes!” Leon exclaimed. “Prime minister come from only two families for years past. If Hillary elected, then same thing happen in the U.S.” It finally dawned on me that Leon was relating the Bush and Clinton’s stay in the white house to that of his own prime minister. Each position, respectively, was being shared between two families. “If Hillary elected then it becomes like ours (the prime minister) and your system loses,” he moves his hands as if to help him with the word.
“Democracy!” I said.
“Yes, yes. We do not like that” Leon states. Leon’s opinions were coming strictly from personal experience telling him not to support Clinton, and not necessarily from facts about our candidates. This again leads to a clash of cultures where Leon’s viewpoints on our presidential race stem directly from his own experience here in Greece.
I turned to Chris and asked, “What candidate do you support?”
Chris turned while flipping a bottle around his back and responded, “The Greek people are a people of great national pride. When something is wrong we turn inward. We look for each other to help and support us.” Chris had bags under his eyes and you could tell by looking at him that he had experienced many late nights, smoked many cigarettes, and could offer knowledge to anyone willing to listen. Chris was getting ready to answer my question on why Greeks pay so much attention to our political scene. “The President of the United states is known to us as #%$@#,” he then rattled something off in Greek. “This means planet man. The decisions your president makes impacts everyone in the world.” It was becoming clear to me why they would take such an interest in our presidential race. “When I think, or try and decide who I would support, I don’t think in terms of who is best for your country. I think who I would vote for as president for Greece.” This, to me, tied the strong national pride that Greeks share together with why they pay such close attention to our presidential campaign. He finished, “I must support the person that I think would win here in Greece.” I nodded in understanding while truly trying to soak in what Chris had just told me.
Dunbar and Lindsay, who had walked over to the water’s edge, returned and voiced their opinion to leave. I looked at the time and realized that it was two in the morning and we had a big day ahead of us. We said goodbye to Chris and Leon and headed back towards our hotel. It was a long walk and offered plenty of time for me to think about my conversation with Chris and Leon.
Our election process is one of the most influential events that take place in the world. While sitting in the airport in Rome, I picked up a paper and noticed an entire page devoted to the American presidential race, most of the page was devoted to Hillary and Obama. As an American, however, I do not know nearly as much information about the Greek political agenda or the Italian political agenda as they do about ours. If countries like Greece consider our president “planet man”, then Americans who take part in the election process have more of a voice in the world than people from other countries. Despite having this power, many of us do not take into consideration impact our votes might have. We view our elections as only effecting our country.
The cultural experience of talking with Chris and Leon raised many issues for me. It is also very amusing to me how a night of “partying” can lead to these wonderful experiences. As an American voter I feel as though I might have more of an impact through one action over someone else’s life than a citizen Greece. I myself must start following worldwide issues much more closely and incorporating those issues in my choice for president. Talking late night politics with Chris and Leon has opened up my eyes to the fact that our nation continually has a huge impact on people across the globe and we must take every opportunity to expand our knowledge of these issues. Whether it be looking at a paper in an airport; drinking at a bar and having deep political conversations with complete strangers; or just watching the evening news, people must be conscious of their decisions.

Sam S.