I. The Homeland in Greece

Almost 3000 people of Greek heritage reside in the three Maritime Provinces. Over the last several years the author and her assistants interviewed about 300 Greek Canadians in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Few Canadians of Greek descent live on Prince Edward Island and there is no identifiable Greek community there. Consequently, I was only able to conduct interviews with two individuals on Prince Edward Island. Their stories appear in Chapter VI of this book.

While many Greeks came to Canada in the 1950s and 60s, others were born here, and still others are now third and fourth-generation Greek Canadians. In this book the author defines first-generation as an original immigrant from Greece, second-generation as the child of immigrant parents etc. Most first-generation Greek Canadians arrived in Canada because of poverty and war in Greece. Through sheer hard work they succeeded in building successful lives for themselves and their descendants. Proud of their achievements in this country, regardless of generation, many Greek Canadians retain a continuing love for Greece, and frequently visit there. To understand something of the Greek Canadian communities in the Maritimes and the lives of certain individuals here, one must first look at the Greek homeland, and then at the world they created for themselves in the Canadian environment.

I.1 Geography and Climate

As one of the cradles of western civilization, ancient Greece is probably better known to most North Americans than the land and people of Greece today. This is a country with a proud people whose roots go back at least four thousand years.

Situated in eastern Europe, Greece, or “Ellas” as its own people call it, is surrounded by three seas: the Ionian Sea to the west, the Aegean Sea to the east, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. The Peloponnese, or southern part of Greece, is a peninsula narrowly connected to the north at the Isthmus of Corinth. Numerous Greek islands dot the Aegean Sea north and east to the Turkish coast and south into the Mediterranean. While many of the smaller islands are barren and studded with rocks, the large islands of Crete and Rhodes are rich in arable land and are home to many people. Mid-size islands such as Thasos, Naxos, Chios, and Samos are places of great beauty. They contain thriving populations and are particularly popular with the thousands of tourists who visit Greece each year. On the west coast of Greece, Corfu and Cephalonia are equally popular. The large island of Cyprus is still further east off the coast of Lebanon. In spite of many cultural and linguistic ties with Greece, Cyprus is an independent state.

Compared to Canada, Greece is a small country of just over 132,000 sq. kilometers or 50,000 sq. miles. About one fifth of its landmass is composed of islands. The whole country is roughly the size of the combined Maritime Provinces. In the northeast and across the Aegean lies Turkey, a country with which Greece shares a sometimes-troubled frontier. The north of Greece also borders on Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Albania. Disturbances in these areas can cause tensions, especially in northern Greece. Almost two thirds of Greece is mountainous; in fact the mountains split the whole eastern side of the country into sections. The mountains continue south into the sea, emerging again on the island of Crete. Greece is prone to earthquakes; at different times in recent years earth tremors caused major damage in the northeast and on the island of Thera (also known as Santorini). The recent 1999 earthquake in the northern suburbs of Athens did extensive damage to buildings, caused serious injuries, and killed many people. Centuries of tree cutting have denuded the land of much of its soil in many places, leaving the hills fit only for wandering sheep and goats. Everywhere the visitor notes bare limestone outcroppings. Greece is generally poor in terms of commercial mineral deposits, but the country does have an abundance of excellent quality marble, particularly in Attica and on the island of Paros. This marble has been used for buildings and for sculptural purposes since the days of the ancient Greeks.

Certain areas of good agricultural land in Greece are highly productive and quite capable of producing two annual harvests. Rich crops of grain, fruit, vegetables, and tobacco grow on the plains of Boeotia and Thessaly, in eastern Macedonia, and in the Peloponnese, while throughout Greece grapes and olives are abundant. Since antiquity people have congregated in the prime agricultural areas, but they also favor

other regions such as the countryside around Athens and Corinth. These regions are less well suited for agriculture, but they are close to the sea, and therefore well suited for fishing and commercial activities. The seas produce numerous varieties of fish. Freshly caught shrimp, squid, and octopus are among the many seafoods which are the mainstay of popular restaurants all over Greece. For years the inhabitants of the islands of Kos and Kalymnos in the eastern Aegean have maintained a world-famous sponge industry.

The Greek climate is typically mediterranean. Spring comes as early as February with the blooming of the almond trees, and by May the hills are ablaze with multicoloured wildflowers. With the onset of July’s intense heat, temperatures hover between 30 and 45 degrees centigrade. While the heat gradually abates through September and October, little rain arrives until November. Winters in Greece are cool and wet, with little snow except in the mountains.

A striking feature of Greek geography is the marvelous quality of the changing light as it strikes the water or the hills. Travelers to Greece, as well as the Greeks themselves, never tire in gazing at this spectacle, and they try to capture the essence of that special light in photos and paintings. Given the special beauty of the landscape, the attraction of a warm and sunny climate, and the ability to live so much of the time in the outdoors, it is not surprising that most Greeks in North America maintain a deep love for the Greek homeland, and a constant yearning to see it again and again.