What kind of tourist you are in Greece

By Gazmend Kapllani
If you were a tourist, your pigeon Greek would sound quite pleasant. In fact, this is the real problem of being different; when an American speaks bad Greek, then he is a cute American. When an Albanian speaks bad Greek, he is nothing but a dirty Albanian. However, if an American speaks Greek very well, then, usually, he is a remarkable American; when an Albanian speaks Greek fluently, then he gets the label, “O.K. Albanian, you will never be a Greek even if you change 300 different hides.”
So, due to the fact that he is an unfortunate illegal emigrant, the Greek he speaks grates on people’s nerves. And he has understood this. Therefore, when he gets on a bus, he speaks softly, never asks questions and goes red with embarrassment if anyone asks him a question, because he knows that as soon as they hear his accent, the locals on the bus all turn around and stare at him, making him feel as if he has the bird flu.
“Why do they have such fear in their eyes when they look at me,” he asks himself. He would love to cry out, “why do you all fear me so much, I love this countryŢ But he would never pose that question, because he knows what the answer would be, “Don’t you watch the news broadcasts, you murder us, they should round all of you up and send you back to your filthy country!”. ” So quickly,” his mind replies, ” you would send me back so soon?” I have just found a job.. And I work like a dog, from morning till late at night, in the rain and in the sun. Look at my hands, its like someone has been chopping at them with a meat axe. Because I work, so your hands can stay lovely and softƉ would like to buy a car too. No, first I’d buy a huge cassette recorder, then color TV, then a washing machine, and then…and then.. well, then I would see what else. And at that moment you feel that the expression, “in your filthy country,” really hurts. There are children there too, there are mothers who love their children, just like here, there are teenagers who fall in love, like here, there are people who hope and others who despair, like here.
Suddenly the bus stops and two gentlemen get on. They wear the same uniform and they have the same harsh look. He goes cold inside. “all illegal emigrants get off the bus, come on, off, off, get offŢ And he steps down, down, always downwards. “For the love of God how much further can a person stoop,” he asks himself.