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Oia, Santorini, Greece: Discussion on current Greek issues: In 1922 Greece and Turkey were at war, a war that Greece lost. It ended with the exchange of populations, but left some Greeks in Constantinople. In 1954 the Turks expelled those Greeks, but Muslims left in Greece have 2 elected representatives, enjoy all rights of citizens, and have had school texts changed to suit them. Cyprus, which is mostly Greek, was a British protectorate until the 1950s. There was a coup in 1954, so the Turks moved in and conquered the northern part of the island with the excuse that they had to protect the Turkish minority. The capital of Nicosia is cut in two by a wall. They recently cut a small hole in the wall, but it remains standing. There was a referendom on whether the southern part of Cyprus would like a confederation of states (like Switzerland), but the northern Cypriotes said NO. Stella said that it would be a great advantage to Greece to have Turkey admitted into the EU, because Greece is now continuously being threatened by Turkey, but many of the Europeans are against admitting Turkey to the EU because it is so backward, and its people really don’t want to be westernized. Greek society is quite tolerant of homosexuality, but AIDs has changed the behavior of the Greeks, and there is much more abstinence. From 6 to 15, children must attend school. Many go on until they are 18. In the last 3 grades (ages 15-18) you might be “tracked” according to your abilities (more vocational or more literature, arts, and math.) They are not allowed to work until they are 15 years old. All men must serve 18 months in the army. There are entrance exams to go to the university. All the universities are free. Free nursing care is provided for the elderly, which is proving to be a big problem with the increase in the numbers of older Greeks. Greece has subsidized medical care. Patients have a choice of a government hospital or a private hospital. Greeks don’t like or trust President George W. Bush. They don’t understand why he has insisted on this painful war. Macedonia is a former USSR republic. The largest part of the population is Greek, but Macedonia belongs to Bulgaria. Yugoslavian Macedonia was an invention of Tito’s. He created a Macedonian “church”. When Yugoslavia collapsed, Macedonia claimed independence, but they want a flag with the royal emblem of Philip and Alexander, Greek money, and the name of Macedonia for themselves alone. The Greek position is that they could be called Slavic Macedonia, or anything else, but NOT Macedonia. Greek prisons have many of the same problems as US prisons. There are too many people in prison. Besides Greek criminals, Greek prisons are full of Russian Mafia and Albanian thieves. To respond to this problem, Greece is building prisons in Albania and Bulgaria to put their people in prisons back in their own countries. Greece is a poor country, but you don’t see the slum areas or destitution or extreme poverty, probably because the family is such a strong institution in Greece.