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It is said that there exist
two faces of Greece: the one we locals know about and that of the
diaspora. Crete is not confined in the limits of the island but also
exists and will exist in the heart and memories of Cretans that live all
over the world: America, Canada, Australia, Germany, Belgium etc. Always
on time for their meeting, every two years, Cretans of the diaspora met
again this summer for the congress of the World Council of Crete.
Thoughts, concerns, ideas, hopes, all for the much-loved homeland,
Crete. Crete is far away – geographically - for them but at the same
time so close to their hearts. The gathering is always a great “getting
together” chance every two years, since it is a good occasion to hear
interesting ideas and opinions that can be constructively carried out in
Crete in the future. We spoke to the chairman of the World Council of
Cretans, Stavros Simantiris, trying to formulate this need of bringing
in contact these two different worlds, discussing also the particularity
of the Cretan community in the USA, which has the experience of a much
more developed economy than that of Greece and of course the experience
of a different culture.
KATERINA VLACHAKI
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