[age Twelve

SCARLET AND BLACK

Gruenewald Genera/ins on Greeks
ﬁnds Them Proud, Contradictory

Ruth Gruenewald is cur-
rently a Fifth Year Student
teaching and studying abroad
In Greece as.part of the
fl'ravel ~ Service scholarship
program.

i'l'o the Editorl

It’s) awfully hard, you know,
not to generalize about a cul-
ture of which you know little,
Harder still when you know a
little more. Many times this
year I felt somewhat resentful
when people would exclaim,
~"Why, you’re not a typical
'American at all." Not that I
Would like to be typical you
understand; to my way of
thinking there is no Such thin

The Greeks here in Saloniki
seem to feel differently though;
there is nothing they like bet-
ter than generalizing about
themselves. “I am a Greek,"
says the man at the corner
kiosk, and he pounds his chest
with pride. ”I fought against
the Communists; my father
fought against the Turks; we
are a brave and strong people,
_we Greeks.”

“We are a passionate peo-
ple," says the lady who sells
flowers at the’market. “We
sing and we weep, we quarrel
and we love. It is our nature,
our heritage.”

”I am a Greek," says the
university student seriously,
“because I love two things
above all else, my country and
my freedom. For these I would
gladly face death. We are a
proud, liberty-loving people, we
Greeks."

Now I am no man on the
street collecting samples of
opinions about national charac-
ter. These are just bits of con-
yersations volunteered freely
by people I have met. They all
take the qualities dearest to
themselves and enlarge them so
as to encompass the whole na<
tion, They can do this because
they employ a kind of logic
that admits all sorts of contra-
dictions. So whatever they say
is right.

In H e o d contradictoriness
seems to be the essence here.
Let me give a few examples, all
of which occurred Within a
space of one hour.

At the Saloniki railroad sta—
tion, a crowd gathered at the
ticket window (queues are un-
known), and as I stood patient-
ly waiting (because I am
neither brave nor strong). I
was literally knocked down by
an impulsive young man who
obviously'knew how to use his
elbows and knees, It’s a little
disturbing to be standing in
front of a railroad ticket win-
dow one minute and sitting on
the floor the. next. But I didn't,
say anything because. . r .
well . . . the young man must
have had his reasons, and be-

sides I'm not a passionate and,

quarrelsome Greek. So I picked
myself up’ with quiet dignity;
but at that point to my utter
amazement, the gentleman in
question turned around and
with an absolutely sincere dis
play of gallantry offered me his
place, his hard-won place, right
.In front of the little window.

Having procured my ticket I
proceeded to the post office
where a package from America
was waiting for me. There is a
great deal of red tape involved
in picking up a package. One
must first find the correct
room (different sized parcels
go to different places), then one
must produce one's passport,
sign on several dotted lines, etc.
On this particular day (the pro-
cedure was especially trying.
You see, the little box addressed
to me contained a packet of
bath salts, something highly
suspect in the eyes of the postal
clerk. He informed me that I
would have to pay duty, and
that the duty would amount to
exactly three times as much as
the original product had cost.

I pleaded innocence, poverty,
illness, all to no avail. So, hav-
ing reasoned with myself that,
after all, I had no bath tub any-
way, and other related argu—
ments, I informed the clerk
that I did not wish to accept the
package and asked him if he
would send it back to America
or keep it for his girlfriend
This last remark must have
wounded the pride of my brave
young clerk; for he tore open
the wrapping and dumped the
contents—thousands of shining
pink crystals—on the floor.
Then with a polite bow and a
brief Salutation which translates
approximately as ”Go with
joy" he stalked out of the
room.

I left the post office quickly
and embarked upon the last ad-
venture of the hour. On my way
home I passed a little grocery
store and decided to stop and
buy a few things. The grocer
was weighing some vegetables
for another customer, and as I
waited, I noticed that his thumb
was on the scale, adding to the
actual weight. But this time I
was ready for a good fight, and
when my turn came and the

 

man charged me twenty dracl-u
mas, I told him I would pay no
more than ten. We proceeded to
barter, and finally the price
was fixed at fourteen. But
when I took out my purse, the
grocer suddenly smiled and
said, ”For you the price is
seven drachmas.” Well, I tried
to look nonchalant as I paid
him and scooped up lny pack-
ages, but curiosity won out, so
I turned back to ask why the
sudden low price. “Oh,” he re-
piled, “I am a Greek, and we
Greeks are generous people,
you know."

It is difficult not to general-
ize about a culture of which
ones know little. . . . very diffi-

cult.
Ruth Gruenewald

) Bowen

Continued from Page 3

great development. It seems to
me to offer an unusual chal-
lenge and an opportunity for
public service.

I have a special interest in it
also because Mrs. Bowen and
I both attended it as graduate
students and I started my
teaching career there, having
served seven years on the I30
ulty. I might add that I am
interested in it because it is lo-
cated in Iowa, a state that I
have grown to consider my
home and where I feel very
much at home. Parenthetically,
I am glad that Iowa. City is
close to Grinnell because I
shall always retain a deep in-
terest in Grinnell,‘ and I hope
to maintain my friendships
here.

Please forgive me for being
so personal in these remarks
this morning, but I thought you
might be interested 'in my com-
ments on leaving Grinnell and
that you had a right to know
the facts.

Mr. Rigoberlo Areces

who

For want of

American

Freedoms

has fled the Cuban regime

will be featured at a

FUND RAISING DINNER

Sponsored by Grinnelliuns for Goldwater

Tuesday —-PllR —

6:00 —- March 24th

Reservations in Lunch Line or P.O, Box 40

'— ,Cost § I .00

 

) Shorts

Continued from Page 9

the real winner in New Hamp-
shire was William Scranton
as the man best capable of
uniting the party against the
Democratic administration.
In other news, the commit—
tee announced that it will
open a campaign booth in room
15 of Burling library. The
booth will be open from 8-9
p.m., Sunday through Wednes-
day. All students interested in
more information on Scranton
or in working on his campaign
are urged to visit the campaign
booth, I

“Grinnellians for Goldwat<
er," a group organized to win
the Republican presidential
nomination at the upcoming
Mock Political Convention for
Senator Barry Goldwater, has
announced that Rigoberto Are.
ces will address a fund-rais-
ing dinner on Tuesday, at 6
pm. in the Private Dining
Room.

The dinner will be open to all
interested Students, faculty,
and residents of Grinnell. Res-
ervations can be made in
lunch line Monday or Tuesday,
through college post office box
or through college post office
box 40. A nominal charge of
$1.00 for students and $2.50 for
all others will be collected at
the door.

Recent polls taken among
members of the Grinnell Young
Democrats club indicate that
support for the Vice - Presi<
dential nomination of the Grin-
nell Mock Convention is well
split.

Of the 50 per cent response,
Hubert Humphrey led all Vice-
Presidential candidates with
28 per cent. U. N. Ambassador

 

Friday. March 20, NM

Adlai Stevenson was second.
chosen by 21 per cent of the
respondents.

Also getting strong support
were Attorney General Robert
Kennedy and Peace Corps Di-
rector R. Sargent Shriver, both
selected by 14 per cent of those
responding.

Support was also indicated
for Eugene McCarthy, Abra<
ham Ribicoif, Gale McGee and
Stuart Symington.

How to spend a weekend
in Chicago for $l5

so: JORNsuI
Lntharcnuege
Decors". Iowa
Says. ' Any

student. man
nrwnmsncau

$15.oo.Heva Is
how I did it."

man" a! VMCA Holst sus
chiwgo Symphony 2.50
Room ulVHoIeI 2.55

.53
run.

Ms

Brecklml a! 1 Hotel
an Insmuts Your
lunch at Bamboo im-

Nul. Hist. Museum TN"
Dinner at v Hotel

5:" ' dantt. v hotel
Coke den.

Room at v list-I

rm
I.l5
.l o
.45
2495

Breakfast at v Hotel 59
chhlp at Central Church

lunrh utY Hotel mo

Sim. AM.

5w. PM. Back to mmpvl

Yetnl $14.96

MEN - WOMEN - mamas
Stay at Chicago‘r

YMCIA HOTEL

826 South Wabash
‘at the edge of the LOOP
mmuuﬂm h: mo - "M ms and up

Wvllc M mamtlen- or call 91min

 

 

“SO WE DECIDED T0 . . .
' WOW! A BIKINI CLEANED BY

SWEDE'S . . .

. . . SETTLE OUT OF COUR .”

 

