The Universal Language

I've always been told that music is the universal language. I've always believed that statement, and I've often repeated it to make a point. But I never really understood the statement until yesterday.

Last night, we went to a concert. It was a Greek musician named George Dalaras (center), and he plays a type of bluegrass music. Our group was unsure of what to expect going into the concert, but tickets weren't too expensive-- 10 Euro a piece-- so we went.



I was absolutely floored (in a good way) by this concert, and I have no idea why. I don't even particularly like bluegrass music. It was all in Greek, so I couldn't understand the lyrics, and there was a series of little vignettes between some of the songs that was completely Greek as well. I must admit, however, that this was definitely what gave the concert its beauty.

Since I couldn't understand the lyrics, I was forced to listen intently to the music. When I go to concerts in English, I don't often get anything out of the lyrics anyways (unless I know them prior to coming to the concert), and this time they weren't even there for me to comprehend. George Dalaras played the guitar and sang and there were four backup vocalists as well. There was a 12-piece orchestra to accompany the songs, and behind the orchestra was an elevated stage for the vignettes. At times they would have a dancer come out and interpret the songs with a dance.

The most moving part of the concert, however, was when he had the audience sing along. Now this man isn't necessarily a popular artist; they weren't singing his songs. But the second half of the concert was almost completely a sing-along. The absolute greatest part of this was that these people were excited! They weren't singing shamefully or quietly; they were belting the words loud and proud. It got me thinking; do we have any cultural songs that would do these two things? Songs that 1) Everybody knows the words to, and 2) will sing at the top of their lungs to show their national pride. I, and through discussions with others from my group, couldn't think of any.

So that's my current thoughts. I really like it here because I am able to go to something like this and enjoy it just as much as locals Dmitri and Niki who are sitting behind me.

Quick overview of other things we've been doing (in the order I remember, not the order we visited =] ): National Archaeological Museum, Cycladic Art Museum, Greek dancing lessons, Greek language lessons, Jewish Museum of Athens, reading at the Theatre of Dionysus, Acropolis Museum, and an Archaeological cemetery on an ancient pottery site.
Things I am looking forward to: Theatrical performance at the Odeon of Herodion Atticus, Virtual Reality center, and possibly a visit to the 2004 Olympic Stadium.


Oh, and one more thing.... I've been taking pictures! If you want to see them, follow these links:

http://cord.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2000597&l=be42b&id=1273320032
http://cord.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2000601&l=f7d2e&id=1273320032
http://cord.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2000602&l=7dfce&id=1273320032

There are about 150 (60 in the first and second and 30 in the third) so don't feel the need to look at them ALL... but if you want to comment about any of them, feel free to post comments on here! (In order to comment right on the picture, you need to have a Facebook site... but you don't need a Facebook just to look at them).

Take care everyone, I love and miss you all!
Emily