Understanding finances has been an eye opening experience for me. (Written June 17th, 2021)
Before I get into this post I want to say that I know little to nothing about the greek economy. I am saying this so when people read my comments they don't get offended and say "this chick doesn't know what she's talking about." This post isn't about educating people on the Greek economy or the crisis the country has been battling for years. This is me telling you a story about what I experienced and to give you an idea of how different finances are here compared to what I'm used to. λοιπόν. Pronounced (LEE-pon) a phrase that greeks say when they come to the end of their sentence or topic of discussion and want to say they are finished with that thought. A little greek lesson for ya before we dive in. You're welcome everyone!
Extreme Debt
Greece as a country has battled with extreme debt and financial distress for a long time. That is what I knew before coming here. Many travel sites will strongly suggest if you are travelling to Greece to make sure you have enough money in cash with you to get yourself out. Getting ahold of your money through banks or transfers is not a reliable plan. But you don’t really see that as a tourist when you are out for dinners in fancy cliff side restaurants watching the sunset, or spending your time on the beach getting all the vitamin D you could ever need.
The country does a great job hiding it from the picturesque places you see on social media, but majority of people here don’t have money, and because of that things run…differently. Here is my first experience with this; one of his sister’s family owns a scooter repair and rental shop on the island of Santorini. Both her and her husband deal with interesting requests on a daily basis. I got to see this first hand during my first full summer staying there with them. A local man brought his scooter in to get fixed and when he returned to pick it up he told them he didn’t have the money to pay for it….So instead he brought in a huge metal jug of olive oil as payment....yes you read that right. Olive oil instead of money. I was shocked. Growing up in Canada this would never be even considered or accepted as payment. The thoughts that ran through my head when this happened were as followed; first, IM SORRY ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Second, how do you run a business? Third, how do you know you are going to get paid for your hard work when people see this as acceptable currency?
I would be furious if I fixed this mans bike, put in the work and time and only after it was all done he told me he couldn’t pay. But this didn’t seem to phase them. Here, all too often “gifts” or labour is used in exchange for what you need.
Minimum Wage Is Minimal
Only after talking with his siblings and applying for jobs here did I realize the drastic difference in salaries. Minimum wage in Greece is 650 Euros per month. For full time work that equals out to about 5 euros an hour. If you are working for a company that will pay you between 850 to 1,200 euros per month you are a happy camper. Many young people will head to the islands for seasonal work where they can make around 1,500 a month but that is working 10- 12 hour days everyday of the week. No days off. Even more surprising to me is having an education doesn't help much. A Greek lawyer with a degree in law starting off will make about the same as someone working at a nail saloon in Santorini. I will be honest, all of this information was a lot for me to take in. Working in Canadian media my colleagues and I always felt we were not getting paid enough. Now keep in mind cost of living and all the other factors that go into salaries. My media salary was considered on the low end. But let me tell you. When I told his sister what I was making monthly back home she almost had a heart attack. It really makes you put life into perspective.
But You Get The Beach!
I have heard that a lot when talking about finances here. Everyone says "yeah but look where you get to live." Which is somewhat a fair statement. I mean how many people can say they took a long weekend trip to Santorini. It also hits me when I get off the phone with my sister in February and its -30 degrees there and +16 and sunny here. I guess in these situations you have to decide what is truly worth more to you.
photo credit: pixabay
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