I love learning about cultures around the world, but I am also frequently intrigued when observing my own country’s sometimes surprising diaspora in the places I visit.
••
Walking up a hill in the Bahamian capital of #Nassau, I started seeing signs with very obviously Greek surnames on West Street. A pediatrician, a lawyer - further out in the city, even a store from a food chain I have never once seen outside Greece (Γρηγόρης - Gregory’s).
••
Next to this tropically-designed Greek church, I started speaking with a Greek-Bahamian doctor. Having a conversation with a tanned, white-haired man who looks like he could easily be hanging out in any Greek village, and yet spoke English with an unmistakeable Bahamian accent and cadence, was an equally disorienting and fascinating moment (globalization, right?).
••
It turns out Greeks came to the Bahamas over a century ago thanks to their expertise in free diving for sponges, to develop the local industry. Many have roots in the island of Kalymnos. The local parish now counts around 120 families of Greek descent in Nassau, not insignificant for a city of around 244,000, while Greek eateries flank the capital’s streets.
••
The patterns in which the world moves and the places in which immigrant communities settle to build a future never cease to amaze me.
••
Where is the most unlikely place you’ve ever found your people? 😊😊
.
.
.
.
.
.
Share this Post
