November 17th

So this has been a pretty typical day for me but it is an important day in Greek history. We were forwarded a message from the US embassy here in Greece so I thought I would copy it here for all of you.

U.S. Embassy Athens and U.S. Consulate General Thessaloniki wish to
alert American citizens in Greece of the potential for large
demonstrations throughout Greece on Tuesday, November 17.
Demonstrations are expected to take place in Athens in the afternoon and
evening in the vicinity of the U.S. Embassy, and in Thessaloniki in the
area of the U.S. Consulate General, as well as in and near university
campuses.

We wish to remind American citizens that even demonstrations intended to
be peaceful can turn confrontational and possibly escalate into
violence. November 17 is the anniversary date of 1973 protests against
the then-ruling junta, and is often marked by demonstration activity.
In the past, some demonstrations on November 17 have included violence
and destruction of property. Americans are therefore urged to avoid the
areas of demonstrations, and to exercise caution if within the vicinity
of any demonstrations. The Embassy recommends that Americans in the
Athens neighborhoods of Kolonaki and Ampelokipi avoid leaving their
residences between 4 pm November 17, 2009 and 6 am November 18, 2009.

Traffic and public transportation in the vicinity of demonstrations are
likely to be adversely affected. American citizens seeking Embassy or
Consulate General services on November 17 should be aware that the
Consulate General in Thessaloniki is planning to close at 2 pm and the
Embassy in Athens may do so as well. Many offices may close earlier
should circumstances warrant.

Alright so......
The US embassy does not however really discuss why for instance the demonstrations end at the US embassy. I am still a little fuzzy on the details but they have told us some basics. So a military junta had taken over the government and a group of students at Athens polytechnic university opposed their regime. These students started an illegal radio show criticizing the regime and had it broadcast throughout Greece. The junta was not very in control of the situation and was worried about all the support the students were gathering and so they sent tankers through the gates of the school, which I pass by every time I go to the National Archaeological Museum. It is still unclear how many students were killed that night. Anyways the protest ends at the US embassy because the US did not support the students but rather the military junta. This was during the time of the Cold War when the US was very nervous at supporting what they thought might be communist regimes. In Greece it is a holiday because the junta realized they could not handle things and had to call back in the old president I think it was. Anyways the constitution was reformed and they have had the same constitution and parliamentary democracy ever since then.

If you want more information I found a Wikipedia article on it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athens_Polytechnic_uprising

Nothing too exciting to report. I have a 10 page paper due tomorrow and a group project and a lot of stuff due next week so I have been mostly working. I will update you when exciting things happen!