Happy Holidays!

Demetrios Rhompotis

Friends, we made it this year as well to the end! Soon we’ll have to change a number in our calendars, phones, even in our checks, although dated 2023 ones will still be good… I wish you from the bottom of my heart, as Jose Feliciano memoraby sang, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Another adventure will start soon and we can only hope for the best, even if we are pessimists, because as we say in Greek, hope is the last thing to die, like the cockroaches, but this is another story.

And since this tribune’s mission has been didactic all along (here we laugh) let me explain the title so that we avoid misunderstandings that might raise unfounded suspicions of my good will! In Greece, generation after generation wishes both verbally and in written form “Happy Holidays” (Καλές Γιορτές) this season without any political connotations. The reason is simple: we have Christmas, New Year’s or St. Basil’s Day and Epiphany. So in order to include them all, we say “Happy Holidays”. It’s not bad, it has no hidden agendas, it’s crystal clear like a cristalino tequila!

Before leaving you for a much needed break, I want to express my gratitude to all the friends who contributed by placing messages or ads in this remarkable edition of NEO! Besides us and our unceasing efforts, it’s you that make it possible and you have every right to rejoice and feel proud. Our community needs NEO to reflect its image and this is what we are trying to do, not successfully all the time, but most I hope. And with your support and generosity we will continue doing so!