Better World

Multilingual Exarcheia The new refugee-housing city-state of

Emily deTar Gilmartin Exarcheia dirty looks while they hold heavy semi- Emily deTar Gilmartin is a freelance writer living automatic weapons and occasionally wear riot gear. in London. She has spent the last several years ey know me now, always in the same coat and fundraising and volunteering for refugee charities work boots, always walking as fast as I can, always in Europe. Prior to that she was the senior adminis- taking a left as soon as I pass them to walk uphill trator of a political office in the House of Lords, and into Exarcheia while they watch me. a fundraiser for various nonprofits and charities. To the average tourist who does not know about Ohi Day, Exarcheia, the recent rise of fascism in Greece, or the Four times a day I pass an armored van parked decades-long war between anarchists and the police in Ath- outside the Archeological Museum of , ens, this is any other busy street in the capitol and the police headphones in, my hands in the pockets of my look as though they have been called there due to a particular parka stinking of campfire smoke and souvlaki. threat of violence. ose who don’t live in this part of Athens ere is a sort of game we play, the police and I. don’t realize the police are here every day, 24 hours a day, and ey stare me down, nudging one another as soon that they are here because they are not allowed to set foot as they spot me walking quickly down a wide street in Exarcheia. ey are meant to appear as though they are protecting the Athenians from the anarchists, refugees and named 28th of October, the day that the Greeks drug addicts in Exarcheia, and the Greek media’s political defied Mussolini and began their resistance against rhetoric works tirelessly to bolster this illusion. fascism. e irony is not lost on me that they stand e borders of Exarcheia do indeed not look promising, here, of all places, giving those walking in and out of with no people in sight, boarded-up windows and a burnt out

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kiosk. Used needles lie on the ground under orange trees still bearing fruit in December, a December so cold that I lose feeling in my hands on the 15-minute walk between my Airbnb and the squat I volunteer in every day. But wander in even two blocks and the view changes. ere are taxis lin- ing up near the platia, cafés busy with students and volunteer coordinators on their laptops, refugees playing football in the platia while old Greek men smoke and play chess and a man with dreadlocks wearing a dress Children sleeping in a room in the squat. practices juggling. Within a few minutes of walking into Exarcheia’s heart, I begin to see two hours tiptoeing into the bound- in Exarcheia’s platia as my friends people I know, and they always smile aries to snap some Instagram photos and I walked to a bar that also gives and a few come to kiss me, promising of graffiti. free lessons during to swing by the squat later that eve- is was not the Exarcheia I rec- the day. e five of us that first night ning, sometimes asking if they can ognized, that I worked in 12 hours a were all working as volunteers in the bring me coffee or a snack. It feels day, that I played cards in with other same refugee camp south of Ath- like a village scene in a Marcel Pagnol volunteers. I searched for an hour ens, and this overnight break in the film, and even the baristas wave at and found nothing that accurately capitol was a rare treat. One of us, a me through the windows, although could describe life in Exarcheia. I also young German man, had lived in the I only have enough money to go in didn’t find any media mention of the most famous anarchist squat of all, once or twice a week. ey know that fascists from Golden Dawn sending an abandoned hotel called City Plaza, if a young American woman is here death threats to us, planting a bomb at and he told us he knew where to go more than once and not by accident, the squat closest to ours or attacking for some relaxation after the stress that she isn’t a tourist and that seems refugees with machetes. No, Golden of the camp. Most bars I had gone to inspire some respect. Most Ameri- Dawn doesn’t get mentioned in any into in Athens charged 20 euros for cans who come to Greece won’t set articles about Exarcheia, but there a double bourbon, but in Exarcheia foot here, but I didn’t know that for are accusations against anarchists the mafia is in charge of the liquor. I a long time. aplenty. I ask a Greek friend about get a whiskey for four euros and by When I tried through a series of this, and she says the government the end of the evening, I have made WhatsApp messages to describe to decides what is printed about Exar- Iranian and Greek friends and have my parents where I was staying and cheia, and that they plant agitators at the number of a Spanish language what I was doing in Athens, I strug- demonstrations. It is a well-accepted teacher who would like me to come gled to come up with the right words fact here that the police and govern- to Christmas Eve in a squat to cook that would illuminate the incredible ment start riots so they can have an with refugees and other volunteers. language and economy forged by excuse to raid the anarchist proper- It was this Spanish volunteer who basic human need and self-organi- ties and “purge” the people they see introduced me to the anarchists zation. Growing frustrated that they as undesirable. running the squat where I eventually could not absorb the full picture, I did began volunteering full-time. a cursory Google search of Exarcheia Arriving in Exarcheia Many buildings in Exarcheia have and I was shocked at the results: only I knew absolutely nothing about been abandoned for years. Some used a handful of articles from the Greek Exarcheia the first time I crossed its to be schools, others were places of media slandering the anarchists, no small borders, and so I felt no appre- business, and a few are apartments mention that their work day in and hension, only curiosity and excite- whose tenants died and the proper- day out was on behalf of refugees, ment and the pleasure of seeing so ties were never claimed. At any rate, and only a few blog posts from tour- many refugees socializing outdoors, they were empty when the anarchists ists mentioning their nervous one or their laughter traveling from the fires decided to appropriate them to turn

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them into refugee housing. Some are smiling at me hugely only inches ese assemblies can take three hours, very small; the squat I spent Christ- from my face, her eyes warm. depending on the concerns discussed, mas Eve cooking in houses only three It takes me a while to figure out and there is a vast amount of time dedi- Kurdish families who are especially the ins and outs of anarchy in the cated to just translation. Every issue is vulnerable. e father of one of the squats. For one, the concept of anar- discussed in English, then translated families has had five botched surger- chy to me used to be different from into Arabic, Kurdish, Farsi and Greek ies on a clubbed foot and now needs seeing its ideology in action. Here in simultaneously in different corners of to use a wheelchair, and his oldest the squats, anarchy is basically noth- the room. en each language group daughter is here after escaping an ing other than self-organization with has an opportunity to comment, to abusive marriage. ey are kind and no hierarchy. I am 100% accountable raise concerns themselves, to ask ques- social and help a gaggle of Spanish, for only myself. ere are no bosses, tions. It is efficient and seems tribal, as French and Greek anarchists reno- and children are just as expected to a representative from each family gives vate the abandoned apartment one assist in the ways they are able as we their earnest opinions. I find I spend floor at a time. When I meet them adults are, helping sweep the stairs or quite a lot of these meetings wishing on Christmas Eve there is only one providing translation now and then. I the rest of the world were organized on habitable floor. By the time I will come when I want and leave when I such a small scale, watching 50 people leave Exarcheia several weeks later, want and so does everyone else. We speaking five languages and patiently there are two floors finished, another do not accept funding from non- working through security scheduling family is about to move in and self- profit organizations or governments, and a shortage of heaters as they roll defense classes are being taught only from individuals, and those one another cigarettes and sip sweet there. e daughters are close to my come mostly from Western Europe, black tea. age, both chatty and giggly and they America and Canada. ere is a sense that all the resi- hug me tightly every time I come and We have a weekly assembly to make dents of the squat feel invested in this go, giving me recipes and asking me announcements, hear concerns, discuss place, this pile of gray stones and bad my Facebook name, gossiping with plans and changes, and to give every- plumbing and dirty glass windows me about boys. Although the mother one details about security concerns that the government could take away does not speak English, she puts my or pass on noise complaints made by at any moment, that they want to hands in her armpits to warm them the Greek neighbors who for the most make it a home, a social and thriving only moments after meeting me, part support the work being done here. place. ere are plans for a women’s committee, of starting a babysitting service and creating an educator database for Arabic, English, German and Greek language classes. We began a cooperative with two other squats, inviting the residents of all three to use our medical clinic, since we had space, a pharmacy and volunteer doc- tors. One of the squats lent out its res- taurant-sized kitchen for fundraising events, the other acted as a warehouse for bulky donations of blankets and boots, volunteers from all three work- ing on construction projects together. is was a new frontier in one of the oldest cities in the world, a whole net- work made up of people from Spain and Greece whose countries offered few jobs helping people who had no country and no permission to adopt another one. Everyone in Exarcheia is in limbo, forging a way to make that impermanence feel important.

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In the square devastated to tell me he sells cannabis on streets running under balconies Exarcheia square is a resting place, a because he is barred from legally work- where women wearing pearls and place to warm my hands and borrow a ing. His shame is visceral, and I put my fur coats drink with their friends, lighter and sit and talk. Everyone I meet hand on his shoulder and tell him my their blow dry costing more than wants to add me as a Facebook friend, American friends in Seattle order weed my weekly budget. Exarcheia is no and I find myself hoping in earnest online that is delivered to their door by paradise; there is a heroin problem, that some friendships here will outlast actual businesses. He is amazed at this, and I am told that before the anar- this hectic time and place. I sometimes and says he does not like to sell drugs chists drove the dealers away from spend hours here, nearly staying until at all, but that this knowledge makes the platia, it was full of heroin addicts morning on more than one occasion, him feel less of a weight on his back. overdosing in the middle of the day. sometimes eating a two euro souvlaki, He calls me Little Syrian because of my One night a man is being badly sometimes just chain smoking while Arabic pronunciation, and says he will beaten by two others and for a brief I meet a girl from Barcelona, a man see me tomorrow. moment those mingling in the square from Afghanistan, a translator from I am astonished to realize I’d be are all shocked and move toward the Morocco, a student from Germany, a safer lying on the ground here in the fight; at the same moment I see the Greek and another Greek and another platia for five hours asleep under my men I am with all stop. eir faces go Greek as well, but mostly they are from coat than I am walking to where I’m blank and they turn back to the con- Syria. Souria, they say. staying in Victoria. I’ve been grabbed versation around the fire. My friend Speaking to strangers here is an by strange men three times in three from Holland is distraught, and says exercise in humility, and here is why: weeks, and all of those incidents hap- the man being beaten might die, within the space of half an hour on pened closer to the police vans and implores them to intervene. Nobody any given night I am praised for my my own front door than to Exarcheia, even acknowledges her concern. youthful face (they sometimes guess I am as young as 20, when I am 32), am praised for being American (I explain where a person is born is nothing more than an accident and I don’t deserve credit for that) and then I am praised for being “like an angel” to come to help the refugees, am called “such a strong woman” for surviving a divorce and starting over with noth- ing, and it is sometimes all too much. I have to bite the inside of my cheek Since 1986, EuroGreek has been providing high-quality, to keep myself from crying, because turnkey solutions, encompassing a whole range of client the man praising my strength walked needs for the following language combinations and services: for days to escape Syria, and now • English to Greek • Translation & Editing sleeps on the floor while suffering • Greek to English • Localization from a horrible abscess in his mouth. • German to Greek • Desktop Publishing e man who says I am kind like an • French to Greek • Testing • Spanish to Greek • Subtitling & Recording angel has been put in prison eight times in Greece for trying to leave with fake passports, but he could instead be living in the comfort of his wealthy family’s home in Damascus if it weren’t for his utter refusal to join the army and kill his fellow Syrians. It is embarrassing and painful to London Office Athens Office 27 Lascotts Road 93 Karagiorga Street be called strong by people whose iron London N22 8JG · UK Athens 166 75 · Greece will to survive has led them to this; Tel: +44 208 881 2482 Tel: +30 210 9628 559 one of the men leaves to “go work” and www.eurogreek.com [email protected] when I ask him about his work, he is

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But I have now glimpsed the man it is hard for them watching any kind of most restaurants in London can doing most of the beating, with brass violence, and I can tell they are relieved provide, and full of exchanging music knuckles on, and I know him. He is when the sound of the beating stops recommendations with the men who an anarchist who brings us more and the man is dragged away. is is work with me in the warehouse. donations than anyone else, who the truth of Exarcheia, though. Only Every day, for two hours, we distrib- comes to our weekly assembly to give by being hard can the anarchists keep ute fresh fruit, vegetables, diapers, us security updates, who roams Exar- cancer from regrowing here. Only sugar, rice, oil, coffee, canned milk, cheia hunting heroin dealers trying by being terrifying in their own way garlic and onions, shampoo, more to sell to kids and human traffickers can they keep the police from raiding and more again than any refugee trying to make contacts in the squats our squats and making the refugees in a camp is given in a week by the so they can get their hands on the homeless in one fell swoop, keep sex governments of Europe, which have children and any women traveling traffickers too afraid to kidnap easily. budgets that we cannot even wrap alone. I even know his real name. I tell e Golden Dawn sends threats that our minds around. ere are blankets my friend, if this man is being beaten they will come soon to murder every one afternoon, men’s shoes the next, it is either because he was trying to refugee and anarchist in Exarcheia, baby clothes, children’s coats and on sell heroin, recruit dealers among that they will kill us with machetes and on. We organize what we have the teenagers or trying to get the and then hang us from trees, will plant most of and immediately give it away names of anyone vulnerable enough bombs where the children play. ere for two hours every afternoon. to bribe or kidnap. She is shocked are no unattended children here. You We don’t waste time with taking but one look at the nodding serious simply will not see it. inventory, with discussing budgets faces around the fire tells her they all we don’t have, and by the end of the know this is the way it is. One man Daily work first week I know by sight which teen- near me looks at her and says almost You would think the death threats agers speak English and which babies sadly, “Your friend, she understands and the mafia and the smugglers and belong to which mother, who is Exarcheia.” the addicts who still sleep in the shad- hoping to move to Belgium and who ey know that if the anarchists owy outskirts of the place would be will go to Germany soon, and who don’t violently attack the dealers and on my mind all day, but that is rarely has sisters in Holland. I know which smugglers that life here would be the case. My days and hours are long, children are allowed to help me and intolerable for both the refugees and full of sweet tea and being force-fed who might try to run off with things the homeless Greeks who also share by refugee mothers who make better if left unattended, and I have helped the warmth of these bonfires. But still, dinners in a one-room home than various people with translation.

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Language here is a fascinating thing. bic, English and Kurdish already. But I have held conversations where a man we also have Kurds who spoke nothing uses Syrian Arabic and English to tell but two Kurdish dialects, Iranians who me a story, which I then translate to spoke only Farsi, and some African French for the Spanish girls who speak women who spoke only French, and some French and Portuguese. We then dozens of others who spoke only take our time, and sip Kurdish coffee Arabic. A man with horrendous post- with cardamom while we wait for the traumatic stress disorder was hearing right words to come in an unhurried the voices of children screaming one fashion. is conversation verges on evening and he was sobbing while a feeling like a party, or like watching a Greek volunteer tried to hold him and play, and the Spanish girls who don’t screamed for someone to find a Kurd- speak English or Arabic laugh at the ish translator. By the time one arrived, I jokes when we do, before they know was shaking uncontrollably in another what they’re about, and my Kurdish room from listening to him describe friend’s wife who understands only the dead children and asking us to the Arabic version gestures with her make them go away. In cases like this, I hands throughout, laughing. Nobody felt intense anger at myself for being an in the room knows any Greek. I learn ignorant Westerner who spoke barely the expressions for many things, and two languages, and that night I went find Arabic to be a beautiful and poetic to my apartment to cry and frantically language, using charming expressions study Arabic until three in the morning. like “the last grape on the vine” for I am not in Exarcheia anymore now, the youngest child in a family, and but in London, and I have just received sometimes very similar expressions to the news that the Kurdish family I was English, like “the teeth of the mind” for closest to, with the trilingual toddler wisdom teeth. e Syrians are horri- who lived in my lap in the evenings, fied when I say I have a baby face, and has been denied asylum in Greece. My one man in deadly earnest says, “My parents have tried to bring the family friend, you are not a baby. A baby is to Idaho, applying to sponsor them in very new. You must at least be 14!” America, but I hear that because of a While many of the conversations new executive order that my parents’ are slow and humorous or charming request will likely be refused. “From beyond description, we suffer for Syria? It is probably impossible now, if want of regular translators badly. We they are from Syria.” have translators at the weekly assem- I think of the life I saw carved out blies always, but medical emergencies in an undesirable area by a pack of and stressful conversations that need young Europeans who don’t believe in precise information often means borders or government or executive sending children running to find the orders. Of my friend who will probably only person who can help, and they die if he goes back to Turkey, where he are woken from a nap or taken from has already been tortured by the gov- construction projects while I wait, ernment that was supposed to aid him, sweating bullets, hoping the person the government paid by the European crying on the floor isn’t about to have Union to house refugees. I wonder a heart attack. where their linguistically talented Many of the refugees are highly two-year-old will end up, where the educated, and some children who had already-grown boys who speak seven never even gone to school already spoke languages will end up, and I wish there four languages fluently. A toddler who were hundreds of Exarcheias, thou- spent many of his evenings camping sands, that the whole earth was one out in my lap on the floor spoke Ara- multilingual anarchist squat. M]

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