Immigrants' Customs Today in Greece
Migration is a social phenomenon that differs from society to society and age to age. Greece is a country of multicultural consistence. The purpose of this project is to study the Kenyan, Brazilian and Armenian societies in Greece and their touch with their homeland's customs.
Kenyans
The Kenyan society in Greece is quite closed-off from the rest. One way for the Kenyans to preserve their unity is through their people's traditions, one of them being the wedding. Weddings are sacred for the Kenyans, since they're a means of connection with their homeland, mostly the customs performed before the ceremony.
For any wedding to happen, wether in Greece or back in Kenya, the families must approve of the union. Older generations of immigrants chose to wear traditional wedding costumes, but younger generations choose the classic wedding clothes for the bridesgroom.
The groom must give a dowry to the bride's parents as symbol of honor. By no means is it a way for the groom to ''buy'' the bride, but rather a way of bringing the two families closer through a positive social interaction. "Ruracio" is the negotiation for the dowry. The women from both families gather at the bride's house and sing outside the front door. The members from the two families begin by singing different songs from each other, but end up singing the same song. This happens to accentuate the unison of the two families. There, the people inside the house demand a price for the bride, and until the deal is struck, the door will not be opened.
However, this custom is not performed as strictly as it did in the past. Due to the higher education levels of the younger generations and their intergration in the Greek society, the parents are no longer that demanding, even though they might insist on the aquiration of a dowry.
Brazilians
There are about four to five thousand brazilian immigrants in Greece. Brazilians love dancing and feasts, and that is obvious through their preservance of the custom "Capoeira".
Capoeira is an old dancing tradition. It is said that it originates from the African populations that were taken as slaves. The Brazilian Capoeira differs from the African, since in Africa it is considered more of a dance than a martial art.
In Capoeira, the dancers form a ring, and a couple dances in the middle. The people around clap and sing to the sound of traditional Capoeira instruments, and the people inside dance with controlled body movements, that look like a fight. They duck and kick, rise and spin in a whirl of movements, never touching each other. Long ago, it was practiced within plantations of the plant Capoeira, and that where it took its name from.
Armenians
There are a lot of Armenian immigrants in Greece. Most of them are fully intergrated in the Greek society, but of course choose to preserve the traditions brought from their homeland. One of those is the wedding traditions.
The morning before the wedding, the groom's family visits the bride's house. They all sing for the bride, and she locks herself in a room. According to the custom, her family tells the groom's family that the bride shall not be given to them, because supposedly a rich buisnessman wishes to marry her. That is an encouragement for the best man to start giving money, until her family is statisfied and believes the groom has enough money to take care of her.
Moreover, before the bride leaves for the curch, the bridesmaids steal her shoes. The bridegroom must pay again to get them back, so the bride won't go to church barefoot.
After the ceremony in church, a big feast follows between friends and families. Lots of traditional dishes are offered to the attendants, accompanied by drinks and lots of music and dancing. The bridesgroom join the gathering after some time. Before beginning to dance, the couple breaks a small white plate each with the heel of their foot, a symbol of good luck in their new life. The songs that are played can range from traditional armenian dances (which are very impressive) to pop music, that are enjoyed by young and old people alike.
