Running brings me a lot of new and exciting things -- mental therapy, social happiness, peace of mind. Sometimes it even stumble upon something new and different -- sometimes surprisingly different.
While running, on the cobblestone streets near the Acropolis, I decided at the last minute to head out to see the Oympican Temple of Zeus.
Then I thought how nice it would be to run by the old Olympic stadium -- the only stadium in the world built entirely of white marble and used in ancient times to host the athletic portion of the Panathenaic games in honor of the Goddess Athena (since 556 BC)
Then while running through the park and the old library, I overheard loud rock music.
The true social runner that I am, I decided to head towards that direction.
The first thing that crossed my mind, was whether this was a rock concert. What I saw instead completely blew my mind. I had stumbled upon what is the arguably the largest Filipino Festival in Europe.
This was the annual Filipino Battle of the Bands -- literally over a thousand Filipinos of all ages were rocking, dancing, serving delicious food and drinks in the open air directly across the Olympic Stadium.
What I discovered was that there are perhaps over 45,000 Filipinos in Greece. Over 5,000 are land-based and many work as domestic helpers. Meanwhile there are estimates of close to 40,000 Filipino seafarers aboard ships owned or managed by Greeks.
Many Filipinos are highly educated, have obtained residence permits and have lived in Greece for a couple of generations.
Running is a wonderful recreational sport. It is also a wonderful cultural activity.
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