Small World

The other day I meet a Greek family; the son goes to ACS and the family lives in my neighborhood.  As we were getting acquainted, the usual questions are asked... where are you from?  This is always a tough one for me and my answer is always a long one.  "Well I was born and raised in Toronto, Canada."  This always gets a pleasant response.  They expressed their wanting to go to Toronto as they have heard it is a wonderful city.  And I always pipe in the large Greek community!  Some even know about the Danforth!  Then I continue "Then I went to college in the USA and after college decided to stay and settled in the Washington, DC area."  This time, their response was "Oh, we went to America for the first time this summer!"  Most Greeks I have met who have gone to the US (America) go to one of these cities - New York, Chicago or L.A.  But this family surprised me as they said they went to Bethesda, Maryland!  I looked at them surprisingly and then said "I am from Bethesda/Chevy Chase area!!!"  What a small world!

Why did they go to Bethesda?  Good question!  Their son, Constantinos, who is a second grader has a gift for languages.  So the parents were trying to find a summer camp that focused mostly on English and Chinese.  And where did they find such a camp?  Well at Sidwell Friends in Bethesda, MD!

So the family spent a month in the Hyatt Hotel in the heart of Bethesda and walked Constantinos to camp every day.  As they shared photos of their adventures in my hometown, I would say "Oh that's the art structure between the library and the Giant grocery store."  What a thrill it was for all of us to recall our good memories of a place we both loved!

Mom declared that she loved all the restaurants in Bethesda and learned to eat and enjoy wonderful, fresh salads every day.  She also commented on how hot and humid it was there (they were there in July - small world - so was I) and how freezing cold the air conditioned areas were!  Air conditioners are not very common here.

Neat, eh?