Vasilis Lamprianides is lives at the Baloukli Greek nursing home in Constantinople. His room is clean as a whistle and filled with books and Greek dictionaries. He went to Greece in 1977 and returned to Constantinople in 2005 to spend the rest of his life there. He is not abandoned in the nursing home, on the contrary; he lives in a decent, well-staffed environment with the Greek hospital's doctors just a door away in case of emergency.

He says no to hostility

Before he left for Greece Mr. Vasilis used to live in  Makrychori, a nice area beside the Greek school and the church. In Constantinople, he used to be a great designer and clothes' cutter.

All Greeks were great artisans and they didn't link their art only to pay or the Turkish boss's behaviour. This is why they succeeded and why the Turks lost so much when the Greeks left.

Mr. Vasilis doesn't fear speaking the truth about the Turks but he also talks about the good experiences he lived near them. "Enough with hostilities between Turks and Greeks, this must end at some point", he says with emphasis.

He also talks about his Turkish boss fondly, and remembers that he raised his salary numerous times without him ever asking. "He still visits me in the nursing home. Even though he is very old and sick he doesn't forget me.  He was satisfied with my work and used to pay my rent in addition to my salary. If I ever asked him for an advance, he always gave it to me".

He adores consistency 

When Mr. Vasilis arrived in Greece, he detected some great differences, especially concerning the working environment. "While in Turkey I was one of the best in my job and was always the good example, I realised that in Greece people don't care about the labourer. There is a rivalry between the labourer and his boss as if they were enemies. My philosophy has to do with being a conscious and consistent employee, regardless what my boss does".

As the nursing home has a satellite television, Vasilis who is very studious, watches the news on the Greek state channel. He also attends the service in Saints Anargyroi's church inside the nursing home. "The church is something like Thermopylae to me; I won't lose this for anything".

He also reads every paper or book that falls into his hands, but he has a soft spot for Greek literature. He doesn't like political articles very much.

When someone he knows travels to Greece, he asks them to bring him back a newspaper or book. He bought Simitis's (former prime minister of Greece) book in order to learn what happened with Imia and Ocalan, but he didn't learn much. 
TEXT-PHOTOS: GEORGE ZAFEIROPOULOS
SOURCE: www.greecewithin.com

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