00100					3689 South Court
00200					Palo Alto, Ca. 94306
00300					December 22, 1973
00400	
00500	Dear Katerina and Zissis:
00600	
00700		As I warned you during my visit, I am very irresponsible when
00800	it comes to writing letters of thanks to  people.    It's  been  over
00900	three  months now, and as usual I am just getting around to thank you
01000	for your hospitality and all the special efforts you made to make  my
01100	visit to Athens so pleasant and warm.
01200	
01300			As you know, I went to Tel Aviv from Athens and spent
01400	over a week with all my relatives there.  I thought of travelling  to
01500	the Siani region, but as I had only a week to visit all my relatives,
01600	everyone said " wait until you come back again".    No  one  expected
01700	that  fighting would break out only a week after I left Israel.  Some
01800	of the highlights of my visit there were my meeting Golda Meir  at  a
01900	party,  and  my  having a date with an Israeli woman.  Just as I must
02000	return to Greece, so must I return to Israel. I remember vividly  our
02100	discussion  over the question of the survival of Israel.  Zissis, you
02200	certainly had a few good points about the problems of survival  of  a
02300	small  country  in the midst of massive hostile territories. I myself
02400	have no doubt that Israel will make every effort to  survive  on  its
02500	own,  but  it  saddens me greatly to see how politically oriented the
02600	rest of the world is, as has  been  seen  in  the  reactions  of  the
02700	European nations to the Arab oil embargo tactics.  For us here in the
02800	United States, I think that the current energy  crisis  is  really  a
02900	good  thing in disguise as too many of us for too long have taken too
03000	much for granted when it comes to our misusing  the  earth's  limited
03100	resources.  Katerina, I am sure that you will remember that our house
03200	was never too warm, and my parents were always concerned about  extra
03300	lights  on.     Also, we now have and have had for a number of years,
03400	only the small economy type cars.   So  for  us,  the  energy  crisis
03500	hasn't  had  much of an effect, execpt in the relative expense of the
03600	fuel and energy we do use.  I assume that  Greece  has  its  problems
03700	too,  just  as all the other European countries.  Luckily, in Athens,
03800	the weather in winter is mild like in the San Francisco area.
03900	
04000		My parents came out West for a visit during our  Thanksgiving
04100	holiday  time,(the  end  of  November)  and we all had a big feast at
04200	Dick's apartment.  Jeniffer is now about 7 months  old  and  although
04300	not  yet  as  active as Constantinos, she is already a baby with that
04400	constant devilish curiosity.  Enclosed  is  a  picture  of  Dick  and
04500	Jeniffer, along with other interesting shots.
04600	
04700		I  really  picked  some exciting places to visit on that last
04800	trip to Europe.  I arrive in Italy and the Cholera epidemic threatens
04900	to  dampen  my  plans.  Then I visit you in Greece, and before long a
05000	near revolution takes place.    I  remember  our  talking  about  the
05100	government  and  the political future of Greece. I also remember that
05200	both of you had different viewpoints on the matter.  I 'm curious  to
05300	find  out whether they are still the same. It's really tragic to read
05400	about and see film  clips  of  this  military  opression  and  savage
05500	cruelty  occuring  so  frequently these days.  We have it here in the
05600	USA too, only its not so evident.  Some of it comes to light,  as  in
05700	the  Watergate  hearings,  the Pentagon Papers, the new scandals here
05800	and there.  Our society is so dominated by political and militaristic
05900	goals.      Lets  hope  that  as  with  the energy crisis we all find
06000	happiness in less power wants and needs!
06100	
06200		Continuing  on  with  my trip, after leaving Israel I went to
06300	London via Rome airport, scene of (along  with  Athens  airport)  the
06400	most  recent  guerella activity.  In London I visited with an Israeli
06500	cousin, studying there for a year.  Now he and his family are back in
06600	Israel,  having been called into the war.  London and England seem to
06700	be the hardenst hit of the European nations as regards the effect  on
06800	the  local  economy.    So,  I hope it wasnt me that caused all these
06900	recent ominous developments over the world. I do know  that  my  trip
07000	turned  out  to have been planned for the right time.   My mother was
07100	thinking of travelling to Israel for this Christmas, but has  decided
07200	not  to  go as the mood there is very tense and rather depressed over
07300	the loosses suffered in the war.  Luckily, no  one  in  my  immediate
07400	family  was killed, but we know of friends who gave their lives.   At
07500	least one cousin now is stationed West of the  Suez,  so  things  are
07600	tense.
07700	
07800		My  visit  with  you  was wonderful.  I have nothing but warm
07900	memories, of my stay in Athens, my wandering about  town,  my  visits
08000	with  the  family  to  the  local  stores, and my just feeling warmly
08100	welcomed.   I'm going to make every effort to visit you next  summer,
08200	or  the  one  after  that-down  near  Iithion.   The call of the warm
08300	Medeterranean and of the Agrafiotis family beckons and I find it hard
08400	to resist such a tempting call.
08500	
08600			It's  Christmas time here, and in Greece too.  I have
08700	a small tree, a living one. I'll plant it  in  the  garden  when  the
08800	holidays are over, just as I did with last year's tree. Before long I
08900	expect to have a whole forest  of  trees-each  one  representing  one
09000	Christmas. I guess you too have gotten into the Christmas spirit, and
09100	Helena and Constantinos have had their hands  into  everything,  with
09200	all  the enery that little children always seem to have.  I hope that
09300	you have found a suitable solution to the care of the  children,  and
09400	that you, Katerina have some peace and free time for yourself.
09500	
09600		Well,  once  again,  a  belated  big  thank  you for all your
09700	kindness and attention to me during my stay with you.  Here's wishing
09800	you  the  best  of  good fortune and happiness now and in the year to
09900	come.
10000	
10100						love,
10200	
10300	
10400	
10500	
10600	p.s. - I wrote this letter in my office, on the  computer-  its  just
10700	like  typing,  execpt  I  can  easily  correct  any mistakes, and can
10800	collect my thoughts and express my feelings a bit more  freely.     I
10900	hope  you  dont  mind  the apparant formality.  I assure you that the
11000	words are all my own, not the computer's or a robot's.