Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, You're listening to an upstream interview from Athens, Greece with Maria Scordialis, co-founder of the Living and Wholeness Institute and co-initiator of the art of hosting. Welcome.

Hello,

Thank you.

Welcome.

Hello, thank you.

Maria, let's just start with, can you describe yourself a little bit and your background?

Sure.

I am Greek.

Both my parents were Greek, but I am what you call a Greek from the diaspora in that my both my parents were born in Egypt in Ismailia, which is on the Suez Canal, and my grandfather was born in Asia Minor, which of course is present day Turkey.

So I have very deep Hellenic roots, but I have grown up all over the world because my father worked with the United Nations

so I was born in Congo and lived there and then lived in Guinea in Nepal in India, New York City, and then 18 years in the United Kingdom.

And I only came to live in Greece in 2007 when I bought this beautiful place called Ahradizid. in it as a living and learning center in nature. So my background as I said is my my soul and my heart is very Greek and very Hellenic but my American accent shows that I've had this international upbringing.

So in Greek we say, Imme Cosmopolitan, I am a citizen of the world. So you can put me anywhere in the world and I'll feel

at home. And it's been a very important part of my life because from a very young age I was always in multicultural environments which allowed me to open I think

to a part of myself and to the other where one accepts everything that is there and that allows you to come in deeper relationship

with what is rather than what you think should be or what you expect.

So that's just a little bit about me. And you said you moved to Greece in

2007. So you've been here during a really interesting time. What has kind of

your sense been of moving here and living here for the past, is that?

Ten years, almost.

Almost, nine years.

Well, in 2007, when I arrived, we were still in what I call the bubble years.

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