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Allow a 16 year old girl to go to Athens....alone?

Allow a 16 year old girl to go to Athens....alone?

Old Nov 21st, 2010, 05:37 PM
  #41  
 
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I'm a mother of two and a grandmother. I've been to Athens. I KNOW I would not allow my daughter to go to Athens alone at that age. I hate to say it, but modeling can attract some very unsavory characters. I doubt seriously your daughter would get sold into slavery, but that doesn't mean she won't be left to her own devices, at best, or put in situations she is nowhere near ready for, or worse. No matter how good the agency is that you've been dealing with, they aren't there. I would go with her and stay there until the modeling opportunity was over, if I was determined that she would do this at all.
I want to say that I loved Athens and all of Greece. It isn't the city I'm objecting to, it is the lack of supervision, the fact she's with older women, and it puts her in a fairly isolated position.
Obviously this is my opinion only. You know your daughter and your comfort level. Going away to college is not the same, IMO, as going to Athens to work as a model. Just too many red flags for me.
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Old Nov 21st, 2010, 06:04 PM
  #42  
 
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Gruezi,your daughters had the advantage to live few years in Europe..I dont want to imply that the European kids are more street- wise than their American counterparts.

However, they do have the advantage to be familiars with different countries,cultures and languages because many countries are just few hours away from each other.

I shouldn't talk either because I started traveling solo to France when I was a little over sixteen, but I grew up in Rome and knew the French language, culture pretty well.

However, I would very be reluctant to send my 16 years old daughter alone to Europe.
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Old Nov 21st, 2010, 08:55 PM
  #43  
 
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I remember reading a similar thread several months ago, only I think the destination was Turkey; anyone else remember this, or am I making this up?
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Old Nov 21st, 2010, 10:10 PM
  #44  
 
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rattravelrs must be giving it a lot of thought. never been back to comment
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Old Nov 24th, 2010, 05:59 PM
  #45  
 
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I cannot comment on your daughter or how she will experience Athens, but I can tell you the following as a woman (with 2 Greek parents) who grew up in the US but now lives in Athens and works with US students when they come here to travel:
1) Most everyone in Athens speaks at least a bit of English if not alot of English
2) This city is full of ex-patriots
3) I feel safer walking the streets here than I do in Boston.
4) Unsavoury areas of town: near Omonia and Metaxourgeio Squares--make sure her apartment wouldn't be there. Like all big cities, there are better and worse areas. I choose not to walk around those areas late (after 11 pm) at night
5) This is a very social country and people go out all the time
6) The stereotype of American women in Europe (in general) is that they are "easy". The stereotype of Americans in Greece (in general) is that they are naive and that they are nice/friendly/rich.
7) With the economy now, you could probably find an economically-priced furnished apartment for yourself if you wanted her to have this experience but wanted to be close by.
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Old Nov 24th, 2010, 06:26 PM
  #46  
 
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This is almost identical to a posting about 6 months or perhaps a year ago. Are you the same person?

dave
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Old Nov 24th, 2010, 07:15 PM
  #47  
 
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Can we not agree to just CLOSE this thread, since ratravlers (if indeed she is real and even has a daughter) is never coming back to this thread??? She is very likely a TROLL (for those of you who have never seen this term, it means a person who deliberately sets forth a provocative topic or viewpoint, just to stir up controversy, not because it's a reality).

Let sleeping Trolls lie.
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Old Nov 24th, 2010, 07:35 PM
  #48  
 
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Daveesl, I said the same thing in a post just a few ahead of yours; glad you remember it--I was sure I'd read the same thing, but nobody else was picking up on it.

Agree, let's close this thread and not bite when it inevitably will come around again in a few months.
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Old Nov 25th, 2010, 12:31 AM
  #49  
 
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The OP has a history at Fodor's (click her name) so I would not be judgmental and accuse her of being a troll.

My experience with Athens is a couple of decades old, when I was a 40 year old man. When I walked around the city I was approached several times a day by fellows inviting me to their bar. They would never take No for an answer and were extremely persistent. After a few days I would recognize the oncoming invitation and would tell the fellow that I don't want to go to his bar before he could say anything. This got them upset to the point that several asked me why I don't like their country. I loved their country but I didn't want to go to some unknown bar touted by a street walker. I have never experienced anything in Europe like these touts except in Riga where they wear sandwich boards and pass out adverts.

In another realm, when I lived in Holland in the 1970s girls would tell me how much they liked Greece -- because of the men. The religious culture of Greece frowned strongly on girls who were promiscuous. Dutch girls had no such inhibitions so when they went to Greece the northern blonds had all the boys they could handle. A couple of them boasted to me of their exploits.

My daughter is 22 so she can do what she wants. I financed her one month solo trip to Paris this past summer. I would not do the same for Athens. If she was interested in Athens I would urge her not to go there without a close friend at her side at all times. If she was still 16 I would do whatever I could to prevent her from going under any circumstances.
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