Gifts to take back to Greece
 

I am meeting my daughter-in-law's parents for the first time this Xmas. They are Albanian but have lived in Thessaloniki, Greece for 20 years. They are modest people and I don't want to overwhelm them, but I would very much like to send them home with some useful and/or meaningful gifts from the US. My daughter-in-law has suggested things like socks, Nyquil/Dayquil (!!!), toothpaste, facial cream, slippers. She is NOT helpful at all!!!!! I don't mind giving them things they find difficult to get there but I want to make sure they are truly something useful and that they would want. I don't need to send them home with sterling from Tiffany's.....I just want to make sure that if it's boringly useful that it will be appreciated and not found odd. Any suggestions out there?

We always appreciated college T-shirts from the U.S., but please not baseball caps. From which state are you?

I would think your D-i-L knows what they would need and use. I think she was quite helpful myself.

OR - while they are visiting, you could ask <i>them</i> what sorts of things they have difficulty finding back home. Make it a casual discussion and see what they say. Then go out and get those things.

We on Fodors have no idea what her parents need/want.

I am afraid that it is difficult to give any advice, given the fact that they are Albanian immigrants and not Greeks....
Their needs and interests are for sure different ... but even so, bringing someone toothpaste and socks, might not be a good idea....
( it could even be insulting....)

I am sure that they won't have any interest in all the american designer clothes that are much cheaper in the US than in Greece, so i think in order to stay on the safe side, something for their home would be the best idea.

IF they have lived in Thessalonika for 20 years, they may be fitting in to Greek Culture fairly well, as a guess. A few years back a US friend had a similar question, what to bring to a couple, about age 60, in Thessalonika who'd been friends of her family there when she was a girl. A Greek woman I know suggested bringing one or 2 good Silver picture frames with an appropriate photo. She said that the typical livingroom has many framed photos. So my friend found an old photo of her parents, with the Greek couple. It was very well received!

Perhaps you might think of 2 frames (they don't have to be sterling, just good quality)... one with a charming picture of your son as a young boy and the other blank, so they could match it with a photo of your daughter in law when she was a young girl..

Some blind ideas, as I don't know what they like:

- Cooking utensils, maybe from some good US brand: if they like cooking, they will surely appreciate it, whatever it is. I remember my friend got a cheese raclette set and a chocolate fondu set as gifts, and I was sooo envy with her :-D There are plenty of sophisticated and cute and compact utensil to make gifts.

- Dietary supplement/ vitamin box, if they are aged people: don't get me wrong, I know that not all vitamin supplements work, but some do. I've read studied and talked with doctors about it. For example, zinc supplement extracted from natural seawater is good. Glucosamine is sometimes needed for aged people. I often brought back glucosamine box to my parents in Asia, and it works for their help. For this kind of gifts, it's better if you know about the supplement and know about the need of your guests. And I heard that the US was the champion of food supplement ;)

- A photo album of your DIL and her new family in US? They live far away and would love an album of their daughter.

- Scarf? Nobody dislike pretty scarf, men or women.

- Any local products from your region?

Thank you all for your comments. I have found them very very helpful.

You can go with electronic gadgets that might be work.I am sure that they would love it.