Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, three days with him. Monday, the farewell at “Nisiotissa,” Tuesday evening with about ten colleagues for a farewell dinner at the residence of the American ambassador, where Kimberly Guilfoyle is expected to move in. And Wednesday at 2 p.m., again in the same place, for his final press conference before definitively bidding farewell to his role as U.S. ambassador to Greece.

“I only want to give my last interview to you, my friend Dimitris.” He had told me this at an unexpected moment. And so it happened.

To understand who Giorgaros Tsounis is (“call me that, not George”), I’ll tell you one thing: as soon as you enter, on the left wall, you come across ten black-and-white photographs. The imprints of his heart. All of them depict his loved ones, his mother Eleni and his late father Dimitris, as well as photos of his wife Olga’s humble family.

Giorgaros from Platano, Olga from the neighboring village of Agios Dimitrios. Photos pulsating with toil, pride, and a unique sense of Greekness. One phrase of his will stay with me, spoken by his mother: “Listen, Giorgaki, if you’re lucky in life, only two people have wiped your little butt. You’re one of them, and I’m the other.”

No one else like Tsounis among high-ranking officials, especially of the superpower named the United States of America. His directness, warmth, spontaneity, and pride in being “super Greek” overflow in his demeanor.

Yes, I’ll paint his hagiography. He deserves it!

Scene 1: “Listen, Giorgaki, if you’re lucky in life”

GIORGOS TSOUNIS: My dear, just a bit of change…

DIMITRIS DANIKAS: What change do you think Greece needs? Should the capable move forward? Does it happen like that in America?

G.TS.: Look, everyone has opportunities in America, and I want opportunities for everyone. I don’t care if they’re from Manhattan or Hollywood. People in the poorest neighborhoods of Youngstown, Ohio, should have opportunities. And to make it Greek, people born in Ekali have many opportunities. But a poor child should have the same opportunities.

D.D.: That doesn’t exist here. Here, it’s a clientelist state. To advance, you need an uncle in Koroni. What do you think is Greece’s disadvantage after all the years you’ve lived here? If you were omnipotent, what would you fix?

G.TS.: I would ensure that every child born has the same opportunities as the wealthiest.

D.D.: You said it all. But that doesn’t happen in Greece.

G.TS.: That doesn’t happen anywhere.

D.D.: No, it happens in America.

G.TS.: No, even there, the wealthy have more opportunities than poor kids. But they can also have opportunities, and on this matter, I’d like Greece to be more like America.

D.D.: Your father was from Platano. Did he leave for America barefoot?

G.TS.: Both my father and mother were from Platano. My father left in ’53, and my mother in ’61.

D.D.: Were they extremely poor?

G.TS.: Their houses had no water, no electricity, no toilets. And when my father left, there were no roads, no cars.

D.D.: And what made him decide to go to America?

G.TS.: When my father went to school, they used to say that the streets in America were paved with gold. Of course, the streets weren’t golden, but my father found opportunities. He got a job, worked as a waiter, opened his own shop, started a business, and advanced. And I remember what my mother, Eleni, told me when I was a very young child: “My boy, I don’t care, I’ll clean toilets, but I’ll send you to university.”

D.D.: And when you became an ambassador, what did your mother say? Tell me the truth now.

G.TS.: When I went to present my credentials to the President, my mother said, “When I left Greece as a little girl, I never even dreamed that I would return and meet the President of the Republic, and that my child would come back as the U.S. ambassador to Greece.”

D.D.: At first, she didn’t want it, though. Tell me what she said.

G.TS.: “Giorgo, what are you doing? You have a family, kids, a home, a business, what are you doing with politics? Please, don’t go!” A mother worries, and it comes from love.

D.D.: How often do you talk on the phone?

G.TS.: I talk to my mother every two days. My sisters talk to her four times a day. And I tell her, “Hey, mom, what do you have left to say that you didn’t say the first, second, and third time?” And she tells me, “Listen, Giorgaki, if you’re lucky in life, only two people have wiped your little butt. You’re one of them, and I’m the other. Call your mother!” Greek mother…

D.D.: Does she come here often?

G.TS.: She does. And I took her to the village for Christmas last year. It was the first time in 63 years that she spent Christmas in the village. It was something else. We went to Agios Nikolaos, our church, and 25 people ate together in the square. That was the most beautiful thing in my three years in Greece, that I was able to spend Christmas in the village with my mother.

Scene 2: “And America wants peace here”

D.D.: Three years ago, if I remember correctly, there was an incident in the Aegean with a Turkish ship and a Greek ship. You did something about it. You’ve never mentioned this anywhere; tell me honestly.

G.TS.: No, Dimitri, we don’t talk about such things. Look, America wants peace in the Aegean. We stand with Greece and want peace.

D.D.: We also want peace. I heard that after this incident, you told some Greeks, “Don’t worry, go enjoy your holidays on the islands, there’s no problem.” Is that true? Did you say that?

G.TS.: Yes. Many talk big, but their actions are very different. No one wants war; no one wants problems.

D.D.: Erdogan probably does.

G.TS.: He doesn’t. Erdogan and the Turks know. Greece is strong and can retaliate. Greece has an incredible army, amazing deterrence, and they know it.

D.D.: Then why does he threaten us?

G.TS.: Greece has strength and a good army to prevent war. If you’re strong, you won’t have problems. And America helps in this matter.

D.D.: Will Trump help as well? Because he spoke very highly of Erdogan.

G.TS.: Trump was president for four years, and relations with Greece were even closer and better. For the past fifteen years, with President Obama, President Trump, and President Biden, three different presidents, and with Papandreou, Samaras, Tsipras, and Mitsotakis, relations with America have been very good, and this will continue.

D.D.: So we can be sure, then.

G.TS.: We are! We have common interests. It’s a very important priority for the U.S.

D.D.: I’m conveying people’s concerns when I ask you.

G.TS.: Dimitri, America will not let anything happen here. No one wants problems in the Aegean. The government has done a very good job. Prime Minister Mitsotakis and President Erdogan have sat down to talk seven times.

D.D.: Yes, they talk, but in the end…

G.TS.: They talk and do things, and that’s significant. If you talk, you solve problems. If you don’t talk, you’ll have misunderstandings and excessive reactions. And let me tell you something? Mitsotakis is a very smart, very serious person, one of the smartest people I’ve met in my life.

Scene 3: “Twenty Years with Biden”

D.D.: When you came to Greece, some people said, “Who is this guy? He paid Biden money and became an ambassador.” But the truth is different. Tell me exactly what you were before coming to Greece.

G.TS.: Biden and I had been friends for 20 years. For twenty years we talked about Greece from a geopolitical perspective, and I would tell him what I thought—we shared the same views. He called me and said, “I want to send you to Athens, and I want you to make the U.S.-Greece relationship closer.”

D.D.: Which you did. But who was Tsounis before?

G.TS.: I was a lawyer. I graduated from NYU, St. John’s School of Law, worked for the New York City Council, for large law firms, then started my own company and acquired ten hotels.

D.D.: Which you still own?

G.TS.: Yes. And then I worked as an independent consultant for massive publicly traded companies on the New York Stock Exchange and for the State of New York as chairman of hospitals and head of Battery Park City. I was on the board of Business Executives for National Security while also working for the Greek lobby.

D.D.: So Tsounis wasn’t just a simple lawyer or businessman who went to Biden and said, “Send me to Greece to take a vacation, and I’ll give you a million dollars for your campaign.” Many have said this. But having met you, I say there’s no one like Tsounis. Two things you told me really stood out: that “Syrian refugees are like my children. I don’t understand why in Greece you don’t utilize these people to work and boost GDP.” And the second was that “one Greek undermines another, whereas they should be helping each other.”

G.TS.: We need to forget this “let the neighbor’s goat die” mentality and help one another. That is what filotimo is, that is our ethos. We must be decent people and have love for everyone.

Scene 4: “The Food in Greece is Much Better”

D.D.: Is Greece better today than it was in 2022 when you arrived?

G.TS.: Yes. The economy is much better, investments… During the crisis, if it weren’t for the Greek family, I don’t know what would have happened to our country. The Greek family kept Greece standing. That’s why I have so much respect for Greeks. In tough times, no one is like the Greeks. In 1940, after October 28th, Greece gave hope to Europe. Everyone thought Europe would be destroyed, but the Greeks changed the course of World War II. In the crisis, you see what a Greek is. I don’t forget my roots, and I will always stand by Greece and the Greeks. I love you all very much.

D.D.: But you won’t leave forever—you’ll come and go, right?

G.TS.: Look, when you called me for fish soup in your hometown, I came (referring to Kourouta at the “Achilleion” seafood tavern of Dinos Anagnostopoulos).

D.D.: You’re talking about “Achilleion”?

G.TS.: Of course. The best fish soup. In my village, we don’t have fish soup, being up in the mountains.

D.D.: Where did you eat the best roast pork?

G.TS.: In Mystras. Lamb in Lamia, roast in Mikro and Megalo Chorio outside of Karpenisi. But the best burger is in my village, Platanos. I’ll take you there—it’s a very beautiful village.

D.D.: Where do you eat fish? You mentioned “Papaioannou” to me.

G.TS.: I love “Papaioannou.” It also has amazing tomatoes! Biden’s sister has visited Greece many times, and we go to “Papaioannou.” And when we finish the meal and it’s time to order dessert, she asks for a plate of tomatoes!

D.D.: Ha, ha, ha, that’s incredible!

G.TS.: And I often go to Kaisariani, to “Tsobanakos,” for lamb chops. There’s nothing like it.

D.D.: Speaking of cuisine, did you lose 40 kilos?

G.TS.: I’ve put some back on. Let’s say I lost 35 kilos.

D.D.: Still a lot. How did you lose that, with a special diet?

G.TS.: I don’t eat sweets or processed food—if God gave you the food, eat it! Greece has the best eggs, cheeses, vegetables, fruits, fish, and I eat real food.

D.D.: Does America have better meat?

G.TS.: I don’t like meat very much. I like lamb chops, a little roast pork…

D.D.: So you prefer Greek food over American?

G.TS.: Look, in America, we eat… let me not say. Everything is in a can, in a box, processed. The food in Greece is much better, especially when it comes from a garden, when things are fresh and not plastic.

Scene 5: “Obama and Biden Supported Greece”

D.D.: Is it true that during the major crisis, when we believed that Merkel and Schäuble wanted to kick Greece out, America intervened, and Greece stayed in the Eurozone?

G.TS.: Back then, Obama, and later Biden, would not let the country that gave us democracy and Western thought—the country of Pericles, Socrates, Aristotle, Diogenes, Pythagoras, Archimedes, Sophocles—leave Europe. They wouldn’t allow it. We owe Greece a great debt, all of humanity does. We received all the great things from Greece. And now, not only does Greece stand on its feet, but it runs—it has been Europe’s best economy over the past four years.

D.D.: Yes, but ordinary people don’t see it that way. With 700 or 1,000 euros a month, how can someone manage when rent alone is 500 euros? Put yourself in their shoes.

G.TS.: I understand what you’re saying; I have 400 Greeks working at the embassy.

D.D.: Well, the staff you have here are excellent. Eleni, Katherine, and Alexandros are all exceptional.

G.TS.: And the security staff, with whom I spend more hours a day than with my family.

D.D.: When you tell others, “I’m going to the American embassy,” they say, “Oh wow, where are you going? They’ll monitor you.” But when you step inside, you see a different situation here. For example, you see Alexandros, a remarkable person, Katherine, Eleni. There’s familiarity, warmth, and you think, “What is this?” Or like yesterday’s meal with the salmon. A simple dish. There’s no “wealth,” as they say, no “grand bouffe.” Have you seen the film The Grand Bouffe? That doesn’t happen here. What strikes me is the incredible simplicity.

G.TS.: Let me tell you two things. People who start working at the embassy don’t want to leave. There are people who’ve worked there for 20, 30, 40 years—it’s the only job they’ll have in their lifetime. They have opportunities to go elsewhere, but they like this job. The second thing I’ll mention comes from Scandinavia and is called “Janteloven” (Law of Jante). It says no one is better than anyone else; we are all children of God. That’s how we should think. When I walk into a restaurant, it takes me 30 minutes to greet everyone who approaches me. Turn my back on someone? Never! We must show respect. That’s how we were taught by our parents, grandmothers, and grandfathers. Respect for everyone. And I don’t care what position you hold or how much money you have; we are all children of God.

D.D.: We are all children of God. Did you learn that from your mother or your father?

G.TS.: From both. If I were arrogant, my mother would take the wooden spoon, and my father would grab the belt.

D.D.: And what did your mother tell you about your children? You have three children, and she suggested their names. Tell me about that.

G.TS.: My son Dimitris is named after my father. My daughter Eleni is named after my mother. And my second daughter, Yianna, after my father-in-law Ioannis. I went to my mother-in-law and said, “The child should be named after you,” and she replied, “George, my name is Gramatia. I can’t do that to your daughter. Name her after my husband.” And I happily obliged.

D.D.: So, you honored the tradition. Did your mother hit you when you were young?

G.TS.: A bit of yelling and a little slap with the slipper. I wouldn’t say she hit me—it was out of love, to set me straight. I was a bit mischievous.

D.D.: My mother used to chase me with a hanger. I was skinny and would hide under my bed.

G.TS.: One day, my mother opened the drawer and took out the wooden spoon. I told her, “Mom, I didn’t do anything.” “It’s early yet,” she replied. But she was loving and patient…

D.D.: Was there a matriarchy in the household?

G.TS.: Yes. My father worked seven days a week to put food on the table. Times were tough. They didn’t know the language, they had no money…

D.D.: And it was you with two sisters. Were they older or younger?

G.TS.: Younger, and my mother was the head of the household.

D.D.: Didn’t she say that your sisters should marry first and then you?

G.TS.: Yes, that’s something they might say, but love comes when you meet the right person.

D.D.: Were you the first to marry?

G.TS.: Yes, I was the first.

D.D.: But your sisters have also married, right?

G.TS.: Vasiliki is married and has three children. Anastasia hasn’t married yet. If we can arrange a match here—a good Greek boy—please call me. Anastasia is something special.

D.D.: Is your mother upset that Anastasia hasn’t married yet?

G.TS.: Did she tell you that? (laughs) Of the three of us, Anastasia is her favorite. My mother will turn 84 this April. Anastasia has her… what can I say…

Scene 6: “I went to school and didn’t know a word of English”

D.D.: Were you all born in America?

G.TS.: Yes, in New York.

D.D.: But from the first moment, you learned Greek; that’s what you spoke at home.

G.TS.: It was the first language I learned. I went to school at the age of four, and I didn’t know a word of English. My mother came in ’61, and I was born in ’67. They lived in Astoria, which was the center of the Greek community in America. And there were many from Platanos. The apartment building in Washington Heights, next to Agios Spyridon, had six apartments, and all of them were occupied by people from Platanos. They also had a club, and when I was a little kid, my father was the president of the club. I grew up as a Platanian in America. At Easter, we would go to the basement, and there would be 50 people from our village gathered. We didn’t forget our roots. In America, it’s a little harder to maintain Greekness, religion, and village. But I told my father that I wouldn’t forget my roots. That’s why I go to the village with four beloved friends I’ve had for 46 years now: Kostas Xydis, Kostas Exarchos, Dimitris Sombasakos, and Nikos Kalles. We go to the village, eat lamb chops, burgers, and then have some tsipouro on the balcony while looking at the apple tree. And we take a hike every day, and we have a great time. The best sleep you get is in the village, 870 meters up in the mountains.

D.D.: And from the moment you were born, did your parents talk to you about Platanos?

G.TS.: Not only that. We used to go on vacation there in the summer. I didn’t know that Greece had seas. We would go airport-village and village-airport. The entire summer in the village. And then I would return to America, go to church, and all my friends had a nice tan. “Where did you go?” “To the sea.” “Where?” “To Greece.” “Does Greece have seas?” Well, when I found out that Greece had seas, we stayed six weeks in the village and one at the sea.

D.D.: Which coastal places do you like?

G.TS.: This summer, I went to Elafonisos. What a beautiful sea, the beaches were something else…

D.D.: And you’ve been to Zakynthos.

G.TS.: Many times. The first time I went to Zakynthos, I was 14, at a camp in Vartholomio. And we would go to Zakynthos, Aegina, Delphi, Olympia, we went everywhere. Greece has so many beautiful places.

D.D.: Do you have a house here? Have you bought anything?

G.TS.: I haven’t bought anything, I have the family home in the village.

D.D.: Besides the village. You should buy something in Athens too. Won’t you be going back and forth?

G.TS.: I hope so. My wife and daughters left at the end of August to start school back in America, and I stayed five days alone to finish my work. Olga, Eleni, and Gianna didn’t want to leave Greece, they wanted to stay here.

Scene 7: “The Miracle of God”

D.D.: How did you meet Olga? You told me that your mother wanted you to marry a girl from the neighboring village, not from afar.

G.TS.: My mother told me, “Don’t you dare bring me a foreigner.” A foreigner to my mother was someone from Trikala, from Karditsa.

D.D.: American women were completely out of the question, they were off the list.

G.TS.: She said: “Agrinio, Karpenisi, Mesolonghi, Nafpaktos.” And my wife was from Agios Dimitrios, a village 17 kilometers from Platanos. And I did it.

D.D.: How did you do it?

G.TS.: By luck and a miracle from God.

D.D.: A miracle from God, that’s what we call it now… However, before that, Tsounis, from what I hear from some people in America, was quite wild. Before Olga.

G.TS.: I don’t know who you’re talking to… I had a life before I got married, and then I have a proper family life.

D.D.: Are you religious?

G.TS.: Yes, I am. No bullshit! Everyone talks in Greece. No one will tell you that for the three years I was here, “Tsounis drinks, Tsounis parties, Tsounis takes envelopes…”

D.D.: Have you ever used drugs?

G.TS.: Never! Never in my life.

D.D.: Me neither. Not even a puff, nothing. And now I’m confessing something to you too. Two things I never understood in my life. The first is drugs – I don’t understand how people take drugs, even hashish. And the second is how a person becomes gay. It’s each person’s right, I’m not against it, but I never understood it.

G.TS.: A person who drinks a lot, gambles, or takes drugs has an illness, and we need to help them. As for the other thing you mentioned, I believe we should let people love whoever they want in this life. We are all children of God, and His house is for everyone – not just for those who look like us, behave like us, or come from the same place. And the things we have in common are far more important than what we don’t have. Jesus said: “I am not here to judge, I am here to help.” And I can’t say where love begins and where it ends.

D.D.: And now, we’re waiting for Kimberly, who will be coming when?

G.TS.: I don’t know, I hope she comes in the summer.

D.D.: Do you know her?

G.TS.: Yes, I know her. I can’t say I know her well. From the times I’ve met her and we’ve talked, she’s smart and warm. My hope for Mrs. Gilfoyle, and I’ll do whatever I can to help her, is that she continues strengthening Greek-American relations. To bring America and Greece closer together and do a good job. Give her a chance, get to know her. People were worried about me: “He’s not a diplomat, he’s a business person.” Nonsense… And then they got to know me and said, “Tsounis, you’re a good guy.” This is meritocracy. Greeks gave me the chance to get to know them and have shown me so much kindness and love, I have no words to thank them. And I hope the same happens with Mrs. Gilfoyle because I want the relations between Greece and America to become even better. Yes, we are the two countries, two beacons of democracy.

(Olga enters, greets us, we tell her to sit with us, but she wants to leave us alone.)

D.D.: You see Olga, and she is so simple, the wife of the U.S. ambassador.

G.TS.: She went for a walk up Lycabettus, she just came back. This is Greece! Every day, Olga walks up Lycabettus, has a coffee there, looks at St. George’s, and then returns.

D.D.: This simplicity is a gift of Americans, I would say, not of Europeans. Europeans are snobbish, while Americans have this amazing simplicity, this familiarity. I see it in the movies too, I work in cinema, I’ve seen so many films.

G.TS.: What’s your favorite?

D.D.: One of my favorites is “Chinatown” by Roman Polanski. A masterpiece.

G.TS.: Oooh, very nice! Mine is “To Catch a Thief” with Cary Grant and Grace Kelly.

D.D.: Hitchcock’s, of course. And “Vertigo,” too. And “Rear Window.”

G.TS.: Ah, you’re a fan of Grace Kelly. I love her. And Audrey Hepburn is one of my favorites. Did you know that in “Charade,” Cary Grant didn’t want to kiss Audrey Hepburn because he thought they had too big an age difference? I love “Roman Holiday” with Hepburn and Gregory Peck. Also, Errol Flynn, Joan Fontaine, Olivia de Havilland…

D.D.: Do you go to the cinema here in Greece?

G.TS.: I go, not many times.

D.D.: Theater?

G.TS.: I go to the theater, and once in a while, I might go with very good friends to see Argyros, Remos, or Vissi. I really like Daralas too. I want to do Greek things, go to Greek tavernas, to villages, to every corner in Greece, to live with the Greeks. I’m not like those who think Greece is Mykonos, Santorini, and Paros. I want to go to the mountains, I spent Christmas in Nymfaio, Florina. I go to Meteora, I go to Mystras, I go to “Ai Giorgis,” a very nice restaurant in Alexandroupolis… Today, I spoke to 500 children, 9 years old. I went to the College, but there were kids from 10 schools in the hall, and through video, another 5,000 children from schools all over Greece. I talked about many things, hospitality, kindness, self-respect, democracy, what it means to be Greek. And I told the kids: “You have a great history. You are lucky to be Greek. But it’s not enough to just say it. You have to live it.”

Scene 8: “In Greece, I am the National Team of Greece”

D.D.: Let’s talk about education now. Tell me your opinion about Greece.

G.TS.: I want public schools to be the best. And whoever wants to send their children to a public school, to a public university, good for them, I wish them the best. If someone wants to send their children to something different, a private school, one where they learn French, German, English, or send them to a university in America or England or for other universities to be created in Greece – why should we care? If we are a country with opportunities and truly democratic, every child should be able to go wherever they want, and all schools and universities should be the best that exist on Earth. Because these will give the foundation for every child to become whatever they want in this life.

D.D.: And so you’re saying that since this is not accepted in Greece – it’s been accepted now, of course – there’s no true democracy, right?

G.TS.: No, I didn’t say that. This is what they do in America, and it works very well for the students and our economy. I’m not saying change the schools you have in Greece. Keep them! But if someone wants to do something different for their child, they should have this opportunity.

D.D.: And not send them abroad, have them go to the foreign university here.

G.TS.: I think 40,000 children leave Greece every year. If they want to go to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, or Oxford, good for them! But why should we send these children to Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Cyprus? Why can’t they create other universities in Greece, keep the children and the money that families send abroad to stay in Greece? I want everyone to have choices. A family should be able to do what it thinks is best for its children. Individual choice is a wonderful thing. Today, you put on a thick sweater, and I put on a light T-shirt.

D.D.: You’re also a few kilos heavier than me, right? I’m 63 to 65 kilos, how much do you weigh?

G.TS.: Oh my God… I’m between 96-101.

D.D.: They told me at Tatoi Club, where you used to go for exercise, that you’re incredible, you lifted weights.

G.TS.: Now when I work out, I lift 130-140 kilos, and I’m 55 years old. When I was 25, I used to lift 185-188 kilos.

D.D.: Did you play basketball? Soccer? Soccer, not the American one.

G.TS.: I played both basketball and soccer. And I was very good at soccer. I have the jersey of Platanos Football Club.

D.D.: What team are you?

G.TS.: In Greece? The National Team of Greece!

D.D.: Why don’t you say a team?

G.TS.: Because I’m not completely stupid.

D.D.: Which ambassador made the mistake and said that he’s Panathinaikos? Burns?

G.TS.: Burns is the best ambassador that has come to Greece. An amazing person. But you say a team, and 11% in Greece loves you, and 89% hates you. I say the National Team of Greece, and I’m not wrong.

D.D.: You’re not going to tell me which team you support?

G.TS.: Dimitris, I’m telling you the truth, I don’t have a team. When I was a little kid, I bought a wallet because I really liked the colors, it was black and gold, and it was AEK’s. But I didn’t do it because I loved the team; I liked the colors.

D.D.: You’ve met all the team presidents, Melissanidis, Marinakis, Alafouzos…

G.TS.: Yes, and they are all friends. And I go to watch games.

D.D.: Ah, you go to the stadium – I didn’t know that.

G.TS.: I might go as a guest on Monday to Karaiskaki, on Tuesday to OAKA, on Friday to Philadelphia with AEK… I can’t go to one and not go to the others. And I try to do them all in one week, so no one says that I have preferences.

D.D.: A little diplomatic, isn’t it?

G.TS.: Not a little, a lot! But it’s smart. For me, football is something I loved since I was a little kid. I played right wing or central forward. And I still play in games. And I also play basketball. Of course, I don’t play 90 minutes, I play 15-20 in the first half and 10 minutes in the second.

D.D.: In America, what’s your team?

G.TS.: In America, I’m crazy about the New York Knicks basketball. And because Giannis (Antetokounmpo) is Greek and a very good friend and I went to his wedding, my second team is the Bucks. He’s a true Greek, I’ve never seen a better person in my life.

Scene 11: “The ten richest people in America, each with 100 to 400 billion, made it on their own”

D.D.: From the people you’ve met here in Greece, what has impressed you? You’ve met a lot of people, how many? A thousand? No, more… Three thousand?

G.TS.: There are days when I take 300-400 selfies a day…

D.D.: Wow. So, what would you say about these people?

G.TS.: In three years, I haven’t met a single Greek who has said a bad word to me. Every person has shown me respect, love. I sit at a table, and someone comes to meet me – I immediately stand up, because I will never greet anyone while sitting. We talk, I ask their name, where they are from, I say thank you, we might take a selfie. Not one person has said a bad word.

D.D.: In America?

G.TS.: In America, no one knows me, I walk in New York, and no one recognizes me.

D.D.: What is the average American like compared to the Greek?

G.TS.: What I like about the American is that they don’t care who you are, where you were born, what family you come from, there is full meritocracy. The ten richest people in America, Musk, Gates, Bezos, Buffett, Zuckerberg, Page, Brin, Bloomberg, etc., who have between 100 and 400 billion each, made it on their own, they didn’t get it from their father and mother. And this only happens in America.

D.D.: But you know what they say? In America, with all that money, with all that means, with such technology, they can’t put out the fire in Los Angeles. I mean, what’s going on?

G.TS.: Dimitris, no matter how much money and technology you have, you can’t fight the forces of God. If you have fire and wind and no rain, it’s very difficult. You can’t do anything, the wind has to stop first.

D.D.: So nature is irresistible, no one can beat it.

G.TS.: This happens everywhere, in America, in Canada, in Greece, in Cyprus, in Turkey, everywhere. We have a climate crisis. We need to do certain things so we can have this Earth for our children. We need to stop with coal – if we don’t stop, they’ll have 48-degree temperatures in India. We’ll have these fires, then we’ll have floods. We need to solve this problem.

Epilogue: “Now that Trump will take Greenland”

At that point, the very nice Alexandros Nafpliotis from the press office popped up, saying: “An hour has passed,” but meaning: “Come on, Mr. Danikas, wrap it up.” But Giorgaros, there he was, continuing to speak from the heart. Olga appeared, very elegant, very sweet, irresistible. Not even a third of his weight. The atmosphere was completely friendly. I would even say brotherly. Before I left, I provocatively asked him:

D.D.: Will Trump take Greenland after all?

G.TS.: Come on now… Trump was president for four years, and most things didn’t change. America didn’t leave NATO, they didn’t take anything. I don’t want to insult anyone, I hope that relations with Greece will be like the first four years of Trump, from ’17 to ’21.

D.D.: Should we hope that you will return to Greece?

G.TS.: I am Greek-American. The best life is to have one foot in America and one in Greece.

What can I tell you now? Like Giorgaros Tsounis, few like him. From those I know. Counted on the fingers of one hand. I owe him. From him, I learned a big lesson: to move forward without prejudices, certainties, and ideologies. As a great philosopher once said, “Stand on your ideas, soon they will collapse.”
George, I will always have you in my heart!