Summer romances in Greece are divided along national lines. Young foreigners have no problem finding a Greek “boyfriend”, while young foreigners may have a much greater challenge finding a willing Greek girl who wants to spend the summer with him, and most young foreigners end up with an affair. Summer with someone from your own country or another nation other than Greece. This is because there is no female equivalent of the Greek ‘kamaki’, a slang term that means ‘spear’ in Greek. What is a kamaki?
He is a young Greek who spends his summers conquering as many pretty foreign women as he can, returning to his gang of friends to brag about his conquests.
Natural habitat
This is a no-brainer, of course, the beaches of the mainland and Greek islands. The only prerequisite is a good flow of the ‘right’ kind of tourist: young women, especially those traveling alone or in a group small enough that local kamakis can handle them, although the occasional older ‘cougar’ can be found in demand too.
Kamaki The Movie
As a well-defined stereotype, of course, “kamaki” has spawned a movie of the same name. But he uses the term in one of its alternate meanings: as a promoter or general more charming. And the “kamaki” in the film are mainly young foreigners, not native Greeks. The filmmaker’s definition of ‘kamaki’ explains it: ‘A Kamaki is essentially an individual who possesses that rare gift, that certain charm and charisma that allows them to convince someone to do something they don’t want to do or are not sure of. .
This could include buying something the Kamaki is selling, doing something the Kamaki ‘victim’ isn’t convinced is a good idea, or sleeping with the Kamaki.
Is the Kamaki an endangered species?
In an increasingly politically correct world, coupled with a less conservative society in Greece, the answer is yes. Decades of tourists have made even the most beautiful foreign solo female traveler a more common and therefore less desirable prey. But there will always be a young Greek who longs for a foreign adventure without leaving home … and a foreign girl who left home because of it.
