Episode Transcript
Femininity is powerful in all its forms, exceptional women, rare girls must be appreciated in every
way for their perspectives, actions, thoughts, and their unique ways of being.
Rare girls are inspiring and this is what this podcast is all about.
Hello, my name is Aziz and my guest today is Maria Kurtidou. Maria is from Larissa,
Greece where she studies at the Department of International and European Studies in her high
school. Maria is a dancer, she loves painting, and she really adores listening to music and
hanging out with her friends. Her favorite activity is traveling. Maria has the goal to visit
as many places as possible. Maria, how are you today? Hello, I'm fine, thank you.
I'm happy, I'm honored, I'm lucky to have you here and very curious about you as a person
and as a girl, so I'll ask you this nice question. If your friends who know you
could describe your personality, what would they say about you?
I think they would say that I am quite shy but kind-hearted and I really like to
help my friends and other people, so yes. Thank you, and that makes me curious.
If you're a shy kind of girl, how can you as well be a dancer? Because as a dancer you need to dance
with confidence to show your movements, your body, your abilities. So do you have like two
personalities when you're a dancer? You imagine yourself a princess or a queen or something like
that and in reality you are Maria? Or how does it work? Dance is something that expresses me and
when I dance I forgot everything. I love that. So dance for you is like a meditation, a way for you
to feel yourself and to forget everything. Is it the same with painting or is painting
a creative activity that develops a different part of your personality?
I would say that it's similar, the feeling that came out with painting.
That's interesting. Are there other things that give you a similar feeling to how you feel
when you dance and you forget everything and when you're painting? For example, is traveling part
of that? Is music part of that? Are there things that you do, maybe communication with people,
that almost feel to you like expressing those emotions and forgetting all your problems?
I really like to travel and meet new people because it helps me to relax and forget all my problems
and I like to listen to music too but I'm not playing any musical instruments.
Thank you and I'm curious to understand how would you describe the personality of a girl
from Larissa in Greece? One, is it different to personality of girls in Athens or other parts of
your country? Or are you also a mix of everywhere in the world where you have a little bit of
hip-hop from New York, Hollywood from California, K-pop from Korea, a little bit of Japanese culture
and so you're now a modern mix of many countries? The main difference between the girls in Larissa
and the girls in Athens is that Larissa is a smaller town and we know each other
and it is more intimate if I could say it like that and also how the girls in Larissa look like
has to do with what kind of person each one is. Thank you for your answer and to ask you then,
in the future, would you prefer to live in a big city and have all those activities and opportunities
or do you like to be in a small town more calm and closer to nature?
I would like it very much and this is my dream but I think I will also miss living in a quieter place
just like Larissa and Greece because compared with America or other places it's much smaller.
Thank you and so you would love to travel. Can you tell me a little bit more about that?
Did you travel a lot before or is it now your dream because after the pandemic and being in
a small town you want the opportunity to try everything and to explore the world.
What made you interested in traveling? I have traveled to Italy and Romania
and it was a fantastic experience because I like to see new places and to meet new people
and see their cultures but this opportunity was given to me by the school with the Erasmus program.
I'm happy you're involved with the Erasmus program and yes it opens new doors and new
opportunities for you. If you could describe what did you notice as maybe a difference between
the atmosphere or the people or the culture between Greece, Romania and Italy?
The culture in Greece and Romania I would say that it is similar but Italy is quite
different and I would say that maybe the people are very happy and kind especially to tourists.
Thank you and where are other countries you are excited to visit because you are interested in
their culture? Would you love to visit America or Japan or Dubai or Australia? Tell me about
your dreams for the places you're most excited about visiting. I would really like to go to
America and Japan as you said before but I would also like to go to more exotic countries.
Thank you and tell me about your dance history. How did you start dancing? What
type or style is the most interesting for you and is there a kind or type of dance you would love
to try and to develop your skills in doing? I started dancing when I was six years old I think
with ballet and then I did all the styles of dance and slowly I started going to competitions
and the style that attracted me was hip-hop. I was in two I think yes two competitive teams
while a team from my dance club participated in the world dance competitions that took place
in Arizona this year. That's wonderful and to understand you even more how do you spend your
day? If someone could imagine your life or your ideal perfect day when do you wake up? What do
you do in the morning? What do you do for fun? How would you enjoy that day? Would it be a summer day
or autumn? And tell me everything that would describe your full perfect day. From Monday to
Friday I wake up at seven in the morning and I go to school. I finish at two and the rest of the day
I study, I go to training and then I have time if I have time I go out with my friends. The day I love
is Saturday because I only have training with my team and the rest of the day I listen to music
and I am getting ready to go out with my friends in the evening. Thank you and I love that you're
speaking about your team. In the future when you might go to another city or university
how do you think as a shy girl you will be able to make new friends? Do you think it will be
difficult? Do you think you will just go to dance classes and you'll meet new teammates and it will
be easy? Or how do you imagine for any person maybe your advice or your opinion about the best
way for shy people to make new friends in a new city or new university? So I think it will be
quite difficult for me but my friends say that even though I am shy I am at the same time very
sociable and I don't know how. I would say that I am very polite so I draw people toward me
and one piece of advice I give is to take an initiative, yes, and not be afraid because it's
better to do something you will regret than not do it and not know what will happen. I agree 100%
and what would be your future dream university or subject or job or something like that?
Are you someone maybe you want to be a travel blogger and travel the world because of YouTube
or you want to study philosophy or to become a dance teacher or to go study in California or
what would be a dream next step for your future? I would really like to combine traveling with my
future profession and have dance as an escape and I want to go to the School of International
and Professional Studies but from there on I'm not so sure about which part of this school I would
like to follow. However I am most I am almost certain that I would like to stay abroad and
visit Greece regularly. Thank you so much Maria for sharing about your life, your dreams, your
passions. I wish you success. I wish you to study where you'd wish to to visit all the continents
in the world and thank you again for participating in this podcast. Thank you very much and it was my
honor to participate.
