Life In Greece
The Kitsaki Family
Lambrini was raised in the city of Thessaloniki and lived in a 3 bedroom apartment in the heart of the city with her sisters Ntina and Fani. She was was raised by her parents Eleni and Evangelos.
Family History
The village in which Lambrini's parents now reside is one that is important to the family history. This is where Lambrini's grandma (Yiayia Konstantina) planted her roots in Greece after fleeing the Greek Genocide.
The village of Xilagani is a 3 hour drive from the Turkish Border. Konstantina's family resided there after fleeing Constantinople in 1922 in the midst of the Greek Genocide . The Greek genocide occurred in the city of Anatolia when the Turkish killed the population of Ottoman Christian Greeks that resided in the area of the Ottoman Empire. Yiayia Konstantina was alive in both World War I and II. In World War I she lost her mother when fleeing and became an orphan at the age of 9. In World War II her husband was kidnapped and killed by the communists. She became and single mother and raised my yiayia, Yiayia Eleni, who I was named after.
"My yiayia was a brave woman. At such young age she went through so many hardships, and she still kept the same smile on her face every time we saw her."
Yiayia Konstantina
Pappou Theofanis
During the summer, they would go to Xilagani and stay there with their yiayia. They would help out in the gardens and enjoy the company of their yiayia. A bus would come to the center of Xilagani and take them to Imeros Beach where they would spend most of their days. They would also play with their childhood friends at the neighborhood playground right across their house. At night they would go to the "platia" and hangout with the other neighborhood kids and their families. Currently Lambrini's parents reside in the same house they grew up in in the village of Xilagani.
Early life
Lambrini attended Skeparni Elementary and graduated from Belokimon High School in 1987. She also attended an after school program, in which she learned to read, write and speak French and English. In her freetime she played basketball and worked at a clothing store for her first job at 15 with her sister Ntina.
George Tsitsas
My dad, George Tsitsas, also grew up in Thessaloniki. He was born in 1966 and lived in an apartment with his older sister and brother, 2 blocks away from my mom. He was the son of Konstantinos and Evangelia Kitsaki. When he was not helping his father with carpenting, he would be playing soccer with a club team. George was an excellent soccer player, and he shares the same passion now with his kids. He went to the same school as Lambrini, just two grades above, and was in the same class as her older sister. They coincidentally met at a friend's high school dance, and 4 years later, began living together in the US.
