The well-known singer spoke about the difficult childhood she experienced in Albania, but also in the racism which he experienced as an 8-year-old boy, around the time he came to Greece: «As soon as I opened my eyes after a very long journey, I began to see many lights. I realized that I had entered the magical land.”. What I remember is that the bread tasted different. I'll never forget that. I was very happy. Everything was really nice. Of course, it was also difficult, especially until I learned the language. When my mom sent us to school, there were just the two of us—my brother and me—two foreign kids from Albania. »It was hard for me to understand why people were pointing fingers at me. I didn't know what racism meant. I didn't understand it.".
«No child—as a child—is born to discriminate against people, whether based on skin color or ethnicity. Back then, I didn’t understand it, and I didn’t know why it was happening. Now I understand.”. One million Albanians in a country that wasn't ready to accept them. It was very difficult for people. ”It was hard for me to understand at the time. I thought there was something wrong with me. I had a lot of insecurities,” added Eleni Foureira.
The well-known singer also spoke about the time when she didn’t speak openly about her background: «When you’re a child and you’re not accepted by society because of your background, you don’t have the strength to say who you are. You’re afraid you won’t be given a chance. When I felt strong and realized that people love Eleni and ultimately don’t care about everything else, that’s when I felt very strong and spoke out about my background, the bullying, and the racism I’ve experienced. I’ve reached the point where I’m afraid to say where I’m from. ’I feel Greek; I was born in Albania and I’m very happy about that, but my homeland is Greece. It’s the country that loved me; it’s the country I love.”.
“The idea of marriage scares me”
For her partner Alberto Botia, He said, characteristically: “We’re both very free-spirited people. Getting married isn't my goal in life; on the contrary, the idea of marriage scares me—it seems very confining to me. I don’t know what the future holds, but for now, I’ll definitely avoid marriage. Ideally, I’d like to already have two children. It’s just not easy for all women. Alberto is a wonderful person, and as I get older, I realize that I need to have only wonderful people in my life, so any relationship I have is with people who have substance.”.
