Monday I was invited with my neighbours Mike and Roz to Agyrula’s house for lunch. Agyrula is the ‘Muktar’s’ (Mayor’s) sister. I had met her a few weeks ago at Mike and Roz’, and was delighted to be invited to such an important family celebration. And what a celebration; you had to see it to believe it. We started with Zivania (a very strong local spirit) then introductions were made (I never did meet every person – it is such a large extended family). My greetings of ‘Kalo Paska’ (Happy Easter) and of course the response to ‘Christos Anesti’ of ‘Alithos Anesti’ were met with shouts of approval and much praise. Then we sat down at a very long table and the food started coming. I know I have mentioned a Meze before, but this surpassed them all. There was lamb, chicken, pork, and rabbit; all done on a wood fire, plus all the trimmings including of course the traditional village (Greek) salad. Dessert took up its own table, and boxes of chocolates and Easter eggs were also sent round. More Zivania, wine, beer etc. and you never knew how many you had as your glass was always full. And of course, every time someone raised a glass they would say very loudly ‘ena proti’ which means the first one (no matter how many they may have had). It was a very gregarious affair. Agyrula’s three daughters and the Muktar’s three daughters and the girl cousins and their mothers all helped, while the sons, husbands and fathers (after they cooked the meat) sat and conversed and sang (apparently they started with religious songs, moved on to local favourites, then got into political ones). Agyrula’s husband kept the glasses full and prompted everyone to have more to eat. Then the tables were moved aside and the dancing started – and just like in the movies, glasses and plates were smashed to the concrete as an encouragement to who ever was dancing – at least we were outside under a lovely thatch covering. Every once in a while someone would surreptitiously sweep the broken bits to the side and everything just carried on. I tried to hide in the back to watch, but that was not going to happen. So . . . as long as you dance with your hands in the air and keep step to the music, it doesn’t matter what you do. It was very hard to extricate ourselves, but since Mike is our teacher, and our Greek lessons started at 4:15, he and Roz and I finally had to make a run for it. It was probably a good thing we had the lesson, or I don’t know when I would have got home. I must admit though, that I enjoyed it thoroughly and could have stayed a bit longer.
After my Greek lessons (which I think were actually helped by the wine), I went back to the village square to watch a play put on by the youth. I wish I knew the outline of the story beforehand, as my Greek is still far too limited to do anything other than pick up a word or two. It was a very lively performance though, and worth watching. The setting was a well in the countryside, plus (once they removed the well and the trees) a kitchen. I think it had something to do with a young man vying for a girl (the usual stuff). Anyway, that pretty much wrapped up the Easter celebrations. Today seems fairly quiet here – I think a lot of people will need a day or two to recuperate.
I told Dale that he will have to get next Easter off, which shouldn’t be a problem, since most of his co-workers would have celebrated last month (but I guess I will need to look up an Orthodox calendar to even see when it is next year). Today I spent over an hour trying to write a thank you note in Greek. I sure hope I said the right words – the tenses were tough, but I am sure they will forgive me as long as I didn’t insult anyone.
So, Kalo Pasko to you all. It was great fun putting it all down; another of those great memories we are storing up on out here.
Love,
Laurel
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