May 25, 2008

This week, my formal Greek lessons finished for the summer. We had a lovely wind-up dinner at one of our local Tavernas (not a lot of Greek was spoken). So now, over the summer I will have to be diligent and try to schedule some time every day to do my Rosetta Stone program. I think I had better review my lessons from time to time as well, or I will have to start in the beginners class again. Dale and I had a dinner out before he left and I tested out some Greek - it was enough to impress Dale anyway (plus I got some help from the proprietor!). Our favourite beer here is Keo - pronounced Kay-oh with the accent on the o. I still have a long way to go.

On Sunday we attended the inauguration of a Chapel that has been restored in Χαποτάμι - pronounced Hapotami. During the first hour and a half of prayers (all chanted) and speeches (all in Greek), I almost lost Dale. By then he was ready to walk home. However, I managed to convince him to hang around, and it was well worth the wait. I do think we can learn from the Cypriots though - half of them showed up at the very end of the ceremony, then stayed for the lunch and entertainment. There were probably 100 people at the service but they had set up tables and chairs under canopies for about 300 and it was packed. The troop that had performed in our village at Easter was out in full costume (in the hot sun) for the traditional dancing including the towers of glasses on the head (although it was windy this time, and some did fall and break). A full meze for lunch and singing and dancing - truly a Cypriot inauguration.
Continue to May 30 . . .