In my last post I talked about
our neighbor, Marina, being unwell. I am happy to say she recovered enough to
come and sing the Kalanta for us. Like the three ships in the carol, she, her
sister and their dad came sailing by on Christmas Day in the morning.
Thankfully she had the energy to beat it out on that drum with Maria
accompanying her on the triangle.
Now this year I can say something
that Kim Kardashian cannot say: I am
a little behind – at least as far as putting up tree and decorations
were concerned! It was a skin-of-the-teeth affair, with tree not lit until
Christmas Eve. Actually some Greek friends say that for them this was the
traditional time to set out the decorations which were then taken down after Epiphany. In contrast, friends in
America regret the local habit of throwing out their trees on December 26th.
On Christmas Day Maria’s and
Marina’s family kindly invited us to share their generous board of wild boar
and turkey. Above you see our Boxing Day lunch of venison stew, cranberry sauce
made from dried fruit, potato cake with cheese and carrot and broccoli. We were
lucky enough to be eating upstairs on the sunny balcony.
It did make one feel guilty to be at home
tucking into festive fare in
comfort, safety and warmth when on December 28th we saw the tragedy
of the Italian car-ferry, the Norman
Atlantic, and thought about what those passengers must have gone through.
Imagine setting off on holiday and then facing the hideous fate of death by
burning or by drowning in the freezing Adriatic Sea. May the lucky survivors recover
rapidly from their horrendous experience; our hearts go out to those families
whose members were lost or are still missing.
Another tragic situation is our political one
which increasingly seems to emulate a sinking ship. Now I don’t follow the
logic of this but after a recent election failing to vote in the sole candidate
as president, it means we now face a general
election on January 25th. The country needs this like it needs a
hole in the head. Once again we see party
political interests and the desire to retain power being priorities set way
ahead of those of constructing a healthy, respectable viable system that might
win confidence and badly-needed investment
in a country that has been brought to its knees. The outlook is nothing but
bleak.
After what has been a very mild
autumn, we had snow on the hills and our poor little pear tree in its confusion
had just begun to bear some fruit. Our north wind, known as the Vardharis,
clears the atmosphere but chills the bones. Instead of drinking his water,
Leondaris found chunks of ice – clearly more interesting to play with than even
his favourite hamburger toy.
In this cold we don’t move far from the balcony, in fact,
given half a chance we would all stay indoors all of the time! We just have to
draw lots for settee space.
New Year comes and is traditionally opened with the cutting
of the Vasilopitta – a bread baked
in honour of Aghios Vasilis or Saint Basil whose name day is celebrated on
January 1st. H was the lucky one in our household this year, you can
just see the lucky coin secreted within his slice.
Today, January 6th,
is the feast of the Epiphany, or
Manifestation. Some believe this day marks the day when the holy child was
visited by the Magi, others say it is related to the baptism of Jesus in the
River Jordan. For those of the Orthodox
Church it entails, for the brave few, diving into the freezing cold sea to
retrieve the wooden cross symbolically thrown into the water by the priest,
thereby ensuring being blessed with good fortune will be with the finder for
the whole year.
I think I’ll just stick with the coin in the Vassilopitta.
Anyway, this day, being Epiphany, brings the Twelve Day
festive period to a close. It is a public holiday and, inevitably, brings us to
the table once more. Some time ago a
friend from H’s home area brought us a hare as a gift. Anna, our neighbor, was
not only kind enough to offer freezer space for it, but also offered to cook it
for us today - now, don’t you just wish
you had good neighbours like that?
Family members were also invited
and rabbit was added to the menu. Below you can see both dishes (rabbit to the
left) and between them a contribution of mine: leek, bacon and feta in filo
pastry, or – as Antonis christened them - winter rolls, rather than spring
ones.
Thank goodness that brings Yuletide officially to an end –
it’s all been too, too exhausting.
And at the
outset of our new year, let me share this dramatic daybreak with you.
May it
herald in warmth and hope for a new beginning, not just for the new day but for
the entire year. May 2015 bring you health, peace and joy.
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