Current politics, 'cotton-field'-living, and time for celebrations:courgette and Queen.

We’ve had the Winter of Discontent, the Arab Spring and, though the thermometer refuses to rise, we’re moving into a season of simmering emotions: the horrors of Syria, Egypt becoming alarmingly polarized as elections take place, Spain joining us in economic crisis…..  Greece remains a place of infuriating indecision, political prevarication, social turmoil, human anguish and outrage. In the pre-election party-political-road-show speeches, party leaders ensured that they spoke against a backdrop of Greek-flag-holding followers. Semiotics it say: united we stand - all together - save the Motherland. Post-elections: no parties can agree to form a coalition, immediately reverting to overtly wearing their badges and blinkers, to putting party and personal priorities before national need. On June 17^th we go to the polls once more and no one foresees a clear majority coming out of that either- what a waste of time, effort and finances! And whatever the outcome, the decisions to be made are not purely domestic ones, so, I guess, not really in our hands at all.  

 In English we say you ‘sing for your supper’ - since nothing is free, you have to offer something to receive in return. It struck me that, generally, students have to ‘sit for their summer’ as the final  exam period of the academic year is on us. Not a bad mnemonic for Greek students to learn as they often use the Greek equivalent verbal forms:

·         They talk about ‘taking’ exams, which strikes me as rather immoral, suggesting as it does swiping the topics to improve your grades!

·         They also use ‘giving’ or ‘writing’ exams, which I’ve always thought was the domain of the teacher – as in administering or compiling, respectively.

When referring to the protracted testing-time of such sessions, I’ve always liked the Scottish term of ‘a diet of exams’, as in assembly for that purpose. Certainly, as a student, I remember getting more than my fill of them!  Now our students sit end-of-year exams, both SAT (US) and Panhellenic university entrance exams – results of which drive life-determining decisions. Five of our senior high students have already gained study places and scholarships at US colleges/ universities – hearty congratulations to them. And to all of you out there - and that includes those affected in the broader family unit! - burdened with the weight of revising and performing on the day- good luck and even better results. Summer will taste sweeter after all that hard work!

 Here on the ‘croft’ we’ve been flooded by our neighbours’ generosity in the form of ….beetroot. Nothing goes to waste : picked fresh the gently-boiled leaves make a nice green salad with a little olive oil, salt and lemon juice. The beets  and stalks can be micro-waved in roasting bags with a little water until soft – can take up to 10 minutes+ depending on size and quantity – and are very tasty seasoned with garlic slivers, salt, oil and vinegar, topped with Greek yoghurt and chopped walnuts. Now we’ve even had to pickle in vinegar to stay ahead of the game!

 Cherries and strawberries have looked good this season but have lacked the sunshine to sweeten up. They’re good for jam, while pitted cherries freeze well and with some sugar and a drop of brandy – why not?- make a syrup to accompany ice-cream or, with  a little cornflour as a thickening agent, will spread as a cheese-cake topping –mmm!

The food topic links up nicely with our recent local event, the Courgette Festival! Every year, the village committee cooperates with local producers and organises an evening of entertainment. The ladies do a grand job of cooking and serving a wide-range of courgette-based foods : pies sweet and savoury, fritters, - even a ‘spoon sweet’ of julienne strips in syrup. Of course, the ubiquitous souvlaki skewers and retsina beakers abound, but there are cultural events too. Dance troupes come from near and far, resplendent in their traditional costumes which, like the kilt, identify them in terms of locale and kin.

 

            

This year, despite the event being rained off initially, the village proudly hosted children and adult ethnic dance groups from Bosnia/Herzegovina and from Serbia.  But as the Belgrade ‘boys’ were performing their lively circuits, the lift began to darken; our local lads on barbie-duty were certainly ‘cooking up a storm’ for large raindrops began to plop down rhythmically.

 

    

Now you may not consider the courgette as much of a cultural phenomenon but when we left the event, clutching our free bag of veg thanks to the local producers, it was with a smile: the unassuming courgette had brought us closer to our Balkan brothers. And it was just as we were leaving that the heavens really did open. But it had been a great evening. Here’s a final picture of our gracious hostesses, beautiful Macedonian ladies, in action and in glorious full regalia.

Our cultural heritage was celebrated, too, on a broader front as the Olympic flame was handed on to a suitably somber Princess Anne. Again heavy rain was evident at the beginning of the ceremony during which I feared David Beckham might lose an eye to the umbrella-spoke of an insouciant, recently re-elected Mayor, Boris Johnson – but fortunately all went well.

 But of all celebrations, it has to be the Queen’s Jubilee that takes stage front. Today The Big Lunch will be enjoyed throughout Britain in the form of street parties. We will join in, but, given our access road is a dirt track, ours will be more of a field event.  Neighbours have been invited tomorrow which is a Greek holiday, anyway. Ladies have been told to dust off their tiaras or summer bonnets and do floral outfits. We won’t have a beacon in the area but we will light a candle; the lawn is freshly mown and our aperitif will be gin-based, so I suppose ours will be a ….Gordon Party! – with arrangements made for the worst-case scenario of inside catering. So we will join you all in spirit, raising our fruit-festooned, home-made ‘Pimms’ to the Good Queen Elizabeth. May God bless her and all who celebrate her Diamond Jubilee! 

Thracian evening: In the Footsteps of Orpheus

We are invited to celebrate an evening dedicated to Orpheus, the mythical Thracian musician and poet, and to welcome a group of dancers and musicians from Alexandroupolis, led by teacher, writer, broadcaster and folklorist, Dimitris Vrachiologlou. The event   is held in the Cultural Centre in Giannitsa which boasts the most beautiful bird sculptures on its front lawn. As we arrive, ladies of a local Thracian dance group, who with local musicians will also entertain us and their northern guests, are struggling into their costumes - layers of thick cotton which must be  just as hot to dance in as in a kilt, if not more so. Some are gracious enough to pose beautifully for me and give me permission to post their picture.

         The whole evening constitutes a very interesting presentation on the history and culture of the peoples of Thrace. Mr Vrachiologlou’s research has been prodigious and we are treated to video clips, slides and well-weathered photographs charting events and developments of these diverse groups, including the Muslim minority groups of Turkish origin, gypsies and Pomaks. This demographic and cultural input is interspersed with music and dance of the area- the hard part is listening to ‘Thrakiotiki mousiki’ while sitting down- the urge to get up and dance is compelling! The costumes worn by the dancers are readily identifiable by those in the know in terms of area of origin, just as our kilts reveal family information by colour and design. Some of the aprons worn had the most gorgeous floral and geometric designs.

            

Now we have been invited by our cousin, the ‘droll dentist‘, D, the smiling moustache here with Dimitris, the MC.  Our cousin is one of the most dynamic people I know – with enthusiasms which range from traditional dance, gastronomy and viniculture; he’s a prodigious vintner as well, if we take that to mean wine-making, but not to include its retailing.  D has generously offered to feed and water everyone involved, amounting to over seventy people. And when we say ‘water’, D has provided tsipouro and wine at every table – all his own produce. As we are in the middle of Orthodox fasting, the spread contains only ‘fasting food’ – and, as always, the Greek do that in style!! Strictly speaking, no animal products are allowed, but the board is groaning: as well as a fine range of salads and the ubiquitous chip, there are beans baked in tomato sauce (real stuff – not the 57 varieties!), cuttle-fish in spinach, king prawns, grilled octopus, snails cooked in a garlic sauce, and mushrooms - for the latter two dishes D himself has collected the ingredients! Very soon the dancers – now divested of their weighty costumes- are in high spirits and take to the floor in decidedly constrained space.

           

There’s only one thing for it – the mild weather is with us and the street beyond is a pedestrian precinct so – the event becomes an outdoor one! Accordion, bagpipes, violin and clarinet all move out there….. drumming up the atmosphere.  Dancing is de rigueur and done with the usual Thracian measured tempo and dignity, though executing the tricky Baidoushka rhythms and side-stamps on the cobble-stones presented a slight additional challenge. But one we're up to!     

      

                                                                  

  

 

One of my favourite comments was made by a little old lady up on her nearby balcony, watching the goings-on in the wee small hours, without much choice, really. When asked why she wasn’t asleep she said she had been, we’d woken her up…..and it was grand music! Bless her for her appreciation!

As D bids his well-sated guests farewell, a lady dancer recites a poem of thanks she has penned for him during the evening.  On that cultural note, we’ll draw the curtain on our evening in honour of Orpheus.