7/4 - Easter Saturday

Saturday was expected to be a particularly long day for everyone – but then that’s something this family has become much more used to in the past month.


In the morning Grant went off to football (soccer) again with Stavros, Maria and I accompanied Marika to her office to make plans for the Paris/France leg of the trip, and Zoe stayed home because she was not feeling too well. I went into full faste mode. The early to mid afternoon was set aside as a rest period to ensure everyone had enough energy for the evening’s activities. It is the first time I’ve sat down and played a game (I have a particular old favourite of mine and classic known as Xcom: UFO Defence on the PDA) since the trip started. For me that’s a sign of not only how full of activities the trip has been, but also how fulfilling it has been.
In the late afternoon the men – George, Stavros, Grant, and I - went off to attend to matters for Sunday’s meal; while the women – Marika, Maria, and Zoe went off to do some shopping for easter. They subsequently came back with beautiful candles for the evening – Zoe’s with a masquerade style mask attached, and Grant’s with a soccer ball badge. What we did was prepare the lamb and goat for the rotisserie the next morning. For that we went off to Kamari to a business called the Kiwi Restaurant (yes, as in New Zealand). Kiwi Restaurant is a wonderful place – an awesome beer style garden – but the season has not started on the island (particularly the beaches) as yet; so there were no customers. Anyway, we did the usual butchery stuff of removing entrails and shoving a long metal rod through the carcass and out the skull. I was proud that Grant observed it all with little sign of squimishness.

Then back home and a further rest of a couple of hours until the evening’s activities began. Some slept, but then had to wake cold and out of sorts for the walk up to the church. And cold it was – a piercing wind blowing and seeming to go through all clothing. By 11:30 we had climbed the winding streeets again to the church. On this occasion teenaged boys were much in evidence and had already begun using their firecrackers. Australian firecrackers are a pale imitation of these things. There are two main forms – a kind of “throw down” (about 4x the size of Australian throwdowns) of brown paper wrapped in string. These are detonated by throwing them hard against any unyielding surface (road, wall, etc.). The second are wickless cylinders ranging in size from a man’s pinkie finger to pointer finger. They are struck by rubbing their end against an emery pad – the same way a match is struck. I can’t emphasise just how loud these things are other than by two illustrations: On the walk up one was detonated inside an arched walkway I was passing through – my ears were still ringing 10 minutes later and my left ear was still in pain. Also, on Sunday (see that entry) shotguns were used as well as these firecrackers – the shotguns were much, much quieter than the fireworks.

So, the boys roam about – usually in packs – with plastic bags full of these crackers. They congregate at the church, where – at midnight – theyinitiate a cacophony of detonations that must be heard to be believed. However, much leeway is given to them, and it is tolerated that they throw these fireworks at the feet of people. So late-comers to the church face a sort of gauntlet to the run – coming up the last steps to the church the boys stand along the parapets above them and ocassionally drop a cracker on them. So we spent a less than pleasant 30 minutes huddled against the cold and ocassional firewalk tossed in our direction.
Then, at midnight, as the priest exited the front of the church and gave the final benediction, the real crescendo began…

As everyone stood huddled in a pack against the front of the church, faces turned away (many blocking ears as well as possible) and enduring as well as possible; the boys possessing the fireworks went into a frenzy. Flares were set off and fireworks flung and detonated as fast as possible by some 30-odd boys. Small pieces of the abbrasive rocks found inside the throwdowns would hit us, and while most “action” was concentrated on the walkway/stairs leading to the church, some “found their way” near us. It felt like being in a cross between an Italian soccer riot (sans the policemen with truncheons) and the battle of the Somme.

Finally, after about 10-minutes (but which felt like an eternity) the detonations had died off enough that we were able to assail the stairs down and make our way as rapidly as possible to the restaurant where we were to break our faste.

Ahhh; and what a meal (never mind the warmth and comfort compared to outside). A special set menu of easter dishes it started with a delicious soup (I’m sorry I don’t have the names for all these) redulant of lemons and made with much vegetables as well as the kidney and lungs of lamb. It was delicious. Then greek salad and tzatziki (yogurt dip), another ofal dish (this one not as enjoyable to my palate), roast lamb, a special kind of biscuit/cake. Stacks of everything, and plenty of wine to go around also. It was a great meal and a great time. It was nearly 2am before we were home and into bed.