The Giant Oat

Sunday April 19

Last night we arrived in Athens and people were already lighting firecrackers and bringing home the Paschal light, available on street corners vended by gypsies. This morning, Easter Sunday for the Orthodox and some Byzantine Rite Catholics, including my family back home, I slept in a little. It was the second easter for me this year already. I walked over to the church where my uncle and cousin were and it was the begining of Paschal Matins. The church was already full, and the back of the church was a zoo. These ukrainians have adapted to their Greek environment.

I went up to the choir loft where I thought there would be more room, and was shocked, SHOCKED I tell you, at what I found there. A choir. I didnàt think choir lofts were used for the purpose anymore.

The whole church sang pretty much everything, though about a dozen powerhouse ladies in the choir loft led the way. Another fifty or so people in the loft helped out. The service was lovely, though I spent most of it staring at a column which was in front of my and blocking my view of anything going on downstairs. It forced me to focus inward and was interesting to have a different vantage point from my usual spot in Brampton in the centre of the action.

After church, teh couryard was packed with Ukes and their baskets. The palm trees and orange trees made it feel exotic, but in general, it felt familiar and just like home. I felt pangs of nostalgia (or maybe hunger) when I saw the baskets of others, neatly packed with eggs, kobassa, and paska, but not for me. How I craved for some kabbanos!

Following the blessing of baskets, we ate breakfast in the church hall. My cousin and I were given seats at the head table (consisting of priests, a bishop, and some seminarians). The rest of the tables were populated by women in their fifties and sixties. They were all women who came to Greece to work, and are all here without any family with whom to celebrate the Feast. The tables were filled with more food than any of could eat. Instead of the usual Christ is Risen songs I would have expected, they sand verse after verse of folk songs from back home. Looking at them, I realized how difficult it must have been for them to leave home, be here without family, and how good it is that they have faith and tradition to unite them in these times.

Our afternoon post-Paschal nap involved watching Naked Gun One, followed by a walk to the Acropolis and a fifty dollar coffee break. In the evening, we happened upon a church serving Agape Vespers (and at the Vesperal time, instead of the morning).

Overall, it was a low key, but beautiful Easter. It doesnàt feel the same, though, when I am not totally exhausted and voiceless after the marathon of Bramptonàs services.

April 17

I spent a good while out on the balcony of our grungy hotel room. The room has what my cousin and I believe to be blood stains on the ceiling, and what I can positively identify as squished bugs on the wall near my head. I spent a good amount of time contemplating the relative merits and drawbacks of this week in Greece. On the one hand, the hotels have been free, my uncle has been picking up the food tabs a lot, and we have been in a car, which means seeing much more of the country than I would have otherwise. On the other hand, they have had to put up with my sugar mood swings, adn I have been in more churches and church goods stores than anyone could ever want (except maybe my brother).

But my uncle and his car, got me to a very beautiful place today, and for that I am grateful. Meteora is a stunning place indeed! The little town below is largely touristy, but the landscape is incredible and very BIG. Rocky fingers jut straight up out of the ground, a result of some ancient volcanic activity, I imagine. There used to be twenty one monasteries hidden atop these rocks, but six or eight remain today. We visited one inside, a convent, and if I had to be a nun, Iàd want to live here…high above the earth, half way to heaven.

There was more souvlaki, salad and fries for lunch, and I am looking forward to a change in diet.

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