Greek Easter 2013

Xristos Anesti to the Greeks! Christ is risen!

So last night was Church night again for midnight mass. That meant more standing around with candles and waiting until midnight to commemorate the time when Christ rose from the dead.

This is where the candle is meant to be taken from the church and to your home without it being extinguished. The flame from the Church on this day is holy and is thought to be a great blessing if taken into your home. So all the peeps coming home drunk from the bars last night were not hallucinating if they saw cars glowing as they drove past... Nor was that drive thru cashier imagining things as the glowing car approached their window. It is highly likely that you may end up with candle wax on your car seats though, so beware!

Seeing as it is after midnight, technically the fast can be broken so generally there is a mini feast ready for when you get back from Church, some nice augolemoni always goes down well! Those lovely eggs we dyed a few days ago can also get smashing too!

And then there is Sunday where the mass "Xristos Anesti / Alithos Anesti" texts get sent to all your Greek contacts on your phone and then you prepare for the biggest feast of the year! Of course, this tends to consist of meat, meat and even more meat. You may need a nap from the meat coma...

I hope all those celebrating Easter today have an amazing day and take the opportunity for a fresh start, like Jesus did :)

Greek Easter - Good Friday

So it's Holy Week and the countdown to the biggest religious event for Greeks begins! On Thursday night is when eggs are dyed.

Usually they are dyed red to symbolise Jesus' blood, but other colours are also used these days. Every Greek home will have their special little basket with coloured eggs in and these will remain untouched until Sunday morning!

Tonight will be the Epitafio where we go to church late at night and walk with Jesus' 'tomb' around the local area, mourning his death. Of course it is a serious occasion for Greeks, but Church night definitely has its comical moments, and seeing as 'Typical Greek' covers the entertaining aspects of the Greek culture, forgive me for wanting to share that side of it! Stay tuned on twitter to be kept up to date with 'Epitafio Problems'! (No offense intended).

Come back for more on Easter celebrations this weekend!

Holy Week 2013!

So it's Holy Week... the *real* one,  not the premature Easter that the 3eni had a month ago...

Be prepared for some grumpy Greeks this week. For some, they would have been fasting for weeks already but that takes a lot of dedication and self control and is usually undertaken by the hardcore yeri (old peeps). The 3eni usually just give up "something" for lent, like chocolate... but Greeks need to sacrifice something really important to them - meat!

For those Greeks who are just starting their fast for Holy Week or coming in for the home stretch, they will most likely be going vegan. Although we do it for noble reasons, it does bring with it a heavy heart of dread of our 'meat free week'... I guess that's the point though isn't it! Also makes the feast all the more sweet!

When a Greek doesn't get their meat, stay out of their way! What vegan meals are you preparing for Holy Week?