LIVING
EASTER IN AEGINA
What an unusual sight I must
have been 16 years ago, dressed in a hand-painted silk kimono
over matching harem trousers, husband on one side (wearing a
suit) and sister-in-law on the other (wearing an embarrassed
expression), pushing our baby, securely warm and comfortable in
his navy blue pram, the three of us striding purposefully
towards the church in Kipseli square.
Always having had a weakness
for Byzantine liturgies, neither of us wanted to miss the priest
ceremoniously announce the resurrection of Christ.
We were the only ones with a
baby, something that perhaps anyone else observing us would
likely have judged to be mad.
Ten minutes later, at
midnight, the priest, majestic in his Easter robes and wearing
an aura of authority, stood on the platform and announced to the
expectant crowd “ Christos Anesti!”( Christ has risen ) at which
point, the church bells pealed, fireworks exploded and the
village square metamorphosed into a war scene.
Fire crackers whizzed and
whistled past our ears, dynamite resounded from the interior of
dustbins and young male ‘soldiers’ laughed delightedly as they
came up with new, creative ideas for maximizing the pyrotechnic
cross-fire and all of this against a backdrop of locals kissing
and wishing each other the customary” Christos Anesti !”to which
the reply is: “ Alithinos ,O Kyrios.!”( truly, he has )
The air was red, jewelled and
smelt and tasted of sulphur.
If the baby was crying, we
didn’t hear him! Something landed at my feet, hissed and cracked
into a deafening explosion which brought me a gift of tinnitus.
Fearing for the baby’s safety
as well as my own in my robes of flammable art, my family pulled
me into a taverna which was packed with timid onlookers. The
baby, who seemed pleasantly amused by the activity, was grabbed
from his pram and passed from one person to another, a
preferable distraction to the warzone outside. It was the first
(and last) Easter Saturday church service that I was to
enthusiastically attend. Since then, I have become a regular
timid onlooker who retreats to the safety of the restaurant.
Today, the baby is a 16 year old ‘soldier’ who is looking
forward to using his ammunition on Easter Saturday. Despite his
mother’s protestations about health and safety for himself as
well as others, he believes he is invincible and that the
customary sport of playing with fireworks at Easter is part of
the fun of the occasion!!!!
To
read more information about how Easter is celebrated in Greece,
visit:
www.greecetravel.com/easter
Alison Lorentzos copyright 2008
