Living
CHRISTMAS
IN AEGINA DECEMBER
2007
I love
being in Greece at Christmas time. Before coming here to live, I
imagined that Christmas would never be as magical as the ones I
had previously experienced in England which were family centred
and seeped in tradition but here in Greece, Christmas is still
family orientated but it is less all the needless stress that
people get sucked into in England.
In England,
as soon as August is over and the school uniforms and snorkels
are dispatched back into the storerooms, out come the Christmas
puddings and cakes which line up on the shop shelves along with
armies of gaudy Christmas paraphernalia, a constant reminder of
the march towards Christmas until one is sick of it all by
December. Every magazine written for women has the ubiquitous
article about ‘How to survive Christmas’ along with ‘Festive
Catering’. Not to mention the numerous pages dedicated to
‘Presents for him’, ‘Presents for her’, ‘Presents for less than
£100, £50.00,£ 20.00… no wonder everyone is stressed, they are
all overdrawn!
In Greece,
there isn’t a card sending tradition; one simply wishes people a
happy Christmas as and when they are encountered. Presents are
bought for children within the family or for those of close
friends but nothing massively expensive. Naturally, parents buy
their children the latest techno toy or the much desired latest
fashion item but they can afford to because they are not buying
for the whole of the extended family, neighbours and colleagues.
Mid
November is the time when Christmas fare creeps its way into the
shops. Most of the products available are related to food or to
adorning the home. Shop windows become an explosion of seasonal
colour; red, green, silver and gold baubles, glassware, tinsel,
table-cloths, candles, cutlery and crockery.
Strings of
cinnamon sticks and dried aubergines and peppers hang like
curtains against a backdrop of dried lavender and numerous herbs
and spices, all of which exude a Christmassy smell like a
gaseous mulled wine.
Popular
presents are beautiful bowls and plates from which one can serve
the traditional Greek Christmas cakes and biscuits. The beauty
of Christmas shopping in Greece is firstly, there are a number
of original little shops and a distinct absence of
multi-nationals and secondly, shopkeepers offer to gift-wrap
each purchase, which transforms the most basic bar of soap into
an attractive, expensive looking gift. It is customary for shop
assistants to place the wrapped gift into a small paper carrier
bag which is stapled and finished with a ribbon and a small
ceramic trinket.
A couple of
days before Christmas, groups of children wander from house to
house to sing traditional kalenda songs, the Greek equivalent of
Christmas Carols.
Meanwhile,
back at home, mothers will bake large quantities of festive
Christmas biscuits, the spicy, honey-soaked melomakarana and the
nutty korabiethes which are heavily dusted with icing sugar.
Christmas
day is spent with the extended family and/or friends. Like
England, turkey is the meat of choice and is served with roast
potatoes, tzatziki and salad.( I pick fresh sage from the
mountains which I add to home produced breadcrumbs and nuts to
make a heady, aromatic stuffing.) Pudding consists of fresh
fruit and Christmas biscuits. If the turkey is too big for the
oven, one simply takes it to the local fournos where the baker
will roast it alongside many others in his vast stone oven and
some hours later when it is time to collect lunch, as one enters
the premises, one is enveloped in a steamy warm cloud smelling
of Sunday lunch and yeasty bread
In Aegina,
many people choose to go for a post-luncheon stroll, usually in
the town along the harbour front or to Perdika, a picturesque
fishing village, anywhere that will allow them the opportunity
to sit and chat over coffee.
Basically,
Christmas in Greece is about food and people. The enjoyment
focuses on the pleasure of sharing food and the company of
family and friends when the richness of relationships is worn
like a security blanket.
Surely this
is a much healthier focus than worrying about buying unnecessary
gifts, to demonstrate what? That we care? That we are thinking
of someone?....better to invite them round for Christmas lunch
and caring hospitality; it is much more likely to be remembered!
Alison
Lorentzos copyright 2008
