Merry
Christmas everyone! I'm writing this ahead of time to post on
Christmas Day so I don't miss a day of learning with you guys! Today
we learn about Christmas in Greece! On Christmas Eve, boys will go
out caroling in the street. They have a little band along with a
triangle and drum and their songs are called kalanda. Sometimes they
also have little model boats they have painted gold and decorated
with nuts. This carrying of a boat is an old Greecian Island
tradition. If the boys entertain well, they are given money or nuts,
candy or dried figs.
In
Greece Christmas trees are popular nowadays, but a traditional
decoration they had instead is a small wooden bowl that has a piece
of wire hanging fom the rim. This wire has a sprig of basil and a
wooden cross through it. They keep water in the bowl to make sure the
basil is kept alive. Every day someone in the family, often the
mother, dips the cross and basil in holy water and sprinkles it
around the house for protection.
This
small daily blessing is supposed to keep away Καλλικάντζαρος
(bad spirits) away. These spirits only appear from Christmas to
Epiphany and are believed to come from the center of the earth to get
into homes through the chimney. They do bad things like putting out
the fire or making food go bad. Keeping a fire burning is another way
to keep the spirits away.
A
beautiful sight to behold is the gigantic ship that is erected in the
city of Thessaloniki, the second largest city in all of Greece! The
ship is three masted and several stories tall, it's all lit up with
white lighting and I would personally love to go see it! I'm very
impressed by this. They ciy also does a big Christmas tree, but who
doesn't this time of year?
Midnight
Mass is nearly mandatory for Greeks and after this they go home to
end their fast over Advent. They will break their fast with a
delicious Christmas Day meal. They main dish is usually pork or lamb
which is over a spit or oven roasted. This is usually served with
spinach and a cheese pie. I want to try this dinner! Of course for
desert they have baklava, another personal favorite of mine. There is
a pastry called Kataifi which is made with filo dough that's flavored
with syrup and honey. I really want to try Greecian Christmas foods!
For
eating and for decoration they have Christmas bread called
Christopsomo. This a sweet bread with orange, cloves and cinnamon for
flavoring. They make a cross on the top of the bread which is always
made on Christmas Eve. As they say in Greece, Kala
Christougenna
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