By Catherine Tsounis
Europeans are survivors. In particular, Greeks live for the moment. They endure, overcome, and make a positive into a negative experience. New Year in Tripoli, in the Peloponnese mountain heartland, and Larissa, in central Greece, enjoyed light spectacles and family feasts.
Our friends Sotiri and Konstantina of Tripolis emailed their blessings with photos from the main Avenue of Tripoli. “We send our blessings and look forward to having our conversations again this summer,” they said. Sotiri sells the Greek answer to Coach handbags the KEM accessories. His photos inspire memories of walking the city’s avenues, having Greek frappe coffee in his fashionable shop.
Dr. Isaak Papadopoulos, “Assistant Professor of Applied Linguistics and Teaching Greek as L1 and L2” of Larnaca College, and his wife, educator Varvara Papadopoulos gave us a glimpse of New Year’s festivities at Larissa. Baking homemade cookies is a tradition handed from one generation to the next. The New Year’s feast includes sausages, lamb chops, meatballs, salads, pasta, and table wine made by the family. Larissa is a city lit up with festive lights. A festive Christmas village brings joy to children. Greeks now had to have a good time even though their world is witnessing the first war on European soil since WWII.
Our friends, who are anonymous, emailed photos of their eastern Orthodox country. Lights and old-fashioned horses were some of the sights. Orthodox Christmas is celebrated on January 7th, according to the Julian calendar. Approximately 260 million people worldwide, both in majority-Orthodox countries in Eastern Europe, like Russia and Greece, and in communities in Ethiopia, Egypt, and elsewhere follow Orthodox Christmas.1 Visiting their lighted cities, baking, and having traditional foods and traditions made New Year’s special to these European families.
Reference:
1. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/why-celebrate-christmas-january
