OK. I may as well announce this one here. I'm pregnant!
We are very excited about this. I'm going to start keeping a journal here and then post some photos. And, of course, you'll get to see lots more photos when I head off to Italy in about a month here!!!
Saturday, July 01, 2006
Friday, May 26, 2006
Apartment Photos
Ok. Here are some photos of my apartment for next semester. It looks pretty exciting to me.
Chris Snorkeling in the Aegean
Yep... That's really me with a snorkeling mask and flipper fins. It really is the Aegean too. The water really is THAT clear. It was beautiful.
Jared on Naxos
Here's a long awaited photo of my dear husband with me on a trip to Naxos. Note the temple in the background.
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Thursday, May 25, 2006
There have been a lot of incredible things happening recently. I haven’t really made a lot of time to get them posted because the semester is fast coming to an end, and I am in the throes of preparing for the end of semester exhibition. It seems as though my hard work has now started to pay off because I have very few things left to do and a full week to do them. Sadly, at the end of that week, I must return home back to my real life for the summer. The Fall holds a lot including a 22 day tour of Italy and some more advanced studies of photography with the amazing John Pack and Liz Carson. Not to mention the Art History things coming my way by the brilliant Jeffrey Carson.
Jared has come and gone now. We had quite a blast though. It’s great that he got to come and hang out with us and our group. He got some good Greek sun and even got a four wheeling tour around the island, which he enjoyed very much. We did a little island hopping together, and we got to explore some art stuff on the nearest neighbor to Paros, Naxos.
Naxos was amazing. We got to go to many of the major sites there including the three korui, the marble quarries, the Temple of Dionysus, the Temple of Demeter, The Tower of Aiya, etc. I got some great photographs that are going to go into the show here. I intend to display them in Portland as well, which I am looking forward to in a big way. I loved Naxos in a big way because I was able to explore and island that you think would be so similar to Paros. It is complete different though. It is so huge, etc. There are a lot of stories about that island including the idea that Zeus was born there and stayed in hiding there in a cave until he was old enough to overthrow his father. He was, of course, taken care of by and eagle. Another story is that Dionysus planted the first grape vine there, and thus the island is the father of wine making. The island is still very agricultural, and I was able to see many more donkeys (Jared thinks I have donkey radar) and I even took some photographs of an old man on his donkey.
I have also been taking four wheeling adventures on the island. I drove up behind the famous quarries of Marathi here and went up to a very high point on the island to take photographs. I have found some interesting things. These adventures involve things like finding oregano growing, finding sea salt in the rocks by the sea, swimming, trying to explore deserted monasteries, driving through towns we’ve never been to, taking photos of things like cows in poppy fields, taking pictures of pretty flowers, finding churches that are immaculately kept but not used by anyone, driving the four wheeler a little “off road” on a crazy adventure to Naoussa, going through the channels of the marble quarries, etc. Watching the sunset and then getting up to see the sunrise, etc. My good friend Brie and I have been having a blast.
Most of these trips have been for photography purposes, and it has worked out very well.
It has been getting very hot here, and swimming is a great way to cool off. I have also been spending a lot of time in the cool darkroom getting everything ready for next Friday. It is going to be a blast.
So…. That’s what I’ve been up to. I’m not ignoring the blog, just getting pretty busy. Stay tuned for more.
Jared has come and gone now. We had quite a blast though. It’s great that he got to come and hang out with us and our group. He got some good Greek sun and even got a four wheeling tour around the island, which he enjoyed very much. We did a little island hopping together, and we got to explore some art stuff on the nearest neighbor to Paros, Naxos.
Naxos was amazing. We got to go to many of the major sites there including the three korui, the marble quarries, the Temple of Dionysus, the Temple of Demeter, The Tower of Aiya, etc. I got some great photographs that are going to go into the show here. I intend to display them in Portland as well, which I am looking forward to in a big way. I loved Naxos in a big way because I was able to explore and island that you think would be so similar to Paros. It is complete different though. It is so huge, etc. There are a lot of stories about that island including the idea that Zeus was born there and stayed in hiding there in a cave until he was old enough to overthrow his father. He was, of course, taken care of by and eagle. Another story is that Dionysus planted the first grape vine there, and thus the island is the father of wine making. The island is still very agricultural, and I was able to see many more donkeys (Jared thinks I have donkey radar) and I even took some photographs of an old man on his donkey.
I have also been taking four wheeling adventures on the island. I drove up behind the famous quarries of Marathi here and went up to a very high point on the island to take photographs. I have found some interesting things. These adventures involve things like finding oregano growing, finding sea salt in the rocks by the sea, swimming, trying to explore deserted monasteries, driving through towns we’ve never been to, taking photos of things like cows in poppy fields, taking pictures of pretty flowers, finding churches that are immaculately kept but not used by anyone, driving the four wheeler a little “off road” on a crazy adventure to Naoussa, going through the channels of the marble quarries, etc. Watching the sunset and then getting up to see the sunrise, etc. My good friend Brie and I have been having a blast.
Most of these trips have been for photography purposes, and it has worked out very well.
It has been getting very hot here, and swimming is a great way to cool off. I have also been spending a lot of time in the cool darkroom getting everything ready for next Friday. It is going to be a blast.
So…. That’s what I’ve been up to. I’m not ignoring the blog, just getting pretty busy. Stay tuned for more.
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
All Night Adventure
It's been a little crazy around here lately. We have an exhibition coming up very soon, and that means that we all have to get ready. I have a bunch of work ready, but I still need to get more done. Even though I am only going to have a few works of art in the show, I will be leaving for home the next day, so it will be important for me to have everyhing wrapped up before the show. I say the least, I have about 55 photos that need to be completed both digitally and in the darkroom. I think I am currently about half way there. That means that in the next two weeks I have to do more than the two months before.
The computer lab has been really crowded these days and so has the darkroom. I decided to try working during off times and see what happened. After my night class, I tried going to the darkroom. I went in at about 8:00 PM and I didn't arrive again until 1 AM. That was very good. I got two whole photos developed, and I was thrilled with them.
Then it was off to the digital lab. I was expecting it to be empty, but it still had people in it. I settled down and started to work. At around 3:00, I asked if my friend was going home, and she was uncertain. I agreed with her. I still had a lot of work to do, and I wasn't really tired yet. We agreed to pull an all-nighter so that we could have the lab and the printers to ourselves. It was quite amazing. We went out to get supplies--coffee and french fries. When we went to the coffee shop/bar, she had just cleaned the coffee machine, so we weren't able to get any. She offered, as a replacement a shot of tequilla and Sprite. She said that it would energize for the night. It sure did. Once we got our french fries and ate them, we worked happily on.
Eventually, I looked out the window and the sun was rising. We went out on top of the roof in the cool air and watched as dawn spread out her finger tips of rose. It was beautiful. We are not back to work--actually she is. I've printed 5 photos today, which is many more than I have ever printed in a day, so I'm calling it a good quits.
We're just waiting for one more comuter thing to happen and then it's off to walk on the beach with the sun rising. I'm looking forward to that.
My prints look amazing and the all-nighter has officially been accomplished. It was quite refreshing. :)
After the beach walk, I'm off to change my clothes and get some food before heading back to the darkroom for more fun printing time.
I'll post photos of the roof sunrise. It is amaing.
Chris
The computer lab has been really crowded these days and so has the darkroom. I decided to try working during off times and see what happened. After my night class, I tried going to the darkroom. I went in at about 8:00 PM and I didn't arrive again until 1 AM. That was very good. I got two whole photos developed, and I was thrilled with them.
Then it was off to the digital lab. I was expecting it to be empty, but it still had people in it. I settled down and started to work. At around 3:00, I asked if my friend was going home, and she was uncertain. I agreed with her. I still had a lot of work to do, and I wasn't really tired yet. We agreed to pull an all-nighter so that we could have the lab and the printers to ourselves. It was quite amazing. We went out to get supplies--coffee and french fries. When we went to the coffee shop/bar, she had just cleaned the coffee machine, so we weren't able to get any. She offered, as a replacement a shot of tequilla and Sprite. She said that it would energize for the night. It sure did. Once we got our french fries and ate them, we worked happily on.
Eventually, I looked out the window and the sun was rising. We went out on top of the roof in the cool air and watched as dawn spread out her finger tips of rose. It was beautiful. We are not back to work--actually she is. I've printed 5 photos today, which is many more than I have ever printed in a day, so I'm calling it a good quits.
We're just waiting for one more comuter thing to happen and then it's off to walk on the beach with the sun rising. I'm looking forward to that.
My prints look amazing and the all-nighter has officially been accomplished. It was quite refreshing. :)
After the beach walk, I'm off to change my clothes and get some food before heading back to the darkroom for more fun printing time.
I'll post photos of the roof sunrise. It is amaing.
Chris
All Night Adventure
It's been a little crazy around here lately. We have an exhibition coming up very soon, and that means that we all have to get ready. I have a bunch of work ready, but I still need to get more done. Even though I am only going to have a few works of art in the show, I will be leaving for home the next day, so it will be important for me to have everyhing wrapped up before the show. I say the least, I have about 55 photos that need to be completed both digitally and in the darkroom. I think I am currently about half way there. That means that in the next two weeks I have to do more than the two months before.
The computer lab has been really crowded these days and so has the darkroom. I decided to try working during off times and see what happened. After my night class, I tried going to the darkroom. I went in at about 8:00 PM and I didn't arrive again until 1 AM. That was very good. I got two whole photos developed, and I was thrilled with them.
Then it was off to the digital lab. I was expecting it to be empty, but it still had people in it. I settled down and started to work. At around 3:00, I asked if my friend was going home, and she was uncertain. I agreed with her. I still had a lot of work to do, and I wasn't really tired yet. We agreed to pull an all-nighter so that we could have the lab and the printers to ourselves. It was quite amazing. We went out to get supplies--coffee and french fries. When we went to the coffee shop/bar, she had just cleaned the coffee machine, so we weren't able to get any. She offered, as a replacement a shot of tequilla and Sprite. She said that it would energize for the night. It sure did. Once we got our french fries and ate them, we worked happily on.
Eventually, I looked out the window and the sun was rising. We went out on top of the roof in the cool air and watched as dawn spread out her finger tips of rose. It was beautiful. We are not back to work--actually she is. I've printed 5 photos today, which is many more than I have ever printed in a day, so I'm calling it a good quits.
We're just waiting for one more comuter thing to happen and then it's off to walk on the beach with the sun rising. I'm looking forward to that.
My prints look amazing and the all-nighter has officially been accomplished. It was quite refreshing. :)
After the beach walk, I'm off to change my clothes and get some food before heading back to the darkroom for more fun printing time.
I'll post photos of the roof sunrise. It is amaing.
Chris
The computer lab has been really crowded these days and so has the darkroom. I decided to try working during off times and see what happened. After my night class, I tried going to the darkroom. I went in at about 8:00 PM and I didn't arrive again until 1 AM. That was very good. I got two whole photos developed, and I was thrilled with them.
Then it was off to the digital lab. I was expecting it to be empty, but it still had people in it. I settled down and started to work. At around 3:00, I asked if my friend was going home, and she was uncertain. I agreed with her. I still had a lot of work to do, and I wasn't really tired yet. We agreed to pull an all-nighter so that we could have the lab and the printers to ourselves. It was quite amazing. We went out to get supplies--coffee and french fries. When we went to the coffee shop/bar, she had just cleaned the coffee machine, so we weren't able to get any. She offered, as a replacement a shot of tequilla and Sprite. She said that it would energize for the night. It sure did. Once we got our french fries and ate them, we worked happily on.
Eventually, I looked out the window and the sun was rising. We went out on top of the roof in the cool air and watched as dawn spread out her finger tips of rose. It was beautiful. We are not back to work--actually she is. I've printed 5 photos today, which is many more than I have ever printed in a day, so I'm calling it a good quits.
We're just waiting for one more comuter thing to happen and then it's off to walk on the beach with the sun rising. I'm looking forward to that.
My prints look amazing and the all-nighter has officially been accomplished. It was quite refreshing. :)
After the beach walk, I'm off to change my clothes and get some food before heading back to the darkroom for more fun printing time.
I'll post photos of the roof sunrise. It is amaing.
Chris
A sneak peak
Ok.
I know I haven't been writing a lot lately. Most of that is due to the fact that I am very hot and heavy trying to get things done here before the end of the semester. I came a month late (after it had started), so I am really behind. Not a whole lot of adventures going on for me other than the fact that I'm taking a trip to Naxos. My tan is fading away slowly as I spend all of my days inside working even though the beautiful sun is outside. For example, I was in the darkroom from 8AM until 2PM today. After that, I was in the digital lab from 2PM until my 6PM class. After that, I get a chance to watch the sun set before heading back to the world of digital printing. I know--it's a whole process :)
Here is a sneak peak photo from my latest project. I am really enjoying it. I have a whole direction that my portfolio is taking here and Greece, and it's quite different than I thought it would be. I think it will tie in to the things that I am going to need to do next semester (I have an idea for then too). As an artist, the inspiration to communicate about certain things come and go, but the important part for me is to hold on to the things that do come to me and wring them of life so that they can be recreated in my own fashion. It's quite a process. :) I'm becoming a better and better printer every day. The darkroom has taken ahold of me and won't let go. I really am addicted :)
Anyway, I only put rejected photos up here online for you to see, so here is one that has been rejected from my recent project. Enjoy it and look for more clues as to what this project could possibly be.
Friday, May 05, 2006
Four Wheel Adventure
See. I did say that I was going to post again soon, and I did. I'm so happy when I keep my promises.
Today was an incredible day. I woke up and went on a tour of the Church of a Hundred Doors here with our Art History Professor. He is so smart about everything, and I really love learning things from him. I gained a lot of knowledge about the church, and I was also able to scope out some interesting photo ops there.
After that, I was hired by the person that runs the apartments that I live in to photograph them and put together a portfolio of the different apartments. He was really happy with my work, and he asked me to extend my job. Officially, this means that I've had a job in Greece and when I'm older I can say, "When I lived and worked in Greece!"
At about 12:00, Jared and I decided to rent a four wheeler and go around the island with it. It was a lot of fun. We started in the port town and went counter clockwise around the island. I got to take a lot of cool photos of him, and I also just got to take a lot of cool photos. It's been a long time since we both just up and went and did something like that, and I know we both enjoyed it even though it was quite cold.
When we got home, I decided to go back out again and brave the weather. It turned out to be a great idea. I had an incredible time alone, and I got to discover places I have been wondering about since the first day I was on the island over a year ago. I visited the ancient quarries twice. On my way to Lefkes, I ran into thousand year old olive trees that I have been fixing to photograph for over a year. When I got to Lefkes, I happened upon some old windmills where the grain used to be ground into flour. They are deserted and falling apart. I got the chance to photograph them and explore them, and that is something that I have been looking forward to doing since I made it here. It was very exciting for me. One of them even had a donkey outside. I went to visit him, but he wasn't to excited at the idea of having a visitor. Jared says that I have donkey radar, and I would have to say that he is right. :)
On my way back, I was able to stop and visit many of the old sites. It really made my day to do all of the things that I did.
I'm going to post some photos up here so you can see us in action.
We head to Naxos tomorrow. More stories and photos when we return.
Today was an incredible day. I woke up and went on a tour of the Church of a Hundred Doors here with our Art History Professor. He is so smart about everything, and I really love learning things from him. I gained a lot of knowledge about the church, and I was also able to scope out some interesting photo ops there.
After that, I was hired by the person that runs the apartments that I live in to photograph them and put together a portfolio of the different apartments. He was really happy with my work, and he asked me to extend my job. Officially, this means that I've had a job in Greece and when I'm older I can say, "When I lived and worked in Greece!"
At about 12:00, Jared and I decided to rent a four wheeler and go around the island with it. It was a lot of fun. We started in the port town and went counter clockwise around the island. I got to take a lot of cool photos of him, and I also just got to take a lot of cool photos. It's been a long time since we both just up and went and did something like that, and I know we both enjoyed it even though it was quite cold.
When we got home, I decided to go back out again and brave the weather. It turned out to be a great idea. I had an incredible time alone, and I got to discover places I have been wondering about since the first day I was on the island over a year ago. I visited the ancient quarries twice. On my way to Lefkes, I ran into thousand year old olive trees that I have been fixing to photograph for over a year. When I got to Lefkes, I happened upon some old windmills where the grain used to be ground into flour. They are deserted and falling apart. I got the chance to photograph them and explore them, and that is something that I have been looking forward to doing since I made it here. It was very exciting for me. One of them even had a donkey outside. I went to visit him, but he wasn't to excited at the idea of having a visitor. Jared says that I have donkey radar, and I would have to say that he is right. :)
On my way back, I was able to stop and visit many of the old sites. It really made my day to do all of the things that I did.
I'm going to post some photos up here so you can see us in action.
We head to Naxos tomorrow. More stories and photos when we return.
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Thursday, May 4, 2006
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Ok. It’s been over a week since I’ve written. I’m sorry about the lag, and I promise that things will get better. Pascha was an amazing experience for me personally, and it was the height of a lot of energy for quite a few people here (in the school as well as the Greeks around the school). Having Easter come and go was quite wonderful. My friends and I had a very nice potluck on Easter day. One of the students’ mom owns a restaurant, and she made a remarkable lamb stew. It tasted quite good. The man that runs the area that we live in brought us a loaf of fresh bread that he had made. It was quite enjoyable.
Over the past week, I have been organizing my life and getting things restructured here so that I can come out the other end of my studies here with some actual things to show for. For the past month, I have been taking lots of photographs of all sorts (both in film and digitally), and preparing them to be printed. I am now in the throes of printing them all. I have stopped taking some of the thousand classes that I WAS taking, and I am now concentrating almost exclusively on photography only. It is a very refreshing experience. I spent 7 hours today in the darkroom, and I am now on my computer again evaluating some images to be printed digitally.
Jared has arrived on this beautiful island of mine, and we are having quite a bit of fun. I have shown him many of the ancient sites that I have seen. I don’t know that he has the exact same take on them that I have, but at least he has been able to see them.
I have a great plan for the next couple of days though, and I thought that I would share it.
Tomorrow, I am taking a tour of the Church of a Hundred Doors (the oldest church in Christianity) with an art historian. He is amazing, and he is going to get us access to the parts of the church that you can’t normally go it. I am very happy about it.
After that, I think that I am going to rent a four-wheeler with Jared and drive around the entire island with him. It sounds like a lot of fun, and I believe that I will be able to take quite a few photographs that I wouldn’t otherwise be able to take (without walking for days and days).
On Saturday, I am going to go with Jared to Naxos. We are going to rent a car and drive around for a while. I am looking forward to seeing many of the ancient sites including the place where Zeus was born! I am also very interested to see the ancient korous, which is a sculpture that was started and not finished. It is VERY big.
I will tell you more of my adventures as they happen, but I thought that it would be good to at least give you and update and tell you that I am alive and well.
Ok. It’s been over a week since I’ve written. I’m sorry about the lag, and I promise that things will get better. Pascha was an amazing experience for me personally, and it was the height of a lot of energy for quite a few people here (in the school as well as the Greeks around the school). Having Easter come and go was quite wonderful. My friends and I had a very nice potluck on Easter day. One of the students’ mom owns a restaurant, and she made a remarkable lamb stew. It tasted quite good. The man that runs the area that we live in brought us a loaf of fresh bread that he had made. It was quite enjoyable.
Over the past week, I have been organizing my life and getting things restructured here so that I can come out the other end of my studies here with some actual things to show for. For the past month, I have been taking lots of photographs of all sorts (both in film and digitally), and preparing them to be printed. I am now in the throes of printing them all. I have stopped taking some of the thousand classes that I WAS taking, and I am now concentrating almost exclusively on photography only. It is a very refreshing experience. I spent 7 hours today in the darkroom, and I am now on my computer again evaluating some images to be printed digitally.
Jared has arrived on this beautiful island of mine, and we are having quite a bit of fun. I have shown him many of the ancient sites that I have seen. I don’t know that he has the exact same take on them that I have, but at least he has been able to see them.
I have a great plan for the next couple of days though, and I thought that I would share it.
Tomorrow, I am taking a tour of the Church of a Hundred Doors (the oldest church in Christianity) with an art historian. He is amazing, and he is going to get us access to the parts of the church that you can’t normally go it. I am very happy about it.
After that, I think that I am going to rent a four-wheeler with Jared and drive around the entire island with him. It sounds like a lot of fun, and I believe that I will be able to take quite a few photographs that I wouldn’t otherwise be able to take (without walking for days and days).
On Saturday, I am going to go with Jared to Naxos. We are going to rent a car and drive around for a while. I am looking forward to seeing many of the ancient sites including the place where Zeus was born! I am also very interested to see the ancient korous, which is a sculpture that was started and not finished. It is VERY big.
I will tell you more of my adventures as they happen, but I thought that it would be good to at least give you and update and tell you that I am alive and well.
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Sunday, April 23, 2006
Easter Church Photos
One of these photos is everyone with their new Easter light. The other one is the light that has just been lit spreading throughout the church. Both very beautiful.
Sunday, April 23, 2006 Pascha
I haven’t written in several days, but the things that have happened over the past couple of days couldn’t possibly be described in writing. I will try my best though.
On Friday, I woke up and helped my friend paint the lines out on her street. We were actually very good Samaritans and we painted the neighbors as well because they are kind of old and it must be done by Easter. We had so much fun though, and by the end it looked really good. Plus, I am able to add it to my “street conservation” credit. J
After that, I went to Lefkes with her again and hung out. Because it was good Friday, everything was closed. It is a very big holiday, but not in the sense of celebrating. Good Friday symbolized that Christ has been crucified. It is supposed to be a deeply sad day. The bell at the church tolls non-stop all day from 6 in the morning until 3 in the morning (that’s when I lost count and fell asleep anyway). It is a day to go to church, and there are essentially services all day. There is a very beautiful church in Lefkes, so I just went and sat outside of it (I wasn’t properly attired to go in) and listened to the Byzantine Greek being sung in the service. It was very nice. I stayed there on the bench outside the church for about an hour.
After that, I decided to go for a walk, so I just followed paths until I got to the end of town. At the edge of town, there are the remains of the road built during the Byzantine Empire. The road is amazing in the places that it is well preserved. I walked a couple of miles down the path until I got a sense that it was time to go back. The path was beautiful with a stream running beside it at times. It took me up a mounting, through an olive grove and over fields of flowers. I really enjoyed it.
When I walked back, the church service was over, but they had a parade of the Greek equivalent of the Boy Scouts (except that the Greek version is a bit more morbid with it’s roots in Fascist Greece).
We finally left Lefkes, and I spent the rest of the afternoon eating dinner, snacking on gelato, taking photos and visiting with friends.
There was another church service at night, so I decided to go to it. I was told that it was one of the most amazing things I would see on Paros. At first, it was just chanting in Greek, and it seemed a little dull. However, the church is beautiful because it is all decked out with purple ribbons and flowers, etc. The tomb of Christ (holding the icon inside) is covered in flowers, and lines form for hours on end to kiss it (as it tradition in Orthodox Christendom). The priests spent and hour lighting candled and carrying them around the church. They also were swinging incense everywhere, and it was a very fun tradition to watch.
At 11:00, they sung a very beautiful hymn and then threw thousands of rose petals from the dome of the church down onto the tomb (and the priests). It was an amazing thing to see. I photographed it, and the photos will be ready by the end of the semester to view, but I would say that it WAS one of the most worthwhile things I’ve seen. It really was a religious experience. I had a good spot to watch it from as well up in the balcony of the church which is closed except for two days a year.
Yesterday was Holy Saturday. I spent the day working on photographs and doing other things for school. However, at 10:00, it was back to church for me. I spent one full hour taking photos of the beautiful but empty church. At 11:00, the service started, and I listened to the Greek that I don’t know and never will for a while. At 11:55, the lights went out in the church and in the holy sanctum, you could see the priest light up a light. It then grew as the alter boys and everyone else lit their lights. The point is that at that moment (12:00AM Easter morning), Christ has been resurrected. The light symbolizes new life. Everyone was then to light their light from the light of the priest or someone that had lit their light from the priest. It took a while for me to get my candle lit up in the balcony, but as my friend was giving me a light, fireworks went off outside and the song “Christos Anasti (Christ is Risen)” reached it’s high point. It was amazing. I took many photos of the light spreading over the church, and it was a great experience. When I managed to make my way through the crowd of thousands of people, I took my candle home and made a black cross over my doorway. Though this sounds as though it has its roots in the Passover, it is actually an Orthodox tradition to keep the evil sprits away for the year. The amazing thing is that the light that burns in the church and across many Parian homes all year (until next Easter) was born on that night, and I took part in it.
Today it is Easter Sunday. Everything is as dead as I’ve ever seen it in the town. People are at home roasting their lamb, eating the things that have been deprived of them for 40 days. The old men on the street say “Christos Anasti” (Christ is Risen) to which I reply “Alithos Anasti” (He is Truly Risen). I get a “Bravo!” and a pat on the back. I say. “Chronia Polla” (Many Years) and head on my way with a smile on my face.
All I have to say to you is “Kalo Pashcha!” (Beautiful Easter).
On Friday, I woke up and helped my friend paint the lines out on her street. We were actually very good Samaritans and we painted the neighbors as well because they are kind of old and it must be done by Easter. We had so much fun though, and by the end it looked really good. Plus, I am able to add it to my “street conservation” credit. J
After that, I went to Lefkes with her again and hung out. Because it was good Friday, everything was closed. It is a very big holiday, but not in the sense of celebrating. Good Friday symbolized that Christ has been crucified. It is supposed to be a deeply sad day. The bell at the church tolls non-stop all day from 6 in the morning until 3 in the morning (that’s when I lost count and fell asleep anyway). It is a day to go to church, and there are essentially services all day. There is a very beautiful church in Lefkes, so I just went and sat outside of it (I wasn’t properly attired to go in) and listened to the Byzantine Greek being sung in the service. It was very nice. I stayed there on the bench outside the church for about an hour.
After that, I decided to go for a walk, so I just followed paths until I got to the end of town. At the edge of town, there are the remains of the road built during the Byzantine Empire. The road is amazing in the places that it is well preserved. I walked a couple of miles down the path until I got a sense that it was time to go back. The path was beautiful with a stream running beside it at times. It took me up a mounting, through an olive grove and over fields of flowers. I really enjoyed it.
When I walked back, the church service was over, but they had a parade of the Greek equivalent of the Boy Scouts (except that the Greek version is a bit more morbid with it’s roots in Fascist Greece).
We finally left Lefkes, and I spent the rest of the afternoon eating dinner, snacking on gelato, taking photos and visiting with friends.
There was another church service at night, so I decided to go to it. I was told that it was one of the most amazing things I would see on Paros. At first, it was just chanting in Greek, and it seemed a little dull. However, the church is beautiful because it is all decked out with purple ribbons and flowers, etc. The tomb of Christ (holding the icon inside) is covered in flowers, and lines form for hours on end to kiss it (as it tradition in Orthodox Christendom). The priests spent and hour lighting candled and carrying them around the church. They also were swinging incense everywhere, and it was a very fun tradition to watch.
At 11:00, they sung a very beautiful hymn and then threw thousands of rose petals from the dome of the church down onto the tomb (and the priests). It was an amazing thing to see. I photographed it, and the photos will be ready by the end of the semester to view, but I would say that it WAS one of the most worthwhile things I’ve seen. It really was a religious experience. I had a good spot to watch it from as well up in the balcony of the church which is closed except for two days a year.
Yesterday was Holy Saturday. I spent the day working on photographs and doing other things for school. However, at 10:00, it was back to church for me. I spent one full hour taking photos of the beautiful but empty church. At 11:00, the service started, and I listened to the Greek that I don’t know and never will for a while. At 11:55, the lights went out in the church and in the holy sanctum, you could see the priest light up a light. It then grew as the alter boys and everyone else lit their lights. The point is that at that moment (12:00AM Easter morning), Christ has been resurrected. The light symbolizes new life. Everyone was then to light their light from the light of the priest or someone that had lit their light from the priest. It took a while for me to get my candle lit up in the balcony, but as my friend was giving me a light, fireworks went off outside and the song “Christos Anasti (Christ is Risen)” reached it’s high point. It was amazing. I took many photos of the light spreading over the church, and it was a great experience. When I managed to make my way through the crowd of thousands of people, I took my candle home and made a black cross over my doorway. Though this sounds as though it has its roots in the Passover, it is actually an Orthodox tradition to keep the evil sprits away for the year. The amazing thing is that the light that burns in the church and across many Parian homes all year (until next Easter) was born on that night, and I took part in it.
Today it is Easter Sunday. Everything is as dead as I’ve ever seen it in the town. People are at home roasting their lamb, eating the things that have been deprived of them for 40 days. The old men on the street say “Christos Anasti” (Christ is Risen) to which I reply “Alithos Anasti” (He is Truly Risen). I get a “Bravo!” and a pat on the back. I say. “Chronia Polla” (Many Years) and head on my way with a smile on my face.
All I have to say to you is “Kalo Pashcha!” (Beautiful Easter).
Saturday, April 22, 2006
Easter Eggs
Here are some photos of the red Easter eggs my friend and I dyed. They were really good. Red is the traditional color to dye the easter eggs.
Street Conservation
OK. Here are the photos of the street conservation I did :)
Note the lines I painted :)
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