A couple of friends and I who are all in the same Contemporary Greek Society class had to go to the local cemetery and observe the death rituals here in Greece. At first I thought this assignment was dumb, and that I didn't want anything to do with going in to a cemetery, they just creep me out! But since it was for class I was forced to go. I walked into the cemetery and I was amazed by it! It was beautiful! It was not a grassy field of tombstones like what would be found back in America, instead it was architecturally intriguing and trees and plants were sprouting up wherever they could in the midst of the marble structures. The tombs were raised from the ground and everything was made of marble. Even some tombs has temple like things on them, almost like they were copying the temples dedicated to the gods. It was amazing! Then while Jessica were walking around, checking things out an elderly woman and her two daughters stopped me. At first she started speaking to us in Greek, where I interrupted her with a “Συγνώμη. Δεν καταλαβαίνω. Μιλώ αγγλικά.” (I'm sorry. I don't understand. I speak English.) She then asked me in English where we were from and we answered America. She then took out a dish of some sort out of her bag and uncovered the contents within. It appeared to be this traditional Greek dessert “kolivam," boiled wheat mixed with sugar and cinnamon and decorated with nuts and raisins. The top of the desert was laid with walnuts which formed the shape of a beautiful cross. As the elderly woman was filling up a plastic cup for us to have, one of the daughters was asking us why we were here in Greece and what we was doing in the cemetery. We told her that we were studying here and we were trying to learn more about their culture. After hearing this she told us that the koliva was to honor their late father. It was really interesting to see such a tradition play out, and even more interesting that they chose us to play a part in honoring their father, a perfect strangler, clearly not Greek, and clearly not mourning the loss of my own. It was interesting to see the differences in death rituals as it compared to the states.
After we thanked them for the treats we continued on our way, and as we did so the rain started picking up. Jessica was brilliant and actually brought an umbrella and I was dumb and had nothing! So at it started pouring literally like cats and dogs, we both tried to huddle underneath the little umbrella. I have never seen it rain so hard before it was insane! It came to the point where
the path we were standing on became a river and water was up to our ankles. We decided to make a break for the exit and try to find shelter somewhere outside the cemetery. As we were running, we ran into two of the other girls we came with, Callie and Melissa. They were trying to get out of the rain by hiding under a tree. We joined them and decided that it would be safer if we left the cemetery and tried to find a store or something where we could be inside and wait till the rains stopped. So again we found ourselves hauling butt through the pouring rain and through the streets raging like rivers. We ran to shelter and hide under the first awning to the first store we saw, which was a flower shop. We were literally soaked. It looked like I just jumped in a pool, it was ridiculous! The owners of the store came out and were just kinda stunned at how wet we were. Immediately they started grabbing plastic bags for us, so we could take all our stuff out of our purses and keep it dry in the bags. Then they asked us where we are from, we said America, but we live in Platia Vernava (the square close by). She then told us that she would be right back and ran inside her store. She came back a little bit later with 2 huge umbrellas and she offered them to
us. She told us to take them, and once the rain slowed down, we could use them to get home. We were so grateful! But that wasn't the end of it. She ran back inside again and came out with dry shirts she found in the back. She told us that we couldn't stay sopping wet and that we needed to change into dry clothes, so she lead us to the bathroom. While we were changing she was still running around the store looking for rain jackets that we could borrow. I think one man who was there in the store literally took the jacket off his back and offered it to us. I am just amazed by how generous the Greeks are. I don't know if I would have encountered a situation such like this back in the states. I mean people would certainly have offered us a dry place to stand, but umbrellas, dry clothes and rain jackets, I don't know if that would have happened. I was truly in shock and so appreciative that they were so willing to help and take care of us. Everyday I am reminded as to why I came to this country, it wasn't for a pretty view out my window, or for the architecture, it was for the culture, to experience a little bit of true Greek hospitality.
No comments:
Post a Comment