A National Pastime

            Ahh, an evening spent indulging in the most popular sport in Greece.

Now, I'm not much of an athletic enthusiast, despite years of participation in church league basketball.  I'm not like the guys in our apartment who go to bed at 9 pm and then wake up at 3 am to watch their favorite team play live over the internet.  I attend sports games mainly for the junk food involved.  (Dip n' Dots, anyone?) 

But for this sport, I make an exception.

            What is it?  Football, perhaps?  No.  In my estimation, the most popular sport in Athens is ...shopping.  The streets are lined with clothing stores and furniture stores, book stores and jewelry stores.  Big box stores are rare, so finding a pair of shoes, for example, requires more than a quick trip to Off Broadway.  Boots are hugely popular among Greek women, so there was no shortage of choice, but I spent months scouting out the perfect pair - right color, right height, right price.  I wore out my current pair trying to find a new one! 

            Greek shops don't post their hours, so knowledge of such information is important.  Greek shops traditionally close at 5 pm, but on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, they close at 2:30, reopen at 5:30, and close for the last time at 9 pm.  On Saturdays, they close for the day at 2:30 pm.  Of course - as is always true in Greece - schedules are made to be broken.  The one universal truth is that you will always need something on a Sunday, and nothing is ever open.  However, window shopping is very popular and always an acceptable use of time.

            It's also key to know that there are major sales twice a year - one in August, and one at the beginning of the year.  I bought my boots for half-off.  Score!  The store in which I purchased them was so small that the saleswoman could point out each style that they had in my size - there were about a half dozen pair.  She was very nice to this English-speaking American (despite months of Greek lessons, I can remember only basic phrases), and helpfully offered her opinion when I was torn between a heeled boot in a cream suede and the tan leather pair I decided on.

            Flush with my victory, I left the shop in Neo Psychico and headed to Halandri to obtain sustenance.  Strolling along the brightly-lit streets with my large shopping bag, I basked in the feeling of comraderie brought about by mutual consumerism.   

ΜΠΟΤΕΣ !

Καλή Χρόνια!

The marble hallways in the Benakio rang with cries of “Καλή Χρόνια!” and “Χρόνια Πολά!” on the first days back after Christmas Break.  These greetings, roughly equivalent to our “Happy New Year!” and "Many happy returns!" (and literally translated “good year” and “many years”) were joyfully exchanged with anyone that each person hadn’t seen since the new year began.  In our regular Thursday English Department meeting, one of the teachers brought in an enormous powdered sugar-dusted “vasilopita” or traditional New Year’s cake, flavored with orange extract and peel.  Tradition states that a coin be placed in the cake, and whoever gets the slice with the coin will have good luck in the New Year (a tradition that strongly reminds me of the Mardi Gras King’s cake tradition.)  The teacher who had the slice containing the coin was also given a small gold charm on a necklace.  According to one of the teachers, all jewelry shops in Greece produce these silver or gold New Year good luck charms, and there is “fierce competition” among the different shops.  Apparently the first slice is also traditionally given to Jesus, though I believe ours was consumed.

I also received two beautiful pomegranate ornaments from teachers in the English Department; one, a lovely silver, and the other a clear blue glass.  The pomegranate is considered a symbol of good luck in the new year, and there are a couple of interesting New Year’s traditions related to the fruit that a shop keeper in Monastiraki related to me.  During my Christmas shopping in this popular tourist shopping district, the shopkeeper explained to me that actual pomegranates are smashed outside doorways on New Year’s day in Greece for good luck!  It is also customary for young people to take a pomegranate to their grandmother, which she keeps until the day that they marry.  The shop keeper, of a grandmotherly age herself, showed me a couple of dried pomegranates on her shelf that she had received as a result of this tradition.

I love the overall feeling of returning to school after a break.  Of course, there are the sleepy-eyed students and the re-adjustment to the schedule (accompanied by jet-lag, in my case), but there is also a rededication and enthusiasm that is refreshing, breathing new life into the classroom.  So, “Καλή Χρόνια!” and “Χρόνια Πολά!” to all of my blog readers!  I wish you a Happy New Year and many years, besides!