Ευτυχές Πάσχα

Katerin Restaurant

The Port






Shopping for Easter




NAMOS Restaurant and Beach


Decorating Easter candles



Panagia Paraportiani (Church of the Virgin Mary)


Picking up the goats

Metropolis Panagia



Grilling the goats and Easter Day
















Happy Easter!! I am very fortunate this year that Greek Easter coincides with Catholic Easter so that I can spend the holiday with my Greek family, the Maniatakis. I first met the Maniatakis when I was recruiting students for BU and Leonidas was applying for admission. It is a very long story but in the end his mother Marie and I became good friends. Leonidas graduated from the School of Management at BU in 2007 and his sister Kathleen from the College of Arts and Sciences in 2008. I first visted them in Greece in the summer of 2004 when I attended the opening ceremony of the Olympics with them. We also traveled to Kalamata and Coroni in the Pelaponnese Peninsula where Cristos is from and they have a family farm of grapes and figs and then to the island of Mykonos in the Cyclades where they were building a house at the time. We always be sure to get together whether I am in Greece for work or when they were visiting their children in Boston and I have been back to Mykonos with them several times. The home is now complete and it is a place I always feel I can relax-- a home away from home.

My journey began early Wednesday morning when I flew from Jeddah to Amman and connected to Athens. Each flight is only two hours and can you believe there is no time change?!! I feel like I am worlds away and yet Jeddah is still in 'real time' for me. Upon landing in Athens I had a few hours before Cristos, Marie and Leonidas were meeting me for our flight to Mykonos so I headed straight for the outdoor cafe and enjoyed a glass of wine (ok, two) and a Greek salad. And then my first of many frappicinnos. It is a traditional/trendy cold Greek coffee drink that I have only ever had here.

Kathleen was already in Mykonos and met us at the airport. One of the many things I love about being here is the daily schedule. We wake up at about 10, leisurely enjoy coffee and toast, go to town to sit for another coffee and watch the people, either walk around the shops or go to the beach or sit by the pool. Lunch is around 3:00 or 4:00 and lasts a couple of hours. Then you might read or run errands. The days are long so at 7:00 the sun is just starting to set and it is nap time. At about 8:30 you get up and get ready for dinner which is usually no earlier than 9:30. A schedule which I quickly get used to. Because it is early April the weather is not summer hot 'go swimming' weather. In fact I probably did not pack appropriately and wish I had brought warmer sweaters and closed shoes. The mornings and the evenings have been cool though the afternoons are warm. There have been people swimming in the beach and I may do so before I leave later this week.

Because it is Easter our schedule has included a lot of grocery shopping and errands and numerous trips to churches. We went to the Metropolis Church mostly which is right in the center of the port and twice went to the Montessary of the Virgin Mary which dates back to the 15th century and is the most famous church in Mykonos.
There are other guests as well- Kathleen has two friends here- both who I have met before. And there is a very nice couple who are old friends of Cristos and Marie. Vivian and... They all arrived on Thursday- some by plane and some by ferry. So the grocery shopping was an experience because we went to a different market for everything- the fruit and vegetable market, the bakery, the butcher shop, the garden shop, and then the bigger market for everything else. I love how beautiful everything looks in the markets here-- piles of beautiful oranges and Easter breads. I won'tgo into too much detail about the butcher shop- just to say it is not for those with a weak stomach. So the butcher is not open on Easter so you have to pick up your goat the day before. Because the Maniatakis do not have an enormous over-sized refridgerator they arranged to store their goats in the fridge at the fruit market which wasn't open either but would meet Cristos and Marie Easter morning so they could pick up their goats. Going to get the goats yesterday reminded me a little bit of getting a Christmas tree. They are already on the spit scewers and wrapped in plastic. The back seat of the car has to go down and plastic is layed so the dripping blood doesn't get all over the car (just like you don't want pine needles in your car!)

The Churches are all very tiny and can't possibly hold all of the people so it is typical that the majority of people stand outside in the church courtyard or in the streets. I really don't know much of what is said- all Greek to me! but seems very similar to my Catholic church Easter stories. There is a lot of fasting during holy week- no cheese or meat but as much wine as you want thank goodness. Their Easter really seems to be celebrated late Saturday night. We went to church at 11:00 pm- oh and I forgot to mention that we had decorated candles for everyone. White candles that we wrapped with ribbon and tied little charms to but they sell them in all sorts of colors with lots of 'stuff' on them. So we brought the candles Saturday night and stood outside while the priest chanted. At midnight they began ringing the bells, released a dove from the bell tower and threw flower petals on the people. The priests came out of the church with huge torches which they passed the flame and everyone lit their candles. I know, this would never happen in the US. A crowd of people with open flames! It made me very nervous. Oh and firecrackers too. Everyone left the courtyard with their lit candles and went to eat a big meal. We went to Katherin- one of the Manitakis favorite restaurants. The first thing we did was crack eggs! Just like my family is doing today in Connecticut. The eggs here are always only red and there is no organization to the cracking- more just a free for all. The traditional meal started with a lemony egg soup that had liver in it... mmm. An assortment of Greek appetizers- cheese pie, stuffed vine leafs, stuffed mushrooms, a salad and goat with bolied potatoes. Lots of wine too! Several still-lit candles were placed amongst the flower arrangement on the table. Marie had brought a little lantern too so that when we left she lit the lantern from one of the candles and carried it all the way home. When we got home she lit one of the candles again, blessed the door, and extinguished it over the door frame. This is to bring the light from the church into the house. I don't think any of you should try that at home...

Today the goat was picked up early and the men arrived to grill it. It is constantly brushed with olive oil, and fresh juice from lemons and oranges. It smells delicious though I will admit that I feel badly for the goat. One of Kathleen's friends who is here said it is tradition in her family to put a red egg in the mouth of the goat while it is grilling!

I just skyped with my family in Connecticut. Cooper and Cole teamed up to win the egg hunt and Cooper won the egg cracking contest. For the second year in a row Cooper was my egg proxy and apparently I lost to John in the first round. Everyone knows John cheats so I am sure I should have won.

Other pictures above include some of a pelican which is a symbol of Mykonos along with the windmills. I have never seen a live one before when I have been here so it was a treat! And it is so great to be here when everyone is getting ready for the summer ahead by painting and cleaning. I am here until Tuesday night and then to Athens for two nights of me time and seeing some other friends before flying back to reality on Thursday night...