January 2022
Happy New Year! I must admit that my immediate thought is that we have to keep on trying to make it so, despite a great deal of discouragement. Here in Greece the Covid infection rate is rising at rocket-like speed, with the Attica area being most affected. It is the most populous part of Greece, so this is only to be expected. As I make my limited journeys around greater Athens, however, I notice that most people are obeying the rules, which currently involve the wearing of double masks. Four of my grandchildren have had their vaccinations: baby Aphrodite is still too young.
The spread of the virus is a great worry, but so is the incompetence of certain politicians. Throughout my fairly long life, I’ve always thought of Australia and England as being well-organised and efficiently run societies. Not any more. In both places the usual qualities of leadership are signally missing. In the one place, the prevailing idea seems to be that God has everything in hand, while in the other those in power are motivated by self-interest more than by anything else.
I spent a family Christmas near Herakleion, Crete. There were eleven of us: six adults and five children, three of whom were under three. Needless to say, vigilance had to be the adults’ watchword. Although the 8 year old, deep in Harry Potter number 5, needed no watching at all.
Greece is very regional in its customs, traditional dress and diet. A couple of days before Christmas, my Peloponnesian mother-in-law would make a special bus trip into Kalamata, and arrive back in the village with a turkey. Live. Several turkeys would make the journey in the hold of the bus, their legs securely tied together. Our doomed bird would strut in feathered majesty around the courtyard. When the inevitable hour came, I would disappear. I know carnivores ought to be able to kill or watch the slaughter, but I am a complete hypocrite in this regard.
Will culture shock never end? The night before Christmas a mate of Mine Host arrived bearing a bulging plastic bag. I didn’t take much notice, but my son insisted I take a look. There reposed about fifteen sheep’s heads. Next day these were barbecued and eaten as a starter. Readers will not be surprised to learn that I did not partake. But the rest of the adults were very enthusiastic.
I spent Christmas on Crete five years ago, and nearly froze to death, but this year the weather was mercifully mild, so that the older children were able to have fun playing with the pet lamb. The family group in general is very caring about the lamb, but I’m afraid I don’t like his chances come Easter time. My mother-in-law saved a premature kid once: it was bottle fed, and kept warm by the kitchen fire, but when Easter came...there is not much room for sentiment in rural life.
One day after Christmas we visited the Plateau of Lassithi, famous in the past for its ten thousand windmills. It is a very pretty place, but not many of the windmills are in use any more, as most have been replaced by modern technology in the form of diesel pumps. Old photos show the windmills wearing their white sails, but those picturesque days have gone.
Another day we visited the Natural History Museum in Herakleion, and that visit was a great success, with exhibits covering Greece and Cyprus, not just Crete. Ignorant Yiayia learned that
once upon a time elephants and hippopotamuses roamed Crete. We also subjected ourselves to a simulation of an earthquake, which was predictably terrifying. I worried that the children would have nightmares, but they didn’t, for which much thanks.
Now we are back in a subdued Athens. Still, everybody is exchanging New Year greetings and trying to think positively.
Happy New Year/Kali Chronia!
Gillian occasionally writes for
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