Apokoronas Our Home

Many churches in Greece celebrate St Georges day. One of these is in the small hamlet of Argyromoury near Exopoli. This used to be a busy, thriving village but is now occupied by just a handful of residents. Early in the morning the shepherds gather their flocks and bring them to the church which overlooks the bay of Georgioupoli The flags are flying and many people stand outside as the church is too small to accommodate them. During the service the people walk three times around the church preceded by the Priest and icons. This church has a very old icon with several stories attached to it ( that for another time) The priest continues the service by the sheep with holy water and a bunch of basil attached to a cross The sheep gather The Priest throws the basil and the sheep it hits is blessed for the year. A bell is immediately attached to the sheep who will be special for the coming year The sheep then pass under part of the th

Last weekend I attended two seminars. The first two day seminar was in connection with the "Wise Woman " Programme. Women Innovators in Social Enterprise. There are 60 women taking part in this course, 20 from each of Greece, Spain and Croatia. It was held at the European Sustainability Academy in Drapanos Apokoronas. The  second one day follow up seminar was " A good girl or a competent woman"  run by Barry and Eva Solly We opened the weekend by lighting candles and saying what we hoped to get out of the seminar The academy was decorated with Poppies and Lupins The mayor of Apokoronas, Mr. Koukianakis, visited during the evening and spoke about the women of Apokoronas and his hopes for a Women's co operative to help support families through the current financial difficulties which Greece is experiencing Mr  Shibu Cheruvelil speaks about empowering women in India Group Discussions Visiting the Venetian wel

Clean Monday is the beginning of Lent in the Orthodox calendar and there are many traditions associated with it. This year I attended the Kaina "Camel Festival" The Camel festival in Kaina is unique and comes from the depths of  centuries. All the residents of the village start the preparations for the construction of the camel and the "smudge" very early in the morning.  About 8am the preparations begin. The children gather together  help each other to make our costumes. The adults are involved in the construction of the camel, having gathered the necessary materials from the previous day. Around 10am they begin the construction. The Camel is a Dionysian and first appeared in the 19th century. The camel is made with a wooden frame, two baskets which make the two humps of a camel, one paletsa (type of nylon fabric used for the collection of olives) and the skeleton of the head of a donkey. Inside the skull is placed a spool to snap his mouth by  pulling  on

The Kalamitsi Arts Group have been performing their pantomime "Who Stole The Tarts"in the schools for the children of the municipality. It follows the story of Maria who lives in the palace and is accused of stealing the Queen's tarts.  Pepper soup  Music and Narrator Pepper soup  The Good witch arrives Maria meets Captain Hook … and his pirate crew The wicked witches Maria meets the straw man The Tin man It's those witches again! Cowardly Lion The Wizard of Oz He kills the witch The tarts are back at the palace Everyone is happy The children join in by eating the tarts! The headmaster meets some of the cast