Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Submitted by Lois Wellendorf

“In matters of style, swim with the current. In matters of principle, stand like a rock.”
- Thomas Jefferson

Students in our school, Katikis Primary, say it is “Happy Month Day.” The children appear to be so happy every day that I think it should be called “Happy Month Day” every day. Kathie and I are greeted each morning with many children smiling, waving, and trying very hard to say something in English to us. We are visiting the 3rd through 6th graders. The English teachers, John and Evie, teach English classes in the main building and the temporary classrooms. School has just started for this year so the teachers do not know the students names and they tell us this makes it very hard for them. The third graders are learning their English alphabet and have studied the letters A through P. They are learning words like T-shirt, trousers, and hat. They were very excited to see their new workbooks and quickly put them in their backpacks which looked like they weighed a ton. They carry all their books, supplies, and snacks with them from class to class. They are in class, then take a 15 minute break, class, then break, class, then break, etc. We had the pleasure of visiting with a number of high school students today. Today was “walk day.” There was no school for them today so they visited our school where they had attended last year.


During our school day, the rest of our group was visited at the hotel by Matina Skoulas who had lived in Long Island, NY for a period of time. She now lives and teaches here in Crete. She discussed the educational system, private schools, etc. They found her very interesting and knowledgeable. Matina brought a pastry called Kaletschio???? from the Alada’s Bakery to share with us. Delicious! Tomorrow they will be visiting a traditional Cretan village called Anogia (Anogeia).

The afternoon was spent taking care of the daily or weekly chores such as spending time on the computer, doing laundry, catching up on lost sleep, shopping, a walk on the beach, etc. Wow! What a way to spend an afternoon.

How do you describe an evening of dining and dancing on a mountain top? Sam took us to beautiful place called Arolithos located high on a mountain and the view was spectacular. It was the perfect place for taking pictures of our group with the breathtaking scenery in the background. After about a half an hour, we were seated on the upstairs balcony overlooking the band and dance floor. A delicious dinner was enjoyed by all. The band consisted of a Keyboard, Lyre, and Boozooki. Sam point out when the man playing the Lyre sings, he doesn’t play, and when he plays he doesn’t sing. The three men and three women in costumes from Northern Greece were dancing to the Greek music and bright colored traditional costumes. The second set of dances costumes were from Crete. Jackie, Jenny, Susan, Sally, and Milly joined the dancers on stage and danced the same steps Sam’s children taught us at the hotel. Three ladies in red costumes danced a modern dance such as is done in the Boozooki clubs.

As we were waiting for our taxi’s the goats were coming down the mountain to be milked. They are milked by the shepherds early in the morning and then return on their own back up the mountain.
How do you end a perfect evening? The sound of bells tinkling in the moonlight