The Dark Side

A couple of weeks ago, Alex received an invitation for a birthday party from a girl at his school.  Since I had never heard of the place of the party, I innocently asked Demetris, "Do you know where the Aroma Cafe is?"  He said, "No." I followed up with, "It says it is in Kyrenia.  Where's that?" At this point Demetris almost dropped his fork and said, "Lori, Kyrenia is on the NORTH side."  Sure enough the party was to be held on the Turkish side of the island.  Demetris has not been on that side of the island since the Turks invaded and occupied it when he was a small child.  He has wanted to go there but knew it would stir some unpleasant feelings for him.  I thought attending a birthday party would be an easy way to go on that side without being totally immersed in it.  Plus, there would be lots of other people around so Demetris wouldn't be able to complain as much.  The party was held yesterday.  The parents of the birthday girl put quite a bit of effort into making it a smooth crossing for us.  There were five families that needed to cross the border and they hired a minibus to transport us, and the dad met us at the crossing point.  Usually, to take our car across the border we would need to buy insurance for about $65 a day.  We parked our car on the Greek side and then walked through the border.  Demetris was able to use his Cypriot ID card to cross and the rest of us presented our passports.  Instead of stamping the passports, they stamp a piece of paper with our names on it because the Greek side could refuse us entry if we have a stamp from the Turkish side.  It wasn't like they did a careful check of us anyway.  Demetris handed the guy all of our passports at once and he didn't even look at us to confirm it was the same people. As we crossed over we were greeted by a large sign stating, "Happy to say I am a Turk."  Not exactly what we were thinking.  Demetris remembered much of the landscape that we passed on the way there, but now it is dotted by many Turkish flags and statues.  We had a 20-30 minute drive to reach the party.  The party itself was very nice.  It was held in the yard of a coffee shop with plenty of grass for the kids to run in and a bouncy house to keep them busy. We enjoyed the company of other parents from the school that we had not had a chance to get to know much before.  There was good food and the weather was very pleasant.  At the end of the party the bus took us back to the crossing point.  Overall, a good experience and now Demetris is ready to try exploring the north side a bit more on our own. 

Excited for the bus ride

The border crossing

Proof that Demetris was there

Checking out his goodie bag

Sofia always loves a bounce house

One of several  Turkish monuments we passed on the way

Greek Easter Weekend

Greek Easter was this past weekend and the whole family went to the village to celebrate. We mostly stayed around the house this year and did a lot of eating. The Easter church service begins at 11:00 p.m. and ends at midnight. People pretty much show up whenever they want, though, and we went around 11:30. Again this year many large fireworks were being set off outside of the church. Sofia absolutely hated the loud noises and even though Alex had thought it sounded like a cool idea, he changed his mind after a few minutes and asked to go home. When we arrived back at the house Sofia declared, "That was the worstest baptism ever".  Funny because her baptism was scheduled for the day after Easter. Since the church service is basically the day before Easter, there isn't much to do on the actual day except eat some more. The Easter bunny is not a tradition. Instead, family members give the kids chocolates.
On to the baptism. In the Greek Orthodox church, the godparents, Uncle Themis and Aunt Maria, are responsible for all of the preparations.  There is much more to do, and buy, prior to the service than in my Protestant church.  This includes a white dress, shoes, a cross necklace, blanket and towel to wrap the child in after she gets wet, some special undergarments for under the dress, a large candle, and favors to hand out.  Plus, the baptism is not part of a regular church service since it lasts nearly one hour.  The priest was nice and left her underwear on to keep her from being too embarrassed when he dipped her in the water.  The water was probably only about six inches deep anyway.  We weren't sure how she would react to all of it, but she didn't cry or get upset once.  She was a bit shy, but went along with everything.  Afterwards, we had another large meal and a cake to celebrate. I asked Sofia what she thought of the baptism and she said, "He has a very small bathtub and he should put some waves (the non-slip things you put in a tub) in it so people don't slip."  She told Demetris, "That silly priest.  He put oil in the water instead of soap.  That just makes you all oily." I'm not really sure of the purpose of the oil either, but it is a tradition.  She looked beautiful in her white dress.

The priest reads some prayers at the beginning of the service

Preparing for the actual baptism

After the baptism the godparents help dress her in her white clothes

Looking pretty

Back at he village house.  I'm holding the large candle used.