thursday was tsikopempti, which everyone calls 'meat thursday' to save time; tsiko actually means "the smoky smell that rises up when you grill meat" so the entire city has reeked of grilled meat since thursday. i wouldn't have it any other way. this falls into the sympathetic magic category of ritualistic practices; it's thought that if you eat meat on this day, you will have meat available to you for the next year, meaning you're making bank. it marks the official beginning of carnival season, which leads up to lent, though there have been babies running around in costume since the weekend. they get to go to baby discos and have parties. i'm down with anything that incorporates small pirates into my daily routine.
carnival is the european grandaddy of mardi gras; it's characterized by excess and drank. my modern greek teacher eleni, whom i love, made a point of telling us that all babies in greece are born 9 months after carnival... jeez. public revelry is expected, including drankin in the streets, singing dirty songs, and mackin on strangers in masks.
practices vary from place to place in greece. i'd love to see how it is in a smaller greek village, but alas, hummus awaits in turkey (priority).
this weekend we did our damnedest to take full advantage of the festivities, but nothing really blew my mind. we went to a taverna in plaka on thursday so everyone could eat meat and be joyful. on friday we chilled, saturday we wore our masks over to a friend's apartment for clownin and then went to pangrati square, not knowing that we would need reservations to actually go into a bar. this shouldn't have been a surprise; when we visited mike's irish pub a few weeks ago for karaoke and beer (and creepy 45 year old men named giannis. they are all named giannis) even the bar stools were reserved. thank god the stage was free, right?
we also went to a parade yesterday. it was gray and freezing out, but a lot of fun, minus the mouth-breathing old men pressing up against us. i don't want to talk about it.
so this weekend is the big blow out, which we are missing, and then it's clean monday and the city shuts down so everyone can repent and start their lent bidness. i guess the following 40 days are a good time to be vegan in greece. dietary restrictions according to the greek orthodox church include abstaining from anything that has blood (for some reason this doesn't include squid... i'm pretty sure they have blood though. right? whateva.) some super orthodox badasses take this to the vegan level by not eating dairy and eggs, and monks also stop using olive oil; for the average greek joe though, it's just 40 days without meat. rough life, yea?
i have to go to a visa extension doctor's appointment to get an xray and a tb test. this is the only type of shot i have ever tolerated, i think, and also the only disease i have never convinced myself of having. [edit: except for that time junior year of high school. whenever i coughed i checked my hand for blood. i'm tight.] but i'll let you know how it turns out, fingers crossed!
love,
kg
update: that was the sketchiest hospital i have ever been in. also it was not a cute scratch tb test, it was a straight injection in my forearm. i'm upset. and lastly, i hope all monday mornings from now on include getting topless with a strange greek man... n't!
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