But if I have to choose, my favorite recent meal would have to be dinner on Christmas Eve, when I got to savor a an indoor barbecue of at my principal’s village home in the mountains. I’d never eaten a meal cooked indoors in a fireplace before! The anticipation of watching wild mushrooms, wine sausages, halloumi cheese, and chestnuts slowly roast over the fire as I huddled beside it only made the meal taste that much better in the end. Talk about a tradition worth bringing back home to America!
Carols (τα κάλαντα) have filled the air throughout the Christmas and New Year’s season, bringing lively music to Christmas pageants, festivals, churches, parties, and front porches alike (yes, there are carollers here!). Many carols are sung in Greek, sometimes to familiar melodies, sometimes to melodies entirely new to me. I never imagined I’d hear “Jingle Bells” here in Cyprus, but— surprise! However, I prefer humming along to new tunes, sometimes even daring to half-sing, half-stumble along in Greek.
Speaking of music, I got to dance along to a Greek band at an after-Christmas party recently! At first, I felt too shy to join in, but then my colleagues and their friends showed me the steps and had me smiling and spinning in no time.
This week I’ve devoted all my free reading time to studying my new Greek textbook. Sounds like fun, right? Okay, so maybe it doesn’t, but it is. Why? Because the more I learn, the more I can understand, talk with, and learn from those around me, which is one of the best parts of living in another country!
