"eth-nic"
Definition: pertaining to or characteristic of a
people, especially a group sharing a common and distinctive culture,
religion, language, or the like.
A few saturday nights ago I
was actually free, as in FREE TIME! I was shocked in an extremely
pleased way and planned to head home after work and just chill with some
tea and a book, or maybe be even chiller and watch a movie. My family
on the other hand had different plans. They decided to do something fun
for once, WITHOUT ME. They assumed I was working, which I got very
offended that they would plan to go anyways, but no matter, it worked
out after all. So as tired as I was we loaded up in the car and we went
to the greek festival in Dekalb. Where I ended up spraining my ankle.
Despite the pain and the tiredness, it was WORTH IT.
The place wasn't very big, but it was crowded, which
gave it a homely sort of feel. I was cold when I got there but warmed up
soon enough, just from the sheer energy of the place. There was loud
music and a section where Greeks were doing cultural dances. There were people EVERYWHERE. I had no idea there were so many Greeks in the
Atlanta area. There were tons, some actually speaking Greek, and others
that had grown up in the US. While we were eating, there was a family
next to us speaking in English, while the elders had accents, and a girl
was talking to another girl and was like "this is my mom and my 'thia' so and so." It was cool how she still used the greek term for aunt like my sisters and I use the spanish word for aunt.
Sorry I ate most of the Gyro before I remembered to take a picture. those are LAMB kabobs by the way. Unfortunately we never tried those. :(
The festival was hosted by a huge orthodox greek church. They opened up all the
classrooms in the school section for shops and there was a lot of cool
stuff. There was one huge room that was like a market, there were greek
goods and PASTRIES. When we went in the market place my brain just went
"aaaaaaaaaawe" (think the angelic music that they put in cheesy movies when
people find treasure or something.) It was AMAZING. Leslie and I got a
sampler of all the pastries. The only things I actually ate that night were baclava and this little greek cookie. Man that baclava was good. It
tasted different than when you get it like at kroger, but it was a good
different. They also had these greek fried donought holes, which the
line for was incredibly long. That plus my wallet and stomach's
conscious didn't let me get any, but man they looked good. They were
frying them up to order.
Some of the amazing stuff in the "bakery"
The church also left their sanctuary
open for people to see how they worship, and there was a little
"lecture" which I assume was about the history, but I'm not sure, we
didn't stay for it. It was a cathedral and very impressive. There was a reverence
you could just feel in the air, even those who weren't religious. They had
signs everywhere explain what and why things where. It was a little sad to see
all the regulations they had to go through just to worship, when I know the
freedom God has really given us. However, it was a also little
convicting, because I know sometimes Christians can be irreverent in their
worship. It was definitely good for my perspective.
People could give a donation and get one of these candles. Normally, Greeks pray over them to help them become "pure" and reverent before each service. Then the priest prays over them. (I think)
It was really cool to just stop
and look around, to take in the sights and sounds, the people waiting in line
for food, (who were having a jolly old time despite the fact that it was cold
and they were STANDING IN A TWENTY MINUTE LINE for food.), the people watching
other people dance, the people dancing themselves, the people sitting around
chatting about the good old days, and the other people running around trying to
figure out what on earth was Pastitsio and what kind of meat
exactly was on their kebab (that was us). It was very impressive. Inside
was fun too, it was stuffy and crowded but the things they had for sale were
cool. Some places had stuff that was "made in china" and I was like
"what? china!?" But then I realized in some shops it wasn't about the
where it was made, it was more about the original Greek style regardless
of the manufacturer. The clothes and jewelry were in styles you wouldn't
find in your local target. (Interestingly, most of the stuff said "made in
India." Greeks must use India as their main manufacturers, like we use
China) It was lots of fun trying to get in the shops without knocking anyone or
anything over, and cool to see the different styles. Also there were shops with
paintings and house decorations. The paintings were superb. Most of them were
of scenery in Greece and it was beautiful.
All in all, it was very fun and
inspiring and I will probably go back next year.
When we were by a shop that
said "Ethnic Jewelry and clothing" a group of teenager girls started
to go in. One of them, I kid you not said "wait guys, this isn't greek
stuff, it's ethnic... what's ethnic anyways?" and the other replied,
" haha I bet all these americans are going in there thinking it's greek
stuff, when really it's ethnic." And they went away laughing like they
knew something no one else did. I didn't know whether to bust out laughing or
cry. They didn't know what ETHNIC was!!! They were HIGHSCHOOL AGE. Even if they
didn't know exactly what ethnic meant, they should have known the gist of it.
It made very sad. I know it's possible they might have been exceptionally dumb,
but it was sad because most likely, a a lot kids their age don't know what
ethnic means, which is a sad view of how education is going these days. For
those of you who may not know, don't lose heart! Just take the time to learn,
and I even helped you, just go back and re-read the top.
p.s. we got greek TEA!!!!!!!!!
We have yet to try it because mom wants us to look it up first and make sure we aren't drinking weird stuff.
