St. John of the Fire: Village Festival 2014

  Video by Newell and Skaggs

 

This year the festival caught us a little off guard.  We’d been on the road above the village taking pictures, collecting wild flowers and rosemary, and sampling ripe fruit from the trees along the road:  figs, plums, apricots, and sour cherries.  We’d planned to drop our tote-sack off at the house and head back up to Cristo’s for dinner, but just as I unlocked the door a man in the street addressed us in English, “You live here?”

“Yes.”

“So do I.”

“Here, in the village?”

“No, I live in Samo Town.  I come here for (unintelligible word) at the school.  Are you going?”

“Yes.”

The man was wearing long pants and obviously Greek.  We were wearing shorts and obviously not Greek, so I’m sure that he was taken a little aback at seeing foreigners unlocking the door to a private residence in such remote corner of the island.  Vourliotes is not a tourist Mecca.

Earlier, Kathy and I had been hearing Greek music from the upper road and assumed it was coming from one of the restaurants below, but it was coming from village's elementary school.  They must be having the Festival of St. John at the school this year!

I’m guessing that there were close to two hundred people there with music, dancing, and long tables of food set up in the schoolyard.  We were both handed plates of food and I was waved off when I offered to pay for it.  Free food and wine are a traditional part of the celebration.  This year we recognized dozens of faces in the crowd and we were greeted warmly by many of them with the traditional hug and kiss on each cheek.  I felt myself blush a little a few times and tried to manage a few Greek words in response, which only made them laugh and repeat the kiss-kiss greeting.

On our way home from the festival I noticed the man who had given us the fish.  He was relaxing on his patio with a cold drink, surrounded by his family, his brother-in-law, and another man who spoke pretty good English.  I stopped off and wished them all a “good evening” in Greek, and even managed to find the Greek words for "fish," "delicious," and "thank you," which made them all laugh.  Then I offered a more eloquent thank you in English, with the one man functioning as an interpreter.  Before I could get away I was being loaded up again, this time with a dozen little brown eggs, a bag of large pink and yellow sweet cherries, and about an eight pound sack of potatoes that the men had just dug from the soil that morning.

I tried to explain to the man with the good English that this was not necessary, I had not come here for more food.  He raised his hand, cocked his head and said, "It is OK, you are neighbors now!"  If I had just a few words to describe the village and the people in it, I think I would have to say, “Earthy, warm, and generous.”

For earlier posts on the Festival of St. John at this site click on:
Folk Dancing (6/30/13)
Village Festival (6/27/12)
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