my big, fat, Greek Easter - OPA!!!!

My Big, Fat, Greek Easter
If you have never been to a Greek Easter service, I recommend tonight about 11 p.m. you take yourself and any open-minded friends you can muster to the local Greek Orthodox Church and just feast on the sights, sounds, smells and joys of Greek Easter. Christos Anesti! (Christ is Risen!!) Also at many churches those stout enough to withstand the 11 p.m. to about 2 a.m. service are rewarded with a gourmet quality feast in the church fellowship hall...in the middle of the night!  Oh yeah.
 
- Here is an account of Greek Easter in America By Stephanie Leong:

GREEK EASTER

Every second Sunday in April, my mom and I drove from Fresno to my cousin Helen's house in Fremont to celebrate Greek Easter. Since my relatives lived in the Bay Area, they were usually there when we arrived. I looked forward to Easter time and seeing my family members in one place as they socialized, drank, ate, danced, and visited together. It was during these celebrations that I learned the importance of family and traditional celebrations. I am thankful that my mother saw it necessary that I participated in these events.

On the day of the celebration, my mom and I left home around eight in the morning. Since Fresno was a good three-to-four hour drive from Fremont, we usually stopped at McDonald's in Los Banos for a bathroom break and breakfast. It was also a break from what seemed like more than a two hour trip so far. We'd get our usual order: sausage sandwich and Coke for the rest of the ride to my cousin's house.

Immediately after we arrived in Fremont, we'd go straight to my cousin Sonia's and Anthony's house, who lived around the corner from my cousin Helen. Because of the tradition that was instilled in my cousins, they decided to live close to each other to keep the family bond strong and alive. After we unpacked and visited for a while, we'd get ourselves together and walk to Helen's, where the celebration would take place. My other cousins, the Angaranos from San Jose, who were already there helping in the preparations of the food, would stop to greet us and ask if we needed anything to help us relax from our long drive. Meanwhile, Helen ran around making sure everything was okay and ready to begin. I could tell she had lots of stuff to do as she ran from room to room with her scarf flapping in the air behind her. After I hugged and kissed everyone at the door, I went to find my cousin Katie, who was my age. Together, we walked around and visited everyone, making sure we spent time with Aunt Rosie, who we also called Ya-Ya. I wanted to spend most of my time visiting Ya-Ya because she was my grandmother's sister and the last of her generation alive. Also, she reminded me of my grandmother, who died when I was fourteen years old. After Katie and I finished visiting with Ya-Ya, we went to look at family photos of my grandmother, her family, and Helen's family while waiting for the food to cook.

We could smell the food cooking while the time passed. The lamb was out on the spit, roasting over an open pit that was built by cousin Helen's husband Themeus. The meat man delivered the lamb the day before the celebration so Themeus could prepare it for the spit. When he received the lamb, he tied the feet together with string. After he secured the front and back feet, he then hung the lamb's feet around a long stick. Next, he marinated the lamb in a special home-made Greek sauce. He prepared olive oil, basil, oregano, and lemon in a large bucket and mixed it well to spread on the lamb. After he brushed the marinade on, he and his son John brought it out and placed it over the pit and into the proper notch on the post, so it roasted and cooked at the same time. As it cooked, everyone would take turns turning the lamb as they participated in the traditions of the Greek culture.

While the lamb cooked over the coals, Themeus gave out toast shot glasses of ouzo, a Greek liqueur. It was also tradition to take a toast with the host of the celebration, who were my cousins, the Condos, and drink to the goodness of the lamb that was cooking as well as all of the family members that had gathered together to break bread.

When the lamb was finished, Themeus and John carried it to a prepared picnic table to cut it. First, they slipped the stick out from under the feet and untied the string. They began to cut the legs from the body after they removed the strings. Then, John arranged the cut meat on a dish. Next, Themeus placed the platters of meat out on the table with the rest of the food. The other dishes consisted of: yellow steamed rice, baked string beans with peppers, Greek salad topped with Feta cheese, bread, wine, and a plate of sliced tomatoes seasoned with oregano and olive oil, which was Helen's favorite dish that she would always prepare. As we began to eat, everyone pulled a piece of bread off of a bread loaf to symbolize the breaking of the bread.

After everyone had their share of the delicious meal, Helen brought out a basket of hard boiled red eggs and place one in front of each family member. We each picked up our egg and turned to the person sitting next to us. We tapped the top of the eggs together and waited to see whose egg would crack first. If I was lucky enough to not have my egg crack then I found someone else whose egg also didn't crack. We began the tapping of the eggs again until everyone's eggs had cracked. The last person without a cracked egg won the game and should receive good luck and fortune for the year. Unfortunately, I never won and searched for more eggs, so I could still play.

One last activity Helen did before everyone went home was to play Greek music and lead the group in traditional dances. All twenty of us got into a big circle and put our arms around each other's shoulders. As the music played, I danced with my relatives. We circled around the room as we exchanged a scarf from one person to the next. When Helen felt particularly festive, she was our cheerleader, yelling, "Hopa, Hopa!" Soon, everyone was yelling with her. I could tell everyone was having a good time as the dancing continued for over an hour. By the end of the night, I was bushed.

Greek Easter was a celebration I looked forward to every year. Not only did I experience good food, dancing, and socializing, but I was exposed to the Greek traditions of my family. Even today, my family still gets together on the second Sunday of April at my cousin's in Fremont, California. Although some of the older generations are no longer alive to participate in the celebration, new family members such as my daughter Shaun C. have taken their place in carrying on the tradition of Greek Easter.