VIDEOS FROM CHIOS
OUR SCHOOL AND EVERYDAY LIFE
Hello
children! We are < Homer’s students >,
the 6th grade students of the 11th Primary School of
Chios. This is our country, Greece, and this is our island, Chios.
Sideris: The school starts on 11th September
and finishes on 15th June.
Giorgos: Every day lessons start at 08:00
and finish at 14:00. Some kids stay at school until 16:00.
Aggelos: We don’t wear a school uniform.
Dimitris: We don’t have lunch at school , except of the
kids who stay late at school and they bring their own food from home.
Andreas: There is a canteen with snacks and
soft drinks.
Pantelis: We usually eat snacks which we bring from
home or we buy at the canteen. We have a toast, a sandwich, a piece of cake, a
cheese pie and so on.
Effie: Our school is in the centre of Chios. It is
the oldest primary school in town.
Nikos: It is next to the 1st Gymnasium (
Junior High School).
Mirto: It is also near Korais’s Library.
Maria: Our school is not very big. There is a
computer room, a library and a small playground.
All: We love our school!
Mary: And now the sights around our school. One of
the sights near our school is the cathedral. It is a big church with a pebbled
yard.
Maria: The church honours the names of the Holy
martyrs Minas, Victoras and Vikentios on 11th November.
Argieta : Korais’s library was built in 1792. It is one
of the biggest libraries in Greece. There are a lot of exhibits and valuable
books. The most precious books are the books donated to Adamantios Korais, (the
founder of the library) by Napoleon the Great. Thousands of tourists visit the
library every year.
Ioanna: The 1st
Gymnasium ( junior high school) of Chios is built between the 11th
primary school ( our school) and
Korais’s library. It is made of red local stone and it was the 1st
high school of chios ,built in 1792.
Markellina: The maritime museum is near our school. It is
a two-floor mansion. There are model ships, instruments, pictures and photos
and many documents about Chios shipmen and historical events.
Yiorgos: The park is near our school. Many people go
there in their free time to play, to see the peacocks, to have a pick-nick or
go for walks. At the park there are statues, an open-air cinema, a café and a
playground. What about the sights near your school?
Miltiadis, George : And now are school subjects. Our
school subjects are: History, Maths, Music, Geography, English, Social
Education, Physics, German, Language , Sports, Religious Education, Art and
French. You can find our timetable on our website.
Mihalis: Our three favourite subjects are: History,
Greek Language and Physics.
Dimitris: Our three least favourite subjects are:
Religious education, Social Studies and Geography.
Panagiotis: Do you want to know about our daily routine?
Well, we usually get up at 07:00 in the morning.
Aspasia: After school we have lunch and do our
homework.
Markelleni: We go to bed at about 22:00.
Maria: Our favourite sports are football,
volleyball, basketball and waterpolo.
Dimitra: Our favourite hobbies are dancing, swimming
and listening to music. What about your daily routine?
CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR'S CAROLS
11th primary school of Chios,Greece
6th grade students
CHRISTMAS IN GREECE
In Greece
when we talk about the "holidays" we are referring to the holiday
period of Christmas, New Year and Epiphany.
Traditionally the Christmas holiday period lasts 12
days in Greece.
There are many customs associated with the "twelve days of
Christmas," some very old and others relatively recent, like the decorated
tree and the turkey on the Christmas-day table.
FASTING AT CHRISTMAS
In Greece,
a fasting period starts almost 40 days before Christmas. While the fasting was
predominately for religious reasons, many considered the period to be a
healthful practice as well. The faithful would not eat any animal or its
related products, i.e. meat, dairy or eggs.
CHRISTMAS PREPARATIONS
As Christmas draw near, preparations begin so all will
be ready for the big holiday. Houses are cleaned with extra care, and a few
days before Christmas housewives prepare the Christmas cookies, which are eaten
on Christmas Day when the fasting ends.
In the past the honey cookies (melomakarona)
were made exclusively for Christmas, while sugar cookies, or kourabiethes (
th
as in this),
were prepared for the New Year. Today, though, that distinction is not observed
and both melomakarona and kourabiethes are prepared and consumed during the
Christmas and New Year holidays period.
CHRIST’S BREAD
Christopsomo or
Christ’s bread is a holiday tradition in every Greek household. It’s a sweet
egg-bread baked with nuts, raisins or candied fruits. It is made with the
richest of ingredients as an offering to Christ who will bestow blessings upon
the family in the coming year. The
traditional Christmas bread has a cross and symbols of the family's occupation,
on the top. It is eaten on Chrismas day.ISTMSA
GREEK CHRISTMAS CAROLS
At dawn on Christmas Eve, the children in groups
go from door to door to sing the kalada (
carols). The beginning of the song greets the owner of the house and asks them
if they could tell the story about the holy birth of Christ. Other kids hold
the triangle and hit it with rhythm, and others hold a model boat.
Some children still use the <trabouka>, a traditional ceramic
drum. In Greece
different carols are sang on Christmas’ Eve, on New Year’s Eve and on
Epiphany’s Eve.
THE CHRISTMAS TREE IN GREECE
Today almost everyone buys and decorates a Christmas
tree, whether it is real or artificial. Usually they are decorated a few days
before Christmas and remain in the homes until Epiphany.
In older times they would decorate little boats
instead, especially on the islands.
.
THE LEGEND OF <KALLIKANTZARI > AND THE WORLD TREE
According to the legend ,the Kallikatzari ( a kind of goblins) live under the earth. They can only come onto earth on Christmas and they can stay until the celebration of the Epiphany. . It is believed that Kallikantzari stay underground sawing the World tree, so that it will collapse, along with Earth. However, when they are about to saw the final part, Christmas dawns and they are able to come to the surface. They forget the Tree and come to bring trouble to mortals. They only appear at night, to bother people, cause them trouble, scare them and dance around them. There is no standard appearance of Kallikantzaroi, there are regional differences on their appearance. Some imagine them having some animal parts, like hairy bodies, horse legs, or boar tusks, sometimes enormous, other times very small, black furred with pointy ears.
They come into the houses from the chimney and they make a mess. There are many ways to chase them away. The most popular one is that the homeowner can put a sifter outside the door of the house. The kallikantzari easily distracted as always, start counting the holes. One, two three..., and because they don't know how to count, they never finish counting. The morning arrives and they have to go because the light scares them ,so their job is never done.
They are also afraid of fire and noises. Many homeowners throw salt on the fire and the crackling scares them away. They also try to keep the fire burning during the twelve days of Christmas period in order to keep them away.
Finally, on the Epiphany (6 January), the priest blesses the waters (sea, rivers, lakes) and goes from house to house blessing every household. The Kallikantzari are chased away because they are evil and cannot stand anything that has to do with Christ so they must go underground again to continue their sawing. They see that during their absence the World tree has healed itself, so they must start working all over again. This happens every year.
CHRISTOKSILO (CHRIST-STICK)
Every Christmas Eve, at the villages of Northern Greece, the man of each family walks through the fields and looks for the best piece of wood, which can be cut from a pine tree or olive tree, and takes it home. This piece of wood is called christoksilo (Christ-stick).
The housewife, who has cleaned the house, pays attention to the most important part. The fireplace has to be cleaned
so well, without a trace of ash. The housewife cleans even the chimney, so that the bad spirits and the kalikantzari ,(thegoblins) Cannot come down.
During the night of the Christmas Eve, when the whole family is gathered around the fireplace, the husband lights the fire by putting the "Christ-stick" in the fireplace.
According to the tradition, when the Christ-stick is burned, Christ is getting warm in his crib.
Each family tries to keep the fire burning during the 12 days, from Christmas till the Epiphany.
NEW YEAR’S CUSTOMS
VASILOPITA (SAINT BASIL’S BREAD)
On New year’s Day, family and friends have
lunch together. They usually eat pork, potatoes and salads. After the rich meal
they all gather around the table because the man of the family is going to cut
the Vasilopita and give each one a piece. What is special about this kind of
new year’s sweet bread, is that there is a coin in it. The one who finds the
coin in his piece is considered to be the lucky one of the year.
It is called Vasilopita,( Saint Basil’s
bread), because the church celebrates the name of Saint Basil ( Vasilios in
Greek), on the 1st January.
THE BREAKING OF THE POMEGRANATE
On New Year’s Day. the man of each house brings a pomegranate to Saint Basil’s mass. When the family return home they don’t get into the house.
The father must ring the doorbell in order them to open him the door as he mustn’t use his key. Getting into the house as a guest, with his right foot he will be the person who will do good “first footing”, holding the pomegranate on his hand. After entering the house, he throws the pomegranate on the yard in order to break it while he says “with health, happiness and gladness the new year may come and I wish we have so many lyres(gold coins) as the seeds in the pomegranate”.
AYIOVASILIATIKA VAPORAKIA (ST. BASIL’S
SHIPS)
(A custom that takes place only in Chios)
Every year, on New Years Eve, the traditional event of Ayiovasiliatika
vaporakia ( the New Year's small Ships)
takes place at the central square
of Chios (Vounaki square)
or at Homerion Cultural centre. This traditional event began as an honour for
the Greek victories in naval battles during the Balkan wars, from the residents
of Chios, Psarra and Minor Asia .Several teams
from different neighbourhoods of the city get prepared for this day, starting
enough months before, by making merchant vessels or battleships 5,5 meters long by hand,
according to regulation. Every team presents its small ship, that has a given
name by the team and then with the accompany of a trabouka (the pottery drum)
or sometimes other musical instruments they sing carols which are wishes for
the New Year and many times they satirize local political acts. In the end the
best team, which is the one with the best ship and the one who sang the best
carols is awarded with money and afterwards they wander their ship through the
neighbourhoods of Chios singing carols.
EPIPHANY ( TA FOTA )
Epiphany
in Greece is known as Theofania
or Fota(
lights). The first sanctification of the Epiphany (The Enlightenment)
takes place in church on the eve of the holiday. Afterwards, the priest goes
from house to house holding a cross and a basil branch. As he walks through
each house, he uses the basil to sprinkle (bless) all the areas of the home.
The big sanctification takes place the following day, January 6, the day of the
Epiphany in Greece.
On January 6thA and just after the mass, a long
procession is formed and heads to the nearest body of water - the sea, a river,
a lake or even a reservoir. Up in front of the procession are the priest and
the children carrying some icons. In the bigger cities, the procession becomes
more elaborate with the addition of music bands.
When they reach the water, the priest throws a cross
into the water, and in that way he blesses it.
(You must have in mind that Greece is a nautical country, so
you can understand how important is the sea for Greek people. )
Then, those who dare - mostly the younger people -
jump in the usually icy water and compete in retrieving the cross. The one who
brings the cross up to the surface will enjoy good luck and health for the
entire year.
THE SIGHTS OF CHIOS
ART GALLERY
TOWN SQUARE
THE CATHEDRAL
THE PORT
THE CASTLE
THE PARK
HOMERION CULTURAL CENTRE
KORAIS'S LIBRARY
DASKALOPETRE PORT AND BEACH
THE TEMBLE OF KIVELI ( CYBELE - THE GODDESS OF FERILITY AND NATURE)
HAVE A NICE SUMMER
Today we're sending three videos about our Christmas traditions and carols.
We hope you like them.
We're looking forward to receiving your videos.
Have a nice weekend!
Traditional Christmas Carol in Catalonia "Caga Tió"
Lyrics:
Caga Tió, avellanes i turrons, no caguis arengades, que són massa salades, caga turrons que són més bons
What is Caga Tió?:
Marta: What is Caga Tió?
Maria: Caga Tió is only in Catalunya (Catalonia)
Roger: It's a log with presents
Quim: We sing a song to "Caga Tió".
Elsa: We hit Caga Tió.
Pau: It gives us a present, Caga Tió.
Lele: Caga Tió
This is a Tió:
Other Christmas traditions:
Martina: Traditions of Christmas in Catalunya
Núria: On Christmas Eve
Roger: 24th December: Caga Tió
Laia: New Year Eve on 31st December
Amèlia: We swallow 12 grapes for good luck for each month of the year.
Pau: On 6th January we receive presents from the Three Kings
Dear friends from Chios,
This is Rosa, one of the English teachers at Fructuós Gelabert school.
We're glad to send you our first video with first set of questions about your school and school day.
We're really looking forward to your videos with your answers and new questions!
TIMETABLE
Bárbara: What time do you get up?
Elsa: What time do you start school?
Clara: What time do you finish school?
Marta: What time do you have dinner?
Guim: What time do you go to bed?
SCHOOL SUBJECTS
Pol: How many subjects do you have at school?
Lluc: What subjects do you have?
Biel: What's your favourite subject?
Pau: What's your least favourite subject?
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