Saturday, April 26, 2008

Holy Week - Happy Easter

In red, as the heart,
with the gifts multimplied,
we wish you Happy Easter and Love...
Dear Albert, Ana, Angueliki, Antonis, Cati, Kostas, Maria, Mariana, Marta, Rosa, Roser, Sofia, Stavriana and Toni,
in Greece, in France, in Romania, in Spain
all the best for you!

Katerina F.

Easter Customs

Easter (=“Pascha” in Greek, “Pasah” in Jewish, which means “Passover” of the Red Sea, free, far away from the Egyptians ) is the biggest celebration of the Orthodox Christians and the one richest in folklore.


The Greek people use the word “Lambrí” (Brightness) for “Pascha” because the day of the resurrection of Christ is a day full of joy and exhilaration.

Easter (Pascha) begins on the Saturday of Lazarus (the Saturday before Palm Sunday) with children and their teachers being very happy because they will spend two weeks far from school.

All over the country a plethora of customs and traditions are observed during the week prior to Easter (Holy Week).

Holy Thursday

The preparations for the celebration of the Resurrection start on Holy Thursday. On that day housewives traditionally prepare tsourekia (sweet buns resembling brioche) and colour eggs with special red dyes.

Ever since antiquity the egg symbolises the renewal of life and the red colour symbolises the blood of Christ.

In the past, people used to place the first red egg on the icon stand of the house in order to cast out evil spirits.

In some villages they used to mark the head and the back of small lambs with the red dye used for the dyeing of the eggs. They also used to keep one of the big round Holy Thursday loaves at the icon stand in order to protect the members of the family from spells. Holy Friday

Friday is the most sacred day of the Holy Week, the day of the culmination of the passion of Christ with the deposition from the cross and Christ’s burial.

Because it is a day of mourning, housewives do not do any house chores, avoiding even cooking. Women and children go to church to decorate the Epitaph (Bier of Christ) with flowers they collect or buy.

In the morning of Good Friday, Christ’s Burial is reenacted in church and in the evening the Epitaph procession takes place.

Holy Saturday

On Easter Saturday morning, preparations start for the festive dinner of the night of the Resurrection and housewives cook “maghiritsa” (a tripe and herbs soup). Shortly before midnight, people gather in church holding white candles which they light with the “Holy Light” distributed by the priest. When the latter hymns “Christ is risen” (Christós Anesti), people exchange wishes and the so-called “Kiss of Love”. With the “Holy Light” of the candles they thrice make the sign of the cross on the door post over the front door of their houses for good luck. Then they allgather around the festively laid table, they crack red eggs and feast on the traditional “maghiritsa”.

Easter Sunday

On Easter Sunday morning, in many parts of the country lamb is prepared on the spit. In other regions, the meat for the Easter table - lamb or kid - is roasted in the oven.

There is a festive atmosphere everywhere and people eat and dance usually until late into the night.

All over Greece Holy Week and Easter are celebrated in great splendour and devoutness.


Friday, April 25, 2008

The travel of a lady and 2 girls to Barcelona and Rome

From Sunday 13-4-08 to Friday 18-4-08

with the eTwinning programm "Let's get to know ourselves and our cities" 2 girls, Konstantina and Sofia with their classmates visited Barcelona, Figueres, Girona, Badalona and Rome.

Let's enjoy their pictures from their trip!

Maria_P_Barcelona

Click on the above picture and then choose SlideShow!

Let's get to know ourselves in Barcelona (videos)

The students from
  • 3rd Upper Secondary School Miltos Kountouras at Nea Filadelfia / Athens in Greece
  • Lycee Professionel Jean Perrin at Longjumeau / France
  • Centre d' Estudis Joan Maragall at Badalona / Catalunya - Spain

met each other in Barcelona from April 13th to April 18th 2008

The schedule of the Greek group is:

1st day (Sunday 13-4-2008) - Poble Espanyol:


1nd day (Sunday afternoon 14-4-2008) - Las Ramblas, Barri Gotico, El Raval, Port Vell:

2nd day (Monday morning 14-4-2008) FC BARCELONA

2nd day (Monday evening 14-4-2008)

3rd day (Tuesday 15-4-2008) Modernism

Photos:

4th day (Wednesday 16-4-2008) Montjuic

5th day (Thurstday 17-4-2008) Figueres-Dali - Girona - Badalona

6th day (Friday 18-4-2008) Rome - Return to Athens - End

3 schools' Meeting in Barcelona

From left to right: Sophia, Katerina, Melita, Maria, Antonis, Kostas, Cati, Tony, Veronique

On Tuesday evening of April 15th 2008 and in the framework of the partnership the teachers of the 3 schools-partners have a dinner in Barcelona in the restaurent Basilico (Av. Paral.lel 142 - Poble Sec).
The tastful food and the room which is designed with modern wooden chairs and tables and with black and white grafics on the walls helped and rapidly the atmosphere became nice, warm and friendly.
In the left side Cati and Toni from "Joan Maragall", Veronique, Delphine and Antonis from "Jean Perrin". In the right side Albert and Elena and Angueliki (a bit) from "Joan Maragall" In the right side: Albert and Elena and Angueliki from "Joan Maragall" and Sofia from "Miltos Kountouras" In the left side Cati and Toni from "Joan Maragall", Veronique and Delphine from "Jean Perrin". In the right side: Albert and Elena and Angueliki from "Joan Maragall" and Sofia and Katerina from "Miltos Kountouras"

In the left side Antonis (in white) and Patrique from "Jean Perrin"

From left to right: Katerina, Melita, Maria, Antonis, Kostas, Cati, Tony, Veronique

The dinner finished with gifts' exchange.

6th day - Return to Athens via Rome (Fr. 18-4-08)

Welcome - hearty reception in Joan Maragall school in Badalona

5th day - Girona: Spanish and Greek school together

5th day - Dali Museum at Figueres (Th 17-4-08)

4th day - Montjuic (We 16-4-08)

Thursday, April 24, 2008

3rd day Gaudi (Tue 15-4-08)

Tuesday Morning April 15th
Casa Mila, Casa Battlo, Parc Guell, Sagrada Familia

Gran Café (Monday evening 14-4-08)


Ever wish you could travel back in time, to the grand old cafés of the modernist age, where writers, artists and intellectuals gathered to swap stories?


In Barcelona we can!!! The Greek students and teachers all together in Gran Café !

In Gran Café the private dining room on the mezzanine is very popular amongst local politicians and actors (the restaurant is close to both the seats of local and regional government and the theatres and opera along the Ramblas), who often gather here for private dinners.

This room is furnished with an enormous, oval table and a gorgeous, gilt-framed mirror. It seats 18+ people and is a very classy room for small group events.

2nd day in Barcelona (Mo 14-4-08)

2nd day in Barcelona, by Melita F.
FC Barcelona, Ramblas etc

1st day in Barcelona (Sun 13-4-08)


1st day in Barcelona, by Melita F.

Sofia & Konstantina in Barcelona

Sunday 13-4-2008 - Spanish Village = Poble Espanyol

Sophia _1st day Sunday 13_4_08 BARCELONA

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Wednesday, April 23, 2008

St. Jordi's day in Barcelona

The 23rd of April is here. Today we are in Athens, but if we would be in Barcelona we should participate in the St. Jordi's day (it is a bit like Valentine's Day with a twist). This day the boys offer their girls red roses and the girls their boys a book.

The part of offering roses can be traced back to the middle age where Saint George saved his beloved princess by killing a dragon. He took his sword and stabbed it into the dragon's heart. Instead of blood, a red rose came out of the dragon's heart.

The tradition of giving books to the boys was introduced by a bookseller in 1923, who promoted the day to honor the deaths of Miguel Cervantes and William Shakespeare, both also on the April 23.

(all the above had been said by our beloved Angueliki, the teacher of Greek and Latin language of Joan Maragall)

Monday, April 21, 2008

The Greek students in Barcelona

Barcelona!
What a beautiful city...
We would like to travel there again and again... We wish...
13 - 18 of April 2008
  • Click to the image on each next post
  • SlideShow in picasa (Προβολή διαφανειών) και
  • (F11) Full Screen (Πλήρης οθόνη)
  • Don't forget the videos... Enjoy!!!!

The students from Joan Maragall in Athens

8-12 April 2008








Saturday, April 5, 2008

Destination: Barcelona, Badalona, El Prat, Figueres (13-18/4/2008)

Ακούμε: Foreigner - I want to know what Love is
Barcelona:

The port of Barcelona


The view of Barcelona from Sagrada Familia


La placa Catalunya

Badalona:

It was the road to go to the sea, connecting with the Street del Mar (Badalona). FRANCISCO JAVIER GIMENEZ: Carrer de la Costa Dawn in Badalona, among the beaches of L'Estacio and the beach of the Petroli.

Me gusta mucho la composicion con la unica ola rompiendo o mas bien onda tipica de la calma chicha, dandole una perspectiva aun mas potente a la linea de agua, bonitos colores tambien... Buen trabajo de todos modos!


El Prat:


Delta de L'Ebre en el Prat de Llobregat


The airport in El Prat de Llobregat El Prat

Figueres:

A square in Figueres Museum Dali Figueres Rampla