AEK Larnaca: Easter in Cyprus

Easter in Cyprus is a huge holiday, much bigger than Christmas. The Cypriots spend almost 5 days celebrating the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Jackie and I decided to see what it was all about so we celebrated with our manager's family. On Thursday night, our manager's wife, Theresa, picked us up and we went to church with them at St. Lazarus's Church. We have walked by the church a few times but have not been inside until Thursday. The church was built during the medieval times and was really cool inside. At church we saw Jesus being crucified, he was put up on a cross and the priest showed him around the church. The church was packed, there were no seats in sight, so we stood on top of the stairs and tried to see from afar. We arrived late at the service but apparently that is commonplace as the church service is very long. We got there around 8 and the service was to go until midnight. We didn't stay very long because we couldn't understand anything as they were talking in ancient Greek. Anyways, it was very cool to see and go to a church in a different country.

The next night, Jackie's friend Jess came into town, and we went to check out church again for Good Friday. Theresa picked us up again and we went to St. Lazarus' Church. However, this time there was no chance of getting into the church. There were people just packed outside of the church preparing for Jesus' funeral. We waited outside until the band came out, the "girl scouts" marched by, the priests, mayor, and finally Jesus covered in flowers proceeded throughout the city of Larnaca. The processional goes around the city and stops by other churches who join in and have a ceremony in the middle of the city. After watching the processional at the church, we walked to Theresa's aunt's house to wait for the processional to come by again so we could get a much better look at it. At the house, we had wine, beer, and food and chatted with the family and had a great time. Finally, the processional came by and it was really cool to see. It was somewhat emotional for some because it was like you were seeing a real funeral procession. After the procession went by, the priests gave Theresa's mother holy water so she put it on our hands and we put it on our faces. So now Jackie, Jess, and I are holy I guess. The next day, the church takes down all of the black cloth (that is put up all around the church) and there is a huge celebration. Church service basically runs the full day until 1 in the morning. Throughout the whole night there were pipe bombs and fireworks going off. We decided not to take part in this part of the Easter because we went to the beach instead.

On Saturday, Jackie, Jess, and I went to the beach in Agia Napa. It was a gorgeous day and we were able to get a ton of sun, play some beach volleyball, and jump off of a 2 story boat. There was this party boat that came close to the beach so we decided to swim out to the boat to see if we could jump off of it too. It took about 20 minutes just to get there but all we did was hop on the boat, go to the second story, and then jumped off. After we jumped off, we swam back to shore. After spending a few hours at the beach we headed to a Mexican restaurant where there were sombreros, ponchos, guns, and bulls. Naturally this all means that I need to take a picture wearing a sombrero and poncho, holding a gun, while riding a bull. After going bull riding, we headed back home to prepare for tomorrows lamb roast.

On Easter Sunday, we went to Theresa's mother's house for lots of Cypriot food. There was a full lamb roasting, along with pork kebabs, and other crazy meats. There were also some bird heads and meat that were on a table and our manager, Xenios, just took a head, beak and all, and put it in his mouth and ate it. The bird heads were from those normal little birds that you see flying all the time. It was just crazy and I was not about to try and eat a beak. Aside from little bird heads, there was a ton of food to try including lamb, potatoes, pasta salad, and other meats that I wasn't quite sure of what it was. Some of it was great, some not for me, but it was an experience. After stuffing our faces with Cypriot food, we talked with most everyone, had desserts, and played with the kids. I did learn a new game from Aleksandra and Andreas that they had a blast with. It was called pikachu and it was basically like rock paper scissors, except if you lost, you got slapped in the face. It was a pretty fun game for all three of us involved.

I hope everyone has a great Easter. Wish I was back home to celebrate but have fun. Happy Easter.

Here are some pictures from Easter.