e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland This project took place in the eTwinning action of the eLearning program of the European Committee and we present the results of the eTwinning of the students of 2nd Technical School of New Smyrni-Greece and the students of ICES LEON HUREZ La Louviere – Belgium, with title "Culture and Traditions of our Homeland", in the school year 2004-2005. This project is dedicated to the students and the teachers who worked on it and made it a success. If all the children of the earth were holding hands boys and girls in line and started dancing the circle would be so big that they would embrace the earth. If all the children of the earth were inviting the adults so they would leave their offices, and join the dance the circle would be even bigger that they would embrace twice the earth. Then the birds would join then, and all the flowers too the spring would come and dance as well and the circle would be so big that they would embrace three times our earth! 1 e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland Index Page 1. So... we are e-Twins! 3 2. Presentation of our Project 3 3. Traditions 4 3.1. Religion traditions 4 3.1.1.Greek Christmas 4 3.1.2. Greek Carnival 16 3.1.3. Greek Easter 23 3.1.4. Other Traditions 32 3.2. Social life traditions 34 3.2.1. Birth 34 3.2.2. Marriage 38 3.2.3. Death 43 3.3. Special Traditions 43 4. Culture 47 4.1. Music and songs 47 4.2. Folklore dance 48 4.3. Theater 50 4.4. Traditional Art 53 5. Conclusions 58 6. We wish to thank… 59 2 e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland 1. So... we are e-Twins! eTwinning is the main action of the European Commission's eLearning Program. This new initiative takes the concept of school partnerships to a new level. It envisions European school partnership running over an extended period involving a large number of teachers, school managers and support staff at multiple levels and in multiple subject areas. eTwinning is a way schools to work across national borders to harvest pedagogical, social and cultural benefits. two schools from two different countries form a partnership to work together on common projects and share ideas and experiences. They link up with each other mainly using the Internet and new information and communication technologies, but also organize exchanges to meet. eTwinning develops and reinforces networking and learning among schools. It brings a collaborative way of working into the curriculum and provides an opportunity for young Europeans to learn about each other’s cultural and social life and to improve their language skills. Visit the http://www.eTwinning.net to learn more! 2. Presentation of our Project The e-Twinning project of our schools started on March 7th, 2005. We are two groups of students, one from Belgium and one from Greece and we work with the support of our teachers, Mr. Maurice Medici and Miss Vassiliki Niarrou. Our schools are the 2nd Technical School of Nea Smyrni - Greece & the ICES LEON HUREZ La Louviere - Belgium. The subject of our project is "Culture and Traditions of my Homeland" and it intends to help us to exchange information about culture and traditions of our countries and by this, getting familiar with each other's civilization and comprehend the ways of everyday life. Besides the differences or the similarities we are going to discover in each country's traditions, we realize that culture is a common wealth for all humanity. Except exchanging information about culture and traditions of both countries, we will get familiar with a foreign language (English) and 3 e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland develop communication skills, collaboration, responsibility and consistency of programming, research, gathering and evaluating sources and knowledge. Here is a plan of what we do in our project: 1. Collect material (text, photos, etc): Research on traditions: • Religion related traditions (Christmas, carnival, Easter, etc) • Social life traditions (birth, marriage, death, etc) • Special traditions (for good luck, fertility, etc) Research on culture: • Music, folklore dances and songs, theater, art, etc. 2. Create PowerPoint presentations 3. Exhibition of our project at our schools 4. Create a website in Greek and in English http://2tee-n- smyrn.att.sch.gr 3. Traditions 3.1. Religion traditions 3.1.1 Greek Christmas The twelve days of Christmas (Christmas, New Year's day and Epiphany) Christmas Traditions Christmas, a winter celebration, is one of the most important periods of everyday life here in Greece. Preparations start on November 15th and, yes, there is another 40 days period of fasting, but now days, only few people keep it. During all this time, you can see Christmas decorations in the streets, and shops, and houses, everywhere! Christmas trees with flashing lights, Christmas cookies, Christmas cards, all these things that brink joy to everyone. And this festive times will last until January 6th, the Feast of Epiphany. Christmas in Greece is a traditionally a solemn, religious holiday. 4 e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland Let's see the most known traditions of this period: December 24th - Christmas On Christmas Eve opens the customary circle of the twelve - days period, when groups of children sing the carols, starting with the narration of the Birth of Christ, continuing with praises for the house and its owners and ending with lines for a rich tip and cookies. These beautiful carols called "kalanda" have been handed down from Byzantine times and add to the reverent quality of the celebration. Children use metal triangles, hitting them with metal sticks while singing. Gifts and cards are exchanged during all Christmas season, but specially on Christmas Eve. Santa Claus brinks children's presents! And like every year, it's time for Christmas cookies: "kourabiedes" and "melomacarona". We decorate the Christmas tree, although is some islands people decorate small boats since we are seafaring people. Kalikatzari One of the most magical feasts during the twelve days of Christmas is the appearance of the goblins. These are demonic (dark) earth spirits who appear during the holidays to make the lives of people difficult. The derivation of their Greek name - kalikantzaroi - is subject to debate. What is certain is that the "kali" (good) prefix is meant to appease and curry 5 e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland favor with the spirits. Another name for elves, "pagana" is derived from the word "pagono", or idolater. The goblins live all year beneath the earth and gnaw at the tree, which holds it up. When the Christmas holidays bring feasting merriment, preparations and nice smells, they emerge out of curiosity or an interest in participating and get in the way of the affairs of humans. During Theophany, when the priests bless the waters, and the birth of light is fact, they return to the earth. The tree they were gnawing at has, in the meantime, grown and they have to return to their task anew. The truth is that goblins are more annoying than dangerous. They hide in cool ashes in the hearth, and that is why the fire must not be put out during the entire twelve days. They steal freshly baked bread or fried sausages. They soil freshly cleaned clothes and freshly ground flour and confuse women when they are darning clothes. This is why one should not labor or wander out alone during this period! If a goblin should find you alone in the street he might get you to dance until your legs cannot keep you up anymore. It is not known if goblins ever really frightened people but the shape they were given and the things they did were more amusing than dangerous. One example is the familiar goblin "Psilovelonis" ("thin needle"). He is very long and thin and dark with long fingers and tail. He is so thin that he can squeeze in through cracks and keyholes. Another familiar goblin is Mandrakoukos: the leader. Mandrakoukos Zimaromitis ("the dough-nosed") holds a shepherd's crook as a scepter and wanders among the sheepfolds and shepherds' trails. He knits his own cap from pig hairs and it is not long enough to cover his ears which are the same size as a donkey's. He also has a large nose which hangs like soft dough. Mandrakoukos throws a hook down a chimney and steals sausages from the fire, or he teases sheep. Another goblin is Anemis, the Kopsomesitis (thin-waisted). He has a very thin and long waist and his upper body turns round and round like a spinning top. He gets caught in the warp of the loom and breaks the thread that is being spun. The goblin Tragopodis ("goat footed") looks like the god Pan. He is hairy with the legs and tail of a goat and he is very bothersome. He steals pastry and soils foodstuffs if they are left uncovered. Vervezou, the Trimouri Tzoghia, with the three faces, keeps alive the three-faced goddess Hecate. As in antiquity, Greek housewives in more recent times left a plate of food with cookies or sausages for her on the edges of their roofs. In any 6 e-Twinning – Culture and Traditions of my Homeland case, people preferred not having anything to do with goblins. With various spells, plants and other wiles they kept them at a distance from their homes. Goblins cannot stand bad smells. Thus, people occasionally burned an old piece of footwear to keep them away.