Noun – People, Places
Athenian Easter
With a loud burst, the Orthodox priest burst open the doors entering back into the church amidst the dimly lit candles held by the rest of the congregation. This is all part of the hour long service beginning at 11pm and ending at midnight on Saturday – all signaling the resurrection of Christ from the grave. After traditional songs led by the head priest, the candle lighting ceremony – beginning in complete darkness and one-by-one spreading through the congregation, and the incense filling every nook and cranny of the small chapel, bells ring and fire works erupt around the city in celebration of the momentous occasion of Christ’s resurrection. What an experience to see such a passionate and traditional approach to this meaningful holiday – hardly watered down by easter bunnies and chocolate in Greece. Instead, one of our waiters described the atmosphere over Easter to us best after a slight miscommunication over the time of the church service – “It’s about Christ!” he said emphatically and unreluctantly!
Check out more pictures from this experience and the visit around the ancient city under “Athens, Greece” in my photography gallery. Enjoy.
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Tirana
A panoramic of Tirana. The home I’m staying at is near the lake on the right-hand side of the photograph. Click on “Photographs” above and then “Tirana, Albania” for more photos…
Driving in Egypt
CAIRO, EGYPT. Here is a prime example of the complexity of driving in Cairo. As you can see in the picture, there is very little regard to the usage of lanes when you drive in Cairo. It could probably be more aptly described as a mad free for all.
One taxi we took there in Cairo was an especially unique experience. In the middle of rush hour traffic, the clutch gave out and I think the engine died right along with it. I’m not an expert in cars, but it seemed that everything that could go wrong went wrong. In any case, he ended up getting out of the taxi, push/steering it down an exit ramp (we were on the highway)- cutting off numerous cars in the process, and proceeded to fix the taxi right then and there. He wanted the full fare for the taxi ride with the promise of getting us another taxi to take us the rest of the way (he was unsuccessful in fixing it on the spot)…haha! Yeah right. Like most Egyptians, this man loved his humor. There is certainly a culture of joking with the Egyptian people and this taxi driver was playing right into this stereotype. Talk about a clash of culture with insanity, not to mention one crazy experience.