Happy St. John's Day, everyone!

Iklaina fest

Today is the feast of St. John. I wouldn’t know that except for the fact that I celebrated it in the little Greek town of Iklaina. We went up to the mountainside village last night after supper to join in their celebrations. They light wreaths on fire in the street and children and adults alike jump over the fires to bring a year of good health (and many children to women). Religious explanation comes from the story that when St. John was born, fires were lit to announce the event. Pagan tradition holds that on the first of May, families go out to pick flowers and make wreaths to hang on the door to celebrate springtime. On the eve of St. John’s day (a few days after the summer solstice), the wreaths are taken down from the doors and set on fire to celebrate the end of spring and the commencement of summer.
There was much food, dancing, and merriment, not to omit jumping over fires. An old man pushed me to do it immediately after we arrived, even though I was wearing a skirt… and it ended up that I was going the wrong way and got in trouble as well! Those old Greek men… I ended up jumping over the fires the right direction several times, so here’s hoping for a great year of health. After a plate full of goodies, I also was able to join in the dancing. The main Yaya forced me to dance, taking away my plate of food, my drink, and my purse to shove me into the circle. While I didn’t speak the language or know the dance at all, it was a lot of fun and I sort of caught on, so I ended up doing several dances with the villagers.
I also had an adventure in the local bar… I had to search a block away from the celebrations to find a restroom; in a bar full of men, I mimed my way to the location of the toilet (toiletas, it sounds like in Greek, I now know) but after entering realized I couldn’t find a light. I decided just to brave it and go in the dark, but as soon as I opened the stall door, the light came on. I figured it was similar to many of the restrooms here that have motion sensors to conserve energy, although I was surprised at having that technology in such a remote village. However, I came out of the restroom to be greeted by a table of men across the bar laughing loudly in my direction and discovered that the light switch was right outside the door to the restroom and one of them had turned it on for me. I thanked them in Greek and laughed at myself all the way back down to the festival, where it was easy to dance the embarrassment away.