Post-Easter Wrap Up

         Easter Sunday was a wonderful day. I began the day with a verse that I thought was incredibly appropriate considering my surroundings...

"But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive."          

            1 Corinthians 15:20-22

        It wasn't until a dear friend pointed it out to me that I realized how appropriate this verse was. I had chosen it simply because I thought it was a wonderful and succinct summation of what Easter is about, but I realized that this verse was actually a message given over a thousand years ago to people living exactly where I am now. How amazing!

       My Easter was slow, filled with company, tiring, and ultimately enjoyable. Mark, Sarah, and I (Mark is the other 'young person' always here and Sarah was here when I arrived and has just recently come back from Toronto) began the day by cooking breakfast together... bacon, eggs, and fried toast with milk and orange juice. After a shower and shave, I made my way down the back patio to James and Iullia's house at the back of the property. "Christos Anesti!" Iullia greeted me. Fumbling to try to remember the correct response I sputtered out "Alithos Anesti!" and was luckily correct. Just as the early church in Corinth would greet each other on Easter, they still do today, proclaiming, "Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed!" 

       Iullia's two sisters, mother, father, and nephew had come for Easter,along with Panos, the neighbor. Altogether there were  12 between adults, children, family, and visitors, and the central focus was the milk-fed lamb slowly turning over a bed of burning embers. Easter delicacies consisting of the various insides of said lamb were served with drinks and bread, as we all sat around a small child's table, listening to Greek music and baking in the hot Corinthian sun. I have to admit the lung and liver were not my favorite things to sample that day, but in the spirit of the celebration I of course partook. At a certain time, Nikos, the patriarch from Macedonia, declared the lamb done, and it fell to him and James to bring it to the table and skillfully remove the five foot metal spit that had ever so delicately been rammed through from stern to bow. A hefty leg of lamb was thrust onto my plate, and the feast had begun. The hours passed, and eventually we found ourselves at Guy's house, where another feast had been laid out. We spent the afternoon talking, eating chocolate covered raisins and almonds, playing dice games, and touring Guy's garden, and then headed back to the dig house. Tomatoes, onions, cheese, and bread made for a nice light dinner while Mark, Sarah and I watched the first two episodes of Cummunity, which I had just introduced the two of them to.

      Today I somehow slept straight until 12:30pm. I guess a belly full of lamb will do that to you.