Sunday, July 19, 2009

All in a day

After a lunch in which nobody ate exactly what they said they wanted (though they said they didn't want soup again, and stuck with it), we rested a while and after Middle Daughter came by, headed off to Greek Fest. Under protest--Youngest Son was neutral and Youngest Daughter was emphatic in not wanting to go.

We arrived just in time for the 4pm church tour. The 3pm tour was given by the man who had painted the icons, but the 4pm one was done by a priest (not the one for this church, though), and was more process and purpose oriented. The two not only started to perk up and pay attention, but wandered about looking at things afterward and didn't even mind waiting for me to ask a couple of questions. The icons around the worshipers were labeled in Greek and English, though the Greek letters were somewhat individual and nobody knew what the question-mark like curlicue was. Do I need to say that there were icons everywhere? And a gold-plated Gospel on the altar, which is held in procession on Sundays with the resurrection side facing the worshipers, and on weekdays with the crucifixion side facing them.

Obviously the old Methodist building had needed a lot of remodeling. It is now in the shape of a cross, with a dome. We looked past the three doors of the iconostasis at the altar and the cross and the side room where the bread and wine and daily icons (the saint of the day is set up in the antechamber with the candles) are kept. There was a stand with books for the chanters, benches for a choir if they had one that week, a bishop's seat--and pews for the worshipers!

Some of the visitors asked pertinent questions about relations between Orthodox and Catholic, a couple crossed themselves on entering, and some of us only had the general idea of what went where. The priest started off his talk with a quick introduction to Christian doctrine--the Incarnation, Trinity, and so on; and then went on to relate what various parts of the building or service related to them.

I thought it a little odd that the largest and most central icon was of Mary (except for Christ Pancreator at the top of the dome), and quite a number of the icons were of saints unknown to me. And the symbols were unfamiliar. Luke had his (winged??) cow to help identify him, but Joseph had two pigeons? (To symbolize the offering he made at the temple, explained the priest.)

After a while we wandered out and watched the dancers for a minute (the music was amplified), skipped the souvenirs and went back to the food. The youngsters wanted Greek coffee, so back in the church--this time to the basement. I searched out a free table--which turned out to be right in front of the lady who was explaining Greek cooking. Youngest Son took a lively interest in this, and volunteering helped make dolmasi (grape leaf wrapped "appetizers"). Youngest Daughter decided to go get a variety plate, and shared it with us. Some things (the honey doughnuts and the meatballs) were universally acclaimed, others found wanting. She mistook the feta cheese for butter and spread it on her bread.

So instead of the hour I promised we spent two, and everyone left content.

Then it was off to the county fair. We arrived in time to see some of the exhibits before the hall closed--including the Lion King themed cake that must have been 20 inches high. They chased us all out and we wandered the fair for a while--La Movida has the bandstand Sunday evening so we couldn't make out a word of what was going on. YS went to see the rabbits again, and YD and I watched the bear show. Lots of patter, some bear stunts (standing on a ball, dunking a basketball, picking up a ladder and swinging it around, etc), and lots and lots of honey from the little bear squirt bottles, and lots and lots of dog biscuits which they turn out to love. (Last year it was sea lions.)

Back to the exhibit hall to pick up the posters. YD's poster on saddles is going to State Fair next year!

Nobody was much hungry when we got home. I had some of Middle Daughter's leftover fried bananas and coconut curry noodle soup (she and a friend tried the new Thai restaurant today). An interesting change from baklava and olives and spinach pie. And popcorn, which is what the youngsters thought appropriate for Youtube--and I suppose they're right.

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