mobile greek festival

over the weekend we attended the greek festival in mobile. it was actually the first one that i have attended (been married over 17 years. finally got the chance to go). my wife's mother is greek, and so it was neat to go and learn more about that ethnic background. the first place we went to was the greek orthodox church.

makis foropoulos (that's not his greek name. it is his english name) is the cantor of the greek church there in mobile and nearby malbis. he had a humorous way about him, and he was very knowledgeable. he shared with us where he was born. guess where he was born? he was born on the island of patmos. does that ring any bells?

here is a scan of the church that was made out of a cave on the island of patmos where john was imprisoned. the crack in the ceiling of the cave is believed to be the crack which God spoke to john through. notice where the ceiling comes together with three pieces of stone. makis said that it is believed by some to resemble the way they use the thumb, fore finger, and middle finger to cross themselves.

makis was a hoot! he was very polite and willing to share with whoever had questions. he sopke of paul when he went to the athenians and spoke to them about their "unknown god". there is an awesome stained glass window depicting that encounter in the church there in mobile. i really like that story. its neat how paul worked in the story what that society knew and could relate to. huh? sound familiar? kinda like how some of the churches of Christ are trying to have services at their churches that would allow visitors to feel more comfortable when they visit.

we had gyros, fries with greek seasoning, dolmathes (stuffed grape leaves with meat and rice), orzo (greek pasta), baklava, kourabiedes, koularakia, melamakarona (those four were desserts), and dr pepper, coke, and water to drink. we considered some wine but decided not to since i was driving.

while we were eating we watched the kids of the school there dance to some of the dances from greece. the guys were very agile and some did cartwheels and flips in the air. the girls looked very pretty in their dresses. while the kids danced, their parents, friends, and well wishers dropped money on the dance floor. after the dance was over and they lined up for the bow it was a mad rush to pick up the money. it was first come first served.

after the food and dancing we walked around to see the vendors and their wares. they had some the neatest stuff. beautiful jewelery (my wife almost got an early christmas gift), linens, embroidery, and wood carvings.

all in all, it was a great time!