GREEKSTER 2008

This is my trip to Spokane to spend Greekster with my friend Stephanie A. They have been celebrating Greekster for around 90 years in her family, its a wonderful tradition, and I was very excited to be apart of it. Anyway, Greekster is the Greek Orthodox way of celebrating Easter. The week of Easter begins with church every night with a funeral service on Friday and a resurrection service on Saturday. I went to the Saturday service. The resurrection service starts at 11:30PM and goes till 3:30AM. There is singing, lots of standing and praying. AND LOTS OF GREEK! Most of it I couldn't understand, but the church was beautiful. Of course they had translations. I'm thinking about making a shirt that says "I survived Greekster" cause it was truly a test of stamina.

The best part of Greekster is the food, company, and the Sunday fun. It was sorta like out get-togethers with our family, but they roast an entire lamb on a spit!! Don't worry I took lots of pictures. I named the lamb Frank, and thank goodness I wasn't there for when the slaughtered it. Poor Frank, he was VERY tasty though! The only rule was: You Must Turn To EAT. Which I did and there are pictures of that too. The food was amazing. Stephanie's grandmother knows her way around the kitchen.

Breakfast: Chicken and rice soup, with homemade bread--very delicious. Lunch: snacking on everything... Dinner: Lamb (frank) and a multitude of Greek stuffs. spanakopita, Timploudia, Tiropitakia.... etc. All wonderful.

Anyway, we didn't leave until 7PM very late night, but everyone made it home safe and we all had an amazing time. Long live Greekster.

PS: I have invited myself back for every year.