CIAO, CIAO...

“Love's first snow-drop, virgin kiss.” - Robert Burns

It’s 11:30 pm and I’m looking out of the window at the moon, which is nearly full. The sky is clear and the silvery light is making everything delicate and fragile. The garden looks as though it’s something out of a fairy tale. And yet the silvery light makes the shadows look even darker. The delicacy of the moonlight makes the leaves shine and sparkle, but in the darkness a cat’s eyes are fiery like a devil’s. What to sing this moonlit night for Song Saturday?

Here is Maria Nazionale singing a popular Neapolitan song, “Ciao, Ciao”. Star-crossed lovers who are separated and meet up again years later after much has changed, or has it?

Ciao, ciao…

Goodbye, you mustn’t cry,
Goodbye, if you want to, write to me,
Goodbye, I love you, believe me, I do!
Goodbye, you’ll see that I’ll come back…

You loved him the minute you saw him,
He was the man of your dreams.
He was the tenderness you were looking for.
He was the first man you kissed.
And now, a hug you know will be the last…

Ciao, ciao…
Goodbye, you mustn’t cry,
Goodbye, if you want to, write to me,
Goodbye, I love you, believe me, I do!
Goodbye, put your coat on, it’s cold,
Goodbye, leave me now, they’ve called you already,
Goodbye, you’ll see that I’ll come back…

……

Even if he came back, he’s got married.
You see him and you still feel your heart miss beats,
Yes, maybe you still love him..
He was the first man you kissed.
You’ve never forgotten him,
You’ve never forgotten that kiss…

Ciao, ciao…
Goodbye – but how many kids must he have now?
Goodbye – he’s put on a bit of weight…
Goodbye – where does he live now?
Goodbye – let’s meet, let’s see one another…
Goodbye – how’s your mother?
Goodbye – and his wife? What’s her name?
Goodbye – maybe she’s prettier than me…

Goodbye, you mustn’t cry,
Goodbye, if you want to, write to me,
Goodbye, I love you, believe me, I do!
Goodbye, leave me now, they’ve called you already,
Goodbye, you’ll see that I’ll come back…
Goodbye, it’s cold, I must put my coat on…

GUACAMOLE

“In Mexico we have a word for sushi: Bait.” - José Simons

Avocadoes are in season here at the moment and they are a very versatile fruit/vegetable, which as well being healthy and nutritious, taste delicious. There are numerous ways one may eat avocadoes, raw or cooked, but one can’t go past the classic way that they often served in Latin America, in guacamole. Guacamole is a word derived from Latin American Spanish, from Nahuatl ahuacamolli, from ahuacatl “avocado” + molli “sauce”. There are many different ways to make guacamole, but mashed avocado mixed with chopped onion, tomatoes, chili peppers, and seasonings are the base ingredients. Here is a recipe for guacamole the way we make it at home. Feel free to vary it and experiment with it, until you arrive at your own definitive version.

Guacamole
Ingredients
2 Avocadoes
1 Onion, finely minced
2 Limes juiced
3 Tablespoons olive oil
Salt to taste (about 1 tsp. to 1 tbsp.)

Method
Cut open the avocadoes, remove the seed, scoop out the flesh and crush them in a bowl in which you have squeezed the lime juice, mixing well all the while. Add the minced onion and the salt. Blend in the olive oil, a little at a time. Add more lime juice if you want to.
Serve with tortilla chips, salsa and bean dip (see below).

Salsa
Ingredients
1 Onion, diced
2 Tablespoons lime juice
3 Medium tomatoes, diced in small pieces
A bunch coriander leaves, chopped
Jalapeno peppers
Serano peppers
Salt to taste

Method
Chop and mix all ingredients. The chunkiness of the salsa depends on how big you chop the ingredients, so it is up to you to give it your individual preference. Jalapeno peppers are very hot and have irritant compounds in them (do not touch your eyes when you are chopping them up and wash your hands thoroughly afterwards!). Obviously the hotness/spiciness of the salsa will depend on the quantity of jalapenos used. Season to taste and let the salsa sit for 1 –2 hours before serving.

Bean Dip Ingredients
1 Small can of white beans
2 Heaped tablespoons sour cream
1 Tablespoon of powdered onion soup
Salt to taste
Olive oil

Method
Drain the beans well. Heat the oil in a pan and quickly fry the beans until they are well heated through. Add the onion soup powder and stir well, cooking until the beans are just beginning to turn golden brown. Remove from heat and add the sour cream, stirring well (you may add more cream depending on how creamy you want the dip). Season and let the dip to cool.

Bon Appétit!

THE PREGNANT "MAN"

“All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That's his.” - Oscar Wilde

Thomas Beatie, the “pregnant man” achieved notoriety last year when he gave birth to a daughter. “He” is now pregnant again.

We watched Thomas Beatie and his wife Nancy being interviewed on a Greek talk show program on satellite TV yesterday. They talked about his first pregnancy and his current one, about the couple’s relationship, their ideas about their family, and the way the pregnancies occurred. The discussion went on to explore gender, sex, traditional sex and family roles, and several guests including a psychologist, a psychiatrist, a gynaecologist, a paediatrician and a journalist also put their two bobs worth in.

We were left rather puzzled by this program. I would like to consider myself a tolerant and open-minded person who respects people’s freedom to live their life as they choose, provided they do not harm others when doing so. Science and medicine have advanced enough in order to help us understand homosexuality, gender dysphoria, transgenderism, hermaphroditism, etc, etc. In a civilised society we no longer burn these people at the stake, but rather try to understand them and help them live their life in a way that makes them feel part of the community and live in a way that they can contribute to society and have a fulfilling life.

I say all of this because the Thomas Beatie case created quite a great deal of confusion in my mind. Thomas Beatie maintains he is a man and the state of Oregon in the USA recognizes him legally as a man. However, Thomas Beatie has a uterus and ovaries (which he chose not to have removed when he started taking male hormones) and this to my mind makes “him” more of a biological woman than a man, no matter what the state of Oregon or he says he is. The case of “his” pregnancy –biologically is ludicrous. Biologically Thomas Beatie is female and “he” had a normal, uterine female pregnancy. “He” delivered “his” baby normally, through the birth canal.

A man does not have a uterus and the only way he could become pregnant would be to firstly be dosed up with female hormones, making his body receptive to the implantation of an embryo. The fertilised ovum (prepared easily via in-vitro methods – a donated ovum and the man’s own sperm if so desired) would then be surgically implanted into the peritoneal cavity. This results in what is called an ectopic pregnancy. It can also occur naturally in a woman if the fertilised ovum implants outside the uterine cavity. In this latter case, the pregnancy in the abdominal cavity has a viability rate of about 5%. Most ectopic pregnancies result in the death of the embryo and/or a massive, life-threatening haemorrhage for the mother. One would assume that the same complications (or even worse) would be seen in an ectopic pregnancy in a man. Nevertheless, there is a possibility that an ectopic pregnancy could be carried to term by a man.

I don’t think that a normal man would ever want to have such a pregnancy in his body, although there are several other biological men with gender dysphorias, or of different sexual orientation, or of specific circumstances who may be attracted to the idea. One is reminded of the urban myth several years back, that promised the first man to have a baby a gift of a million British pounds…

And this is where my unease with the Beaties began. They could have done whatever they wanted and kept it to themselves. A little discretion on their part and the confidentiality of medical records would have assured them of privacy and a more or less normal family once the pregnancy ended. Instead they chose to make of their circumstances a media circus. Why? I suspect that money lies at the bottom of this rather (as it has become) sordid story. For every interview, for every media appearance, for every photograph, the Beaties’ bank account gets a little fatter. The million British pounds story may in fact become reality!

We have become a society of virtual ghouls that like to feast on salacious gossip. Nothing is private any more, nothing is sacred, nothing is sacrosanct. We speak about everything publically and we do not think of the consequences. Did this couple think of the consequences their preset actions will have on their child as it grows up? Will the strange sex roles at home imprint on its young psyche in adverse ways?

Thomas Beatie came from a home environment that was disrupted. His mother committed suicide when he was young and he grew up in a house full of males. He describes how he always felt “male” and at the first opportunity (interestingly after he met Nancy, his current partner) he took male hormones. He had a breast reduction operation. However, he chose to retain the fundamental female biology – ovaries, uterus and birth canal. That to me denotes a “she” not a “he”, no matter how hairy the face is and how muscular the physique. I am a little concerned for the little girl growing up in this unusual family. If Thomas Beatie’s new baby is a male one, then that child may grow up even more confused. Growing up in a loving family, whatever that family comprises may be a good step in bringing up well-adjusted children, but fundamental biological, psychological, behavioural and deeply ingrained instinctive patterns not only determine who we are, but how we influence people’s behaviour around us.

As well as the family, we depend on society for our conditioning and our successful assumption of the roles that we traditionally associate with a normal family unit and which biologically and sociologically have worked for centuries. The publicity surrounding the Beatie children will generate much negativity while they grow up. Not everyone is as loving and as non-conditionally accepting as these children’s parents. Some people already see the Beaties as freaks and they will extend the same characterization to their children. Hence my question earlier. Why did they not keep their activities private? Surely, all the money in the world is not worth the possible hardship that their children will have to live through while growing up?
Aptly, my word for the day is “gender”:

gender |ˈjendər| noun
1 Grammar (in languages such as Latin, Greek, Russian, and German) each of the classes (typically masculine, feminine, common, neuter) of nouns and pronouns distinguished by the different inflections that they have and require in words syntactically associated with them. Grammatical gender is only very loosely associated with natural distinctions of sex.
• the property (in nouns and related words) of belonging to such a class: Adjectives usually agree with the noun in gender and number.
2 the state of being male or female (typically used with reference to social and cultural differences rather than biological ones): Traditional concepts of gender | [as adj. ] gender roles.
• the members of one or other sex: Differences between the genders are encouraged from an early age.

ORIGIN late Middle English : from Old French gendre (modern genre), based on Latin genus ‘birth, family, nation.’ The earliest meanings were [kind, sort, genus] and [type or class of noun, etc.] (which was also a sense of Latin genus).

USAGE The word gender has been used since the 14th century primarily as a grammatical term, referring to the classes of noun in Latin, Greek, German, and other languages designated as masculine, feminine, or neuter. It has also been used since the 14th century in the sense ‘the state of being male or female,’ but this did not become a common standard use until the mid 20th century. Although the words gender and sex both have the sense ‘the state of being male or female,’ they are typically used in slightly different ways: sex tends to refer to biological differences, while gender tends to refer to cultural or social ones.

DESTRUCTION vs SALVATION

“Lord save us all from a hope tree that has lost the faculty of putting out blossoms.” - Mark Twain

The more I listen to the news the more disheartened I become and the more convinced I am that we heading towards imminent disaster. The Fool of the tarot pack comes to mind, who recklessly walks right up to the precipice despite the best efforts of his little dog who tries to warn him and bring him back to safety. What is happening to us? Is the human race doomed to destroy itself? Have we become so corrupt, so degenerate, so arrogant, so selfish, so violent and so foolish that there is no other option open to us except self-destruction? The darkness that has taken hold of our collective souls seems hard to shake off. To hope for a dawn seems to be pointless.

However, as I think of it, there have surely been many other times in history when the world seemed close to destruction. How did the Romans feel when the Vandal hordes sacked their empire and brought Rome to its knees? How did the Byzantines cope with the fall of Constantinople when the Ottoman warriors painted the streets red with blood and burnt the civilisation of centuries to cinders? How did soldiers in WW I trenches feel as they saw the wasteland of the Western Front and they breathed in death in the form of poisonous clouds of phosgene?

To survive as a species is difficult in the best of times, even for a dominant one (ask the dinosaurs!). In difficult times would it be best to hope for intervention by an external agency – whatever that may be? I feel not. I think both our destruction and our salvation lies within ourselves. We have the capability of either destroying ourselves or saving ourselves. What it will be, will be determined by how soon we wake up to the immense magnitude of the threat that lies ahead us. It is time to take heed of the yapping little dog at our feet, as the precipice below us is deep, dark and promises us certain self-destruction.

Peripheral Vision

In darkness how blind the eyes,
When they look straight ahead:
Peripheral vision much more acute,
And strangely, more perceptive.

How cool logic is often dulled
In drear darknesses of the soul,
Emotion responds more sensitively,
Not surprisingly, more perceptive.

Our preconceptions, how they shade
The bright colours of our existence!
Innocence, if we let it, will allow
Our heart to be more perceptive.

The blindness of unquestioning dogma,
Of mindless religiosity,
How often has it cast us into darkness?
Tolerance lets us be, more perceptive.

Darkness and light can both blind us,
Excess of either cannot be distinguished.
A fine line divides sufficiency from surfeit,
Wise moderation is difficult,
Enlightenment so chimeric,
True perception almost unattainable…

EPIPHANY AND THEOPHANY

“Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark.” - Rabindranath Tagore

January 6th is celebrated in the Western Church as Epiphany and in the Orthodox faith it is known as the Holy Theophany. The churches following the “old style” (Julian) calendar celebrate Theophany on January 19th. In Hispanic and Latin culture, as well as some places in Europe, it is known as Three Kings’ Day (Spanish: El Dia de los Tres Reyes, la Fiesta de los Reyes, or el Dia de los Reyes Magos; Dutch: Driekoningendag).

Epiphany is the climax of the Advent/Christmas Season and the Twelve Days of Christmas, which are usually counted from the evening of December 25th until the morning of January 6th, which is the Twelfth Day. In following this older custom of counting the days beginning at sundown, the evening of January 5th is the Twelfth Night. This is an occasion for feasting in some cultures, including the baking of a special Kings’ Cake as part of the festivities of Epiphany (a Kings’ Cake is part of the observance of Mardi Gras in French Catholic culture of the Southern USA). In some church traditions, only the full days are counted so that January 5th is the Eleventh Day of Christmas, January 6th is the Twelfth Day, and the evening of January 6th is counted as the Twelfth Night.

For many Protestant church traditions, the season of Epiphany extends from January 6th until Ash Wednesday, which begins the season of Lent leading to Easter. Depending on the timing of Easter, this longer period of Epiphany includes from four to nine Sundays. Other traditions, especially the Roman Catholic tradition, observe Epiphany as a single day, with the Sundays following Epiphany counted as Ordinary Time. In some western traditions, the last Sunday of Epiphany is celebrated as Transfiguration Sunday.

The term epiphany means “to show” or “to make known”. In Western churches, it commemorates the visit of the wise men bringing gifts to visit the Christ child, who by so doing “reveal” Jesus to the world as Lord and King. In some Central and South American countries influenced by Catholic tradition, Three Kings’ Day, or the night before, is the time for opening Christmas presents. In most eastern churches, and especially so the Orthodox ones, Epiphany or the Theophany (meaning “manifestation of God”) commemorates Jesus’ baptism, the visit of the Magi in these churches linked to Christmas.

As with most aspects of the Christian liturgical calendar, Epiphany has theological significance as a teaching tool in the church. The Wise Men or Magi who brought gifts to the infant Jesus were the first Gentiles to acknowledge Jesus as “King” and so were the first to “show” or “reveal” Jesus to a wider world as the incarnate Christ. The day is now observed as a time of focussing on the mission of the church in reaching others by “showing” Jesus as the Saviour. It is a time of focussing on Christian brotherhood and fellowship, especially in healing the divisions of prejudice and bigotry that we all too often create between God’s children.

In the Eastern churches, the holiday is associated with the manifestation of Christ as Son of God and is a feast day associated with brilliance and light, blessing of the waters and the celebration of the end of the Christmas Season.

Here is a traditional Greek carol sung on the day of the Theophany.

MOVIE MONDAY - WEDDING IN GALILEE

“Peace hath higher tests of manhood than battle ever knew.” - John Greenleaf Whittier

For Movie Monday today, a film we watched some months ago and which has stayed in my mind and is quite apt given the events in the Gaza Strip. It is the 1987 “Wedding in Galilee”, written and directed by Michel Khleifi. It is an Israeli/Palestinian/French/Belgian co-production and is a film that is complex and rich, even though quite episodic and of almost documentary, anthropological interest.

The film as the title suggests is about a wedding in Galilee (which immediately brings to mind the biblical wedding at Cana). A Palestinian asks the Israeli administration permission so as to have the curfew waived such that he is able to give his son a fine wedding. The military governor agrees, on the condition that he and his officers attend the wedding. The father of the groom accepts, but the groom berates his father for agreeing to this condition.

Much of the film is taken up with the traditions surrounding a Palestinian wedding with the women ritually preparing the bride; men preparing the groom. The guests begin to arrive and to gather, giving opportunity to Palestinian youths to plot violence against the Israelis. A female Israeli officer swoons in the heat and the Palestinian women take her into the cool house to recover. A valuable horse gets loose and runs into a minefield. Israeli soldiers and Palestinians must cooperate if they are to rescue it. Darkness falls and tensions between the army and the villagers become more acute. The film is hampered in this part by the very dark exposure and bewildering action that confuses and befuddles the viewer. Although this may be symbolic, there is no question about he symbolism of the groom’s wedding-night anger and impotence, which threaten family dignity and honour. Will the situation implode in on itself with massively destructive results or will the two conflicting sides reach some sort of amicable understanding?

As I mentioned before this is an interesting film, examining traditional village customs and a study of the tensions inherent in the Israeli/Palestinian coexistence in a land they both claim as their own through centuries of occupation. The exploration of ethnic, generational, political and gender divides was patchy, but an astute viewer will read between the lines and perhaps this is what the director is aiming at. The portrayal of Palestinian men as proud but powerless, ashamed and angry epitomizes the situation we see even today in the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian father is powerless to keep the Israelis away from his son’s wedding, but once they are his guests, relieved that there is incompetency in planning and carrying out an attack against them. The code of hospitality and the code of honour clash but the highly symbolic horse episode brings to the fore the need for cooperation in order to achieve a commonly acceptable and beneficial goal.

Palestinian women are portrayed as more sensitive, sensual, peaceful and more willing to work together with the “enemy”. There was a none too subtle eroticism portrayed in the interactions between the women, but this may be my very simplistic reading of it. One could argue that these erotic overtones simply demonstrated the regard the women have for one another and the sisterly love that they feel for one another.

This was not a great movie by any means – it had too many “cinematic double faults” in it - however, it was a movie that was fascinating to watch and extremely thought-provoking. It tackled some core issues of the Middle East and showed that reconciliation is the only way that survival of all can be assured.

ART SUNDAY - PALESTINE

“An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind.” - Mahatma Gandhi

The horror of the pictures from the conflict in the Gaza Strip continues to assault our senses in all of the news bulletins here and it is hard to ignore this new escalation of the violence in the region. Is peace possible in this troubled land or is Nostradamus right – this is where World War III will start? Is this the Holy Land, where unholy warfare is being carried out and Jews, Moslems and Christians try to outdo one another in the depths of their atrocities?

For Art Sunday today, art and a poem from Palestinians:

Wall Against Our Breath

We witness October in flames,
and every other month following,
is the same, the streets

we walk through a reminder

of who we are and what they will

never make of us…

human portraits in corners
we forget to look at or forget to reach…

pictures stuck on walls as if
they belong nowhere

a groom and bride forced to wed
anywhere but where they should,

and yet, we keep asking:

what victory blows candles out

what sea speaks of another sea
Nathalie Handal

The artist is Faten Tobasi and the title of the work is “View from Akka”

BUILDING BRIDGES

“Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

The events in the Middle East have once again filled me with dismay. Yet again, Israelis and Palestinians have engaged in hostilities and as each bomb explodes, as each shell reaches its target, as each suicide bomber detonates his fatal load, more death and destruction, more innocent lives pay the price of a war that is being fought without honour on both sides.

I pity the children who have to grow up in such an environment. The children whose lives are at risk each and every minute of every day. Children whose backyards are demolished buildings, whose playgrounds are cemeteries, whose playthings are guns and bombs.

The song this Saturday is by Ofra Haza (1957-2000), a Yemenite-Jewish singer who grew up in a poor neighbourhood of Tel Aviv. Inspired by a love of her Yemenite-Jewish culture, the appeal of her musical art quickly spread to a wider Middle Eastern audience, somehow bridging the divide between Israel and the Arab countries. As her career progressed, the multi-lingual Haza was able to switch between traditional and more commercial singing styles without jeopardising her credibility. The music, too, fused elements of Eastern and Western instrumentation, orchestration and dance-beat. Success was to follow in Europe and the US; during her singing career, she earned many platinum and gold albums.

This song is about building bridges. Bridges across cultures, across races, across enemy sides.

ST MACARIUS & PANFORTE

“I want to have a good body, but not as much as I want dessert.” - Jason Love

Today is the feast day of St Macarius, who is the patron saint of confectioners. The reason St Macarius is the patron saint of cooks, confectioners and pastry chefs is because he was a successful merchant in fruits, candies and pastries in Alexandria, Egypt. He was born in the 4th century in Alexandria and died about 401 BC. When he converted to Christianity he gave up his business to be a monk and lived as a hermit. After several years, he was ordained among other monks practicing severe austerities. Sugarplums during the time of Saint Macarius were various candied fruits. In Portugal, green plums are cooked in sugar syrup to celebrate his feast day.

Here is a recipe for a delightful Italian sweetmeat. Make it and eat it while remembering St Macarius!

PANFORTE DI SIENA

Ingredients
3/4 cupful hazelnuts (toasted, skinned and chopped)
1 cupful almonds (blanched, toasted and chopped)
1 cupful finely chopped, candied peel
1/2 cupful plain flour
1/4 cupful cocoa
3 teaspoonfuls ground cinnamon
1/3 cupful honey
1/2 cupful white sugar
rice paper
icing sugar

Method
Combine the nuts, peel, flour, cocoa and cinnamon, mixing thoroughly. Put the honey and sugar together in a saucepan, bring to the boil and then pour over the fruit and nuts, stirring well the sticky mixture. Line a greased 20 cm flan tin with rice paper and pour the panforte mixture in, pressing down firmly. Bake in a cool oven (150˚C) for 30 to 35 minutes. Allow to cool, turn out and sprinkle the top with icing sugar. Cut into wedges and wrap in cellophane.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009!

“May all your troubles last as long as your New Year's resolutions…” - Joey Adams

It is good to be home, even though we were away for only very few days. The journey back was uneventful and we had a very quiet New Year’s Eve at home. Similarly today, a very quiet New Year’s Day, pottering around home and enjoying a day of leisure.

It is now a well-entrenched custom in many countries while recovering from the New Year’s Eve party, to set aside a few minutes on New Year’s Day and make New Year’s Resolutions. Usually these resolutions are of the self-improvement type, renouncing bad habits, improving oneself as a person and generally making oneself a better member of society. One may vow to give up smoking, become involved in a community group, drink less, take up a new hobby or become fit. Needless to say that in most cases, these resolutions are forgotten barely has the sun set on January the 1st! Some surveys that have been carried out re-enforce this, with as many as 95% of New Year’s Resolutions not being adhered to or fulfilled. Hardly worth the effort of making these resolutions, is it?

In many countries it was believed that whatever one did on January 1st would influence what transpired over the whole year. Hence, this was a day of merry-making, good food, sweet words and pleasantries. No work was done, nothing was taken out of the house (only brought in). Especially so with money, fuel, matches and bread such that one would not lack any of these during the year. No bills or debts were paid on this day and nothing was lent out. If one had to take something out of the house that day, a coin was taken out the previous night and then brought in the next morning before one took out the item.
Take out then take in, bad luck will begin;
Take in, then take out good luck will come about.

The Romans introduced the custom of celebrating the beginning of the year on January 1st in 46 BC. They called this celebration the January calendae, and they decorated their houses with lights and greenery for the three days that the festivities lasted. People exchanged gifts that were carefully chosen so as to ensure the propitiousness of the year ahead. Gifts of honey and sweets were given and meant that one wished the receiver to have a year of peace and sweetness; gifts of money or gold meant that the year would be prosperous; while giving lamps or candles meant that the year would be filled with light and happiness. The emperor also received gifts from the citizens to wish him a happy year ahead. This tradition was adopted by the countries that Rome had subjugated.

In England, the feudal lords received samples of produce from the peasants tilling their land. The lords in turn sent to the King something more valuable (gold was always a popular gift!). Amongst the common people a traditional New Year’s Day gift was a dried orange stuck with cloves and a sprig of rosemary tied with silk ribbons. Many Englishmen used to give their wives money so that they could buy pins for the whole year ahead. Before the industrial revolution of the 1800s, pins and needles were very expensive as they were hand-made. After the 1800s when pins and needles were mass-produced, the custom disappeared, but the term pin-money is still used to describe money set aside for minor personal expenses.

It is St Basil’s Day in Greece today, and St Basil was one of the Fathers of the Greek Orthodox Church. He was born in Caesarea (Palestine) in the fourth century AD and during his life he sailed to Greece, where he was active, until his death on the 1st of January. Many legends relating to his life commemorate his kindness to children. This has led to the custom of gift giving on New Year’s Day in Greece. St Basil has been equated with the Santa Claus of other nations. Being the first day of the year, tradition has it that one must receive money on this day (and hence continue to receive it everyday of that year!). This is the Greek custom of the “bonamas” (a term perhaps related to the Italian buon anno or even the French bonne âme), a monetary gift to friends and relatives. The vassilopitta, St Basil’s Cake, is another tradition, and this is a sweet, raised yeast cake which contains a silver or gold coin (depending on the family’s finances!). The father of the family cuts the cake after the New Year is heralded in and distributes the pieces in strict order: First, one for the Saints, then one for the House, then one for each member of the family, from the most senior to the youngest child. Then pieces for the guests, livestock and then for the poor, the remainder being for the “house”. The person finding the lucky coin is assured of luck for the rest of the year.

The tradition of the “first foot” or podhariko is widespread in Greece, as it is in some other European countries, and the British Isles. This involves the first visitor to enter the house on New Year’s Day. He sets the pattern of good or bad luck that will enter the house for the year. The luckiest first foot is a dark-haired stranger who must be male. Unlucky first foots are female, red or blond-haired, cross-eyed, with eyebrows that meet across the nose. The first foot must have been outside the house before midnight and must enter the house any time after the clock has struck midnight, as long as he is the first to come in. Good luck is ensured if the “first foot” brings with him some token gift, a loaf of bread symbolising sustenance for the whole year, coal or wood symbolising warmth or a few coins or some salt, symbolising prosperity.

Other Greek traditional sweets for New Year’s Day (except the vassilopitta) are melomakarona (honey macaroons) and dhiples (thin, crisply fried pancakes served with honey and crushed nuts). A renewal of the water in the house is another custom. Fresh spring water is drawn and taken into the house on New Year’s morning as St Basil’s Water. This is used to fill ewers, jugs, vases and other containers, thus blessing the house for the whole year.

Carolling is popular and the carollers must be given some money to ensure prosperity for the coming year. The carol sung is the New Year’s kalanda (from the Latin calendae, first day of the month). The carollers often hold a model of a sailing ship, beautifully made and decorated, symbolising St Basil’s ship on which he sailed to Greece. They accompany themselves with steel triangles, drums, fifes and other folk instruments while going around from house to house.

I hope that your year is filled with health and happiness and that your larder is never empty, your table always blessed and your loved ones always content.

Here are the Sydney New Year’s Eve fireworks for you to enjoy!

NEW ZEALAND 6

Today was out last day here in Auckland and we decide to take it easy, sleeping in, having a late breakfast and then just ambling around the City and then making our way to the airport for our afternoon flight to Melbourne. The weather was extremely pleasant, warm and sunny and the Aucklanders were out in full force, making the most of the last shopping day of 2008.

We walked up towards Albert Park and had a wander through the pathways and lawns, making our way up to the University of Auckland. This is New Zealand's pre-eminent research-led University. Established in 1883, it has grown into an international centre of learning and academic excellence and is New Zealand's largest university. Its mission is to be an internationally recognised, research-led university, known for the excellence of its teaching, research, and service to its local, national and international communities. It aims to be a vibrant and intellectually challenging place of learning, nurturing a community of scholars who share a passion for discovery, the advance of knowledge and human progress.

The signature building of the University is the Clock Tower, which is a wonderful Victorian confection in white, reminding one of a wedding cake bedecked in icing sugar filigree decorations. The campus is quite extensive and is an agglomeration of modern and Victorian buildings, beautiful parks, gardens, roads and pathways.

We went back to Albert Park and walked back towards the Queens St, finding the Auckland City Public Library. This is a beautiful new multistoried building which as well as containing an extensive book collection, there are a couple of galleries in which exhibitions are organised. We visited the gallery which had the “Once Upon a Time” exhibition. This was a marvellous exhibition of fairy tale books for children, from the 18th century to the present time. The illustrations were fantastic and the range of books presented truly amazing. Well worth visiting!

We made our way back to the hotel making our farewells to the fair city of Auckland. IT was an excellent break, very relaxing and filled with some novelty although we had visited here once before some years ago. Now at the airport we are awaiting the boarding call for our flight, which has been delayed coming in and hence delayed going out. Hopefully, we’ll be at home for New Year’s Eve tonight…

NEW ZEALAND 5

30/12/08

The itinerary for today was the South. We once again used public transport, with which we are very impressed, and travelled as far south as Papakura, a rather rustic outer suburb and then came back towards town via Manukau and its rather slick shopping centre adjacent to Rainbow’s End (a theme park mainly of families with children). We then travelled back through Newmarket, a bustling shopping district and finally the wonderful Parnell.

New Zealand is a curious mixture of the old and the new, with some pockets remaining quite old-fashioned and making one think that one is caught in a time-warp. Other areas are very modern and up-market, with all new buildings, latest technology and quite the hustle and bustle of a cosmopolitan metropolis. We saw evidence of both aspects during this trip and everything in between as well.

Papakura was of the time-warp variety, a sleepy little outer suburb that seemed more like a little town. All around the Auckland area, and especially so in the outer suburbs one sees more Maoris and Islanders making up the general population, with a sizeable proportion of Indians, Japanese and Koreans (although the last-mentioned three groups are more likely to prefer the urban areas). This makes for a very lively mix of people and something that impresses one about the Maoris is their more widespread integration into the population – more so than the Australian aboriginal population.

Manukau was rather boring but seemed to be the hub of the region with its large shopping centre and the adjacent theme park. Down towards the sea one may find more sympathetic and tourist-worthy niches and pockets of picturesqueness. However, the region is largely one of business and industry, and of quiet efficiency. A short distance away is the Auckland international airport and this would contribute to the area being a hub of activity. Close to Manukau are the Auckland Botanic Gardens and these are certainly worth a visit if one is horticulturally inclined. There are numerous areas with themes ranging from the natives, to roses, palms, herbs, camellias, perennials and succulents. An onsite café serves breakfast and lunch daily.

Newmarket is bustling inner city suburb which boasts a very busy shopping area with several strip shopping streets as well as a major shopping centre. Surrounding it are residential and light industrial areas. It is well worth a visit as there some interesting little shops in amongst the regulation branches of the multinational franchises.

We took the bus and after a short ride down towards the City we found ourselves in Parnell. This old suburb is adjacent to the City centre and was initially designed s accommodation of working class people. It then became gentrified and is now an exclusive residential area with many excellent restaurants, specialty shops and many boutiques, souvenir shops and art galleries. It is rather lovely to explore on foot and then to have lunch or dinner in one of the excellent restaurants there.

NEW ZEALAND 4

29/12/08

Well, the weatherman was right! We woke up to a dull and grey morning today and at about 8:00 am, the rain began to fall. New Zealand seems to be blessed with good rains right around the whole year, making for a very green and lush countryside, even in summer. It was rather surprising not seeing the usual warnings and signs about water restrictions that one sees in Australian hotels these days. Our hotel had absolutely no such signage and the tap water was excellent in terms of purity and drinkability.

Although it rained on and off all day, we walked everywhere with the help of a large umbrella that the hotel provided for us. The rain ranged from the annoying drizzle to the sudden downpour, but we managed not to get at all wet. We first visited the Auckland Art Gallery, which is in temporary residence in a building next to its usual lovely old Victorian home. The original building is being renovated and extended so that the exhibition space is increased by 50%. The renovated gallery will reopen in 2011.

I must say that we found the gallery very disappointing. Although the gallery was ample, the rooms generous and the exhibition spaces extremely well-disposed, the art works exhibited were unfortunately sadly below expectations. Some modernist rubbish created by the untalented for the pretentious critics to wax lyrical over, some photographs and photocollages that were quite grotesque and a couple of themed exhibits that had pieces of varying quality and were a pot pourri of old and modern (mainly indifferent) works. One of the exhibitions was “The Enchanted Garden” and all of the exhibits had to do with a gardening theme. For such a wonderful theme, the works displayed were rather prosaic.

Only a few pieces were memorable and were capable of evincing some sort of emotion (with the exception of “the emperor has no clothes on” type of reaction that the majority of works evoked). We were assured by the curators that the permanent exhibits that are usually on show are much better, but we have to revisit the gallery in 2011 in its newly appointed building. Fortunately the entry was free on Monday, otherwise I would have bewailed the entrance fee, however low it may have been.

We walked to the Domain, where the Museum of Auckland takes pride of place. The Domain is a huge park adjacent to the City and is one of the crowning glories of the city. Hectares of parkland, manicured lawns, well-planted trees and pleasure gardens surround the hill on which the rather severe classical-style museum sits. Very close to the museum is the Winter Garden with two enormous conservatories and a formal pond, fernery and refreshments kiosk.

We entered the museum paying a very modest donation fee of five dollars each and found ourselves in a very spacious atrium area. It was quite a busy day with numerous people around, given the holiday and the rainy day. A day in the museum is de rigueur under such circumstances. The museum is one of the best places to visit in Auckland. Excellent exhibits, generally well displayed, a broad variety of thematic displays, an excellent interactive children’s museum area, a fantastic array of Maori and Pacific Islands artefacts and on the topmost floor the war memorial and the monument to the unknown soldier.

A dinosaur exhibition with its centerpiece of a complete fossilized Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton was interesting and informative. The children were once again having a field day here and little gasps of pleasure alternated with giggles and a frightened whimper now and then. The Auckland Museum is definitely worth a day’s visit or even more if you wish to do the multiplicity of exhibits full justice.

Close to the museum within the vast parkland of the Domain, is the Winter Garden. This is a gorgeous spot where two huge conservatories face each other across a large formal lily pond surrounded by a colonnade over which wisterias and other climbing plants ramble. One of the conservatories is dedicated to seasonal flowering plants with an enormous display of fuchsias, begonias, alstromoerias, orchids, dahlias, begonias, hydrangeas, sunflowers and several more colourful blooms. The other conservatory is a true tropical hothouse in which there is a central lily pond where Nile waterlilies and Victoria amazonica waterlilies bloom, surrounded by orchids, banana plants, ginger plants, tropical ferns, bromeliads, tuberous begonias, heliconias and other tropical jungle plants.

Adjacent to the conservatories is the open air fernery, which is quite an amazing place as one descends down a ramp and some stairs to a shay sunken garden where pools of water mirror the fern fronds and where the quiet air is only disturbed by the babbling of the running water and the drone of a lone bee frustrated by the lack of flowers in this place where greenery reigns supreme. A place to truly heal and nourish the soul.

We walked back to town through the Domain and the University of Auckland. The weather, which had been showery for the most of the day turned rainy and we were grateful of the large golf umbrella that was lent to us by the hotel. We walked by the old city cemetery and in the grey and wet gloom it was indeed a melancholy place where one could contemplate the vanitas vanitatum of life and serve as a useful memento mori.

We got back to the hotel slightly wet, but nevertheless replete of the day’s activities and the wonderful sights we had seen. I was quite thankful for the lack of water restrictions as a nice, long, warm shower hit the spot.

NEW ZEALAND 3

28/12/08

We bought a Discovery Day Pass today for $13 each and with it we were able to travel on any of the public transport vehicles (trains, ferries, buses) for the whole day in all parts of the Auckland metropolitan area. This proved to be a wise decision that allowed us to see quite a lot of the city and the suburbs efficiently and cheaply. We chose to go North of the city and visit several of the seaside suburbs, some of which are quite idyllic. We were surprised by how hilly is the area that the greater Auckland is built on.

We went first to Devonport and Takapuna, built on a peninsula directly opposite the Waitemata Harbour. Both of these suburbs are quite lovely, especially Devonport, which has a country town charm and is very much geared towards the tourist and the holidaymaker. There are numerous tourist shops, art galleries, cafés, restaurants, bars, parks and other facilities for both locals and tourists who wish to relax and get away from the hustle and bustle of Auckland. The town is accessible by ferry from Auckland, the ride taking only 15 minutes. Alternatively one may go by bus via Takapuna.

Takapuna is more suburban and cosmopolitan, but there is also a holiday feel to the suburb, as there are excellent hotel facilities, a long swimming beach with white sands and the same tourist shops and facilities that the visitor expects. Whereas Devonport is more historical, Takapuna is more modern sporting even a couple of high rise apartment buildings and a big Westfield shopping centre, as well as the old style shopping strip.

We then took the bus and travelled up the north coast to the Eastern bays, going as far as up Torbay and the recreation area of Long Bay Regional Park. Long Bay is a lovely spot where sandy beaches alternate with rocky bluffs and is the first area to the North of Auckland outside the greater metropolitan area. This is a very popular spot for holidays, camping, swimming and relaxation. Coming back from Torbay, which is a small town sitting on the crest of a hill with magnificent views, one comes down to Browns Bay, which is another seaside suburb that has a large shopping area, beach facilities and where quite few retirees seem to live. We then took the bus back to Takapuna and finally back to Auckland.

Something which we noted was that New Zealand senior citizens travel free on public transport on presentation of their “Gold Pass”. This is such a good idea and a sign of an enlightened government. Several other observations made us think that the government both local and national seems to be taking care of its citizens well, better than Australia is doing presently. Australia was as New Zealand is in this respect about 25-30 years ago. Globalisation and following US trends has made the social welfare system deteriorate in Australia in the last couple of decades. All’s the pity as the lifestyle for the majority of people seems a lot better in New Zealand than in Australia at the moment.

The weather was absolutely wonderful today, hovering in the mid-20s with a gentle sunshine and no wind. The weather bureau is warning about rain tomorrow, so it was a good idea that we ventured out north today!

NEW ZEALAND 2

27/12/08

Auckland is New Zealand’s largest city and its largest port. It occupies a narrow isthmus between Waitemata Harbour (in the east) and Manukau Harbour (in the southwest). It was established in 1840 by Governor William Hobson as the capital of the colonial government and was named for George Eden, earl of Auckland, British first lord of the Admiralty and later governor-general of India. It was incorporated as a borough in 1851 and remained the capital until superseded by the city of Wellington in 1865. It was made a city in 1871. The most extensive urban area in New Zealand, Auckland also has the country's greatest concentration of indigenous Maori and has large numbers of Polynesians from other islands in the South Pacific. The population of the greater urban area is about 1.2 million people.

The city is a focal point of road and rail transportation, with the urban area being also served by New Zealand’s leading international airport, at Mangere. Auckland’s most important feature is Waitemata Harbour, a 180-square-km body of water that has maximum channel depths of 10 metres and serves overseas and intercoastal shipping. The port’s principal exports include iron, steel, dairy products, and meat and hides. Petroleum, iron and steel products, sugar, wheat, and phosphates are imported. Other industries of the Auckland area include engineering, publishing, and metal trades; the manufacture of paint, glass, plastics, chemicals, cement, and a variety of consumer goods; vehicle assembly and boatbuilding; and food processing, brewing, and sugar refining. A large iron and steel mill was opened at Glenbrook (32 km south) in 1969. The Auckland Harbour Bridge (1959) links the city with the rapidly growing, primarily residential North Shore suburbs and with Devonport, the chief naval base and dockyard for New Zealand. Construction of a natural-gas pipeline running from the Maui field to Auckland was completed in 1977.

Major institutions within the urban area include the War Memorial Museum, the Museum of Transport and Technology, the National Maritime Museum, the Auckland Art Gallery, the public library network, the University of Auckland (1957; from 1882 to 1957, Auckland University College, a constituent part of the University of New Zealand), the town hall, and several teacher-training colleges. Also in the locality are swimming and surfing beaches, several extinct volcanic cones, golf courses, sporting grounds, and parks and reserves. In 2000 and 2003 Auckland played host to the America’s Cup yachting race finals, both events helping to boost tourism in the region.

We wandered around the City today and took in some of the sights. Queen Street is the main street and the main shopping area within the CBD. A couple of noteworthy arcades off this street are the Queen’s Arcade and the Strand Arcade, the former better than the latter. Towards the north one finds the Victorian town hall with its distinctive clock tower. Next tot his is the Aotea Square and directly across the square is the Metro centre with its cinema complex and restaurants, cafés, bars and shops.

Albert Park is the major park within the city precinct and this is a typical Victorian park laid out in imitation of the great parks of Great Britain, with its lawns, majestic northern hemisphere trees, statuary, fountains and formal flower beds. The elaborate Victorian fountain is a central feature of the park and nearby is the statue of Queen Victoria which was unveiled in 1899 to mark the sixtieth jubilee of her reign. Adjacent to the park are the lovely old Law Courts, another Victorian building in the grand style. One may then walk towards Chancery St where there is a pedestrian shopping mall with restaurants, cafés and specialty boutiques. Further on, Vulcan Lane takes one back to Queen St.

Following Queen St down towards the sea, one finds the Britomart district dominated by its Victorian transport centre, where one obtains information, tickets and other tourist advice. It is also a transport hub with an underground train station and numerous bus termini around it (including a free city circle bus). Further along is Quay St, running parallel to the shore. The magnificent Ferry Building dominates Quay St and is where one may dine, shop and go through to embark on the ferries that transport one across the harbour.

We visited Victoria Markets situated just outside the CBD down Victoria St and located in an old incinerator building complex. This used to burn the city’s rubbish in the 19th century, but was soon put out of commission and is now home to several permanent stalls and shops, restaurants, cafés and tourist attractions. Opposite this is Victoria Park, not as impressive as Albert Park, but another welcome oasis of green in the City.

NEW ZEALAND 1

“We wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment.” - Hilaire Belloc

Boxing Day

New Zealand is located in the Southern Hemisphere in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. There are 3 main Islands: The North Island, the South Island and Stewart Island. The total combined land area of 268,680 square kilometers is slightly smaller than the U.S. state of Colorado and a little larger than the United Kingdom. The North and South Islands are separated by 22 km channel called the Cook Strait. The North Island is mainly hilly with isolated mountains, including volcanoes, two of which are still active. Lowlands on the North Island are mostly coastal or are the Waikato Valley. The South Island is very mountainous with numerous fjords and harbours, making for an extremely long coastline relative to its area. New Zealand also administers the South Pacific island group of Tokelau and claims a section of the Antarctic continent. Niue and the Cook Islands are self-governing states in free association with New Zealand.

The first people to colonise New Zealand’s soil were Polynesians, who came from other Pacific islands to New Zealand around 800 AD. They named the islands Aotearoa (“Land of the Long, White Cloud”). These people were the antecedents of the Maori people of New Zealand and they remained in New Zealand until 1642 AD when the Dutch stumbled onto it. However, the Dutch found the local Maoris very belligerent and did not stay. No other Europeans explored the island until Captain James Cook first arrived in New Zealand in 1769 AD on the Endeavour. Captain Cook successfully charted the islands and put New Zealand on the map. Relations with the Maoris for Cook’s first visit were good but soon deteriorated. In 1818 AD the “Musket Wars” began and 20,000 people died in 12 years of fighting. 1840 AD brought the first real colonisation to New Zealand in Wanganui, New Plymouth, Nelson and Wellington. Also in 1840 AD the Treaty of Waitangi was signed between the colonists and approximately 50 Maori chiefs, granting sovereignty to the Queen of England but retaining the ownership of the lands, forests, fisheries and other property. This was a crucial step in achieving peace between the Maori and European people.

1856 AD saw New Zealand become a self-governing British colony and the beginning of their gold rush. Wellington became the official capital also in 1865. By 1867 AD Maori were given the right to vote. In 1893 AD women were given the right to vote (25 years before the US or Britain!). In the 1900s, New Zealand’s population was hard hit from first World War. New Zealand suffered more casualties per capita than any other country in the war and to add tot eh casualties, the worldwide influenza epidemic in 1918-1919 took its toll. Then again by World War II more population losses resulted. In 1947 New Zealand became fully independent.

New Zealand became an outspoken voice against nuclear weapons and testing in the late 70s and early 80s. With a defining moment being the bombing of the Greenpeace ship the Rainbow Warrior in Auckland harbor by French secret agents in 1985. That same year New Zealand’s government banned visits by any ships carrying nuclear weapons. In 1990 public opinion forced the new National government to maintain their anti-nuclear stance. New Zealand today is a very clean, green, and rural place where not a lot has changed over the last 50 years.

The population of New Zealand is roughly four million people. Despite the plentiful amount of land available per person, most people live in or around New Zealand’s major cities. Auckland in the North Island is home to more than a million while the capital Wellington (also in the North island) has a population of 400,000. Close to 80% of the population is of European origin with most being of British heritage while the others being mainly from the Netherlands, Germany, and Croatia. Only 13% are Maori and 5% Pacific Islander. There is also a growing Asian population with immigration from Taiwan, Hong Kong, & Korea having more than doubled since 1990.

New Zealand is an interesting mix of European and Maori cultures. It’s not uncommon to see people with very intricate tattoos in the traditional Maori style in business suits in Auckland. The main sports are yachting, fishing, golf, rugby and cricket. Even the national rugby team, the New Zealand All Blacks, do a traditional Maori ‘Haka’ dance at the beginning of each match, to frighten their opponents. It is also a land full of extreme sports; it is the birthplace of bungee jumping, jet-boat riding, white water kayaking and many other activities to get the adrenaline going. Tourism is one of New Zealand’s main sources of earnings. However, farming and agriculture are also a very big part of New Zealand life. New Zealand has around 47 million sheep. Meat, wool, dairy products and food processing are the next largest source of earnings for the country. Many areas of the North Island grow many kinds of fruits, vegetables, plants, and wine.

New Zealand had proved to be a very stable democracy over the past hundred or so years. However, there is some tension centered around Maori claims for land based on the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi. The 1984 – 1990 Labor Party acknowledged the validity of these claims for fishing grounds and other assets and set up the Waitangi Tribunal to consider specific Maori claims. Progress toward these claims continues but is a hot political topic still. In 1997 New Zealand elected their first female Prime Minister and she was beaten by another female in 1999. Helen Clark, elected PM in 1999 successfully lowered unemployment and strengthened the NZ economy. She was re-elected in 2002.

New Zealand’s climate, like its neighbour Australia’s, is the opposite of that in the Northern Hemisphere. Thus, summer is from December to March and winter is from June to August. The north part of New Zealand has a subtropical climate and the south part is more temperate. Even on the North Island itself there is a marked difference between the northernmost part, which is more subtropical and the southernmost part which is much more temperate in climate. For example, Wellington seems very like San Francisco in climate and terrain, but Keri Keri in the north is very tropical and near beautiful beaches with white sand and clear waters. Summer temperatures average around 25˚C for the highs and 10˚C for lows in the north. It can be chilly by the sea though with strong winds often blowing. Rain is spread evenly throughout the year and weather can change rapidly.

Interesting Facts about New Zealand:
• Official languages are both English and Maori
• Currency is the NZ Dollar (1 NZ dollar = 0.85 AUD = 0.60 USD = 0.40 Euro)
• Official bird is the Kiwi (a flightless bird as big as a large chicken)
• The Kiwi fruit is also know as Chinese gooseberry and is native to China and Taiwan, but grown commercially in New Zealand
• New Zealanders are often referred to affectionately as “Kiwis”
• European New Zealanders are referred to as “Pakehas” by the Maoris
• New Zealand was home to the now extinct Moa bird, which stood as tall as 3 metres
• New Zealand is one of the very first places to welcome the new day because of its close proximity to the International Dateline
• Religion is predominantly Christian (81% of the population)
• Rugby football is the national game
• Sir Edmund Hillary (1919-2008) is a famous New Zealander, the first to reach the summit of Mt Everest
• New Zealand uses the Metric system
• New Zealanders drive on left side of the road (like drivers in Australia and the UK)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

“At Christmas play and make good cheer, For Christmas comes but once a year” - Thomas Tusser

A Merry Christmas to all! I hope your day is filled with joy and peace and contentment. Whether with family, that special someone, good friends or indeed or all of the above, enjoy the day and make merry.

We are travelling today as I was able to book a very economical trip to New Zealand through a website as it appears that very few people wish to travel on Christmas Day! New Zealand is a four-hour flight from Australia and one the closest international destinations for us. Whenever I have to travel overseas I think of very long flights. Seven, ten, 15, 20 hour flights to get to anywhere reminds me just how faraway and distant from everywhere else our island continent is. I guess New Zealand is even further away from elsewhere.

The birthday flower for today is the white Christmas rose, or hellebore, Helleborus niger, which is symbolic of the Nativity of Christ. In the language of flowers, the white hellebore signifies purity and chastity, but the darker shades of the flower mean calumny and scandal. The white hellebore is also dedicated to St Agnes who is the patron saint of young virgins.

In the past, the day on which Christmas fell was thought to prognosticate the weather and the vicissitudes of the year ahead:
If Christmas falls on a Sunday, that year shall be a warm Winter,
The Summer hot and dry, peace and quiet amongst the married folk.
If on Monday, a misty Winter, the Summer windy and stormy;
Many women will mourn their husbands.
If on a Tuesday, a cold Winter and much snow, the Summer wet,
But good peace amongst the Princes and the Kings.
If on Wednesday, the Winter naughty and hard, the Summer good,
Young people and many cattle will die sore.
If on a Thursday, the Winter mild and the Summer very good and abundant,
But many great men shall perish.
If on a Friday, the Winter neither bad nor good, the Summer harvest indifferent,
Much conflict in the neighbourhoods, treachery and deception.
If on a Saturday, Winter will snow, blow hard winds and bitterly cold,
The Summer good with a harvest full and bounteous,
But war shall rack many lands.

Merry Christmas; Καλά Χριστούγεννα - Kalá Christoúyenna; Joyeux Noël; Feliz Navidad; Buon Natale; Nadolig Llawen; Nollaig faoi shean; God Jul!

WHITE CHRISTMAS

“If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one.” - Mother Teresa

It’s Christmas Eve and all should be at home with family and their loved ones enjoying all that the season has to offer: Peace, goodwill, happiness, contentment. Christmas brings out the best in us one would hope, but how often is it that our human nature bedeviled as it is with our pettiness and pathetic selfishness gets in the way of our humanity and the worst in us prevails? Charity coexists with cruelty, goodwill with hypocrisy, goodness with evil. How many households tonight hide some sadness and melancholy? How many people are tormented by their inner devils and how many cannot enjoy the simple pleasures of a quiet Christmas Eve at home?

The following poem was inspired by a scene I witnessed as an impressionable six-year-old staring through our balcony door one snowy day, around Christmas. It was my introduction to human cruelty and also to the meaning of charity, which was impressed upon me by my family. Fortunately, the scene I witnessed did not have as tragic an end as my poem does, as my mother intervened, but I wish its tragic ending was only poetic licence. There are many such gloomy endings being acted in various places around the world tonight and on many other a night.

Have a Merry Christmas, friends, and do as much good as you can without having to think twice about it.

White Christmas

White Christmas and the sparrows freeze
On the cathedral roof cross.
A girl in a ragged summer dress
With a voice blue with cold
Cries weakly outside the great church portal:
“Buy your candles, here please …”

Inside, the gold sparkles and the candles burn,
The incense scents the air
And choirs sing with voices heavenly:
“Gloria in excelsis, Deo…”
While bishops in embroidered copes
Read the gospels: “…et in terra pax!”

And the sparrow shakes with feathers ruffled
Roosting on the cross up high.
The sky black with not a star
(All of them shine inside the cathedral
This holiest of nights).
On earth snow cold as steel and a white Christmas.

Little hands tremble icy blue, and wide-open eyes stare
At the fat woman’s rich furs.
The diamonds on her fingers cut cold flesh
With their brilliant flame, while the tiny voice implores:
“Madam, please buy a candle
For our little Jesus due to be born tonight.”

The woman’s narrow eyes colder than snow,
But charity must be done tonight, and sharp-nailed hands
Extract from purse well-stuffed, a few coppers
Carefully counted so that the sum is right
To pay for a candle proferred hopefully
By a small girlish hand, outside the cathedral.

A snaky eye, alert, observes from inside the church
And a harsh voice commands all strident:
“How dare you, worthless urchin,
How come you choose this holy spot to sell unworthy candles?
Away, begone, there’s plenty a blessed candle
In the church for all the faithful to buy…”

With slow dragging steps in snow she goes away,
The candles such a heavy load on childish shoulders.
How will she tell him yet again,
The candles are not sold, even on this day?
Her tears, the only thing hot in her body
Roll down frigid cheeks and fall on snow to freeze.

A sparrow totters and falls from high up
To lie dead in front of the cathedral’s closed doors.
A girl child further down stumbles, falls
Under her load and gratefully expires, freezing in the snow
While dreaming of warm grates and a full belly.
White Christmas so picturesque, outside the cathedral…

Inside, the choir sings, the gold and silver sparkle,
Hundred of candles burn like stars. and incense smokes
The atmosphere redolent with a hundred perfumes.
The fat ladies are too warm under their furs
And the deacon smiles contentedly for
His candles are all sold and his alms box is full…

THE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS

“Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.” - William James

We went out to a shopping centre today and I must say it definitely felt like Christmas. Although the decorations were more restrained this year, although the shops were less busy, although there was a palpable reduction in the money being spent for gifts and luxuries, despite everything, people were still around and they were still doing their Christmas shopping. A Salvation Army band was playing Christmas carols and collecting money for those in need. A big bin was outside the department store inviting people to contribute gifts for children of poor families who would otherwise not have a gift. A local church group further down the mall was collecting coins to be used for providing a meal for the homeless on Christmas day and another table was full of photographs of third world country kids that needed a sponsor.

Perhaps this year, more than previous ones, people will realise what Christmas is all about. We shall see things more clearly the real meaning of Christmas as the economy is going downhill and the financial climate is worsening. People will surely see beyond the glitter of the tinsel and listen to voices in need beyond the piped carols of the elevator. As our own financial security is threatened we will perhaps feel a little more compassion for those who are even less fortunate than us. The poorer amongst us are often more generous than those of us who are well off. Someone who has little will paradoxically be more likely to share it with someone in greater need than them…

We have several welfare and community service in our neigbourhood. We often visit and provide some assistance, whether it is financial or some kind of volunteer work. A very special place is an old people’s home nearby where each Christmas a special kind of tragedy is played out. Several forgotten elderly people sit listlessly and watch with empty eyes the flashing light of a scraggly Christmas tree by a window, knowing full well they will not glimpse a sign of a loved one coming in to visit them. How many heavy hearts, extinguished eyes and hopeless souls will spend another Christmas battling with memories of happy Christmases past, while the well-wishing staff dole out a “festive meal” for them on yet another sad and lonely Christmas day. And in the meantime, the carols are playing on the PA system throughout the nursing home, contributing to the cheery holiday mood.

What is the true meaning of Christmas and how can we come to understand it? Simple. Visit someone you don’t know and take them a little something this Christmas – nothing much, just a token for your thought for that stranger, who nevertheless is a fellow human being. Someone you have never seen before, in a nursing home, a prison, an orphanage, a mental hospital. The rejects of our society, those people that the grand machine has chewed on and has spat out. Even more than what you take to them, give them a gift of some of your time. Sit and talk with them, share a conversation, small talk, a pleasantry. Clasp their hand and give them a gift of hope. Hope that the world still has some decency and compassion and care and fellow feeling. Charity is more than giving an odd coin now and then to the man shaking a can at you in the mall. It’s even more than signing a big cheque for your favourite charity organisation every year. Charity is humanity and sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others, with a genuine attempt to try and alleviate that suffering in a palpable, real way.

The hand extended toward you is not always begging for money, it may only want to be clasped and held for a while, with your heart open and your ears unstopped.

Have a peaceful and loving Christmas!

THE JANE AUSTEN BOOK GROUP

“Having your book turned into a movie is like seeing your oxen turned into bouillon cubes.” - John LeCarre

Films made from novels can be a real mess, especially if the novel is one you have enjoyed reading very much. It is seldom that a novel can give rise to a good movie, but I have seen some such films, proving that if the sensitivity is there, a film-maker can do justice to the author. The film we watched last weekend was an interesting concept, which was a film based on a novel, which novel was based on six other novels. Highly derivative, and here I am writing about it, adding yet another layer on top of everything.

Authors have always been inspired by other authors and novels have inspired other novels. Quite fashionable in the last few years are “reading group novels”, where the novel revolves around a group of people who take part in a book club that discusses a new novel every month. I recently read one by Elizabeth Noble called “The Reading Group”, which was rather soppy and not worth bothering with. Before that I read “Reading Lolita in Tehran” by Azar Nafisi, which was much better, and quite enjoyable. Now this film based on a book I haven’t read (nor do I wish to read, now that I have seen the film), the book being “The Jane Austen Book Club” by Karen Joy Fowler.

The film of “The Jane Austen Book Club” was made in 2007 by Robin Swicord, who also wrote the screenplay. Let me warn you, this is a classic “chic flick”, which is all about a group of six Californians who get together to discuss Jane Austen’s novels, one a month for six months. There are five women and one man, all at some crisis point in their lives and all identifying with characters and plots out of Jane Austen’s books. Although there are references to Austen’s novels in the film, even if you haven’t read the novels you can follow the film and I promise it won’t spoil your reading of Austen.

There is a lot of talking in the movie – a couple of witty lines, but also a lot of plain old gas-bagging. Some of the characters are very unlikeable and although the acting is good, the plot is quite trite and the ending gratuitously out of fantasyland. The characters the actors portray are very shallow and there is little genuineness in the film, whether it’s turns in the plot, depth of characterisation, or even a token tragic ending for one of the couples (in the film they all end up deliriously happy).

It was pleasant enough to watch, but I would not watch it again, nor would I recommend it highly to anyone else to watch, unless it’s on cable and you have 106 minutes to kill. I guess it was a bit like a soap opera, brain junk food – of little nutritive value but moderately toothsome at the time of consumption. Some of the excellent film adaptations of Jane Austen’s novels would be better to watch and infinitely more enjoyable.

I wonder if anybody reading this has read the novel from which the movie was made? Perhaps you can tell us about it, whether it was better than the film…