Greek – whether ancient or modern, two wildly different languages – is beautiful but so intricate, so incomprehensible: for someone like me who considers himself fairly familiar with a variety of Western European languages, it seems alien, unrelated. And yes, of course it's Indo-European – but from such a distant branch....
My mother's family, and her relatives; the chatter in Greek, the food, the close family relationships. Dark hair, dark eyes, and (let's face it) very strong features... and Greek Easter bread, baked with the eerie sweet sharpness of mastikha, an unmistakable taste unlike anything else; and many, many red-dyed eggs. Not to mention, of course, my uncle Gregory's (my middle name is after him) infamous red wooden egg, which he would palm and use at the slightest provocation in egg-bashing battles.
And of course the Orthodox Easter ceremony, walking around the church three times, startled by the drama of the call and response:
Alithos anesti!
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