In Greece, Carnival is three weeks of festivities leading up to "Clean Monday" and the beginning of Lent. Last weekend I experienced the Greek culture is multiple ways. First of all, in the main hall at CYA there was a poster that listed various Carnival events. There were events scheduled on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Feeling adventurous, and wanted to get a better taste of Greek life, Katie and I hopped on the metro to "Moschato" where all these events were supposed to take place.
Friday was a "huge outdoor concert featuring: HIP-HOP WITH ZN, NGC, DREAM PROSPECTORS, NEKRIKISIGI, INSANES IN THE POOL. HEAVY METAL WITH CRIMSON FIRE, STRIKELIGHT, WHIPANGEL, SELFRAGE". I was dying to witness what a Greek metalband sounded and looked like, but I never got to. It rained earlier that evening, and the Greeks being total wusses with rain decided to just not show up. That area of town was completely deserted when we stepped off the metro. Had tumbleweeds been indigenous flora to Athens, I believe one would have rolled by.
Saturday was a "Festive Street Fair and Dance Party with DJ Niko "Nino" Vourliotis". Once again, we took the metro, got off, and were confronted with a ghost town. We wandered the streets a bit, found another group of CYA students doing the same, and decided to eat some crepes. I had a chocolate and banana crepe...yummm. While walking back, we passed a video rental place that had movies playing the window display. To our chagrin, the video of choice that night was "Lord of the Dance featuring Michael Flatley." Of course we all immediately stopped and gawked. (Both Katie and Lucianna are Irish dancers at ND.) It was both absolute hilarity and utter horror. Now, I'm all for Irish Dance, but that specific production reminded me more of WWF Smackdown than Riverdance. Flatley himself is already a creepy individual, what with his tight pants, poofy shirts, and curly mullet. However, add to that an incredulous story: Flatley is obviously the Billy Elliot/MC Hammer of the galaxy (at least, the stage looked like a set from Star Trek: The Original Series). This other guy who wears a shimmery tank top with glittered gauntlets and a villain's mask obviously doesn't like being one-upped by "the Mullet" (as I like to call him). So, the bad guy (who I'll call Hans because he'd be comfortable in a German disco) orders his Irish dancing thugs to dance the Mullet into submission. There is a very dramatic scene where Hans rips away the flashy belt the Mullet had picked out in order to accentuate his ensemble. The belt is HUGE and could easily be mistaken for one of Hulk Hogan's, except for the "Lord of the Dance" etched into the front. Apparently, the Mullet is really Lord Mullet. Anyway, somehow Lord Mullet escapes and comes back as an even better dancer because this time he's got a glittered headband and black leather pants. We didn't stay for the ending, but I'm pretty sure Lord Mullet and Hans joined forces to launch their new clothing line.
Sunday we went to the "Big, Big Carnival Parade!" because it is "the best and most famous in Athens!!" It was FASCINATING! (More to come later, must rest fingers.)
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