Church day

Yesterday was truly a church day, since I have been there both in the morning and the evening. You see, it was Holy Friday when the burial of Jesus Christ is commemorated.
The morning service started at 10.00 and probably had finished at around 14.00 (Actually two services are celebrated in the morning, The Royal Hours (i.e., a service that includes psalms and readings from Old (Prophets) and the New Testament (Epistles and Gospel) that refer to the Passion and death of Jesus) and the Vespers of Holy Friday (where Jesus deposition from the Cross and Burial is celebrated).
I say probably because I had a meeting at 13.30 at the department and I had to leave earlier. Funny thing though; as I got out from the church (at around 13.20) and looking for a taxi, something completely unexpected happened: The prof. I was going to meet was driving down the street and spotted me (actually she spotted my orange jacket; I always knew that this thing would eventually come in handy). It turned out that she lived at the same block the church was and she was also late because she was preparing some stuff for our meeting), so we got to the department together. What a coincidence you might say, but I do not know. Judging from the fact that so it happened, that I was late, she was also late and she drove down this street at that particular time, well, if that is not Divine Providence I do not know what is.
Anyway, after spending some time at the department, I got back home and then walked to church again for the evening service.
This is one of the most beautiful services. Typically, it is the Matins of Holy Saturday where Jesus death is celebrated. The service includes a traditional procession of the clergy and people. At the head of the procession stands the Cross and the Epitaph (representing Christ tomb). The procession is enriched with chanting of praises of Jesus Death. These chants are my favorite of the whole Passion Week.
Now, this year I had an extra duty; since there is a procession (the church I went is a Greek -Orthodox one and is located at St.Urbain. The procession begins from St. Urbain, heads south to Fairmount, then west to D' Esplanade, north to St. Viateur and from then to St. Urbain heading south to the church) somebody has to keep an eye to the people (since we were allowed to occupy one lane of the streets we were walking). It was to the police (there were three police cars making way for us) and to people from the church to ensure that everything will be alright, the traffic will not be jammed and nobody will get runover by a passing vehicle. It was my first time ever as crowd control assistant, I kind of missed the "feeling" of the service, but I believe I did a good job and in my way offered some service.
The procession of the Epitaph completes in a way the remembrance and celebration of the Passion and Death of the Lord. When the Epitaph gets back into the church, the bells toll in a vivid rhythm (for celebration) since the Resurrection is at hand.
The Resurrection will be celebrated today at a midnight service but already from the morning the psalm " Arise 0 God judge the earth for you shall inherit all nations (Psalm 82,8)) that will be chanted at the Holy Saturday Liturgy this morning prepares the celebration of Easter.
I only hope it will not rain on Sunday (contrary to current weather forecasts!)

Among other things, night at Café Campus

What an interesting day:
I went to the department to give a hard copy to prof Y. of my term paper.(His printer was out and he could not print out what I' ve sent him.)
Then, I went to the gym, where I worked out for a while. I think I have overdone it though because I started experiencing some pain in my knee. Anyway, it is good to be back in the gym. I actually gained a pound last week but now it seems I lost 2, so I am back to schedule. (Funny thing, yesterday the scale that they have in the locker room indicated that I lost 30 pounds. Of course it just went broken, I mean if I had lost 30 pounds in a day, then I would not be here to talk about it, would I?)
After the gym, I bought myself a new pair of jeans (the old one is beginning literally to disintegrate) and went home and then to church for the service of the Holy Tuesday (this week is Holy Week for the Orthodox). Now, the church is at St. Joseph and after the service I thought it would be a great idea to walk back to Cafe Campus (that is by the way only block from where I live) where I would meet my friend Heather (and some of her friends from U de M) who is leaving Montreal in 2 days. So, this is what I did; I walked back and after stopping at Amir's (corner of St. Denis and Mont-Royal) to eat something (I hadn't eaten anything for the whole day)I arrived outside Cafe Campus around 9.10.
Now, there was a big queue of people waiting to get in. With all honesty I really do not like these circumstances, you know, standing in line to get in to to a club, so my first reaction when I saw the people waiting was "You've got to be kidding". I guess once again I was thinking out loud, so a girl passing by actually heard me and, I don't know why, she said "I am" (???!!!).
Anyway, since I really wanted to see Heather before she left I stoically waited and after 30-35 minutes I was about to get in when I saw Raph and Émile just arriving (or at least this is the impression I got). Raph tried to reach me but he couldn't get too close because of all these club people guarding the cattle (meaning us standing there. They were speaking in French but, unfortunately for them, I understood most of the stuff they said. Politeness is a virtue the do lack and I guess this is why they behaved towards us in this manner...)
Anyway, Raph asked me whether I knew if Heather was inside, which I didn't. I have been there at 9.10, I didn' t see Heather (and I didn't know what her friends looked like so I just assumed that they were already in). Raph told me to tell Heather that they had cone and this is what I did when Heather found me 30 minutes after I had gotten in.
This place is big. It has three flours. In the first (the relatively quiet one) they have a bar where you can alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks (like coffee, jus, tea, colas). There are some tables but they were all taken. I looked for Heather and her friends but I couldn' t find them. Then I got to the 2nd floor.
This is I guess the main attraction of the place. There is a big dance floor, some small tables scattered at the corners of the room, two bars and LOUD music. When I got there, it was already crowded. I looked around for Heather but didn't find her. I went back to the first floor (looking again, in case I missed her and back at the second floor where I didn't see her. (I really do not know why I hadn't checked the third floor!!!)
Naturaly, I assumed that she hadn't arrived yet and as I was standing at the stairs between the two floors, she found me. It turned out that she and her friends were there since 8.30! Heather introduced me to her friends and she asked me if I saw anyone else. I told her I saw Raph and Émile (guys I hadn't seen Erin at the time, I guess she came after I got in) and for some time we waited for them . At around 10.40 Heather went to check if they were still outside (the club people would not let us get out before, they said that if we got out, we had to get back at the beginning of the line. WTF!!!!!!)) At that time nobody was out. Apparently they wouldn't let more people in, and people just left.I am really sorry guys you had to go through this. It just sucks!!!
Anyway, apart from that, we (at least the people that got to Eden(!!!)) had a great time. Most of the music was 80's and early 90's, although there was also some Rock n' Roll that dates earlier. Heather (who by the way was dressed fabulously) was dancing almost all night. I joined the rest of the people a bit, but I didn' t want to put extra pressure on my knee, so I remained seated for most of the time.
With dancing, chatting and drinking time happily passed and at around 1.40 am, we decided to call the night off. I wished Heather all the best and headed home.
This was a truly a full day. However, here is something I didn't do; go to the third floor tofind out what is there. So, the mystery remains....

Back to tax issues

O.K., maybe it exaggerates a bit, but it is definitely funny.

Palm Sunday-Tax Sunday

Today is Palm Sunday for the Orthodox, so I started my day early by going to church and attending the Liturgy. Yes, Easter is only a week away....
Down to earth now for some other news; When I got home, I decided to do my tax report like any law-abiding citizen (resident, whatever). Isn't it funny that when school is almost over, you actually realize that other important things happen in life?
Well, my day is official ruined. I am still not able to figure out some things and honestly I am very tired of all that adding, subtracting multiplying etc. that doesn't get you anywhere at all. The funny thing is that I did my report last year (a friend of mine helped me), and now I am lost again, though I was certain I had understood everything
So, what I am going to do is to exhaust all my resources in friends and if this does not work, I will turn to the professionals.
Anyway, good luck to all of out there (if you are still preparing your report) and may you all get a huge refund!!

Back to normal (?)

Early this week I have submitted my paper for LA 2 and I guess this almost marks the end of the semester. I guess there are still some things to do:

a) To have the revisions and corrections on my M.A.paper done. (This can be very tight since I have until the end of the month (yes, that is next week!!) and I am still waiting for comments from my supervisor. )
b)To do some grading for the final exam of the course I am TAing. (The final is next week on the 28th)
c) To actually go to that final (It is early at the morning, oh oh!)
That' s all and after that, I am done....
So, my life returns to normal. And what is normal? (you may ask...)

Well, I started going to the gym again. (I completed neglected myself the last two weeks and as a result I gained a pound!!) Now, all my joints hurt but this is actually a good thing (no, I am not turning to a masochist!!!)
Today, I went to the department, stayed there a bit, talked to Émile, (and verified the habitual TH tribute),Yukio, and to John and Gustavo at the lab and then headed to the gym.
After I revitalized myself by working out, I went to TH where I found Émile, Erin, Jake, and Heather. Eventually, Heather had to leave (I will do my best to see you on Tuesday) and the rest of us continued chatting about movies and Southpark (a topic I almost know nothing about!!)
At around 8.10 we left TH and moved to Cinema du Park to watch Kung Fu Hustle . The movie is directed by Stephen Chow (who also starrs; he is the guy that directed and starred in Shaolin Soccer, one of Asia's greatest performers) and it is absolutely hilarious!!! Sometimes it was just difficult not to laugh loud (O.K., I didn't do the Lion's Roar) but still, I was noisier than normal...
If you love martial arts, appeciate a good comedy (the Bugs Bunny type) and thrilling Tarantino action rhythms, I strongly suggest this movie. And if you wonder what the Lion's Roar is, I guess you have to see the movie yourselves. (By the way it can be done with a speaker as well!!!!)
After the movie we split up; Erin and Jake going their way and me and Émile going Émile's way. You see, I walked with him up to Mont-Royal Metro (on my own personal free will I have to admit since I thought that would be a good exercise).
Then I got the metro back to Sherbrooke (yes, only one stop) and walked back home.
Isn't the end of the semester lovely??

Almost there

It has been such a busy week. Anyway, today afternoon, after spending 22 hours sitting on a chair (you know, this can cause pain to many parts of your anatomy) I have completed what I call (and hopefully my supervisor also!!! ) the draft version of M.A. paper. It turned out to be 54 pages long (and trust me, I could write more stuff) and after converting it to PDF (Can you believe it took 10 minutes for my laptop to do the conversion?) I e-mailed it to my supervisor. Well, at least now it is out of my hands.
Later on, I went to church, where I attended the Akathist sercice and had dinner with some friends in some Greek restaurant, I don't remember its name right now. The dinner included calamari, french fries, taramosalata and of course, Greek salad.
Later on I spend some time in a friend's house, and I got back home at 12.30 a.m.
It is very weird actually; I was feeling very tired the whole day, but now I cannot get any sleep. Perhaps I am too tired to sleep!!!
Finally, I still have a term paper to write that is due in 4 days, but I guess I am almost there....

Για το Γρηγόρη (For Grigoris)

Last Thursday one of the greatest singers in Greece, Grigoris Bithikotsis passed away at the age of 83. His characteristic voice accompanied generations of Greeks. It was through his voice that the works of great composers (like Mikis Theodorakis and Manos Chatzidakis) and poets (like the two Nobel prize winners Odisseas Elitis and Yorgos Seferis) were known to the public.
But mostly, Bithikostsis was loved because he sang for both the joyful and the bitter times of the Greek people. His body lied on state for public viewing on Sunday and his funeral took place yesterday Monday. It was attended by state officials (the prime minister and party leaders) as well as his colleagues singers. The procession from Athens cathedral to the cemetery was followed by hundreds of people that were singing quietly some of his most known songs.
On the head of the procession there was a beautiful carriage with two horses, one black and one white. This was to honor one of the most beautiful songs he composed:

Ένα όμορφο αμάξι με δυο άλογα/ 'A beautiful carriage with two horses/
να μου φέρετε τα μάτια μου σαν κλείσω/ bring το me when I shut my eyes/
το ντουνιά με τα στραβά και τα παράλογα/ the wrongs and insanity of the world/
καβαλλάρης μια φορά να σεργιανίσω/ as a rider, once, to promenade.

Το ένα τ' άλογο να είναι άσπρο/ Let one horse be white/
όπως τα όνειρα που έκανα παιδί/ like the dreams I used to have as a child/
το άλλο τ' άλογο να είναι μαύρο/ let the other horse be black/
σαν την πικρή μου την κατάμαυρη ζωή/ like my bitter, all-black life'

Καλό σου ταξίδι Γρηγόρη

Σε ευχαριστούμε

Busy, busy, I am so busy...

I haven't been posting all this time since I am so busy!!! By this Friday I have to submit a draft of my M.A paper and by early next week I have another paper that is due.
Anyway, today I started my day with attending the last lecture where prof. Y. mentioned the topics we did NOT cover this semester and gave some instructions about the final paper.
Later on, I started correcting the last homework for the course I am TA'ing.I haven't finished them all though. I still have some left I am going to grade early in the morning tomorrow.
At around 5.00 pm, I found Gus in the computer lab and we went for a late lunch/early dinner to Commensal( a nice vegie restaurant) at the corner of McGill College and St. Catherine's. The food was good, the view from a table near the window was great. If only I knew that they had discount for students!!!
Anyway, now I am home, taking care of my blog I neglected so much all this time and I guess I will finish my day working on my paper.

I am still here

Wow!! It must have been over a week since my last post.
I am just so busy, but everything goes as planned. So let me see:
By mid April I must have a draft version of my M.A. paper (I can do that, I think!!)
In addition, around the same time I must have completed a term paper and then, I guess I can think about convocation...
Earlier this morning I gave my presentation, no great interruptions I have to admit, something that got me a bit worried. (I still remember a comment from a last year's presentation "It 's all Greek to me""). I believe though it went O.K.
Later this evening, I was invited to dinner by a friend of mine (and her family). The food was great and the company even greater. I even got some food back home!! Pat, thank you so much...

So, now I am staying up late at night and blogging about this for the last 45 minutes (Grrr, Blog you make me so angry!!)

That is all,

And... last but not least:

For all of you faithfull out there remember Pope John-Paul II in your prayers.

Among the spirits of the righteous perfected in faith, give rest, O Savior, to the soul of Your servant. Bestow upon it the blessed life which is from You, O loving Lord

From the Memorial Service of the Orthodox Church