Christmas/Noël•A Christmas Tradition of Cyprus is to make sweets and cakes, like “kourapiedes “and “melomakarouna”. We also decorate a Christmas Tree and invite friends and relatives for dinner!

Christmas sweets• Kourapiedes • Melomakarouna

• During Christmas we have 2 weeks holidays.• The last day of school we go to church and then we

celebrate with songs, poems and dances.• We decorate a christmas tree usually the first or second

week of December.• On Christmas day we go to the mess early in the

mornimg and when we return home we open our presents. Lunch time we have a big feast with a lot of food and all the family getting together.

• New Year’s Eve again the family gathers to welcome the New Year.

• We usually eat, watch TV,and play cards.

What do we eat• Roast turkey with

stuffing.• Potatoes• Pasta• Salads• Souvla• Koupepia

• Pasta(pasta with mince meat and tomato sauce)

• Koupepia(minced meat wrapped in grape leaves)

Pork or lamb meat on the charcoal

• Souvla

New year’s Day• At New year’s Eve all those that have a

fire-place in their houses, put olive leaves in the fire. As they throw the leaf they sing: <<ΑΪ vasili, (Saint Vasilios) vasilia, show me if somebody loves me>> and you tell the name of the one you want to know if he loves you. If the leaf burns with noise, that means that, the person you wished to love you, loves you. Also at New year’s Eve, we make New-years cake that has coins in. Whoever finds the coins, is the lucky person of the year!

• A traditional cake called « vasilopitta » for New Year’s day.

• We put a coin inside and whoever finds the coin is the lucky one for the year.

Epiphany( 6 of January)

•During that day the children go to the neighborhood and to relatives and sing a song to get money: <<Good morning, is Epiphany day so you give us first of all money>> !

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