On the 11 of November, the day when in Germany the carnival officially begins and all Germans start singing carnival songs the whole island of Chios meets up for a special celebration as well but not for carnival. No on this day something much more important happened in Chios a110 years ago. They celebrated with parades, dances music and it was a happy celebration that as it seemed like the whole island took part from the youngest to the oldest. But what did they celebrate and why is it so important?
Well, so as you might know the islands of the Aegean were not always Greek well they were but for some time the ottoman empire occupied the islands and with that also the island of Chios. But on the 11 of November 1912, two navy ships full of Greek soldiers arrived on the island and fought to get the island back. And they made it after a very fast operation the Greeks got the Island of Chios back. The whole liberation of the island did take till the 20 of December but on the 11 of November, the city of Chios was liberated. Since then the Island has always been Greek and it hopefully will stay like that.
And what did we do to celebrate this very important day in the history of Chios and Greece.
I am working in the second Kindergarten of Vrontados so for me it meant that I had to prepare many activities for the children. I had to print out some activity sheets for the children and I also made a little decoration for the children with the island on the front and a poem about this beautiful Island on the back. At my Kindergarten, we also decorate the rooms and the entry hall according to the holiday so I also had to hang up Posters, Pictures poems, etc. about the Liberation day of Chios. On the 10 of November itself the children just had school till 10 in the two hours the children were in the kindergarten They painted the decoration I made for them and we watched some short movies about the day and sang some Greek songs and the children danced to Greek music. As there were just two hours of school there was not much more to do. But the teachers tried to explain to the children what happened and why this day is so important for Greece and Chios.
On the 11 of November itself, we did not have classes and so most other people on the Island did not. All the stores and offices were closed and the people gathered on the main street in Chios to watch the parades. When we arrived in the city at around 11 the streets were already filled with people but we managed to get a good watching point in the front where we could see everything. The parade did not start for another hour but there was already music playing and there were more and more people coming from everywhere. At around 12 the streets were crowded with people and the people coming last had to search for good places to watch the parades, some were even standing on the fence that goes around the park just to have a good view. But the people were kind to each other and some gave up their good spots just so that children could stand in front or when they came early enough to get a chair they gave up the chair to the elderly. Shortly after 12 the Parade started, there were people on horses taking part, small children, schools, some other institutions, and of course also the military, the most important ones on this day. Some People walking in the parade were wearing traditional Greek clothing and if they were not they had their best clothes on. Also, the people watching the parades were mostly wearing nice clothing. The whole parade took about an hour. While the parade was going on the people on the side cheered and clapped for the ones walking in the parades. This Time different from the Parades for the Oxi-day that where last month there were groups from the whole island taking part not only from Chios.
After the parade finished the crowd moved to the place in front of the park where People were selling popcorn and cotton candy as well as some other sweets. After all, people gathered together a live band started playing Greek music and singing songs. We decided to get some cotton candy and popcorn and shortly after the band started playing some groups of people in traditional clothing started dancing different Greek dances. We loved standing there and watching the groups dance accompanied by traditional music in the background. But we would have liked to join them as the whole Atmosphere carried us away and we felt so much joy. After the dances finished and the music stopped the people left as fast as they came. Some people decided to stay in the city and enjoyed the nice weather with a stroll in the park.
We also decided to make use of the good weather and walked through the park admiring the citrus trees and the bust standing in the park.
All in all, it was a great experience to watch the parades and how the people all came together to celebrate this historic day. I loved how in Kindergarten the children that knew the traditional Greek dances helped their classmates to get the dances right. And how the people watching the parades we so considerate of the ones around them. It was great to see how much joy this celebration and the fact that this island is Greek again brought to the people. So let us hope that it stays this way and the people living on Chios island have many more years in which they can celebrate the liberation of the island and their Greek nationality.
