The Name Game

My name is Anastasia  from the Greek word Anastasis meaning 'Resurrection'. It has the rich qualities of self esteem,dignity and pride.
It is a very Greek name and it relates to the most important Greek Orthodox Relegious Event, the Greek Orthodox Easter (Pascha) where the 'Anastasis' is celebrated. This symbolizes the win of life over death, so it is an important word with a lot of meaning in my culture.
'Anastasis' is also a word used by the Greek Nation to express the rebirth of Greece after the 400 year long tyrrany of the Ottoman Empire.
The name Anastasia was given to me by my father after the Church of Agia (Saint) Anastasia in Lapithos, his village which is occupied by the Turkish troops that invaded Cyprus in 1974. This is a very special Church to my father since it is the Church that he used to go when he was young before he became a refugee. The Church is surrounded by his School for which my father has very strong feelings. This was his first school and from which he was forced to leave following the barbaric invasion of Turkey. He feels that giving me this name is like finding at me the hope that one day he will be able to return back to his church. This is going to be his 'Anastsasis'.

Where In The World 4?

It is not the arc de triomphe in Paris. I have not been able to understand which arc it is.

Family Traditions

According to the Oxford dictionary a tradition is the handing down, from generation to generation, of opinions,beliefs,customs,or even objects.A tradition originates from the past, is still maintained in the present and is carried down onto the future.

There are various origins and fields of tradition, the most common referring to the forms of artistic heritage of a particular culture , beliefs or customs instituted and maintained by societies and governments (national anthems and holidays) and beliefs or customs maintained by religious denominations and church bodies (e.g. Jewish , Muslim or Christian traditions etc).

Family traditions are another kind of tradition and they mainly have to do with celebration traditions, family lifestyles and family inheritance and habits. For istance it is customary in many royal families for the boys to attend military schools or go to particular colleges.
In Greek families it is customary for the extended family to celebrate Christmas and Easter holidays together, whereas in American families  it  is customary to celebrate Thanksgiving together. Belgian families celebrate St Nicolas day together and Danish people instead of having Christmas lunch on the 25th of December they all share a Christmas dinner on the 24th of December.
  
Depending on the family background and bonding, some families meet every Sunday for a family meal, others go for holidays to the village of the grandparents, whereas others take all major decisions that have to do with important family issues after unanimous voting.

In my family we have the tradition of celebrating the  Easter holidays at my grandparents' summer house in the woods, in a very isolated place in the outskirts of  Limassol , Agia Paraskevi. We attend the Saturday midnight mass at the small church of a nearby monastery,The Panagia Amirous nuns monastery. It is an old church with no electricity, where the light of candles makes everything very solemn. After the church service finishes, we drive back to the summer house and have the traditional soup,Mageiritsa, my grandmother prepares during the whole of the morning and most of the afternnon of Saturday.

However this tradition of the soup seems to be fading away as my mother does not know how to make this soup and neither does she seem interested in learning how to make it, as it is very complicated to cook and time consuming to make. I hope that one day she will devote the time to learn how to make it so as to be able to continue the family's Easter tradition.    

Where In the World 3

I think this is a  landscape of the Death Valley in California USA.This is a famous picture that appears in many magazines and books.

Where In the World 2

I think this landscape is likely to be  located in North America (Canada or Alaska). Although I have not visited the American Continent I have visited similar places in Europe eg.Switzerland. However, this place is not in Europe because the European Mountains are very high and steep, which is not the case in this picture.

Acropolis,Athens

The Acropolis of Athens in Greece is my favorite place on Earth.It is found on the Acropolis hill in the center of Athens and it is meant to be the symbol of the birth place of civilization and democracy.Walking in the surrounding streets you feel the wisdom of the ancient philosophers who walked on the same routes where the first who have questioned the natural phaenomena.These were the places where the Greek writers developed their tradegy and comedy stories.Above all, this was the same place that the first democratic descicions were taken by a community following a democratic debate with the free right of the citizens to express their opinion.

Where in the World

I guess that this picture is taken in South America where tropical scenes like this can be found.