FRÖHLICH'S "Food For Thought": VASILOPITA, A.K.A. "New Year Cake"

Hello everyone,
some time has passed since my last entry, and I sincerely apologize for that, but as my mom always says "if I don't see you online all day, Linda, I know you are doing well".

In the past couple of days/weeks I've been quite busy with getting settled here in Glyfada, but I can now happily announce that I have finally arrived :)
I:

moved into my apartment
got my car
have 3 games under my belt as a member of the Proteas family (2 wins and 1 loss)
practiced
lifted weights
explored a wellness bath with my teammate Pepe (sooooo relaxing!)
been to the movies and watched "The Tourist" (Johnny Depp is cute!)
met up with Ruth Riley at Starbucks
tested quesadillas at different restaurants around town with Emily and Ashley (I've been fasting from meats and sweets for 3 weeks so that was the only thing I could really eat on the menus)
tried to avoid picking up "bad words" from my Greek teammates (hahahaha, just kidding)
tried to avoid extra line sprints in practice due to "misdemeanors"
learned a Greek Christian song today, but after a couple of hours already forgot most of it. It was something about agape, eirine, theo (before I leave here I will memorize it though and then sing, or rather rap it (to spare you from my lovely voice) on video.
successfully finished my fast today... I think I am suffering an overdose of sugar now!!!

So as you can see, everything is well.... everything except the weather... (this is NOT what I had signed up for, Mr. President...hahahaha!!!!!!). It's been "cold" and very windy these last couple of days... but when I look at the big picture: last year around this time I was posting pictures from snow storm and -22 degree Celsius temperatures.... so I guess, I shouldn't complain about +10 degrees Celsius in January.

So as I said earlier, today I ended my fast, which I had started back home with the couples class at my church who had joined in with the Jentezen Franklin Media Ministries.

What great timing when I found out that today we would celebrate "Cake Cutting Day" for PROTEAS VOULAS, where all the teams from the club got together to participate..

I called it "CAKE CUTTING DAY", but the Greeks call this ritual the cutting of the "vasilopita", which is one of the few primordial customs still surviving from the "Kronia" (a celebration of the Greek god Kronos) and the Roman equivalent "Saturnalia of Rome" (a festival held in honor of Saturn). FYI: Kronos and Saturn are "the same"
Today the Orthodox tradition combined this custom with the New Year cake.
On New Year's Eve everyone gathers around waiting for the vasilopita to be cut as the new year rolls in. When the time comes the father, in a solemn ceremony, starts to cut the cake. The first piece is for Christ, the second for the house, and then pieces for everyone present. The one who gets the piece with the coin will be the lucky one of the year!

So here are a couple of photos I took at this event, enjoy and I will talk to you soon.
LINDA

Ashley, Rumba, Mati and Pepe getting ready for the ceremony

5 of us are missing, but the nice guy on the right makes sure to lend us an extra smile :)

the stands were filled with parents, family and friends :)

and on the court were all the Proteas Ballers... from really little to reaaaaally tall

anxiously waiting for the cake

at the same time medals and trophys were handed out to teams that had accomplished something special in the previous season... and of cours I PROUDLY ACCEPTED the cup that the Proteas women's team had received for winning the A2 championship and moving into the 1st division... I graciously received a handshake... for absolutely doing nothing :))))) You are welcome Proteas.... hihihihihihih :)