New Year’s is a very big holiday in Greece. Its even bigger than Christmas. People young and old celebrate with their families, eat dinner together, and Santa Clause comes in the morning. But after midnight many people go out to the clubs, which is where you could find me and all my friends until the wee hours of the morning.
We started the night off at Trish’s house. Her family was visiting and her mom had cooked so a large group of us gathered there for our new years festivities. We sat around drinking and talking for awhile. Then it was time to start playing card games. We started with spades, then bullshit, and finally spoons. I was absolutely horrible at bullshit and spiraled down to completely pathetic the more I drank. The only saving grace was that I had so many cards in my hand that I had just about every number to play. I just couldn’t keep a straight face no matter what and I didn’t really care so things got out of control.
Spoons wasn’t any better although once I got the hang of it, I started winning. Despite four years of college I don’t think I had actually ever played spoons which is pretty remarkable. Anyway, it is a really stupid game where you pass cards around and try to get four of a kind. When someone gets four of a kind they grab a spoon from the middle of the table and everyone else tries to also. There are less spoons than people though so you have to pay attention. Kind of like musical chairs but without music or chairs and played with cards and alcohol. So really not like musical chairs at all.
In the beginning I was trying so hard to get four of a kind that I wasn’t anticipating reaching for the spoons. My goal was to WIN but the point of the game is just to not lose. Most people don’t really worry much about their own cards and just look at the center of the table and watch for hand movements. But I wanted to win and be the one who got four of a kind so my mind was focused on my hand. I learned from my mistake though and started doing just fine. In which case every time I got a spoon I’d jump up in celebration and instead of high fives, we’d all clink spoons. However, for awhile I was doing so bad that one time, I got four of a kind, and still didn’t get a spoon! I got excited, made a little noise of happiness and everyone reacted. I was laughing so hard I could barely get out the words…. “But I’m the one with the four of a kind!”
From there we decided we were sick of card games and thought charades would be fun. And fun it was. We had people making fish faces for “Nemo”, braiding hair for “Pippy Longstocking” and blowing and jumping out onto the balcony for “Gone with the Wind.” My suggestion of acting out “Shawshank Redemption” did not go over well and we had to think up an alternative. Somewhere along the line we celebrated the new year. Between our cell phones and watches we couldn’t decide what time it was and turned the television on just in time to count down. Finally after acting really stupid and drinking for hours we were ready to go out to the clubs.
We waited for probably a half hour on the corner trying to hail a taxi. Finally we settled into the warm cab and played the song game. Sing one word of a song, then another, then another, until someone guesses the song. I can’t carry a tune in a bucket but usually one or two words gets the job done. It was the night of game playing I guess. Eventually we showed up at the club where a hundred people stood outside in the cold waiting to get in. Luckily we had a group who was already inside and told us to tell the bouncer we were “with Kostas.” I had no idea who Kostas was, and they probably didn’t either but it’s a popular Greek name and most likely someone with some pull in the club is named Kostas. Either that or Vasillis, Nikos, Giannis, or Giorgos. But Kostas worked just fine. I meander up to the front and tell the bouncer that we are “with Kostas”. He looks at some list which I know damn well we are not on and lets us in. There were about five in our group but I saw some Yugoslavian ball players I know with about five other people. So the ten of us make our way past the bouncer in the tight white pant suit holding the door for us, past the woman trying to charge us 20 euros to get in, and into the club. A mix of rap and techno music played, usually simultaneously, inside and Greek people were dressed up in suits and dresses for the big holiday. It was jam packed at 2 am when we showed up and got more and more crowded until we left at about 6. It wasn’t so bad for me because I was on Seattle time. Jet lag is really great on new years. But the funny thing is that I know a lot of people that went out on new years and then the next night because it was a Saturday. I can celebrate new years but I can’t do the club scene like the Greeks. They just keep going.
So this was my second New Year’s in Greece and I have to say, the Greeks really know how to celebrate. It was crazy fun and always good to go out with my American and Greek friends.
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