Easter comes early this year and so Lent comes early and so carnival comes early and so on and so on. Apart from unusually good weather, February has been much the same as any other winter month with plenty of diner parties and social gatherings to enjoy. Thanks to the early Easter there has been a ‘sooty Thursday’ event – the meat eating Thursday before Lent starts. This year it was held on the Symi, the boat, rather than in the village square and was the usual gathering of children in costumes with masses of silly string, souvlakies and wine supplied by the town hall.

Later in the month there was another children’s party at Syllogos restaurant, closely followed by the main carnival parade and play and celebration down in the harbour. Sadly I couldn’t attend these events as I wasn’t well but I was up and running again for Clean Monday when Neil, Ian and I took Sam to Saint Nicholas beach to try and fly a kite. No wind, no people, just warm sun and a calm sea and some very nice sandwiches supplied by Jenine – whose turn it was to be unwell and not attend.

The boats are starting to run more regularly now that the ‘Spanos’ boat(s) are up and running again – the Dodecanese Pride, or Express, is coming in again. Sorry to be so vague but I’m not sure as I’ve had no need of boats for a while and don’t go to the harbour much at the moment. But when I do I notice that some businesses are already preparing for the summer season… where is winter going?!

Neil and I continue our Greek lessons with Aruni on a Wednesday and a group of us Ex-P’s meet on a Thursday to practice what we think we know and hopefully learn more. I’m in charge of explaining Greek grammar and always end up with a headache.

Terri continues with her Friday night radio show which we listen to while playing Scrabble (I am leading by one game at the moment) and we’re forever grateful to the two DVD lending libraries in the village for other evening (and sometimes whole day) entertainments. The shop is still open in the mornings and Neil is down there getting cold and taking I.D. photos when called upon to do so. 

I’ve just bought the game of Lexifrenia (that’s the Greek version of Scrabble) and we’re planning an evening where we choose the letters then spend hours looking in the Greek dictionary for words that can be made out of them; who knows, we may learn something.

20 copies of “Jason and the Sargonauts” have been delivered and will be on sale in the shop in the summer. E-mail me if you want to reserve a copy or you can buy one now on-line and have it delivered to your door. And 26 copies of “Symi 85600” are also on their way. Again let me know if you want a copy keeping for you, or get one here now. And on the subject of E-mails if you want to make a dedication to anyone you know on the island then you can contact Terri (our Friday night radio DJ) at symiradio@hotmail.com She can’t guarantee that she’ll have a specific record but if you suggest an artist or style then she’ll probably have something to suit or will find the nearest thing. (Thanks for the dedication last week Dee, great to hear from you over the airwaves. X.)

That’s it for now: it’s the 27th Feb and the sun is out again, the sea is flat and we’re starting to worry if there will be enough water for the summer as we’ve had such little rain. I’m sure we’ll manage.

Oh and thanks to everyone who has contacted us saying that they are coming for their holidays despite Laskarina not operating – it’s great to hear and we look forward to seeing everyone in a few month’s time.