Colors of Karpathos Island - traditions, festivals, mentality and lifestyle

While communicating with Greek people, do not forget that they have their own body language. When they want to say something, they touch or pat the lower lip with the index finger. When Greek people signal to somebody to join them, they extend their arms with their palms facing downwards. Then they open and close their fists, their fingers moving up and down. If you want to show neglect to a person, just pretend that you are brushing off the dust of the lapel of the jacket. They raise their eyebrows and their whole head upwards, while softly clicking with their tongue. It means «no». A nod of the head with the right hand on the heart means «thank you».

Greeks are very emotional and spontaneous. They raise their voice, use a lot of hand movements and interrupt each other. It is customary to greet everyone in a tavern, shop or bank. It is customed to shake hands only at the first meeting. Then, people greet each other with a kiss on the cheeks. People usually refer to each other by the second name here.

There is a great number of taverns on the island. What's interesting, they are always all full of people. You should make every effort to find a free table in an evening. Greeks love to gather around the table with friends and family, drink retsina and ouzo and discuss the day's events, watching dancers in traditional costumes. Despite the fact that local citizens enjoy drinking local alcohol, you will hardly meet drunk people on the streets. This is because invariable behaviour is a disgrace for Greeks. So, if you don’t want to be condemned by locals, try to control yourself. Copyright www.orangesmile.com

Siesta plays a great role here. Try to plan your shopping because almost all the shops are closed from 2 to 5 o’clock. Locals spend their free time sleeping or lying on the beach. It is customed in Greece to make the most of life. They won't spend much time trying to earn money and move up the career ladder. Greeks can easily spend a large sum of money on a beautiful and useless thing or an evening in a tavern.

During a meal, Greeks don’t follow the rules of etiquette and can easily push a person or turn a plate with some food without any embarrassment. What's interesting, if a Greek invites you to his house, it doesn’t mean that you will have a meal there. However, locals are very hospitable and they always try to lavish care upon their guests. Greeks love to teach people and it is getting worse with age, but elderly people are highly respected in Greece.

Greeks are very patriotic people. They love their homeland but always criticize their government. But they can’t stand when tourists criticize the government. So try not to discuss this subject if you don’t want to hurt feelings of the locals. Karpathos citizens love festivals. Panagia is a Greek traditional festival. It is a religious holiday that marks the «falling asleep», the repose of the Virgin Mary, mother of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christmas and Easter are also celebrated here.