Greek Easter (Rocket War)

My plan had always been that I write only about experiences within Turkey on this blog. My weekend adventure on the island of Chios, Greece deserves some space here though.

Last year about 15 Fulbrighters went to Chios for Greek Easter. I had not been invited and had been really sad about it. But as I have slowly earned over the years, trying to repeat great experiences doesn't really work (Oxford). So I was happy when I went this year and didn't have anything to compare it to from last year like the other old Fulbrighters I was with did.

I had initially said yes into going to Chios so that Donnie and I could celebrate our birthday together again. (Last year we had gone to Antalya.) So I joined the Chios group not knowing that about 20 current Fulbrighters were also going. The reason why Greek Easter in Chios is such a big deal is basically because there is this huge rocket war between two village churches the night before Easter. The tradition dates back a few centuries in which the churches tried to hit and topple the bell tower of the other church for fun. This year there were over 130,000 rockets used in the event.

There's a lot I could say about this weekend, like getting seasick on the ferry, eating some amazing Greek food with pork, buying as many oreos as possible, etc. But I want to focus on the Saturday night event. After some drama with taxi drivers refusing to drive us up to the "dangerous" churches, we walked up the hill in a village outside the city. It was about 9pm and dark. As we're hiking up, the rockets start. Basically rockets just shoot across the sky, just above the rooftops of the houses. It was a crazy experience. Some are shot too near or past the church (nearby houses are boarded up for protection). We made it to the church after running when the alarm sounded warning of the next attack. We hid behind the chicken-wire fence surrounding the church as the rockets literally came straight towards us. Thankfully the fence stopped most of them, although some came about halfway through the wire. It was one of the most scariest experiences of my life. Literally seeing these rockets being shot right us. There was lots of screaming, although it was all for fun. This continued for about three hours (even during the Easter service inside the church). When a rocket hits the tower, the bell chimes to let everyone know who is winning. I think we lost. We hit the other church quite a bit, but because it was so loud I have no idea how many counted. The others I was with said we did better than last year though.

We were also taken down from the church to where the rockets from our side where launched towards the other church. Each attack lasts a couple minutes and by the end we literally couldn't see anything as there was so much smoke. We then had to run back up the street to the church, alongside a wall, in hopes of not getting hit. It was like fire was falling from the sky. We went inside for the service, that lasted about 45 minutes, more as a means to relax and sit down. Some feel asleep- it was all in Greek. It was a small, ornate church. From the chicken-wired covered windows we could see orange sparks the entire time during the service as the attack continued. At midnight the bells rang a final time to bring it all to an end. The streets were littered with thousands of rockets. (I have no idea how it's all cleaned up.)

I got very little sleep the entire weekend, and actually had to leave early on Sunday to ensure I made my flight in the evening, so I sadly spent less than 24 hours on the island. But I left the country, got my passport stamped, and at least made it to Greece once while living in Turkey for two years. That rocket war will be something I'll never forget.