Friday 18 May 2012

The End of Kefi, Glendi and Kalo Perasi?

Live it up, like there’s no tomorrow!

Can we put the clock back to the days when the Greeks were full of kefi and were always ready for an opportunity for glendi?

Nicholas Gage, who was born in Epirus, writes (Hellas, A Portrait of Greece, 2nd ed., 1987), p. 129:

"When a Greek is sitting in his favourite taverna, enjoying good food, good wine, and the companionship of his friends, he is filled with a sense of well-being and high spirits that the Greeks call kefi. When the kefi reaches a certain pitch, he can no longer contain the urge to express his satisfaction with life in general, so he gets up and begins to dance."

People may no longer be satisfied 'with life in general', but at least we haven't yet reached the point where the music stopped. Η φτώχεια θέλει καλοπέραση- I ftochia thelei kalo perasi! (YouTube, from 1958 film).


Another song on the topic by Mary Linda, Manolis Hiotis

Not much genuine kefi here:

Kefi (1)

Kefi (2)

As glendisoume, loipon!

No comments:

Post a Comment