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

All tourists who come to Chios forget about their problems and left them at home. It is obvious because the island is filled with a relaxed atmosphere because of Greek peculiar mentality. Local inhabitants won't spend much time trying to earn money and move up the career ladder. An idiom «Business before pleasure» is not about Greek people. Locals spend money on beautiful and useless things or an evening in a tavern.

Despite the fact that there is a great number of taverns on the island, they are always all full of people. Moreover, if you’ve decided to visit a tavern in the evening, you should make every effort to find a free table in the 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, moving under folk music.

Siesta is an important ritual in Greece. Try to plan your holiday, because almost all the cafes and shops are closed from 2 to 5 o’clock. Locals spend their free time sleeping or lying on the beach, making the most of their leisure time. A working day ends at about 9 o’clock and Greeks meet with their friends and have fun. Local citizens drink a lot, but you will hardly meet drunk people on the streets. This is because invariable behaviour is a disgrace for Greeks. So, aggressive drunk people are condemned by locals. If you want to be respected by Greek people, try to control yourself and behave decently. Copyright www.orangesmile.com

Greeks are very emotional and spontaneous people. They may begin to sing, sitting on a bench in a park or tell jokes in full voice, sitting in the bus. 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. Locals are very hot-tempered people. They use a lot of hand movements, raise their voice and interrupt each other.

Every tourist should know that Greeks have different gestures. A Greek “yes” is tilting the head to either side and making a sideways motion while slightly closing the eyes. They raise their eyebrows and their whole head upwards, while softly clicking with their tongue. It means «no». When they want to say something, they touch or pat the lower lip with the index finger. A nod of the head with the right hand on the heart means «thank you».

Greeks are sincere patriots. If you want to become friends with locals, you should praise Greece and Chios and greet people in Greek, even if you don’t speak it well. It is customary to greet everyone, entering a public place such as a tavern, a shop or a bank. Despite the fact, that Greeks love their homeland, they may sometimes criticise their government. But they can’t bear when tourists say something unpleasant about Greece. Locals love to teach people and it is getting worse with age. However, elderly people are highly respected in Greece.

Local residents can often live with their parents up to 30. Most of the locals create their own families late, but they try to build strong relationships. However, Greek men love to flirt with different women and pay compliments. People usually refer to each other by the second name. It is customed to shake hands only at the first meeting. Then, people greet each other with a kiss on the cheeks. The most important Orthodox holidays are celebrated on Chios. Moreover, you can visit the Mastic Festival, which is held here in spring.