Taste of HOLIDAYS
Winter Fair is coming to the Island
On Saturday, 17 December we had our first School Winter Fair. Read the event highlights by Maria Rapoport, The Island Marketing and Parents Relations Director.

On Saturday, 17 December we had our first School Winter Fair. Our Parents Council did impossible: they organized more than 27 stalls selling variety of crafts, homemade delicious cookies and many more. Our guests had fun visiting masterclasses, shows and storytelling activities prepared by parents and children! Our young talents entertained the guests on the stage, and absolutely everyone enjoyed warm and sunny weather and community of parents who made it happen.

First we have to strap the pillows on, - I'm saying while taping them to Chas. Chas is a former U.S. Marine. He's now a middle school science teacher.
⁃ Ded Moroz is never as slim as you are.
⁃ Is he like the King of Winter?
⁃ No, he's... a Father Frost!" - I'm trying to translate while putting a coat on him and adjusting the collar. I have to turn on the air conditioner right away, it's +20 outside, Chas is dripping with sweat and the new Father Frost is really ready to melt.
⁃ And this is the hat, mittens, boots...
Chas is getting ready to tell stories to the children in the winter woods. Well, our winter wood is just a dark classroom, decorated with pine trees and candles.

There's a Winter Fair at school today - a huge event, made entirely by the hands of our parents. Everything - from the idea to the cleaning up afterwards is an initiative of the school families. Each class prepares its own activity: a workshop, food or performance. Everyone contributes to the party for everyone.
⁃ Welcome, - I'm greeting our guests from China. "Come in, relax, we're in siga-siga (slowly, with pleasure - in Greek) mode today.

I can't resist running from one end of the school to the other (almost 20000 steps in one day) and I stop by the counter with honey. We invited local businessmen to the fair as well. I ask them to help me choose the tastiest one. I cringe and swoon at how lovingly the owner tells me about each type of honey.

⁃ This one is best eaten at bedtime. A glass of water and a spoon of honey is the perfect health booster! And this one - this one should be eaten with fresh toast and hard cheese. It's as perfect as meat and red wine! But you'd better come to our apiary, just call in advance. I'd rather show you everything on the spot!

A shift change of "Father Frosts" and I am helping our Head of School to dress up, who has to go into the intricacies of the Slavic fairy tales:
⁃ You see, Father Frost, he's a grandfather. He lives in the forest, in winter time. And he has a granddaughter, she's made of ice..." I say while adjusting his outfit. Duncan is wearing a wide belt like a scarf and can't understand why he needs mittens.

⁃ Leave me some oil, please! - The guys from the school picked olives in a grove near our school. Then we made 40 litres of oil from the olives to sell at the fair.

Nearby there are three stands with designer clothes: from Belarus, Ukraine and Israel. Each designer is a mother of several children from our school. We talk a lot, even more, keep silent and look understandingly into each other's eyes: we are here on our island, we can talk to each other and do our best for our children.
I look over to my 6th grader son. He and the boys are selling juice, nearby classmates have brought handmade candles. Our young (and very talented!) 7th grade DJ is playing a set on the stage.

Myself and my youngest son are already on my way to a workshop I'm helping to run as a parent :). We are making snowmen. At the same time, my son is showing off his class, which they decorated with their teachers, Jennie and Myria (love them!). Jennie is from the Philippines, but has lived in Moscow for many years, and now she moved to Cyprus to work at our school.

After another couple of hours, all the boxes are loaded back into the car. My head is buzzing from the sheer amount of talking and the constant switching between languages. I can't feel my legs. The older son has already gone to a classmate's house for a sleepover. And the youngest one fell asleep in the car without letting the snowman out of his hands.