First day of Lent following carnival. This day is called Clean Monday because Greek Orthodox adherents try to begin the holy season with “clean hearts and good intentions”—cleaning up their spiritual houses and rededicating themselves to more holy ways of living. Clean Monday marks the beginning of a fasting period, where no meat, eggs, or dairy products may be eaten for the 40 days leading up to Easter. Some Gavalochori residents abstain from eating these foods for the entire 40 days, while others fast in less rigid ways—some for just the first or the last week of Lent, for example, or only on Wednesdays and Fridays. Because Clean Monday also marks the first day of spring, it is a day when people fly kites and picnic on unleavened bread and seafood.