I want to start by saying that I didn't know where Cyprus was either. (PS If you click on a link, hit the back button to return to blog, NOT the x in top right corner.) When Barb told me that we were moving to Cyprus, literally my first question was "where the fuck is cyprus?"
So, to everyone reading this, please know I'm not making fun of anyone. I just thought it might be helpful if I posted some of the questions I've been asked along with the answers (in case any of you were going to ask the same ones.)
So, I'll start with the basics.
Q: How are you liking Germany?A: We're actually not in Germany. We're in Cyprus.Q: Oh. So, that's not in Germany?A: Nope. But it IS in the EU. So, close.
Q: How's Turkey?A: We're actually not in Turkey. We're in Cyprus. But I can see why it is confusing because Barb was forced to learn Turkish for the 9 months prior to the move. And the northern third of the island is occupied by Turks. It is called the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. But we don't live there. We live in the south.
Q: How's Greece?A: We're actually not in Greece. We're in Cyprus. No, it isn't a Greek island. Well, technically it is because it is an island and the people who live there speak Greek. But it is actually its own little country. It's called Cyprus.
Q: So you live in Cypress? That's awesome. I LOVE Florida.A: We're actually not in Florida. We're in Cyprus. I'm sorry, I should've spelled it for you. It is CYPRUS. Not Cypress. Understandable mistake though.
Now that we've got that covered...
Q: Is it by Iran?A: Yes, sort of. It is closer to Turkey, Egypt, Syria, Greece, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, and maybe some eastern european countries. But I suck at geography, so I actually had to look at a map. You might find it helpful as well.
Q: Is it in Europe?A: Tricky question. Yes. It is in the EU. But it is further east than the rest of europe. For a better view, see this map. It shows eurpoe better than the other one.
Q: Do they use the Euro?A: No. They use the Cypriot pound.Q: Oh, the british pound?A: No, it is different.Q: What's it worth?A: 1 pound is roughly $2.25. But when you look at a price tag, you would think it is in dollars. Yes, that means that almost everything is double the price of what it is here. Maybe that's why I spent $400 on clothes today. I mean I only spent £180! That's not so bad!
Q: What language do they speak?A: To me? English. To each other? Greek. (Except in the north. See #2)
Q: Am I fluent in Greek yet?A: hahahahhahahahahaaaa
Q: Why are you buying snow boots if you live on a tropical island?A: Sorry to disappoint anyone who is ( or was) planning on coming to visit. Cyprus isn't a tropical island. It has four seasons. Right now it is "winter." OK, so it has been in the upper 60's/low 70's for the majority of November and December, but it does have the potential to get pretty cold. Actually, I hear it is pretty cold there right now. And apparently January and February are freeeeeeeezing.
Now for the important things.
Q: Do they have starbucks?A: YupQ: Gap?A: NopeQ: Yuengling?A: NopeQ: Corona?A: YupQ: Snow?A: Don't even get me started! It snowed in Cyprus today. Meanwhile here I am in NJ praying for snow so I can so skiing this weekend. Grrr....Q: Internet? Cable or DSL?A: Yup. But it is ADSL (yeah, i don't understand the difference)Q: American TV shows?A: Old reruns of Friends. And we have satellite so we get MTV, VH1, Discovery, CNN and some others. But no new shows. And definitely no L Word (But I do have a friend who downloads all the episodes!)Q: Dunkin Donuts?A: Nope, but I'm bringing back DD coffee with me!Q: Taco Bell?A: Unfortunately no, they do not have the only fast food that I will actually eat. But they do have McDonalds (of course) Burger King, KFC, some others too, I don't really know.
Q: Do I drive on the wrong side of the road?A: No, that would just be too dangerous. But yes, I do drive on the left. And the right side of the car. Yes, it was hard to get used to. No, I haven't gotten in any accidents (for the most part). No I didn't bring my ford focus with me. Yes, I bought a car there. Yes, it is little. Yes, most of them are. But yes, they do have SUVs. (And yes I still hate SUVs.)
And my favorite question so far....
Q: Can I come visit?A: YES PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (buy your ticket already! )
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
I got a job and I'm goin to Athens
Around September 20th or so I applied for a job at the Unit for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture which is a project of the Cyprus Neuroscience and Technology Institute http://www.cnti.org.cy/ and is funded by the European Refugee Fund and the Cypriot Government. I never heard back from them, and in the meantime as you all know, I had other interviews and became very discouraged at my opportunities to ever work in this country. Last Tuesday, however I got a call to come in for an interview -that day. Long story short, I got the job. They are going to get me a work permit and I go to Greece this Monday for a 5-day training at the Medical Rehabilitation Center, Athens. Wish me luck! I'll need it - I have to learn Greek. Fast.
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Not till you abandon all thought of seeking for something...will you be on the right road
If I had a dollar for every time one of us said to the other, "This can't be a real road," I'd be rich.
This weekend Barb and I decided to get out of the big city and do something different. At home, we have this tradition of going wine tasting every fall in Shenandoah Valley. And seeing how Cyprus is about as internationally known for its wines as Virginia we decided to carry on the tradition here. Unfortunately, our oldest child, Velvet had just came home from the vet and needed to be given 3 types of medication daily and a wound on his leg cleaned twice a day. We debated what do to and ultimately decided that it was a beautiful day and we weren't about to let being thousands of miles away, or a sick cat, get between us and our wine weekend tradition.
So, we packed our suitcases, a litter box, a bag of cat meds, a cooler of tuna (the only thing Velvet is eating), and of course the little man himself, into the convertible and off we went. We checked into our hotel, assured the woman that the cat would stay in his box (yeah right), got Velvet situated, and headed out on the great wine tour.
It was Friday at 2:30 PM when we arrived at the first winery, which was still actually in the town of Limassol. There, we were informed that they only give tours and tastings at 10 AM Monday through Friday. Of course, when else would people want to drink wine?? Ok, on to the next. Same thing. So we decided to head out to the villages where the real, authentic vineyards and wineries are. My friend had given me a little wine guide pamphlet from the Cyprus Tourism Organization that supposedly led the visitor from one winery to the next. I had looked at it ahead of time and mapped it out, highlighting the route we were going to take and everything. Well, that turned out to be about as useful as if Velvet had told us the way.
We finally saw a sign for a winery on the side of the road so decided to check it out. Next thing I know the road in front of us pretty much dropped off. But I was driving and thought, "hey that looks like fun!" It looked sort of like the log flume, without water. So down we went. When it led absolutely nowhere, I just made an quick little18 point turn and tried to head back up. I floored the car in first gear and just out of habit tried to put it into second gear and that's when the car stopped. Vertically. So I freaked out, put the emergency break on the hardest I could (great smell by the way), said "good luck" to Barb and got out. I don't know how she did it, but being her brand new car, she was going to find a way to get that car up the hill.
We did manage to find one winery but it was deserted and looked like it was out of a horror movie so we left. After several other road leading nowhere experiences, we had pretty much given up but decided to keep driving to our destination village and just explore. Right after we decided to stop looking for wineries, what do we see? A "Free Wine Tasting" sign. We thought it was a mirage but we headed toward it anyway. At the end of the "road" there was a little winery and three men standing outside by a truck. We sat in the car trying to decide what to do. It didn't exactly look like the wine tasting facilities back in VA. But we had been spotted so we had no choice but to get out of the car and ask if they really did have wine tasting.
"You want to taste wine? Come."
A half hour later, we left with a box of 11 bottles of wine, and a "present" of a bottle of Zivania (compare to rubbing alcohol) and package of homemade cypriot sweets. As he carried the wine to the car for us he invited us to his restaurant in another village down on the coast for dinner and told us to call him if we needed a place to stay! I don't think they get many American visitors there.
Later that night we had nothing better to do so we drove to the village and found our way to his restaurant. But when we stepped in the front door there was obviously a private party going on and we definitely weren't part of the family. Maybe he wasn't aware of that when he invited us or maybe he just thought we'd join the party. Either way, we turned around and left. But since we had driven all the way to this village we decided to stay and find somewhere else to eat and ended up finding a really cute little taverna with a fireplace and really good meze. So it was worth it. Plus it is fun to explore the cypriot villages. You get to see a lot of things that you don't see in the cities.
"Not till you abandon all thought of seeking for something...will you be on the right road..."
The next day we had similar experiences looking for a "nature trail." We saw them on the map but couldn't actually find them in reality. We even found the parking lot for one with a big map of the trail. But looking around, it was nowhere to be found. So we just picked a direction (up) and started walking. Who needs their stupid nature trail when you're following a determined Barbwho won't stop until she's at the very top of the mountain. We saw some interesting things along the way, like a creepy church shrine thing randomly in the middle of nowhere on the side of a mountain, cacti, goats, and nice scenery. Going down the mountain without a trail was a little more difficult than climbing up it. I don't have any pictures of that because I was using both hands to grip onto anything I possibly could that wouldn't crumble in my hands to try to make it to the bottom in one piece.
We're home now safe and sound in Nicosia, rejuvenated from our weekend outdoors. And Velvet is doing well, even bragging to Luna and Pandora about the vacation that they missed out on.
This weekend Barb and I decided to get out of the big city and do something different. At home, we have this tradition of going wine tasting every fall in Shenandoah Valley. And seeing how Cyprus is about as internationally known for its wines as Virginia we decided to carry on the tradition here. Unfortunately, our oldest child, Velvet had just came home from the vet and needed to be given 3 types of medication daily and a wound on his leg cleaned twice a day. We debated what do to and ultimately decided that it was a beautiful day and we weren't about to let being thousands of miles away, or a sick cat, get between us and our wine weekend tradition.
So, we packed our suitcases, a litter box, a bag of cat meds, a cooler of tuna (the only thing Velvet is eating), and of course the little man himself, into the convertible and off we went. We checked into our hotel, assured the woman that the cat would stay in his box (yeah right), got Velvet situated, and headed out on the great wine tour.
It was Friday at 2:30 PM when we arrived at the first winery, which was still actually in the town of Limassol. There, we were informed that they only give tours and tastings at 10 AM Monday through Friday. Of course, when else would people want to drink wine?? Ok, on to the next. Same thing. So we decided to head out to the villages where the real, authentic vineyards and wineries are. My friend had given me a little wine guide pamphlet from the Cyprus Tourism Organization that supposedly led the visitor from one winery to the next. I had looked at it ahead of time and mapped it out, highlighting the route we were going to take and everything. Well, that turned out to be about as useful as if Velvet had told us the way.
We finally saw a sign for a winery on the side of the road so decided to check it out. Next thing I know the road in front of us pretty much dropped off. But I was driving and thought, "hey that looks like fun!" It looked sort of like the log flume, without water. So down we went. When it led absolutely nowhere, I just made an quick little18 point turn and tried to head back up. I floored the car in first gear and just out of habit tried to put it into second gear and that's when the car stopped. Vertically. So I freaked out, put the emergency break on the hardest I could (great smell by the way), said "good luck" to Barb and got out. I don't know how she did it, but being her brand new car, she was going to find a way to get that car up the hill.
We did manage to find one winery but it was deserted and looked like it was out of a horror movie so we left. After several other road leading nowhere experiences, we had pretty much given up but decided to keep driving to our destination village and just explore. Right after we decided to stop looking for wineries, what do we see? A "Free Wine Tasting" sign. We thought it was a mirage but we headed toward it anyway. At the end of the "road" there was a little winery and three men standing outside by a truck. We sat in the car trying to decide what to do. It didn't exactly look like the wine tasting facilities back in VA. But we had been spotted so we had no choice but to get out of the car and ask if they really did have wine tasting.
"You want to taste wine? Come."
A half hour later, we left with a box of 11 bottles of wine, and a "present" of a bottle of Zivania (compare to rubbing alcohol) and package of homemade cypriot sweets. As he carried the wine to the car for us he invited us to his restaurant in another village down on the coast for dinner and told us to call him if we needed a place to stay! I don't think they get many American visitors there.
Later that night we had nothing better to do so we drove to the village and found our way to his restaurant. But when we stepped in the front door there was obviously a private party going on and we definitely weren't part of the family. Maybe he wasn't aware of that when he invited us or maybe he just thought we'd join the party. Either way, we turned around and left. But since we had driven all the way to this village we decided to stay and find somewhere else to eat and ended up finding a really cute little taverna with a fireplace and really good meze. So it was worth it. Plus it is fun to explore the cypriot villages. You get to see a lot of things that you don't see in the cities.
"Not till you abandon all thought of seeking for something...will you be on the right road..."
The next day we had similar experiences looking for a "nature trail." We saw them on the map but couldn't actually find them in reality. We even found the parking lot for one with a big map of the trail. But looking around, it was nowhere to be found. So we just picked a direction (up) and started walking. Who needs their stupid nature trail when you're following a determined Barbwho won't stop until she's at the very top of the mountain. We saw some interesting things along the way, like a creepy church shrine thing randomly in the middle of nowhere on the side of a mountain, cacti, goats, and nice scenery. Going down the mountain without a trail was a little more difficult than climbing up it. I don't have any pictures of that because I was using both hands to grip onto anything I possibly could that wouldn't crumble in my hands to try to make it to the bottom in one piece.
We're home now safe and sound in Nicosia, rejuvenated from our weekend outdoors. And Velvet is doing well, even bragging to Luna and Pandora about the vacation that they missed out on.
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
The start of my acting career...
I just want to say that all of my friends have been so nice and helpful in going out of their way to try to find me a job.
My one friend who has a children's TV show even offered to let me make a guest appearance on her show. The only catch was that I had to dress like an elephant, but hey, with the offers I've been getting lately (none), how could I pass it up?
So, I made my debut as the Elefantaki (little elephant) on a show called Leoforio Kokkino (the "Red Bus") that airs on the local public tv station here. It was pretty amusing. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing because my friend was busy doing other things and everyone was giving me instructions in Greek. I finally realized that they were saying to just act out the words of the children's song that was playing. Funny, because it was also in Greek, so I still had no idea what I was doing! So basically I just danced around like a big dumb elephant and did whatever the little kids around me were doing. I'm not sure when it will be aired but I have a feeling it will end up on YouTube, so stay tuned. And yes, I'll be signing autographs in December.
While you probably think that the money I raked in from my one-time appearance on the Red Bus would make me set for life, Cyprus is an expensive place so I had to pick up another job too. Thanks to my awesome friends Eleni and Max, I am working (very) part-time at their job at a travel trade publication. Not a whole lot to say about that, other than I'm doing stuff that I used to pawn off on my interns at my job more than three years ago. But it's fun because I get to sit across from Eleni and we drink frappes, laugh about our adventures of the night before, (and about how our boss found out that I don't actually have a boyfriend at the American embassy), and take lots of balcony breaks with Max Smokealot. Oh and my Philly friends will be happy to know that Max gives me daily updates on the Eagles. So, while I'm still looking for another job, I'm grateful to have something in the meantime (while I wait for my acting career to take off).
Other good news is that our STUFF finally came! I thought it would never happen. I was getting sort of used to being a minimalist. Now we have the daunting task of unpacking everything, finding places for things, and putting a computer desk and our bikes back together with no instructions. At least the next blog I write will be on our desktop computer and not this tiny little laptop I've been using for the past 2 and half months. Til then...
My one friend who has a children's TV show even offered to let me make a guest appearance on her show. The only catch was that I had to dress like an elephant, but hey, with the offers I've been getting lately (none), how could I pass it up?
So, I made my debut as the Elefantaki (little elephant) on a show called Leoforio Kokkino (the "Red Bus") that airs on the local public tv station here. It was pretty amusing. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing because my friend was busy doing other things and everyone was giving me instructions in Greek. I finally realized that they were saying to just act out the words of the children's song that was playing. Funny, because it was also in Greek, so I still had no idea what I was doing! So basically I just danced around like a big dumb elephant and did whatever the little kids around me were doing. I'm not sure when it will be aired but I have a feeling it will end up on YouTube, so stay tuned. And yes, I'll be signing autographs in December.
While you probably think that the money I raked in from my one-time appearance on the Red Bus would make me set for life, Cyprus is an expensive place so I had to pick up another job too. Thanks to my awesome friends Eleni and Max, I am working (very) part-time at their job at a travel trade publication. Not a whole lot to say about that, other than I'm doing stuff that I used to pawn off on my interns at my job more than three years ago. But it's fun because I get to sit across from Eleni and we drink frappes, laugh about our adventures of the night before, (and about how our boss found out that I don't actually have a boyfriend at the American embassy), and take lots of balcony breaks with Max Smokealot. Oh and my Philly friends will be happy to know that Max gives me daily updates on the Eagles. So, while I'm still looking for another job, I'm grateful to have something in the meantime (while I wait for my acting career to take off).
Other good news is that our STUFF finally came! I thought it would never happen. I was getting sort of used to being a minimalist. Now we have the daunting task of unpacking everything, finding places for things, and putting a computer desk and our bikes back together with no instructions. At least the next blog I write will be on our desktop computer and not this tiny little laptop I've been using for the past 2 and half months. Til then...
Thursday, October 12, 2006
If a mouse can do it...
Check it out. Cyprus has a new claim to fame - the Mus cypriacus!
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/15233416/?GT1=8618
Shit, if a mouse can adapt to the Cypriot environment, I guess I can too. Maybe I'll even evolve. =)
"the new mouse had colonized and adapted to the Cypriot environment several thousand years before the arrival of man"
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/15233416/?GT1=8618
Shit, if a mouse can adapt to the Cypriot environment, I guess I can too. Maybe I'll even evolve. =)
"the new mouse had colonized and adapted to the Cypriot environment several thousand years before the arrival of man"
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
10 things I like about Cyprus
Because my last blog was pretty negative, I feel like I want to balance it out with a more positive note. I'm living on a beautiful Mediterranean island with my wonderful girlfriend. Life isn't so bad! And really, why am I complaining that I don't have a job, anyway?
So, just a few illustrated reasons why I love it here:
1. First of all, like I said, I'm with my girlfriend.
2.I've made some really awesome friends.
3. We take fun roadtrips.
4. There are beautiful Sunsets.
5. I'm Eating awesome food.
6. The beach
7. The culture
8. The weather
9. Outdoor cafes at night
10. Seeing things you just don't see in the U.S. Like this and this.
So, just a few illustrated reasons why I love it here:
1. First of all, like I said, I'm with my girlfriend.
2.I've made some really awesome friends.
3. We take fun roadtrips.
4. There are beautiful Sunsets.
5. I'm Eating awesome food.
6. The beach
7. The culture
8. The weather
9. Outdoor cafes at night
10. Seeing things you just don't see in the U.S. Like this and this.
job interview
Yesterday I had my first real job interview. It was a PR position at a place called the Cyprus International Institute for the Environment and Public Health. It would've pretty much been the perfect job for me. They do some really awesome social-psych related research and my job would've been to basically disseminate the results of the research through events and PR. Totally would combine my two degrees. Did I mention it would've been the perfect job for me? Anyway, the interview went great for the first 45 minutes. He asked me some pretty tough, specific, questions that I answered without a problem. It was all stuff I had pretty much done at the National Center for Victims of Crime in DC, so it was easy for me. He seemed pretty impressed. But then the issue of me being an American citizen in Cyprus came up. And it was downhill from there.
I just keep hearing the same thing over and over from everyone I talk to. Since Cyprus joined the EU, the government is really strict about hiring EU citizens first. They've even set up a listserve type thing to make it easy (and mandatory) for companies to advertise the position in other EU countries. Basically to obtain a work permit for me, the company has to prove to the Cypriot government that they couldn't find an EU citizen who was equally qualified. Not only this, but apparently it is a very time consuming process that requires a lot of paperwork that no company would want to do, especially if they could just hire someone else. And for this particular position, they needed someone who could start immediately, and because this process could take months, I am pretty much out of the running.
So basically, if I was a multi lingual dual heart and neurosurgeon who specialized in African tribal languages and had my own secret formula for an all-in-one Cancer, HIV and AIDS vaccine, then maybe I'd have a chance. But it looks like my measly little PR and Psych degrees aren't going to get me very far.
I just keep hearing the same thing over and over from everyone I talk to. Since Cyprus joined the EU, the government is really strict about hiring EU citizens first. They've even set up a listserve type thing to make it easy (and mandatory) for companies to advertise the position in other EU countries. Basically to obtain a work permit for me, the company has to prove to the Cypriot government that they couldn't find an EU citizen who was equally qualified. Not only this, but apparently it is a very time consuming process that requires a lot of paperwork that no company would want to do, especially if they could just hire someone else. And for this particular position, they needed someone who could start immediately, and because this process could take months, I am pretty much out of the running.
So basically, if I was a multi lingual dual heart and neurosurgeon who specialized in African tribal languages and had my own secret formula for an all-in-one Cancer, HIV and AIDS vaccine, then maybe I'd have a chance. But it looks like my measly little PR and Psych degrees aren't going to get me very far.
Tuesday, October 3, 2006
I can't decide if 55 days is a long time or not.
But that's how long I've been here. I can't believe it is already October. Crazy. It definitely doesn't feel like October outside. The days are still in the mid to upper 80's. Nights are probably around 70. I'm not sure because I still haven't quite mastered the whole Celsius to Fahrenheit conversion thing. But it is definitely cooling off a bit. It isn't humid; it's just beautiful. My favorite kind of weather. Perfect for driving around in Barb's new hardtop convertible.
Let's see, since my last blog I got a job, visited all the cities in Cyprus, traveled to another country, learned Greek, became pagan, and got asked to play professional soccer.
Ok ok, none of that really happened.
Actually, I did get a job. I worked at a restaurant for one day. Three hours to be exact. I thought it would be nice to have something to do while I look for a real job. But after being there for about 6 minutes, I remembered why I quit waitressing 5 years ago. Plus my friends reminded me that not only do I have a master's degree now, but also that the job just wasn't cool enough to risk being deported for (I was sort of working illegally).
However, Barb pulled some strings at the embassy so now I'm a "registered alien." That means I don't have to leave the country every 3 months. Sorry to those I promised that I would be back to visit you every 3 months It just wasn't practical. Note that this permit has nothing to do with working OR residency; it just means that I'm allowed to "visit" for a long time. Yay.
And I did go to another country. Well, if you're Turkish and therefore consider the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" another country. We went up to the North with our Greek Cypriot friend and met her Turkish Cypriot friend for lunch. (Those of you who aren't quite up on your Cyprus history, this is sort of an odd occurrence.) But it was a really good time and Barb got to speak Turkish which surprised quite a few people. And even though we climbed the "climbing-these-stairs-is-strictly-forbidden" stairs to the top of Othello's castle (great view by the way) and then got a bit lost and were on the back dirt roads of Northern Cyprus that just sort of end when you least expect it, (in a car with a Greek Cypriot license plates no less), we made it back across the border in one piece.
Barb had a meeting for work in Pafos last Friday so I went with her and we made a mini-vacation out of it. If you're into Greek mythology it is a place you MUST visit. After all, it IS the birthplace of Aphrodite, the goddess of "love, beauty, and sexual rapture." Then we went to Polis, another town on the coast about 20 minutes from Pafos. There was an Equinox celebration going on so Barb and I attended a drum circle on the beach and had reiki done on us. Once we were done being at one with nature and all of our negative energy was fully removed, we headed to Larnaca to fill that space with Lasagna (thanks Eleni), beer, wine, and of course, tequila shots.
We really aren't being ALL that unhealthy though. I've found a yoga studio that I've been going to about three times a week and I love it. I'm also taking "BodyPump" (aka PowerFlex) classes at the gym…in Greek! (I'm trying to kill two birds with one stone: work out, learn Greek.) But because the only Greek I've picked up in that class is up, down, and the numbers (which I already knew), I'm also taking a conversational Greek class twice a week. Barb and I are playing soccer, oops I mean football. Oops, I mean outdoor futsal. Whatever it is, we are playing on Monday nights (at 9 or 10 PM) with a group of Cypriot friends. The first night we played, Barb was approached afterward by a man who I hadn't even noticed watching us and asked if she wanted to play on their professional women's team. He also thought that she was about 10 years younger than she is. She ended up going to one of their practices, but joining the team would be too demanding; they practice several times a week and on the weekends. But I suppose it was a nice ego boost. I was impressed anyway.
That's about it. It's beginning to feel less like vacation and more like "home," but not quite there yet. Probably because our "stuff" still hasn't arrived yet. Apparently it is coming by canoe. But anyway, we're doing great and really love hearing from everyone via mail, email, phone, myspace, whatever. Just keep being in touch cause I miss everyone a lot.
Let's see, since my last blog I got a job, visited all the cities in Cyprus, traveled to another country, learned Greek, became pagan, and got asked to play professional soccer.
Ok ok, none of that really happened.
Actually, I did get a job. I worked at a restaurant for one day. Three hours to be exact. I thought it would be nice to have something to do while I look for a real job. But after being there for about 6 minutes, I remembered why I quit waitressing 5 years ago. Plus my friends reminded me that not only do I have a master's degree now, but also that the job just wasn't cool enough to risk being deported for (I was sort of working illegally).
However, Barb pulled some strings at the embassy so now I'm a "registered alien." That means I don't have to leave the country every 3 months. Sorry to those I promised that I would be back to visit you every 3 months It just wasn't practical. Note that this permit has nothing to do with working OR residency; it just means that I'm allowed to "visit" for a long time. Yay.
And I did go to another country. Well, if you're Turkish and therefore consider the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" another country. We went up to the North with our Greek Cypriot friend and met her Turkish Cypriot friend for lunch. (Those of you who aren't quite up on your Cyprus history, this is sort of an odd occurrence.) But it was a really good time and Barb got to speak Turkish which surprised quite a few people. And even though we climbed the "climbing-these-stairs-is-strictly-forbidden" stairs to the top of Othello's castle (great view by the way) and then got a bit lost and were on the back dirt roads of Northern Cyprus that just sort of end when you least expect it, (in a car with a Greek Cypriot license plates no less), we made it back across the border in one piece.
Barb had a meeting for work in Pafos last Friday so I went with her and we made a mini-vacation out of it. If you're into Greek mythology it is a place you MUST visit. After all, it IS the birthplace of Aphrodite, the goddess of "love, beauty, and sexual rapture." Then we went to Polis, another town on the coast about 20 minutes from Pafos. There was an Equinox celebration going on so Barb and I attended a drum circle on the beach and had reiki done on us. Once we were done being at one with nature and all of our negative energy was fully removed, we headed to Larnaca to fill that space with Lasagna (thanks Eleni), beer, wine, and of course, tequila shots.
We really aren't being ALL that unhealthy though. I've found a yoga studio that I've been going to about three times a week and I love it. I'm also taking "BodyPump" (aka PowerFlex) classes at the gym…in Greek! (I'm trying to kill two birds with one stone: work out, learn Greek.) But because the only Greek I've picked up in that class is up, down, and the numbers (which I already knew), I'm also taking a conversational Greek class twice a week. Barb and I are playing soccer, oops I mean football. Oops, I mean outdoor futsal. Whatever it is, we are playing on Monday nights (at 9 or 10 PM) with a group of Cypriot friends. The first night we played, Barb was approached afterward by a man who I hadn't even noticed watching us and asked if she wanted to play on their professional women's team. He also thought that she was about 10 years younger than she is. She ended up going to one of their practices, but joining the team would be too demanding; they practice several times a week and on the weekends. But I suppose it was a nice ego boost. I was impressed anyway.
That's about it. It's beginning to feel less like vacation and more like "home," but not quite there yet. Probably because our "stuff" still hasn't arrived yet. Apparently it is coming by canoe. But anyway, we're doing great and really love hearing from everyone via mail, email, phone, myspace, whatever. Just keep being in touch cause I miss everyone a lot.
Monday, September 11, 2006
Good Weekend (month 2)
I guess I'm finally to the point where I've stopped noticing what day I'm on and past the point of even trying to do the math. We'll just say we're into month 2.
Well, let's see. I still don't have a job, but I DO finally have a car. It is a little silver 2000 Nissan March. And yes, the steering wheel is on the rightand I have to shift gears with my left hand. It's about the size of Jim's car, for those of you who know what that is. It's great though, I love it. It fits anywhere; it's nice and narrow so I won't be having anymore rear-view-mirror-meets-dumpster accidents. (Yeah, you know that rental car wrecking contest I mentioned before? I won.) And it can actually go pretty fast, too.
This past weekend (starting on Thursday actually) was probably the best one yet. Thursday I spent the day in Larnaca with Eleni, who woke up with a "migraine" and couldn't make it to work. So being the good, jobless friend that I am, I went down to make sure she was ok. Luckily for us, Frappes on the beach cure all. Friday night we went with three of our friends to the Cyprus wine festival in Limassol. DC people, picture the Renaissance festival (minus the costumes) meets Virginia state fair meets the Greek Festival at St. Sophia's on Mass Ave. Then add plastic jugs of free all-you-can-drink local wine that you just swig out of as you're walking around. Yup, definitely my kind of place. And since we were with Greek Cypriots, we of course had to try all the different "sweets" that we don't have back in the U.S. From there we hit a few bars/clubs in Limassol, stayed in hotel apartments that night, and went to the beach the next day.
Then Saturday night we made our weekly Saturday night trip to Larnaca to go to Secrets. Sunday night was quite amusing, as we played "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" in Greek. Although Barb and I had a bit of a disadvantage, being that a) the questions are in greek; b) the answer choices were in greek; and c) many questions were of greek subject matter; we did manage to get a good laugh out of the apparently difficult question "What is Wyoming?" A river, a mountain, a city or a state? She (greek cypriot on other team) used her "phone-a-friend" lifeline and phoned me (even though I was sitting across the table from her) and asked me "Hi Tzen? What is Ouaioumink?" That was definitely the hardest I've laughed since I've been here. It was a great weekend.
Well, let's see. I still don't have a job, but I DO finally have a car. It is a little silver 2000 Nissan March. And yes, the steering wheel is on the rightand I have to shift gears with my left hand. It's about the size of Jim's car, for those of you who know what that is. It's great though, I love it. It fits anywhere; it's nice and narrow so I won't be having anymore rear-view-mirror-meets-dumpster accidents. (Yeah, you know that rental car wrecking contest I mentioned before? I won.) And it can actually go pretty fast, too.
This past weekend (starting on Thursday actually) was probably the best one yet. Thursday I spent the day in Larnaca with Eleni, who woke up with a "migraine" and couldn't make it to work. So being the good, jobless friend that I am, I went down to make sure she was ok. Luckily for us, Frappes on the beach cure all. Friday night we went with three of our friends to the Cyprus wine festival in Limassol. DC people, picture the Renaissance festival (minus the costumes) meets Virginia state fair meets the Greek Festival at St. Sophia's on Mass Ave. Then add plastic jugs of free all-you-can-drink local wine that you just swig out of as you're walking around. Yup, definitely my kind of place. And since we were with Greek Cypriots, we of course had to try all the different "sweets" that we don't have back in the U.S. From there we hit a few bars/clubs in Limassol, stayed in hotel apartments that night, and went to the beach the next day.
Then Saturday night we made our weekly Saturday night trip to Larnaca to go to Secrets. Sunday night was quite amusing, as we played "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" in Greek. Although Barb and I had a bit of a disadvantage, being that a) the questions are in greek; b) the answer choices were in greek; and c) many questions were of greek subject matter; we did manage to get a good laugh out of the apparently difficult question "What is Wyoming?" A river, a mountain, a city or a state? She (greek cypriot on other team) used her "phone-a-friend" lifeline and phoned me (even though I was sitting across the table from her) and asked me "Hi Tzen? What is Ouaioumink?" That was definitely the hardest I've laughed since I've been here. It was a great weekend.
Sunday, September 3, 2006
100 weeks to go
It's day 25 I think, so I guess I'm overdue for an update. Time has gone by faster over the past 2 weeks, but don't get too excited; it's not because I have a job or anything. I guess I'm more or less just settling into a routine of not having a routine. We moved into our house on Thursday (30 Aug) so I'll be posting some pictures to Kodak Gallery soon. The house is big and although it's furnished, it still seems pretty empty. Our stuff should be arriving by the end of September they tell us, and I think that will make a big difference. Our own rugs, pictures on the wall, dishes, etc. will all help make it feel more like ours. The cats love the new place; as soon as we let them out of their crates, they each ran around and chose their own bedroom (I knew they gave us 4 bedrooms for a reason) before Velvet decided to go exploring outside. We have no idea how or when he got out but when I looked out the kitchen window and saw his little fat butt waddle up and over the fence. "That stray cat looked just like Velvet," I told Barb. We got him back in but I guess he liked it so much he told Luna and the two of them conspired and snuck out again together later that night. "Hey is that your cat on the roof?" my friends asked as I was walking them out to the car (they came over for a housewarming dinner that first night). A big thanks to Eleni and Maz for running around the house and up and down the street with me until everyone was back in the house safe and sound. These are two awesome Cypriot girls, by the way, who have made the adjustment to Cyprus a lot easier to say the least. A little disappointing that I met the two coolest girls on the island in the first 2 weeks of being here...doesn't leave much to look forward to, but hey, I'm still grateful. I completely owe my lifted spirits and lack of boredom (as well as my deteriorating liver and lungs) to them. Cheers guys ;) Oh, and I know they really love having me here because they are even nice enough to count down the weeks until I leave (we're at 100 at the moment).
Barb and I are still actively, or should I say desperately, looking for cars to call our own. She is probably going to go with the Peugeot307cc (a hardtop convertible) or maybe a Mazda 3. Im looking at little rinky-dink pieces of shit for under 2,000 CYP ($4,500 but it isn't what $4,500 would get you at home more like what $2,500 would get you). I was debating whether or not to go with an old Peugeot as well, but when I went back in to talk about it more seriously with the dealer he informed me that he had it parked it on the street and it was hit and totaled on the spot. If that's not a sign, I dont know what is. Someone up there really didn't think I should be driving that car I guess. So, the search continues...
Not much else to say here. Hope everyone is doing well back there. Happy Labor Day! (Someone here asked me what we celebrate on Labor Day and it was pretty embarrassing because I had no idea!) People going to Rehoboth, have a cherry bomb shot for me and give Jame Foks my love. ;)
Talk to you all soon I hope. xxx
Barb and I are still actively, or should I say desperately, looking for cars to call our own. She is probably going to go with the Peugeot307cc (a hardtop convertible) or maybe a Mazda 3. Im looking at little rinky-dink pieces of shit for under 2,000 CYP ($4,500 but it isn't what $4,500 would get you at home more like what $2,500 would get you). I was debating whether or not to go with an old Peugeot as well, but when I went back in to talk about it more seriously with the dealer he informed me that he had it parked it on the street and it was hit and totaled on the spot. If that's not a sign, I dont know what is. Someone up there really didn't think I should be driving that car I guess. So, the search continues...
Not much else to say here. Hope everyone is doing well back there. Happy Labor Day! (Someone here asked me what we celebrate on Labor Day and it was pretty embarrassing because I had no idea!) People going to Rehoboth, have a cherry bomb shot for me and give Jame Foks my love. ;)
Talk to you all soon I hope. xxx
Monday, August 21, 2006
Getting drunk (and fat) with the mayor
Last night around 9 PM Barb and I decided to go eat dinner at a cute little outdoor restaurant in the walled part of Nicosia, also known as the old city. We debated whether or not to get meze because we weren't sure if we were hungry enough for it. With meze here, you don't choose which plates to order like you do with meze or tapas in the U.S. You order meze for two and then you just wait as they bring plate after plate after plate of surprises. You never know what or how much you're going to get but it's always a lot. But it is the most awesome food ever so no matter how full you are, you just have to keep eating! So we ordered the meze and some Keo (local beer) and ate and drank until we were ready to have the waiter roll us home. We even ate the snails, because we are trying to broaden our horizons or whatever. But as we were finishing up a white-haired man probably in his early 60's came over and shook our hands and asked us if we were enjoying our dinner. We assumed he was the manager or cook or something so we just said "Yes, thank you, "but he just kind of stood there.
"Do you know who I am?" he asked us. Barb and I just looked at each other and then back at him like, uh...are we supposed to? Turns out he is the mayor of Nicosia and he and his wife were sitting down at the table behind us. Everyone else at the restaurant was clearly aware of this.
He sat down at the table with his wife but continued to talk to us, introducing us to his wife, telling us whats good and what we should've ordered, and asking us if we wanted more beers on him. We've read numerous times that when a Greek Cypriot offers you something, you just don't turn them down. Especially if it has to do with food or their company. Plus were not the type to turn down free beer, so even though we were stuffed, we said sure. But that turned into "Would you like to join us?" Uh oh...food AND company-related; we knew had no choice. So sure enough we got up from our table and went to sit at theirs. Michael the mayor ordered beer after beer after beer for us and insisted that we try all of their food, because even though we might've had it before, we had to try it with yogurt, or lemon, or this or that. So, we did. At this point we were so stuffed we thought we were going to be sick. Then they ordered dessert (a whole 'nother story). But anyway, they were really interesting and very sweet people and they gave us a whole history lesson on Nicosia and Cyprus and talked about their children and grandchildren and their house in the mountains and their other house on the beach, etc, etc. This man, prior to being Mayor of Nicosia was the founder of Cooper Greece and Cooper Cyprus (of Price, Waterhouse, and Cooper). So, needless to say it was fine with us when he picked up our tab in addition to all of the food and beer we had of theirs! Basically we had two free dinners and about a keg of Keo on the mayor.
"Do you know who I am?" he asked us. Barb and I just looked at each other and then back at him like, uh...are we supposed to? Turns out he is the mayor of Nicosia and he and his wife were sitting down at the table behind us. Everyone else at the restaurant was clearly aware of this.
He sat down at the table with his wife but continued to talk to us, introducing us to his wife, telling us whats good and what we should've ordered, and asking us if we wanted more beers on him. We've read numerous times that when a Greek Cypriot offers you something, you just don't turn them down. Especially if it has to do with food or their company. Plus were not the type to turn down free beer, so even though we were stuffed, we said sure. But that turned into "Would you like to join us?" Uh oh...food AND company-related; we knew had no choice. So sure enough we got up from our table and went to sit at theirs. Michael the mayor ordered beer after beer after beer for us and insisted that we try all of their food, because even though we might've had it before, we had to try it with yogurt, or lemon, or this or that. So, we did. At this point we were so stuffed we thought we were going to be sick. Then they ordered dessert (a whole 'nother story). But anyway, they were really interesting and very sweet people and they gave us a whole history lesson on Nicosia and Cyprus and talked about their children and grandchildren and their house in the mountains and their other house on the beach, etc, etc. This man, prior to being Mayor of Nicosia was the founder of Cooper Greece and Cooper Cyprus (of Price, Waterhouse, and Cooper). So, needless to say it was fine with us when he picked up our tab in addition to all of the food and beer we had of theirs! Basically we had two free dinners and about a keg of Keo on the mayor.
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Day 8 (I should really come up with more creative names for these, huh?)
I just want to say thank you to the few of you who read that day one blog posting and emailed me. I guess I didnt really realize how pathetic I sounded; besides I didnt think anyone really read these things. But I'm really glad to know that friends and family care and really are just a click or call away. I think that one of the many lessons that I'll learn over here is about true friendship and how it doesnt matter how often you see someone, or what you do when youre together, or how many arguments you've been in, or what weirdness has ever gone down, or even how long you've known someone. Friendship will prevail if two people want it to, and thats important to remember.
By the way, things are going much better on this end. I actually feel like I've been here forever. If the entire two years goes by as slowly as the past 8 days have, I'm in trouble. Or maybe that's good. We'll see. Besides, I've been told that once I get a job or a life or whatever, my days will go a lot faster.
Barb's doing well. Her job is pretty exciting because almost everything she's been doing in DC for the past three or four years was essentially preparing her for this. So I can imagine that must be a good feeling.
We saw the house that we'll be moving into. It is insane. 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, 2 living rooms, a huge outdoor patio with a built-in grill. So please know that anyone is more than welcome to come visit. Seriously! We certainly have the room.
Im getting worried that I won't be able to get a job over here. We've heard from a number of different people that local companies don't hire non-EU people very often. Now that Cyprus is part of the EU, they give priority to EU citizens (after Cypriots of course) which puts me pretty far down the list. Pretty much if you are an American, you gotta know someone. So I'm working on the few leads that I have and if those dont pan out I'll have to go join all the Russians that work in the resort towns on the beach. Apparently you dont need to know English OR Greek to do that.
I have found stuff to do to keep me busy though. I've been going to the gym a lot. I found 2 yoga studios, but I haven't gone yet b/c they haven't been open. The city is a ghost town in August; everyone is on "holiday". Its a little bizarre actually, that stores just completely close down for weeks at a time because people go on holiday. Silly Americans and our carefully planned vacation days, getting approval from our bosses so we dont ALL go on vacation at once. What do we know?
Then, just in case your store hadn't closed for the month of August, it was a Cypriot holiday on Tuesday. Lucky for us, Barb gets off on all US and local holidays. And because of all the hard work the embassy did during the whole Beirut evacuation thing they were given Monday off too (note: Barb wasnt even here yet for that so bonus for us). So since Barb had a 4 day weekend (and my life is a weekend), we went to a town called Limassol and went to a bunch of bars and clubs, spent the night at a hotel, and went to the beach the next day. That night we walked and walked to try to find the only gay bar in the town and when we finally got there it was about the size of my closet (all these years to come out of it...) and there were MAYBE 10 people- including us-sitting at the bar. The bartender said it was because it was a holiday weekend and people were out of town. I thought about lecturing him that it couldn't possibly hold more than 20 without being a complete fire hazard, but I didnt know how to say all that in Greek. Oh well. At the next bar we went to, we had finished our beer and were about to leave when a waiter stopped us with two new beers. Apparently the bartender didn't want us to leave yet. Either that or he felt bad for us because he knows how freakin overpriced everything in this country is!
Everything is crazy expensive here. Prices appear to be comparable to dollars at first glance but when you have to double that number, and THEN add some, its pretty ridiculous. Nicosia is home to the most expensive (or maybe second most expensive, I forget) Starbucks in the world. Certain things (like vegetables and pork...random) are really cheap. But then there's syrup which cost the equivalent of almost $10 for a normal size bottle. Who knew?
Barb and I are both getting accustomed to driving on the left side of the road a lot faster than I expected. We've been going out driving just about every night taking turns driving and navigating with a map. Its a good way to learn the city and to practice our new found driving skills. Secretly I think its just a competition to see who will wreck the rental car first. The drivers here are seriously crazy. And just to make things more challenging, the road signs, where they exist, are no bigger than our neighborhood road signs, but in Greek with English under it. So you cant read the name of the street until you are on top (or usually past) the street. Parking is great though because unlike DC, there are virtually no rules. It doesnt matter which way your car is facing, how far from the curb it is (in fact most are parked with two tires ON the curb), how far from a corner...Nothing! I feel so naughty.
Well, this has been a long update and Ive probably lost most of you by now, so Yea Sas!
By the way, things are going much better on this end. I actually feel like I've been here forever. If the entire two years goes by as slowly as the past 8 days have, I'm in trouble. Or maybe that's good. We'll see. Besides, I've been told that once I get a job or a life or whatever, my days will go a lot faster.
Barb's doing well. Her job is pretty exciting because almost everything she's been doing in DC for the past three or four years was essentially preparing her for this. So I can imagine that must be a good feeling.
We saw the house that we'll be moving into. It is insane. 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, 2 living rooms, a huge outdoor patio with a built-in grill. So please know that anyone is more than welcome to come visit. Seriously! We certainly have the room.
Im getting worried that I won't be able to get a job over here. We've heard from a number of different people that local companies don't hire non-EU people very often. Now that Cyprus is part of the EU, they give priority to EU citizens (after Cypriots of course) which puts me pretty far down the list. Pretty much if you are an American, you gotta know someone. So I'm working on the few leads that I have and if those dont pan out I'll have to go join all the Russians that work in the resort towns on the beach. Apparently you dont need to know English OR Greek to do that.
I have found stuff to do to keep me busy though. I've been going to the gym a lot. I found 2 yoga studios, but I haven't gone yet b/c they haven't been open. The city is a ghost town in August; everyone is on "holiday". Its a little bizarre actually, that stores just completely close down for weeks at a time because people go on holiday. Silly Americans and our carefully planned vacation days, getting approval from our bosses so we dont ALL go on vacation at once. What do we know?
Then, just in case your store hadn't closed for the month of August, it was a Cypriot holiday on Tuesday. Lucky for us, Barb gets off on all US and local holidays. And because of all the hard work the embassy did during the whole Beirut evacuation thing they were given Monday off too (note: Barb wasnt even here yet for that so bonus for us). So since Barb had a 4 day weekend (and my life is a weekend), we went to a town called Limassol and went to a bunch of bars and clubs, spent the night at a hotel, and went to the beach the next day. That night we walked and walked to try to find the only gay bar in the town and when we finally got there it was about the size of my closet (all these years to come out of it...) and there were MAYBE 10 people- including us-sitting at the bar. The bartender said it was because it was a holiday weekend and people were out of town. I thought about lecturing him that it couldn't possibly hold more than 20 without being a complete fire hazard, but I didnt know how to say all that in Greek. Oh well. At the next bar we went to, we had finished our beer and were about to leave when a waiter stopped us with two new beers. Apparently the bartender didn't want us to leave yet. Either that or he felt bad for us because he knows how freakin overpriced everything in this country is!
Everything is crazy expensive here. Prices appear to be comparable to dollars at first glance but when you have to double that number, and THEN add some, its pretty ridiculous. Nicosia is home to the most expensive (or maybe second most expensive, I forget) Starbucks in the world. Certain things (like vegetables and pork...random) are really cheap. But then there's syrup which cost the equivalent of almost $10 for a normal size bottle. Who knew?
Barb and I are both getting accustomed to driving on the left side of the road a lot faster than I expected. We've been going out driving just about every night taking turns driving and navigating with a map. Its a good way to learn the city and to practice our new found driving skills. Secretly I think its just a competition to see who will wreck the rental car first. The drivers here are seriously crazy. And just to make things more challenging, the road signs, where they exist, are no bigger than our neighborhood road signs, but in Greek with English under it. So you cant read the name of the street until you are on top (or usually past) the street. Parking is great though because unlike DC, there are virtually no rules. It doesnt matter which way your car is facing, how far from the curb it is (in fact most are parked with two tires ON the curb), how far from a corner...Nothing! I feel so naughty.
Well, this has been a long update and Ive probably lost most of you by now, so Yea Sas!
Friday, August 11, 2006
We're here (cyprus, day 3)
Our trip here was long. Altogether we were traveling for 27 hours. Yup. Me, Barb, our 6 pieces of luggage plus 3 cats! First stop was Boston where we got to see the cats and meet Sean for dinner, which was especially nice b/c our flight to Zurich was delayed. In fact it was delayed so much that we wouldve missed our connection to Athens so pretty much everything had to be switched around so we could make it to Larnaca at the right time to be picked up by this guy from the embassy whose number we didnt have. It all worked out though. The cats were admitted into the country with (almost) no problems. We got in around midnight and home around 2 AM and first thing the guy told Barb was that she was expected to be in a meeting at work at 8:30 AM. Yes, he was serious. And Barb went. And I slept. A lot.
Now I'm sitting in our apt in nicosia. It is just a temporary place for about 3 weeks until the people move out of "our" house and it gets cleaned and painted. The temporary apartment is huge - it could fit 2 of our dc houses in it. And supposedly the house is even bigger. It's weird, we aren't going to know what to do with the space. I hope we don't lose the cats! This apt is right across from the embassy so that's been really convenient. Barb can walk to work, come home for lunch (and wake me up b/c I can't seem to manage to get my ass out of bed before 1 PM, damn jetlag), and I can go over to the embassy to use the gym, post office, etc. Our house won't be as convenient but I guess it will have its own perks, we'll see.
The weather is awesome. Hot during the day but around 5 PM there is a wonderful breeze that totally cools everything down. There are palm trees everywhere, flowers, fruit growing on trees...it's beautiful. Not that I've been awake enough to really enjoy it, but jetlag can't last THAT long, right?
Now I'm sitting in our apt in nicosia. It is just a temporary place for about 3 weeks until the people move out of "our" house and it gets cleaned and painted. The temporary apartment is huge - it could fit 2 of our dc houses in it. And supposedly the house is even bigger. It's weird, we aren't going to know what to do with the space. I hope we don't lose the cats! This apt is right across from the embassy so that's been really convenient. Barb can walk to work, come home for lunch (and wake me up b/c I can't seem to manage to get my ass out of bed before 1 PM, damn jetlag), and I can go over to the embassy to use the gym, post office, etc. Our house won't be as convenient but I guess it will have its own perks, we'll see.
The weather is awesome. Hot during the day but around 5 PM there is a wonderful breeze that totally cools everything down. There are palm trees everywhere, flowers, fruit growing on trees...it's beautiful. Not that I've been awake enough to really enjoy it, but jetlag can't last THAT long, right?
Wednesday, August 9, 2006
cyprus day one
Well here I am. What the hell am I going to do? I'll find myself. I'll meditate on the so many things that I need to. I'll be a better Buddhist. I'll meditate on letting go. Not grasping. Not holding on, not chasing after. I read a plaque on the boardwalk that said happiness is like a butterfly. The more you chase it the more it gets away from you but when you just sit down and stop chasing after it, it will come land right on your shoulder. Or something like that. Anyway, that is exactly the lesson I need to learn. Before leaving for Cyprus I was chasing something and running from something else at the same time. But I've been forced to stop. Being pulled in different directions really has an impact on the mind and body. My stomach hurts. There's tremendous pressure on my chest and emptiness in my heart. I can't get a good night's sleep and I'm always either dead tired or so hyperactive I can't even do anything productive. I can't turn off my mind. I'm scared I won't be able to find silence. Stillness. I'm scared that I won't be able to stop the chase. I'm a million miles away physically but how can I bring my mind to where my body is?
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