Sweeping the gutter?!

So here's an interesting observation about living here in Nicosia that is mind boggling to me...when we first arrived here, I was admittedly icked out by how dirty it felt here.  But after living here for a few months, I came to be OK with the dirt & dust here.  When you go on a walk and attempt to use the sidewalk, there are any number of things in your path...there are trees in the sidewalk (yes, that's right--they built the sidewalk around the trees) which is kind of nice and provides some shade but is also a pain because you have to walk around them...in the street; and the trees make the sidewalks raise up around the roots which often is a tripping hazard.  Another thing to note is that the sidewalks here are tiles and they stop and start at any given point--usually stopping in front of the vacant lots and starting at the next house.  The other thing to look out for and that you often have to walk in the street to get around is the cars parked on the sidewalk!  I used to think this behavior was quite bizarre.  But again, after living here a bit, I realized it's actually a courtesy to the other drivers on the road so they can get by since the roads are wide enough for 2 cars to drive next to each other and not any more than that!

The house across the street from us...note the car on the sidewalk & the gutter (that's clean) vs. the junk on the street and in the gutter in front of our house...oh well!

This is the sidewalk in front of our wall...note the broken tiles around the tree from the roots raising them up & all the junk in the gutter  (& of course our neighbors car on the sidewalk :))

But back to my original thought today.  There are vacant lots all over the place...and they have tons of beautiful yellow flowers in them this time of year after all the rain we've had.  But when it warms up and the flowers die, they are nothing but dirt lots with ruts and trash in them...quite unsightly.  Then right next door to the nasty vacant lot is a house...some are nicer than others but most are pretty modest.  So here's the thing that I haven't yet figured out (or embraced because I don't feel like it).  The Cypriot people sweep the sidewalk and gutter in front of their houses...I mean they sweep up leaves or tree droppings, dirt, dust, flowers, or whatever is there.  The sidwalks and the gutters are spotless...except mine!  I'm tempted to send the kids out there and have them sweep it.  But I wait...until the gardner comes & I'm sure is appalled at our lack of attention to this detail & he cleans it up so nicely for me. 

Yes, people...it SNOWED in Nicosia!!

They were calling for flurries on February 29th but the kids & I agreed that we would "believe it when we see it".  Well, by the time the kids got home from school, the  snowflakes had just started coming down and they were huge!  Ashlee & CJ were going crazy with excitement about it...they've been dying to see some snow.  Then it turned to hail stones the size of little peas.  And then it blizzard-snowed 3 or 4 more times off & on before it finally stopped.  Too bad there was no accumulation.  But how fun for us to see it SNOWING here!  It hasn't snowed in Nicosia for 30 years!!  And apparently this is one of the coldest winters they've ever had here!  As my friend Jenn said, "palm trees and snow...?!?!".  :)  I completely agree...I'm so confused by how cold it's been here this winter.  Don't we live on an island in the middle of the Mediterranean?!  At home, they've had such a warm winter that the cherry blossoms are now in full bloom.  Crazy!



My crazy girl catching snowflakes on her tongue! :)

See the snowflakes in front of the olive tree?

Ashlee showing me the snowflakes on her fleece

Now she's trying to catch hailstones on her tongue!

CJ showing me the tiny ice pellets

See all the little ice pellets on the table?!

The little ways we shape our kids...

I thought I'd share a "life lesson" for me.  Yesterday a friend posted a picture of her new haircut and new color on Facebook.  Without attempting to "teach" anything to my sweet girl, she said to me "that was really nice, Mommy."  When I asked her what she was talking about, she pointed to the comment I had written in response to my friend's new picture...that "I loved the new color and haircut" (& I really do like it).  I didn't realize that my Ashlee was reading what I was typing over my shoulder.  I thought she was only "old enough" to look at the pictures.  What a great way for me to teach my daughter how to lift up and compliment others...her friends, family, and even strangers on the street.  It had enough of an impact on me to hear the impact I had on her, and I had to share it.  I hope you'll think about it when you interact with others in front of your kids...they're always watching and observing and retaining...the good things and the bad (hopefully more good, though).  :)

Sick again...Green Monday and the fort

I'm sick...AGAIN!  Ashlee & I were just sick 2 weeks ago, then got over it, and now it's back again.  I just hope she doesn't get strep throat again like she had.  I'm so tired of having a head cold & don't like it when my kiddos share the wealth or when they're sick too.  The past two days have been so cold and rainy and windy here. It's too bad because Monday was "Green Monday"--the start of Lent and a holiday when Cypriots take picnics out to the countryside (or wherever) and spend the day enjoying being outside.  Apparently, it's tradition for children to fly a kite this day..."Green Monday is associated with an age old tradition of flying a kite. Apart from being a form of entertainment, kite flying has a symbolic meaning in keeping with the start of Lent." Anyhow, the weather here is so strange and it rained and was windy and then the sun peeked out and then went back behind the clouds again on Monday.  I was so stuffed up and achy and didn't feel like going anywhere.  But since the kids were off school and cooped up in the house, we decided to venture out to a new park they've just built not too far from our house.  While we were there, the sun actually came out in full force and warmed me up while I sat on a bench and read my book and the kids enjoyed the swings and just being outside and running around.  I even took off my jacket in hopes of getting some much needed color back in my pasty white arms.  Some other families showed up at the park and set up their own little picnic and even had their kites ready to fly.  We were only there for about an hour, but it was good for the kids to have some time outside and to have space to run.  Not too long after we left and true to Cyprus weather, the sun was gone in a flash behind some clouds and the rain came back in full force.  Too bad for all the people that had planned a nice day outside!

Yesterday, the kids were all home from school for a teacher workday again...I often say "they don't like to go to school for more than a full week at a time here!".  It's ridiculous the amount of time the kids are off school for this holiday or that teacher workday or this celebration.  Anyhow, they were so good and I was feeling so awful.  They never asked if we could go somewhere (which is very unusual) and they built this amazing fort in CJ's room.  I love when they all play well together and just listening to them and the pretend stories they act out...from offices, to moms and dads and kids, to school.  They transformed CJ's entire room into another "home" and best of all, they let me take it easy at home all day.  I can't ask for anything better than that! 

Today, I'm feeling a bit better...I can somewhat breathe through my nose again.  Yea--it's the little things!  But I'm still quite tired.  The kids went off to school today and Colt went to Little Gems (his school) for the entire day until 3:00pm too.  So today, I'm going to take it easy, enjoy the quiet, maybe finish up the taxes, and rest...haha!  I hope tomorrow, I'm feeling even more normal again.

We're back...& a little more organized this year!

OK--so it's been...awhile!  So this year (in Cyprus) maybe I'll change my updates to read a little more like short journal entries.  Who knows, I might actually succeed with my good intentions and get on here to post as often as I'm on Facebook (you probably hope that's not the case!). 

So instead of attempting to go back MONTHS, I'll say this...we went home to Virginia for 6 weeks this past summer and it was wonderful!  (Well, the kids and I were home for that long and Clint joined us for the last 3 weeks of the trip).  CJ & Ashlee participated in Vacation Bible School & Music Camp (their first time for both) & loved them.  We got to go to Williamsburg and Jamestown & saw the archeological dig of the first settlement & had a private tour.  Grammy & Poppy took the 3 munchkins camping for a few nights & had a great time.  Very exciting, CJ asked Jesus into his heart at VBS & was baptized while we were home!  And we also got to spend a week at the beach (in Nags Head, NC) with the whole family.  And last but not least, we enjoyed loads of visiting time with friends in South Riding & around home & family...even with Aunt Danielle & cousin Tripp from Orlando (more than once)!  :)  It was perfect and full of great memories!

Then we got back to Cyprus & had our dear friends, the Littles (Jeff, Louise, Neve, & Ethan) come for a 2 week visit...they didn't stay with us but we saw them all but a few days they were here.  We visited St. Helurion castle near Kyrenia (on the North side) & took them to the beach (our favorite one here) and played in their pool and totally enjoyed catching up with friends!

Then it was back to school for CJ & Ashlee to AISC & Colt to Little Gems.  So far, we are all pleased with the kids teachers and they are all settling in to a fall routine that includes Saturday Soccer at the UN, Cub Scouts, & piano for Ashlee & guitar for CJ.  Colt will be starting swimming lessons next week at his school too.

I almost forgot--we also got to go to a turtle harching & release on the North side of the island in Alagadia Beach.  We watched them dig up a nest and uncover the baby sea turtles (so cool!) and then we got to release them into the sea after dark.  The volunteer student (who's doing research for the summer) stands in the water with a flashlight to lure the baby turtles out into the water.  It was memorable and so fun!

So last weekend, we went with some friends for fish mezze in Limassol...very yummy!  And then met Gregoris (who works with Clint) & his wife to go to the Limassol Wine Festival.  For 6 euro you also get a bottle of wine to take home.  And inside we bought these cute little wine glasses for 2.50 euro and you just walked right up to the stands and they would either fill them up or give you a taste!  The kids got to stomp grapes and learn a little about where wine comes from.  It was unbelieveably humid but it was lots more fun than I was anticipating...so we were all pleasantly surprised!  :)

Then on Sunday, we were invited to our first Cypriot wedding.  The weddings here are famous for their size...the couple & 1000-2000 of their closest friends and family...basically everyone they've ever met!  :)  It was very different than any wedding we had ever been to and very beautiful. 

Well, that just about covers what we've been into since we returned to Cyprus.  So here's my journaling part...on Friday, after I ran & desparately needed a shower, we had NO WATER!  So I called Clint and asked him if we were still having water rationing (we're not...duh!).  So he told me to go ask the landlord (who speaks no English) to look at it...great!  Well, his wife and I managed to make hand signals with each other enough to figure out that somehow we had turned off the water main for the house on Thursday morning instead of just turning off the water for the sprinklers!  Ugghh!!  We had been able to do everything for 2 days, though, because of the lovely water storage tanks that all the homes here have in case they need to ration water during the summer months.  Good news, I thought!  So I only had to wait 30 minutes for the tank to fill up again and then I could take my shower. 

Once I was done, though, I noticed the water coming out of the faucet (& all over the house) was sometimes coming out brown and then it would go back to clear and then brown again.  Oh well...I just thought, welcome back to Cyprus! 

But then on Saturday, Ashlee went to take a shower after her soccer game and (thank the Lord) called me to tell me the water was "pink" before she got in and thankfully CJ ran in and turned it off for her.  I turned the faucet back on in the shower to see it and within seconds, the water coming out was blasting high pressure and was boiling hot (even when it was all the way on cold)!  Clint went next door and got the landlord and he came over and told us it must have something to do with the water tank refilling (yea, OK!) and to turn on all the faucets all over the house.  There was steam coming up out of the toilets & boiling hot water out of all the sinks.  The water was so hot, it melted the plastic pieces in the flusher for the toilet, the kitchen faucet, our shower faucet (the water won't come out the bottom part now), & the underdrain for our patio sink...oh, & the shower poof we had hanging on the faucet is completely melted on one side now!  Unbelievable!!  I keep thanking God that Ashlee didn't get straight into the shower before calling out for someone to help her!  I dread thinking about the trip we would have been making to the hospital for the burns she would have gotten!

So, the toilet in the half bath doesn't work now...the landlord broke it because he wouldn't listen to Clint about how to fix it (well, he probably didn't understand).   And our faucet doesn't work in our shower now and the patio sink isn't usable now.  But the good news is that Clint replaced the little faucet sprayer/rotating piece on my kitchen faucet with one that's nicer than the one I had ( he spent 2.50 instead of the 1.00 euro we did the first time).  :)  Man, I love living overseas!  Oh, & don't even get me started on the numerous electrical issues in our house!  Until next time...hope this appeases a bit.

The beauty of Natural Exfoliation...

Today we went to the beach...we thought it was going to be a pretty warm (low-mid 70's) day with the sun shining.  To be fair, I checked the forecast before we left for the coast and it did say SW17-20 mph winds would be starting around 1:00 pm.  It didn't sound too bad or feel too windy outside...so we packed the car up (that only took an hour...big surprise!) and headed south for the afternoon.  The beach is only about 45 minutes away from us.  Of course, there are plenty of other beaches that are further in all directions.  But we headed to the Agia Napa area...

We arrived in record time (after all the dumb construction traffic...but what would Nicosia be without construction, right?).  They have these very clean bathhouse/changing rooms right next to a cute little beach taverna that's not yet open for the season.  So Ashlee & I made a pit stop and the boys headed down to the sand and water to set up for the afternoon.  Well, when we walked out from the protection of the building, holy cow!!  The wind about knocked us over!  But the boys didn't seem to mind and had already headed down towards the water with the sand toys.  So I set down next to Clint and proceeded to get pelted with what felt like a million tiny little needles on the right side of my body for the next hour and half (I guess it wasn't all that bad, though)  :)  At least the sun was out and the kids were having sooo much fun (pretending like it was summer!) digging in the sand and running through the water in the little pools.  It was fun to watch them! 

So Clint and I are sitting there trying to ignore the sandstorm around us...ha!  And a big gust of wind comes through and just pelts us with this big wave of sand.  And Clint says, "It's like natural exfoliation...you just have to sit here!  Want a beer?"  :)  And all I could do was laugh! 

Oh, you should've seen all the kite-sailers that were there!  They were so fun to watch and were catching some serious wind when they jumped...like 15-20 feet in the air!  We met this really nice guy from England who apparently introduced Cyprus to kite-sailing years ago and chatted with him about it for awhile.  Apparently Clint wants to give it a try but you can't rent the equipment anywhere, you just have to buy it and hope you can do it and like it--it's only about 1000 euro ($1500)!!!  (NOT gonna happen!) :)

See all the kite-sailers in the sky...I'll get a close up shot next time

It looks warmer than it was--but they put their bathing suits on because they wanted to get wet while they worked and played in the sand.  :)

That's my man...& his Carlsberg beer!

Our 13th Anniversary celebration on April 4, 2011!



The Happy Couple <3

We usually go to dinner on our anniversary each year to celebrate and this year was no different...other than the fact that we're in Cyprus now!!  A little backstory to how we (I) chose where we went for dinner...At Christmas time we had the opportunity to attend a pantomime (a British Christmas tradition that Tambur & Greg introduced our family to) and a few weeks ago we saw Agatha Christie's play "And Then There Were None" at the Russian Cultural Center.  As we left the Cultural Center and walked down the side streets to our car, I noticed (both times) the most adorable and quaint little French Bistro on the corner.  Long story short, I hinted that I wanted to go there for my birthday dinner but my sweet hubby knows how my heart longs for a good steak and instead took me (& all my babies to an amazing steakhouse--right here in Nicosia--called Starz). 

So this time, I knew that if I wanted to go to the cute little French Brasserie, I had to take the bull by the horns and just make the reservation and plans myself!  :)  I made the reservation on Friday before our anniversary on Monday and arranged for Elsa (our awesome and always available sitter) to keep the kiddos. 

We arrived at 7:15 pm (our reservation was at 7:00) and the sign on the door said "CLOSED"!!  And Clint says, "Are you sure they're open?!" Ugghh!!  So I tried the door and it was open...the cook came out of the back, handed us some menus, and said the owner would be there in a few and we could pick any table we wanted!  So typical of Cyprus, I love the easy way of life! 

In case you're wondering, Cypriots don't eat until 8 or 9 pm--unless we Americans force them to!  So they didn't start serving until 7 and I don't think they ever actually have anyone come in until long after that! 

Well, the owner arrived and made us this yummy drink called Royal Kir (heard of it anyone?  because I'd love to make it again!).  And then I had the pork medallions with a mushroom cream sauce and Clint had the Wild Boar casserole...both dishes were incredible!  Oh, we also had this appetizer that was to die for...Camembert cheese rolled in French bread crumbs and baked (I can almost taste how yummy it was now)!  And for dessert, Creme Brulee for Clint and I had these little proliferoles (I don't think that's spelled right) but they were like mini cream puffs with ice cream in the middle.

We had a wonderful night and ABSOLUTELY enjoyed our 13th Anniversary celebration and the first time we've gotten to go to dinner with just the two of us since we got here in November!  I look forward to our next romantic evening out!  Love you Honey!!  <3

The Royal Kir on the left and the wine we picked on the right.

There were all these really neat paintings on the walls that were for sale

The liqueur used in making the Royal Kir