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.