Cyprus Musings 4

Cyprus musings 4


One morning last week, Ian and I went for our morning walk and happened upon Mirdina. She invited me in and served me my first Turkish Coffee. It came in a small tiny cup, about the size of a shot glass and was dark as night with a strong smell. I carefully took my first sip and was surprised at how good it tasted. After a few sips, a dark black sludge was revealed; fortunately I had been forewarned by friends not to drink it.

During our visit, Ian had to go “potty,” (yeah he is realizing this!), while we were there and she gestured to outside around the back. Hidden behind a large olive tree was a concrete shack with an old wooden door. “Okay,” I said to myself, “this will be interesting.” I took a deep breath half expecting to hold it for the next few minutes and went in, bracing myself for what lie behind the door. It was dark, and there were a variety of things piled in the corner, and on the floor was the Turkish toilet, a porcelain hole in the floor with a jug of water next to it. Although it was stained with age, it was surprisingly clean. After carefully testing the air, I found that it did not smell at all. Ian could easily do his business even without my help. I thought about how much more sanitary this was than having him sit on the dirty toilet seats in many of the restaurants we have visited.

When we returned, Mirdina handed Ian some light brown stuff for him to drink. It had little mysterious somewhat ominous things floating in it. She took a drink first, very reassuring, and then handed it to Ian. He drank it down with a big smile and loved it! I tasted it too and it was amazing. She brought out a carrot and a dried fig and motioned that she cooked these in water and that made this drink! The floaties I now recognized as fig seeds. She was beaming, and she sent me home with a huge bowl of homemade olives, a banana, a bowl of grapes with a few figs and some lemons! I felt like a queen.

I have now filled the bowl with M&M's, homemade banana bread, and some apple bars to return to her. I am taking my Turkish phrase book this time!

Ashagu, Mirdina’s daughter came by for Haley last Monday afternoon to see if Haley wanted to go into the olive groves where her mother was harvesting, and I tagged along to see what was happening. A plastic tarp lay on the ground and four women in skirts, shirts and head scarves were raking the tree causing olives, both black and green, to fall, bouncing, and rolling everywhere. Some women sat on the ground tossing the stray olives onto the tarp, while others were on small ladders reaching for the olives above. Ashagu and a young boy helped toss the olives onto the tarp and also ran and laughed and climbed the tree as their mothers objected in Turkish. I couldn’t understand the words, but I understood the gestures and the tone of voice! “Stop that! What are you doing? You need to help us!” I’m guessing of course. Haley reluctantly raked beside me and kept saying “This is interesting.”

Mirina let me wear a beautiful scarf that her older daughter sent her from Turkey, to protect my head from the falling debris. Her daughter is a teacher on the mainland. The ladies laughed and talked and occasionally looked at me with smiling eyes and sweet faces. “Turkish Coffee?,” Mirdina asked me and I said “Yes.” About 15 minutes later a lovely woman in jeans and a t shirt brought a tray filled with Turkish tea cups. We all had some. They asked me if I wanted a little sugar and when I gestured that I wanted “A LOT of sugar” they all laughed hysterically.

I tried to explain that I was a teacher, and in broken English one woman asked “Mathematics?” I thought, “How do I explain, without language of course, that I teach communication courses?” I had to think about that for a while, and of course my small Turkish dictionary was no help at all. Finally, I stood up and acted like I was giving a speech. Well, that just about did them in. They laughed so hard I thought they would never stop. They probably didn’t understand me, but at least I was entertaining!

One final note, while I was helping with the olives, I started to feel little pin pricks up my legs. I stomped my feet and was shocked to find ants falling out of my pants! Now I completely understand the song “Move it Move it” from the movie Madigascar 2 that says “Ants in my pants, ants in my pants, ….that’s why I keep on movin…” Yeah, that made them laugh too.

Cyprus Musings 3

Cyprus Musings 3:

Animal encounters:

In Kyrenia, there is an animal rescue center. Since Haley has had a hard time finding things to do that interest her here, I made a note to myself to take her there and see if she could volunteer. Then I simply forgot to take her there. Occasionally I would see a van around town that said “Kyrenia Animal Rescue” on the side, but there was just never the right time to check it out.

Across the street from our house is an eclectic little farm. The house is pretty big and has had an addition or two. Just a short distance from the house is a series of buildings and fenced in cages and aviaries that are gathered together in a sort of rectangle with a pond in the center. In the center of the pond is a bird cage that is shaped like a pear, suspended by a post above the water and contains several yellow and multi colored birds. Some resemble parakeets some look like cockatiels. Roaming around the pond is a variety of ducks and a gaggle of geese, mostly white. The cages are home to a variety of chickens some I have never seen before, like the enormous gigantor chickens that have feathers on their legs and are the size of a chimpanzee…. Absolutely huge! There are peacocks, ginney fowl, turkeys, and these were just the ones I could recognize.

In some of the other corrals were a specked white and red horse, almost a strawberry roan, a small mule or a large donkey-not sure, and a black horse. Next to them are some homes for the goats. The white billy goat who rules the pen was the size of a Shetland pony! With dramatic, majestic curving horns which looked like the horns I’ve seen in movies where someone has to blow a horn and they use an animal horn and it’s curved…can’t think of the movie but I know I’ve seen this.

Ian loves to walk past this menagerie and he especially loves to talk with the male turkey. He is huge and shows off his puffed up display of feathers whenever we walk by and gives us a chorus of “gobble gobble gobble gobble,” and Ian sings right back. Yeah, it’s totally cute! I have been wanting to meet the people who live there for this entire first month, yet could never find the right time or the right gift or the nerve to do it.

Then one day last week, Haley, Ian and I were standing on her balcony looking at the Mediterranean when we heard a commotion down below. Two children were hitting some bushes with sticks shouting, and then a dog yelped. We went to check it out, and found a sweet terrified adorable pup stuck in the brambles. The children were trying to scare it out, but the poor dear was stuck in the vines. It was like a raspberry bush thick twisty with sharp spines, but no raspberries. Darn.

One thing was for sure, this dog was not going to move without some motivation. “Dave, we need some cheese!” I yelled, and he dutifully ran up to the house and brought back the smelly old cheese we hadn’t the nerve to eat. We broke off the cheese into little bits that we tossed into the brambles, and he began to creep out. We needed clippers and gloves to cut away the annoying vines. I stood precariously on a broken old pallet reaching for the dog while he crept forward to the cheese. Eventually we got him out, a thin, young, sweet thing. I asked the children who were hitting the bush if they spoke English and the darling little girl said “Yes.” I asked her how old she was and she said 11 and that she learned English in school. “Is this your puppy?” She said “Yes,” then she said “No.” “Do you know where he lives?” “Yes” was her reply. “Can you take me there with the puppy?” “Yes, go straight turn left.” We all walked together, Ian running ahead, Haley holding the dear dog, and I trying to talk to the little girl. “What is your name?” “Ashagu”? She said; I still can’t quite pronounce it right. “You’re sure this is the way to the dog’s house?” “Yes,” she said.

What I soon found out was that this was her house. I met her mother and with much gesturing and hand signals I figured out that they did not know the dog, nor where it lived, but they invited me to coffee! This was a very humble house under construction adjacent to the animal cages I described earlier. Three rooms, one finished, the other two had no roof, but had concrete walls and floor. There was a working washing machine with a Winnie the Pooh sticker on the side, (really?), a small sink, tiny stove with oven and a refrigerator. Wow! This was her home. There is so much more I would love to know: Does she work? Why does she live next to the animals? Does she have a husband? What does he do? What is her relationship with the owners of the big white house? But I couldn’t quite get that far. I was able to get her name “Mirdina,” and I learned that she was from mainland Turkey. She gave me a heaping bowl of fruit as I left, filled with figs and plums, a sweet colorful fragrant gift. Her smile was radiant and I was so happy to have a friend in my neighborhood, even if I couldn’t speak to her.

I invited her to coffee at my house and she said she would come Monday at 1pm, after Ashagu got out of school. Today was Monday and I wanted everything to be perfect. I made brownies with hazelnuts and chunks of Belgium chocolate. I had a bowl of cashews and tea biscuits ready. Tea cups standing at attention waiting to be filled… I had a little bowl of M&M’s to top off the treats. I sat on the front steps at 1 pm waiting for her. At 1:30, though not discouraged, I thought I would go in and hang out my laundry. By 2:30 I assumed something had come up. At 3:30 Dave drove by on his way into town and said he saw the little girl moving rocks from the street into the farm.

I made up a plate of treats and took them to her around 5pm. I convinced my children to come, Ian bounded ahead, Haley reluctantly came saying, “I don’t know how to speak to her!” and John nervously said “All I can say is Mehraba” Hello, “What if they start talking to me? “ “Just smile and nod,” I said. Ashagu met us and smiled, she took Haley, John and Ian to see the animals. I went in to see Mirdina and she smiled. She gave me a huge hug and gestured to the new ceiling! It was just put up today and with gestures and facial expressions I could see she was sorry she couldn’t make the tea, and I understood that she had to stay home to oversee the project. She tried to find a clean cup in the pile of dishes on the table waiting to be washed. Wow, how could she hold all this together? I told her I had to go to make dinner for my family and she seemed to understand. She gave me a huge hug and was so grateful for the brownies and M&M’s I left. Ashagu was still showing the kids around the farm. Ian was gleefully chasing some small chickens and then took after the geese who made a booming protest. Haley and John were petting the horses with beaming smiles. As I walked up, Ashagu put some grain in my hand and let me feed the horses. She gave me a brush to work on their mane.

After chasing Ian chasing the geese, I saw the Peacocks and one of the males was showing off his feathers. I was impressed with his display, and Ashagu gestured to me to wait and she disappeared. She returned with two amazing peacock feathers as a gift, a beautiful thoughtful generous gift that I have proudly displayed on my mantle.

What happened to the puppy? We kept him that night tied up on the front porch resting on towels. He curled up and seemed happy to be out of the torturous bush. He was black and white, part terrier with a little goatee of white hairs and black spots around his dark brown adoring eyes. His ears perked up into the perfect triangles that everyone who looks at him find irresistible. We all fell in love with this dog, with the exception of Dave. It was a windy night and he wouldn’t let us bring the flea infested pathetic creature into our house, and of course he was right. I couldn’t sleep very well though thinking about how cold he must have been and I got up twice to cover him with a towel.

The next day Haley and I drove 45 minutes on a windy road leading up the coastal mountains to the Kyrenia Animal Rescue. We stepped out of the car and Haley was beside herself with joy. 200 dogs sang out in a cumulative voice that echoed off the canyon walls reverberating back and forth into a deafening frenzy of sound. Haley loved it. We took our pup in and they took him. We couldn’t give a donation but we could donate time and they needed dog walkers. We took some dogs out on the mountain trails and had a blast. As we left, one of the workers said “Your dog won’t be here long. Some people who have seen him have already expressed interest in him.” Haley said that this was the best day of her life!

Today, believe it or not as we were making dinner, Haley said, “I see another dog mom, by the brambles.” She went to check it out, and as I write this, the last pup’s little brother is curled up on our porch patiently waiting for his turn to go to the Animal rescue. We are going back Weds.

One final encounter: Last Saturday afternoon, Dave was washing some dishes and looked outside to see a black snake at least 4 feet long slither into a whole in our rock fence! Yeiks. The night before some friends saw a small snake in our driveway and killed it. I wonder if the big one was it’s mother…after some research we learned this must have been a Cyprus Whip Snake, very long, but not very dangerous. We also learned that the Blunt Nosed Viper, the most poisonous snake in Europe likes to live in Lapta, our town. Yeiks again…



To see pictures of the pup check out my picasa photo site.

Cyprus Musings 2

I have been wanting to write for a while, but am learning that everything


you do in Cyprus takes about 3 times what it would take at home. For

example, I have a washing machine, front loading, something I would like at

home! But to wash clothes in it takes 2 to 3 hours! I'm not sure if that

is true of front loaders in the states, but something tells me that

residents in the states would have little patience for such delays. One

afternoon I thought I could throw in a load and hang it up before dark, it

wasn't done until 6pm!

Lambousa: We visited a historical site last week, as we do each week as a

field trip as part of homeschooling. Lambousa is an ancient place where

early settlers in the 13th century BC ! inhabited. Just the fact that

there is anything to see at all is amazing! There are some tombs and some

places where water was stored to keep fresh fish alive. It's hard to

imagine how the people carved these boxes out of the rock back then without

jackhammers, incredible! The tour books we have mention this site as a

place to visit, but what it neglects to say is that the local people use

this site as a dump. It was so sad and depressing to me. Such an

archeological treasure surrounded by waste. Plastic bottles, innumerable

shards of broken class from discarded beer bottles, even old appliances

surround this place.

This has been a recurring theme in the places we have visited. There are

places that tourists would flock to if the local people would take some care

of the places. But instead, there is a ton of trash at discarded

carelessly. So sad.

Shopping: Haley and I went to the South side of the Island last Monday with

some of the ladies from the team here. We went to an IKEA! It felt like

home. The Swedish Meatballs tasted exactly the same as those at home.

Haley and I enjoyed them so much. Then we went into a shopping mall to try

to find some jeans for Haley-since she keeps growing. It was so

interesting. None of the jeans really looked like those from home and Haley

was not interested in the "hideous" styles. Oh well, she is willing to make

due with less rather than "be seen in those jeans."

One thing I realized is that at home there are things to buy everywhere you

look. Shops spend a lot of time and money displaying the goods in ways that

are appealing to the eye and that catch our attention. A trip to Target is

a perfect example. It seems that every time I step into that store I see

things that I simply can't live without!

Dave and I were looking for a table cloth to save the table here from our

art projects, we went into a couple of stores and things are just placed,

what seems to us to be random. Nothing is displayed in a way that says "BUY

Me!" This has been good for our pocket book! There doesn't appear to be

any industry or handicrafts here. Imports from Turkey trickle into the

shops, but to the Western eye, the stores seem empty. By the way, we didn't

find a table cloth.

Time with family: This continues to be a highlight of our time here. We did

get a router so more of us can enter the informational highway at a time.

Still we spend time in the pool and watching movies. Pirated DVD's are a

big money maker here. The store near our house is run by British People. I

have seen other shops but can't say that I know if they are run by Brits

too. Apparently copying dvd's is not a crime in North Cyprus, and with an

imposed trade embargo, there aren't any other options. I do feel a twinge

of guilt watching them, and the quality is clearly reduced due to their

replication. It seems that "compromise" rarely delivers what it promises.

Break a little rule and it won't matter...but the resulting product is a

counterfeit.

Friends: Haley and John have made fast friends with Daniela and Stuart.

These are the children of my new friend Charlotte who is from Hong Kong and her husband is from Scotland. He works as an independent consultant in civil engineering and is here to work on a

problem with the dump in the capital city. They plan on being here for

another year. We had them over as our first dinner guests last Friday

night. We barbequed on an interesting version of a bbq that is here. It is

a metal box without a lid. We learned that it is very difficult to light

the coals, yet Dave still pulled off a perfect job of cooking the meat.

 The children continue to be devoured by the "no see um's," or "Sand flies," "or "biting knats"Ian especially and this is making me crazy. His face this morning has over twenty bites! And his hands and feet are covered by the red bumps.

This week we discovered that Avon's skin so soft once again comes to the rescue.  They have an Avon distrubution center in Nicosia right next to the Nike distribution center!  Go figure.  I noticed that a pair of nike flip flops were more than $40.00 US.  Don't think I'll be bringing those home.

Cyprus Musings 1

We have discovered some pleasant and not so pleasant things about Cyprus so far.


Let’s begin with the pleasant things: There are Kellogs cereals here, although we did find a bug in the box of Coco Crispies we just bought which was packaged in Turkey. I was told they aren’t as strict about their food prep as in America. They also have Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream for about $10.00 for a tiny little serving! They even have a quasi Burger King called “Burger City” and a “Kentucky Fried Chicken” spin off called “Chicken Run.” Ian can’t seem to get enough French Fries and Ketchup.

Another pleasantry is that I can see the Mediterranean Sea from my Kitchen window. A much better view than the grey brick wall I see back home. My kitchen is bigger too, with more storage, however I don’t have as much stuff to store since we are only here short term.

We went swimming in the Mediterranean a few times and have enjoyed the experience very much. Ian insists on swimming alone, yeah right like I am going to let him drift off to sea the little nut. Haley swims way past what I consider safe and has a blast body surfing. John has gained more confidence and enjoys having the waves break on him. Dave dutifully swims with Haley making sure she doesn’t try to swim all the way to Turkey. And I enjoy playing with Ian in the shallows.

Some of the unpleasant things we have discovered are what Southerners in the states call: “No See Ums.” We discovered their rather potent bites after Haley woke up one morning with 30 huge welts on her body. It was so weird, we had been here for almost 2 weeks with nothing like this, then all of a sudden one morning, bam. We did some online research and learned that this almost invisible bug, it’s not much bigger than a grain of sand, acts like a mosquito but has an exponentially worse effect on it’s victims. Haley is prime example! So being the vigilant parent that I am, I have declared war on these little vermin and will work hard to eradicate them from our home!

Finally, Haley has made a friend after two lonely weeks. She met a young girl who’s mother is from Hong Kong and whose dad is from Scotland. They have a sweet story of how they met. He works for the UN, so Daniela, Haley’s friend, has lived in many places and spent the last four years in Dubai!

One of the families here include three boys close to John’s age so he immediately had friends and enjoys these boys very much. Ian seems happy to toddle along and loves just about everyone he meets.

A note on getting here: all the kids did great. Ian was a doll. He had a rough time once he got here, tantrum after tantrum. But he seems to have leveled off to just one a day.

I am definitely experiencing some culture shock which I attribute to many things one of which are the smells. When I opened the cabinet under the sink a wave of unusual smells hit me and I discovered these were my cleaning supplies. It’s interesting that something so mundane as the unfamiliar smell of similar products can be so alarming. My new friend, who has lived here about a year, said that the first deodorant she bought when she first got here smelled like dill and she felt like a big pickle walking around town!