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!