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.