May 30, 2008

And now from Cairo. Dale started work last week, and since Adam and Natalie are visiting soon, I figured I would get in a quick visit to Cairo, as our friends Cathy and Stephen are leaving for Australia at the end of the month, and I wanted to say a proper farewell. We had a lovely dinner and chat, so it was well worth arriving home at 2:30am last night, as Dale headed off to Vienna. Adam and Jeff were at the hotel with us, so we enjoyed our time with them as well. I also got to visit with MJ for two days. Bless her heart, she took me to the Khan el-Khalili which is absolutely one of my most favourite places in Cairo. I know that I have mentioned before that it is the oldest bazaar and market in the world.
http://www.touregypt.net/khan.htm
The second day, we visited with one of her friends, blind Mary, with another lady Susan, who I had met when I spent last summer in Ma'adi. We had a lovely visit and then headed off to Neil's school to peruse his students' art exhibits. Afterwards we went to three parties! As the school year is winding up there, many of the teachers are off to other countries to work. One of the apartment blocks houses the Primary, Middle and High School Principals, and each one had a farewell party on their floor. We started at the top and worked our way down (which seemed a very wise option by the time we were done). I met many lovely and interesting people; again, some who I had met before and managed to catch up from where we had left off. Several others were interested in coming to Cyprus, so MJ will put us in touch when they do. There is no doubt that Cairo/Ma'adi is a second home-away-from-home, and MJ and Neil are a big part of the reason for that. Do give them a big hug for us when they get out to Comox in June.
I think that wraps up the exciting parts for a bit. I am looking forward to Adam and Natalie's visit on June 11. They are here for a week, so I will not be able to take them to everything we dragged Joel to, but I will do my best to fit in the highlights.
Take care and keep in touch.
Love,
Laurel

May 25, 2008

This week, my formal Greek lessons finished for the summer. We had a lovely wind-up dinner at one of our local Tavernas (not a lot of Greek was spoken). So now, over the summer I will have to be diligent and try to schedule some time every day to do my Rosetta Stone program. I think I had better review my lessons from time to time as well, or I will have to start in the beginners class again. Dale and I had a dinner out before he left and I tested out some Greek - it was enough to impress Dale anyway (plus I got some help from the proprietor!). Our favourite beer here is Keo - pronounced Kay-oh with the accent on the o. I still have a long way to go.

On Sunday we attended the inauguration of a Chapel that has been restored in Χαποτάμι - pronounced Hapotami. During the first hour and a half of prayers (all chanted) and speeches (all in Greek), I almost lost Dale. By then he was ready to walk home. However, I managed to convince him to hang around, and it was well worth the wait. I do think we can learn from the Cypriots though - half of them showed up at the very end of the ceremony, then stayed for the lunch and entertainment. There were probably 100 people at the service but they had set up tables and chairs under canopies for about 300 and it was packed. The troop that had performed in our village at Easter was out in full costume (in the hot sun) for the traditional dancing including the towers of glasses on the head (although it was windy this time, and some did fall and break). A full meze for lunch and singing and dancing - truly a Cypriot inauguration.
Continue to May 30 . . .

May 16, 2008

And finally an update on Peter. The surgery went well although it took 16 hours instead of the 6 - 8, as they had to work around some major blood vessels. And because of the length of time of the operation, they decided that he had had enough anaesthetics, so they didn't induce the coma. It has meant a longer recuperation, but today they sat him up for a bit, and he has been asking pertinent questions, but is still quite uncomfortable. They finally put him on an air mattress that inflates and deflates as needed when he moves and that is helping. He is not allowed visitors yet as he needs to get more sleep, but the Doctor's are pleased with how things are going. Linda has been a real trooper and is holding up very well so far. Thank you for all your prayers, and of course, more are welcome.

As we were staying close to home for a couple of days, we found and finished the loop on the motorcycle. Actually we extended it to Pachna and Avdimou, and found a little restaurant on the beach called Melanda. The scenery is marvelous, and we are definitely getting to know our way around better. The picture of me on the bike has a great view of all the terraced hills. We don't know when or by whom all the walls were built, but it is typical of the hills around here. Just think of the millions of man-hours to build them all, not to mention the tons of rocks (plenty of those around here).

Thursday we were invited to the RAF base at Akrotiri to watch the Red Arrows. They do their warm weather practises here in Cyprus, same as the Snowbirds do in Comox. They put on a lovely show as do the Snowbirds, and we were very pleased to be there. We even managed to get a couple of good photos (some sky shots too!).

In the evening we took in a local theatre production of 'The Odd Couple' (the female version) in Emba (a village almost attached to Paphos). It was very cute. The play was sold out, so we were very lucky to get tickets as late as we did. One of these days I am hoping to get Dale's schedule early enough to book a few things in advance.

Today, Friday (Happy Birthday Shelley!) Dale had his medical in Lefkosia and we stopped in Lemesos on our way back at a fantastic fish restaurant called 'The Old Harbour - Ladas'. The building was built in 1823 and was used as a Carob warehouse. The present restaurant has been operating there for 50 years. We had pita and dips for a starter, salad, veggies and grouper. All fresh of course. Every morning the local fishermen arrive at the restaurant bringing their catch of fresh fish which are served the same day. What a treat. Tomorrow I will have to get to Curves to work off the great food around here.

Bye for now.
Love,
Laurel

May 11, 2008

Sorry I haven't written since Easter, but things just seem dull after that. Then Dale came home on the 4th for 24 hours, left for 48 on an emergency trip, then returned again on the 7th. It must have been the sight of the job-jar list that had him running. So far, he has tackled three off the list, so yesterday we took the motorcycle into the hills behind Kouklia for a break. Twice now, we have gone out for a bike ride and forgotten our camera. Not only that, we forgot a map, so we weren't exactly lost, we just didn't know where we were. That and only a quarter of a tank of fuel had us return from whence we came. Checking the map at home, we could have continued, but we will save that for later.
Today being Mother's Day - Happy Mother's Day to you all - Dale made me a nice breakfast and off we went in search of roses. The village of Agros in the Troodos mountains is famous for its roses and a large cottage industry of small factories creating rose water, liqueurs, sweets, pottery, etc. The drive up and the scenery were spectacular. We had lunch (grilled lamb, roast potatoes, village salad and Keo beer) in a little Taverna in Agros on the side of the hill looking out over the valley. We stopped at a couple of churches including Ayios Ioannis and Ayios Theodoros which house icons from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Thankfully it only rained on our way up, but any rain is much welcomed here, as we are in the midst of a very severe drought. The sun came out though for our touring and it was sunny and warm again by the time we got back to the coast.
We will be staying close to home for the next few days, as our friend Peter is going in for an operation on Tuesday to remove a tumour from his brain. It is benign, so everyone is very hopeful and the prognosis is good. We would still welcome any extra prayers as it is a six to eight hour operation. He will be in an induced coma for two days, and hopefully all will be well after that. We will keep you posted.
So take care and hope you have a lovely day.
Love,
Laurel