Our Neighborhood Our Neighborhood

Our apartment, and the school for that matter, are well located in town. We are a mere 10 minute bike ride to the medieval center. Flanked by fortified Venetian walls, downtown Nicosia is a hodgepodge of Greek, Turkish, the antiquated, the posh and new, and a lot of time forgotten.

We really enjoy a nice ride through the part of the city. There is always something new and hidden to see. Not to mention, our normal route takes right along the green line. Always refreshing to have your “Kalispera” – good evening- answered bask by the fellow holding an M-16.

Our house is a quaint and quintessential 40’s Cypriot bungalow, complete with pomegranate, fix, and lime trees. We are a two-minute ride to work and are flanked by a large park.

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Humi's Beach

Most if the beaches on the island are developed and under management of a local municipality or a hotel. Like most public areas, they are not dog friendly (Up till now, all parks have not been dog friendly, the anti-Europe of Europe). Unfortunately the justification does not lye in a state of hyper-cleanliness and orderliness, on the contrary the parks are generally ridden with trash… dirty park = no clean dogs???

So, in an effort to find a beach where we could take Humi we made a recognizance trip to a stretch of coast that is particularly rocky. A few kilometers east of the small coastal village of Kiti, 25 minutes west of Larnaka, e found a desolate dirt road that skirted the coast. Here we found some very rocky and often trashy beaches with no one in sight. Humi was free to frolic in the sand and due to the lack of waves, even swim like a real retriever!

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Bike Ride in the North

The first time I crossed the border there was a Turkish Cypriot cyclist waiting for me and my friend to take us on a nice ride to the base of the mountain range in the North. Good ride, great people, all in all a nice outing that will be repeated.

see photos- click on Slideshow

Bike Ride

I’m fortunate enough to have a cyclist friend who has lived on the island for 14 years and obviously knows a number of great spots for riding. On a blistering Saturday we did a long ride around the base of the Troodos mountain range.
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Dinner out with Colleagues

So far the school has been everything we expected. Small, resource wise, a bit outdated, the staff is very positive and professional and the administration is great. So, as a token of hospitality and good fortune for the coming school year, our director took all the new teachers and their respective liaisons out for a night of traditional Cypriot Meze.

The Cypriot Meze experience usually takes place at a taberna, where guests are served copious amounts of small dishes (reminiscent of tapas, except the overall quantity). The Cypriots are much more meat enfused than some of the region’s surrounding cultures.
Read up on Cypriot meze before you come and visit.

Cypriot Cuisine
Meze

See photos from our dinner click on Slideshow

We made it

After a fitful series of moves, Dallas to Atlanta (the summer in Quito), then Atlanta to Cyprus, we finally arrive to our new home at five in the morning, the 21st of August. We are tired, very tired.

We would like to take a moment to give out a international-digital “shout-out” to my main Dad, Mr. R.M. for the most Gandhi-like patience and support he gave us during our multiple moves. It was a hassle, but my father’s kindness and sense of humor (for those childhood friends who might be reading this- yes MY dad) made the ordeal so much less painful.

Our director, whose actions continue to remind us why we forebode a number of more lucrative teaching assignments, received us with a small bus at the Larnaka airport. We still had to struggle to make our 14+ pieces of luggage enter the van.

On a more frightening note, the customs official casually explained that due to the time, there was no official vet on call, and our dog-ter, Humita would have to stay at the airport until one could arrive and give her an official thumbs up. Myself, having read over the small bible of documentation required for bringing a domestic canine into Cyprus, promptly quoted paragraph C of section II, according to the 2003 European Union Annex, “Where as an official veterinarian can not be present upon entry into the Republic of Cyprus, the Customs Official on duty will be responsible for the clearance of all canine domestic animals”. He seemed less influenced by me than his colleague who had something else to say. Now, my Greek is non-existent, but I knew what the guy was saying, “Hey, Nikos, if we make this guy leave his dog here, WE have to take care of it”. So aforementioned Custom Official shoves a piece of paper in my face and asks me to provide my name and passport number and says, “Welcome to Cyprus”.

Wow, things are even more lax here than in Ecuador…

It turns out that the owner of the apartment the school had lined up for us didn’t like the idea of having a dog on the premises, to our good fortune the school gave us a house right across the street. It is a lovely typical Cypriot house from the 40’s. It has a few quirks, but makes up for it with character. Obviously the patio is a plus for Humi.