Hamam

Today some friends and I from the Embassy visited the Turkish baths, or hamam. It was an absolutely amazing experience. The baths are over a thousand years old! We booked appointments for a soak and scrub (10 CYP for the baths, 6 CYP for the scrub). When we got there, our group was assigned our own little "lair" (Lisa's words) where we changed and were given a basket with our own scrubbie, a water bottle, two towels and a little silver bathing pan. We then marched en masse into the heated room and laid out on the heated marble. The areas closest to the core were the hottest. After we had been stewing awhile, we were led off one-by-one into a curtained room where we were scrubbed head to foot for 20 minutes. Literally, the whole top layer of my skin came off. Afterwards, we cooled down with alternating cool and hot baths, and then lounged around and drank tea in our lair. We grabbed dinner at the most amazing little Greek taverna afterwards.

Hitting the north

Today I hit the shopping malls in the north with my friend (and colleague) Ipek. Burberry at about 3/4 off-- eat your heart out. It was the first time I crossed the Green Line on foot. The taxi dropped me off, then I had to walk through this dead zone of bombed out buildings and photos of murdered Greek Cypriots. Weird and disturbing and so very sad.
Ipek picked me up on the other side, and we zoomed off to the outlet. It's a supplier for Burberry and other posh stores. I bought a gorgeous white cashmere coat, a beautiful tweedy brown skirt, a black party dress and a soft, beautiful blazer-- all for under $350. Amazing. Probably the only place where the dollar is strong these days. Ipek and I had a great time.
Tonight I'm going to a cocktail party with my friend Demetris. It should be a lot of fun. His family has been extremely kind to me.

Arriving at Post

It's been two weeks (to the day) since I've arrived at Post. What a whirlwind! New home, new culture, new country, new field, new career...My sponsors picked me up at the airport in Larnaca and dropped me off at the most gorgeous house. Three bedrooms, an office, a wrap-around porch...I'm living like a queen! My first day at work I had a Town Hall meeting and then lunch with the Under Secretary. Egads. What a way to start my first day of work.

It's been crazy. In the last two weeks I've appeared on TV, crossed the Green Line into the North, attended a Turkish Cypriot folk dancing festival, gone to campaign events for a friend who is running for local office, coordinated lectures for mobs of college students, and have toured Salamis, Nicosia and Famagusta.

My sister Christa has also had my first niece (!) The whole family is over the moon.

Several members of my friends and family have suggested I keep a blog, so I decided to give it a shot. I just wonder: is anyone going to read this thing?