Finding Serenity

There's a special place that my friends and I like to go to in Proteras. One weekend a few weeks ago (before my parents arrived, actually), I called up a friend of mine and told her I wanted to check out the beach in Proteras. Little did I know, she had plans to meet up with a friend of hers there that afternoon. She told me that she was going to book us in a very special place, and that I would love it. When we arrived, I called up my friend Karen who happened to be just down the road in Ayia Napa with a friend of hers visiting from Athens. We all met up and stayed up talking and laughing until 2am. It was the perfect night and it all came together flawlessly-- good friends, good food, good company, and a beautiful beach. And what a group!-- a Greek actress, a Cypriot-American designer, a PR consultant from LA, and a Cypriot businesswoman. We stayed lounging out in the sun and playing in the cove until late the following afternoon, and several groups of our friends stopped by. It was paradise.

European Vacation

My Mom, Dad, and sister Katie came to visit Cyprus for a week in early June. My parents started with a cruise around Greece and then flew to Cyprus, where Katie joined us. We had a ball-- dining on mezze at Kyrenia Harbor, drinking a coffee on the Paphos boardwalk, soaking at the 1000-yr old hamam (Turkish bath), attending a reception at the DCM's house and dining at my boss's. Katie and I had a special afternoon all to ourselves lying on the beach in Agia Napa.
I think my parents were surprised by how much they enjoyed themselves. My Dad really liked the Cypriot breakfast (Cypriot yoghurt prepared with honey and walnuts), and Cypriot coffee. One of the highlights of the trip is when my parents, sister and I visited Selma the Coffee Reading Lady at Cafe Ozerlat in north Nicosia. She read my Dad's cup, and said that he seemed to be under a large boot. My Dad, ever the engineer, seemed very skeptical, until she turned the cup around, and showed us the perfect image of a large boot...shaped like Italy! (My Mom is Italian-American.) He was incredulous and asked-- "How did she do that?!" Luckily for everyone involved (especially my father,) my Mom thought it was funny, too.

London

Right after my blonde transformation, I flew to London for my friends' Robert and Katherine's wedding and to see my friend Chris. It was gorgeous and lots of fun. It was terrific seeing friends ranging from friends I had studied abroad with in Japan all the way to a friend I had worked with at the Embassy here in Cyprus. I saw a lot of the Wharton crew (including Linh, Debbie Liu, Brian, Julie, & Tim Viles), and it seemed like no time at all had elapsed. In between wedding events, Chris, his girlfriend and I toured the British Museum, checked out the East London markets, roamed the pubs, and went shopping at Selfridge's. I met up with Eleni for a lovely stroll along the Thames and some breakfast right by the water, and then saw Silke in the afternoon for a good pub lunch before heading back home to Cyprus.

Blonde Ambition

Well, I've gone and done it...I'm a blonde (yes, I know, I was blonde before). And no ordinary blonde...Greek blonde. Greek porn star blonde. My friend Demetris sent me to his hair stylist. He told me about how Christos worked with celebrities and lots of models, and how he had pictures of them all over the shop. And he was right. Kind of. What I didn't realize is that the celebrities were Playmates and Greek stars of dubious repute. As I was sitting under the dryer, I thought that perhaps it was taking a little longer than usual. And when he combed me out and dried my hair, and then told me had lived in Athens for 10 years, it all kind of clicked. Now I look like, in the words of one of my friends back home, one of the Persian ladies from DC. Ironically, everyone at the Embassy loves the new look.