Home for the Holidays

I went home for the holidays. Back to Texas, to be exact, which is my new home after being my old home. Got it? Good. Because I had a hard time absorbing it all. My entire family (parents and both sisters) had moved! So much had changed! My new niece (the one born 3 days after I left the country) was 13 months old. My cousin got married. My sister is seriously dating a guy. I've lost three of my great-aunts and uncles in the last year. Even though all the changes made my head spin, I had a terrific break with my family. I spent two weeks with my immediate family in Houston, and a few days with my grandfather and extended family in Ohio. We spent a lot of time shopping, hanging out, and taking long walks around the duck ponds. I even got to witness my niece's first steps and accompanied her on her first trip to the zoo. What a treat!

The Cruise

One of the best ways to get to know the inhabitants of your host country is to go on a cruise and share vacation. I, and a 1000 of my closest Cypriot friends, went on a cruise of the Greek islands. Together, we traveled from the port of Limassol around Rhodes, Tinos, Mykonos, Santorini, Lesbos, Symi and Crete. There were moments of sublime wonder (drinking coffee while overlooking Santorini harbor) mixed with moments of abject horror (trying to clear Greek customs with two cruise ships full of Cypriots and Germans-- can you imagine any two cultures further apart?! There literally was almost a riot.) We missed Tinos (a traditional island of pilgramage) on our first docking, so after sailing past Mykonos and Santorini, the devout yayas (Cypriot grandmas) onboard mutinied and forced the captain to TURN THE BOAT AROUND and go back to Tinos. There's a myth that if the The Virgin Mary does not like someone, She will not let the boat dock in Tinos. Quite frankly, I'm surprised we made the cut.

In Rhodes, I met a tour guide who used to work at the U.S. Embassy and who introduced me to the delight of ouzo candy, a specialty of Rhodes. Delicious. In Lesbos, I visited a monastery where a monk had fashioned an image of the Archangel Michael from the blood-drenched soil of his church courtyard after miraculously being the sole survivor of an attack on the abbey. A fresco of Michael in the same monastery is rumored to have disappeared for three days (and then reappeared) during the landing of Turkish troops in Cyprus in 1974. After docking at 7am, I made the pilgramage with other Cypriots to Tinos, "The Island of Faith," to the church of the Annunciation of Mary. We walked through the quiet streets and bought 3-foot high candles along the side of the road to light in the church. I lit a candle for my friend's Mom, Pam, who recently succumbed to breast cancer. In Mykonos, I dined at La Pasta Nostra and walked around the charming streets. In Santorini, I took the cable car up the side of the mountain, enjoyed a Greek frappe (a speciality coffee drink) at Select Cafe, and took a boat tour around the hot springs and hiked up the volcano. In Crete, we missed the closing time for Knossos (site of the Minotaur) by five minutes, so we returned to Heraklion and enjoyed some cheese pie, a specialty of the island. Even though our boat overheated on the way in, Symi may have been my favorite spot. It was a jewel. I had no expectations about it, but truly enjoyed the beautiful pastel-colored homes and charming scenery.

Any way you slice it, my cruise was a trip to remember.

Maki-chan

I was absolutely delighted to receive a visit from my friend, Makiko. After unexpected stopovers in Nagoya and Dubai (passport issues--make sure you've got 3 months left on yours if you intend to visit!), Makiko flew in. We climbed around Bellepais, attended a reception at the Ambassador's residence, explored the mosaics in Paphos, and just generally caught up and hung out. It was a true relief after the horrendous events of July, including my friend Tom's suicide (he was the defense attache at the Embassy.) I'm thrilled that she's doing so well in Tokyo, and am still happily munching on the strawberry-covered Pocky that she brought me.

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.