camping at akamas

................................................................upon our arrival. there was a herd of goats there too, but i was unable to capture them on camera.















setting up camp- about to wine & dine (that thar' grill yonder is what they call souvla!).



next day, our campsite.


a trip into town for breakfast.

































sea urchin. yum!



beautiful, inspiring nature. the pic of course does not do it justice.





















forever young and beautiful! paris standing in front of aphrodite's bath (small waterfall and rock pool where she purportedly bathed).



later that night when we got back to the homestead, maria fernanda's (ma fer's) parents arrived from ecuador (wedding is this saturday). there was a welcome feast of more... you guessed it, souvla!

here we all are:

the dads.

the moms.

the already wed soon to be newly weds, chris and ma fer. last year they had a catholic ceremony in ecuador; this year they do the greek orthodox version here in cyprus.

















paris and his papu.
















me and ma fer's sister veronica.



-FIN-

it's 6:45 in the a.m. at the time i start this post and i am up why? to make paris a frappe before he goes to work. yup, it's what i'm doing in exchanging for him trying to quit smoking his cigs. eww... yup, all that for amour and a cleaner, healthier existence together.

it's not so bad though- being up this early that is. i get to see the sun rise and the whole house is up this morning- usually it's just the people who have to go to work, but today, his middle brother chris and ma fer are up too to go pick figs in the perivoli (which i learned today and means plot of land w/fruit). apparently they go at this hour because the fruit is still cold from being chilled overnight and it's still nice and cool out, and therefore tolerable. remember, it's usually a thousand degrees here during the day.

these are the figs everyone loves so dearly and which are free!:

so yeah, it's an early morning here at chez papachristodoulou and i'm actually thankful for catching the first hours of the day.

yesterday i felt like i'd been run over by a MAC truck, so it's good stuff to be feeling healthy again!

umm... so yeah, i'm up, early and wanted to blog.

we went camping this weekend, as you know if you read my last post, and dontcha know it, wound up with a flat tire right before we were to take off and were consequently delayed 2 hrs before getting the F outta dodge. sucked, but as always, 'twas an experience.

here's the whole thing in bits:

paris learns how to change a flat tire and actually changes the tire (with help from several calls to his bro who's a mechanic) all at once.

meanwhile (for added effect) it's the only day it decides to rain in cyprus and the clouds are looking heavy:


and there's me looking doubtful:




















yeah, it ain't the most flattering pic...

so yeah, that was our not so hopeful start, but after all was said and done, and we arrived at our destination just as the sun was about to go down, and we rapidly set up camp, it was... it was just marvelous!

here's a glimpse:

















you can't see us, but we're there... in the middle and slightly left...that blue blob w/the red dot. that's our tent and the umbrella we set up for shade. i'll post more pics in a separate blog after i'm done here.

stunning views...virgin territory... near complete privacy, save passing boats from time to time. it was so freeing that the 2 of us went nude for a good portion of the day. viva la vida desnuda!!!

mmm... and there were sea urchins that we dug up and ate right there. well, you don't really dig them up, but you loosen them from the tiny holes in which they hide among the rocks.

oh, and aphrodite's baths which we visited... a lil' ways outside our camping area.

ugh... and the treacherous road to get there...to the camp site that is. yeah, that was an experience. windy dirt roads, littered w/rocks sharp enough to slash your tires, and danger signs going all the way up the mountain saying "do not enter"...followed by views of the drop that goes straight down to the water just an arm's length from the car. yup, fun stuff!

here's a bit about akamas peninsula, which is where we camped... part of the paphos region.

http://home.clara.net/heureka/cyprus/akamas.htm

and i'll wrap up here and show you the rest in pics.

xoxo,
p.

happier moments

so it's saturday and soon we'll be heading to paphos for one night's worth of camping. woohoo! it's so nice to get away.

this is paphos:
http://www.cyprusisland.com/01_Information/paphos.htm

anyway, i'm going to make this short... since we still have yet to gather the gear, which takes about 45 mins, apparently...1 tent for sleeping; another for shade and cooking; a blow-up bed; a water tank for shower (nope, this ain't organized camping, so no facilities); all my personal needs (sunscreen, bathing suit, towel, etc...); 2 coolers for food n'drink; and whatever else we might need.

i'm excited!!!

yesterday was a good one too...

the below pretty much sums it up:

TAVLI...what we played:

Paris's cousins, with whom i spend the days commiserating about village life in Anaphotia:


eww... songbirds... an illegal meal here in cyprus (they set up nets to catch them as they make their annual trek south from poland):


to cap the night off, a trip to to kokomo's (bar/pub/nasty brit hang out where paris used to be a regular):

music, the night, love, and fun!

WEEK 1 pics

PICS: WEEK 1

week 1: early musings and email excerpts

yia sas! (yassas)

hello my peeps! and here is the inception of my very 1st blog, as promised.

and... and since i am too lazy at present to recapitulate the last 6 days, i will let my premier post be a medley of excerpts from emails written to friends over the past few days (express apologies to the recipients of those emails who i can imagine might feel a tad betrayed by me making their personal from-me-to-them notes public, but again, i don't have the gusto right now and i do want to get this thing started!, so...)

here goes:

DAY 4 8.6.07
EXCERPT I
just got finished eating dinner... am stuffed and feeling gratified. we're headed to go see a movie tonight in the city... probably fracture. we haven't really gone out since i've been here, which is fine, so it's nice for a change of pace. well we did drive to the city at 2 am on saturday, but wound up just getting some sweets at one of the late night bakeries that are so popular here and then driving around so i could see everything before going home. was nice and i didn't mind terribly that we didn't go out. it's such a small place and paris keeps on saying that we can't do everything right away or else there won't be anything to do. so far, so good. i'm grateful for the slower pace and getting to know the customs and culture. just 1 day at his house and you learn so much... for one families tend to live next door to the grandparents, like paris's maternal grandparents who live right next door. even though paris says they aren't super close, they're constantly buzzing about, making small talk, etc... family is everything and there is a real sense of sticking together and making sure everyone is OK. for instance paris is job hunting right now and the whole family has been working on it to get him a job- asking around, taking him to places to go fax his resume, etc. etc... and they're doing the same for me... they want to see to it that we get off on the right foot here. i thought i would be annoyed by everyone being so involved, but i'm not. you can tell they really care and i haven't felt like they're judging me or anything... they've been super welcoming, and i think they're just happy that their son is happy so it's cool.

(update: paris got a job today! went in for the 2nd interview and they had the contract ready. he starts friday which is a bit of a bummer since we had planned to go up to the mountains, but this also means we'll be moving out on our own sooner, so it's overall a GOOD thing)

EXCERPT II
so life here is super chill and the family is really sweet... the mean granny next door has been good. she might be thinking something, actually i'm sure she is, but she's putting up a good front. says hello and showed paris and me pictures today in her yard- which is right next door...she's always in and out, a part of daily life & all day up in the biz'ness.

oh, and his father's mother- who lives in the next village- so typical greek. he he! we went to her house and she's 80 something and in the thousand degree heat there she was outside in her yard, toiling about in her orange trees, all dressed in black, with a black kirchief on her head. they're so active here- even in this heat and being 80/90 yrs. old. crazy! her house was very rustic, quaint and intimate w/lots of light and straw chairs in the kitchen... she served us some turkish dessert made of gelatin and sugary rose water. and since it was paris's birthday, she had $ ready to shove into his pocket. very cute. he of course refused, but she insisted and they carried on like that for awhile. life here is like going back in time here. seriously.

umm... so yeah. tonight i think we're going to the movies- to see fracture in larnaca. we haven't gone out out yet... drove into the city at like 2 a.m. on saturday- got dressed n'everything for the occasion but just wound up getting sweets from one of the "fornos"- the late night bakeries paris has been raving about. it was yummy too and still cool just to see the city at night. everything is very structured here it seems when it comes to going out... paris broke it down and there are like 5 stages of a night out on the town, beginning at 9:30ish and going to like 4 or 5 in the morning. first you go and have a couple of drinks at one place, then to another type of place, and it just keeps progressing till you get drunk enough to feel comfortable dancing and wind up at a club. he he...

DAY 6 8.8.07

EXCERPT I

so here's a wee lil' update... am typing away at a feverish pace while taking a break at paris's friend's office in the center of larnaca. 'tis nice and air conditioned and clean... thankful for the break from his fam...nobody's here but us 3 and the 2 of them are upstairs, chattin' away in greek, so i'm getting a lil' sanctuary. SOOO.... so, so far so good, although there have admittedly been some kinks. mainly regarding the language barrier and everyone speaking greek 24/7 and me having to wait for someone to translate, or making up scenarios and conversation topics based on the lil' i can decipher of the language combined w/their facial expressions and the inflexions in their speech- pretty much like watching a soap in another language. and lastly, when all else fails, and it's just become plain out overwhelming and tedious, i pass out and nap to stave off boredom. so yeah, that has been a bit of a bitch, but i guess a blessing in some respects too, as there is simply only so much i can take in and as a newcomer i'm enjoying observing, so in that way it's a nice lil' mental vacation at times. yeah, the family is pretty much with us at all times and they talk A LOT (about everything under the sun i assume, but then again, paris says they're constantly repeating the same conversation)...in any case, there's always the talking, the talking, and although i enjoy it for the most part, i do like my solitude from time to time and prefer not to partake in every ounce of conversation.

nonetheless life has been hella easy, and tranquil, and we spend the days napping, eating, going to the beach and just BSing. and i expenses are uber minimal- i haven't spent a dime, so that's also been nice... no worries, pretty much. except finding a job! paris got one today and will start on friday so now the pressure's on me to find one too. can't be spending all my days lazing about at the house while he's working... and i have to learn how to drive...they drive on the other side of the road here, plus they all drive standard, which i don't know YET. must learn. must be mobile.

(update: will probably wind up taking driving lessons which supposedly go for about $100- not bad- but will try with paris first before making that move. also might try and ride his grandfather's other scooter, but again, that requires lessons. lots to learn here it seems!)

EXCERPT II
what the 411 be, ay? well, right now we're just lazing about in his kitchen- a huge past time of daily life here in anaphotia. so far we haven't done much, but the days still feel full. today we went to the beach for a bit, but didn't get down onto the sand...just sat at an outdoor lounge and had a beer... i actually preferred doing that today then getting sandy and falling asleep on one of the beach chairs. prior to that we stopped by his friend kiriako's business, in the heart of larnaca. it was a nice lil' change of pace, just the 3 of us there, and kiriako was friendly and made sure to speak in english a significant portion of the time. we have pretty much been surrounded by the family 24/7 and although they are sweet, it can become quite exhausting after some time... you know, the constant talking (they talk constantly and very loudly), and on top of it the conversation being in greek... and just their constant presence. they're really nice and welcoming and apparently really like me, so it's not that difficult (i feel pretty much at home), but you know, i like my solitude at times and so i have to retreat and go disappear in paris's room from time to time (which thank god has a/c!).

so yeah, that has pretty much been the scenario these past 5 days. eat, sleep (nap alot), and make the occasional trip to larnaca to do something else- like see a movie, or like we did today, go to a cafe. we were 'sposed to go the vineyards later to help his grandfather but looks like that's been vetoed. yeah, his grandparents live right next door and are super active on the land, which they have lots of! yumm... they have figs, and oranges (which we don't eat, but they make other things from), olives, and grapes. it's beautiful. and the fresh figs.... ooh la la. i've never had them before and they are divine. there are 3 varieties and we go and pick them and eat them right there.

umm... and the mom's food is excellent... she makes everything from scratch. she makes dessert, they do a lot of things on the barbecue (apparently a cypriot barbecue to make things like souvla), fresh calamari, char-grilled porgy (on bbq again), she's always making bulgar w/a tomato sauce which is again, yummy, and there's always the standard salad of cucumber, tomato, and onion, and sheep's milk yogurt to accompany the meal. yum! and everything, everything is topped off with fresh-squeezed lime (guess lemons aren't in season at the moment). oh, and frappe of course and the lil' demitasses of strong coffee.

DONE WITH EXCERPTS!!!

ok and am now going to wrap this up.. apparently paris's bro chris and his evil bride maria fernanda, who goes by ma fer, and who demetra and i like to call "mo fo", have arrived from NY. they're here for their 2nd wedding- the greek orthodox ceremony, at which they are expecting only a mere 2,000 guests!!! we'll see how it goes. i'll take pics of course. it's in 3 weeks. will keep you posted. opa!

signing off...

xoxo,
p.