whew!

This past weekend was pretty awesome. On Thursday we had to sit through 2 history lectures before going on a 3 hour long scavenger hunt around Nicosia. We had a surprise party for one of the guys, Chris’s, 21st birthday. We had 2 cakes and decorated our floor of the house with balloons. He was actually completely surprised. Afterwards we all went out to a club called Bling (yes, Bling) where we had a VIP room reserved. It was a great time.

On Friday we had to be at the school by 10 a.m. to meet the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Seeing as how we shut the bar down the night before, we were all looking and feeling our absolute best . We went downtown for a museum tour, and then some of us spent the afternoon shopping. By this time we were all dead so we decided to take the night off and stay in.

Saturday we were scheduled to take a trip to the mountains for the day. We ended up not going because of bad weather. The 8 of us girls living in Maro house decided to go out to dinner together. We went to a really Greek restaurant that Pantolis, Lauren’s cousin, recommended. I’m actually starting to like the Greek and Cypriot food.

That night me and another roomie, Alex, went and met up with some others at Lidra Palace for a UN Charity Boxing Match. We had to cross the Green Line for the first time since the palace was in the Buffer Zone between the Turkish and Greek sides of Cyprus. It was kinda scary, probly just because it was so dark and quiet out, but we made it. Everyone was all dressed up and the matches were actually really cool. I never thought I’d like boxing. Most of the matches were between guys in the British Army, but one was between two US Marines we knew. After that ended we went to a little taverna and I had some coffee…yum. Six of us ended up coming back to the house and hung out downstairs playing pictionary until we ran completely out of paper…we’re cool, I know.

On Sunday we had a free day. I ran some errands in the morning and went for a walk around the neighborhood to take some pictures. We cleaned the entire house in the afternoon. That night a local bar owner closed his place early and kept bartenders there all night so we could have the place to ourselves to watch the Super Bowl via satellite. It was really fun and I’m pretty sure they thought we were all insane Americans. Kickoff wasn’t until 2 a.m. so it was a late night.

Classes began Monday. I’m taking 5: Intro to the EU, Art History, European History, European Geography, and Cultures. All of the classes are 2 ½ hours long…which is rough to sit through.

Tuesday I went to my classes, the market for groceries, the bookstore for some schooly stuff, and to a soccer game. Two of our GLS kids, Chris and Rachel, were playing in it. It started at 10 pm and it was by far the coldest day in Cyprus yet. Not to mention we didn’t have heat or hot water at the house. It was just a miserably cold time. The game was great except for the fact that I couldn’t feel my toes. We got home and there still wasn’t heat, but the program directors brought us space heaters for in each of our bedrooms…which was nice, still cold though.

"There is no moment of delight in any pilgrimage like the beginning of it."
-- Charles Dudley Warner