Claron, pack our stuff... 022106

Well, I woke up this morning and Cyprus is awesome. Sunny and bright… just the right temperature.
Last night, I found the deal closer. After I came home from work, I went for "fish" to Ziggy (this is spelled wrong) which is a fishing village about 35 minutes from Nicosia. I went with Kyriakos (whose name I previously butchered as Giriagos), Tatiana, and Chari to a small and deserted restaurant by the sea. The lady at the restaurant knew Kyriakos and Chari since they were very small children. She greeted them by name. We were seated and started some great chats. I really like this set of friends. Actually, everyone I have met in Cyprus has been extremely friendly, but Tatiana is my favorite.

The "fish" starts coming. For the first two courses, I saw no fish. Only different types of squid and octopus. As I am seriously freaked out by tentacles (which of course are still attached), I am hesitant to try. Everyone assures me that yes, this is really good, but only on Cyprus, where it is ridiculously fresh. I try it. Surprise, surprise! It is quite tasty. I am still a little freaked out by the tentacles, but I eat it. It is surprisingly NOT chewy or slimy. Who knew? Throughout the night, I am also prodded into eating some muscles which tasted okay, but were chewy due to the rim. I'll pass on those in the future. None of the food tasted fishy. It was great. When we finally got fish, it was superb (even though these also still had the head attached)!

After dinner, we went to Kyriakos' house on the sea. At this point, I fall in love with Cyprus. I am hooked. I read in the paper that you can buy an apartment on the sea for about $300K USD. Okay. Deal. Where can I sign the papers? The sea is super clear and warm and amazingly beautiful. I love Santa Barbara, but nothing so far is comparing to the Mediterranean as far as the sea goes.

I get to the hotel, talk to Claron and write postcards for two hours. If you don't receive a post card in about a month (or haven't received one in the past), you need to send me your address… I wrote to everyone on my list. The concierge laughed at how many post cards when I gave them to him to mail.

This afternoon, I leave for the UK. I am not ready to leave. There are still so many things that I want to see and do here. I think I would like to stay at least until the summer (only of course if Claron can come). But, for now, I still have to work. I hope all is well around the world.
Smiles,
Amanda