You Can Have Whatever You'd Like.

This past has been quite amazing, yet again. It seems like everyday just brings new and exciting things which makes me think I've been running on adrenaline for basically a month. Well I love it and I hope it doesn't stop.

Let's see . . . Tuesday I had class in the morning and in the afternoon we met with this woman named Nitza who is the sister of Kelly's dad co-worker. But anyways, she lives here in Cyprus and within walking distance of our apartment. Being here makes the world feel so small. She took us to her apartment and gave us wonderful treats from Zorba's and American coffee. She told us about how she was in her 20's when the invasion of 1974 occurred and she was forced out of her home in Famagusta. Famagusta still remains a complete ghost town today which means her house is still empty but she can't live there. We told her about how we had gone to the Turkish side and she explains that she refuses to show her passport to go home. She was so nice to us and sent all the extra goodies home with us and told us to call her if we needed anything.

We came back from her apartment so that I could go to my Greek class but it was cancelled : D

Tuesday night there was a International Student party at Club Teez. The whole thing was well organized that there was even a bus to take a group of us to the club. At the door we were all given name tags of celebrities or fictional character and in true European fashion, the whole night was open bar. It was a great time hanging out with other students from all over the world.

Wednesday was a quiet day spent recovering from the night before and preparing for the weekend ahead.

Thursday was another full day of classes (my only real day of alot of classes). At night, Kelley and I went to Club Fusion in the old city with a bunch of Erasmus students (foreign exchange students from Europe who study at the University of Cyprus. Basically the counterpart to GLS.)

We had never been before and we weren't sure what to expect. They played a great mix of techo, international, and R&B music and we had a fantastic time! Afterwards we went to Carlos and Antonio's apartment, only a few blocks from our home, for an 'afterparty' which was basically just hanging out and reviewing our Spanish vocab with great criticism from Carlos. Around 5, Carlos walked me and Kel home so we could make him his first ever grilled cheese. Which of course he thoroughly enjoyed. Once we saw the sun starting to rise, we knew it was probably time for bed.

Then it was Friday! This is the good stuff!!!

We woke up around noon, showered, packed, and called a service taxi and off we went to Paphos!! Martin had already gone the day before so he wasn't able to drive us there. So instead we called the service taxi which came around 3. A service taxi is a van that is used to get from city to city and airports. We picked up a few more kids in Nicosia and headed south. We had a short stop in Limassol where we switched vans and picked up some other people and then we went to Paphos. We go there sometime around 7 and Martin picked us up and took us to our hotel. The hotel was completely empty and we had to call once we got there so they could come and check us in. Regardless, the hotel was fantastic. There were four beds, a kitchen, and a huge balcony that had a view of the sea!

Once we were settled, we walked to a tavern next to door that was scheduled to have live music to try and get some dinner with Martin and his wonderful friend, Rochelle (from England). The owner of the bar informed us that because it was the off season all he had were a few portions of lamb and two portions of pork so we took it all. I attempted the lamb but I was not a fan so I had some pork instead. The place was kind of dead when we got there but it ended up being a great time! Once they found out we were from America, they gave us so many rounds of free drinks I can't even count. The music was great and we ended up dancing and singing for hours. The owner's son, Stephanos, ended up being a professional traditional Greek dancer and showed us all a few things. Also, Kelley showed off her Irish dancing skills to a group of couples from Ireland. All in all it was a fantastic night with great music, food, and people. We went in there around 7:30 and didn't leave until 2:30. After that we went to sleep as quickly as possible so we could enjoy the next day.

We woke up at 11 to beautiful blue skies so we put on our bathing suits and wandered down to the shore. The water was cold but not too cold to stop us from swimming. We jumped off some rocks into a lagoon where you could see straight to the bottom. Of course I was the first one in : ) I am proud to say. We swam about for awhile before drying off on the rocks from the sun. I could not have been happier. We watched the sunset and Kelley and I even met two guys from Iraq who were super nice to us, surprisingly enough. Afterwards, we made a quick stop at a supermarket to get some supplies to make our Valentine's Day dinner. After dinner Martin came over with his travelling hairdresser and I had him cut my hair! It was a risky endeavor considering Martin has ZigZags shaved into the side of hair but I love my hair now! And it only costed 5 euros!

Then we went out to a bar called Robin Hood that was shaped like a castle and had fun drinks like margarita's and pina coloda's. The music was great so we stayed and danced for a while before we went down the street to a karoake bar. We all had a great time and I may have sang The Devil Went Down to Georgia . . . and I Want You Back with Kel and Lauren. Good times. Around 4:30 we headed back to the hotel where I insisted it would be a good idea that Kelley and I jump into the pool. It was a freezing but it was a good laugh. At some point we made it to sleep.

Sunday. Sunday we got up and checked out of hotel around 1 and had lunch at a great pizzeria with a view of the water. It was a bit cooler out but we still went and laid by the water. We watched the sunset again and explored this really nice hotel :D Anyways, we finally met Martin's mom before we went back so we could talk to her about our plans for Egypt. She was very nice and it seems like everything is set. Less than 2 weeks! I can't believe it! Around 8, we all piled into the little hatchback for the two hour drive and headed home.

Yesterday was a lazy day but I finally got my hands on some stamps so some things are on their way back to the US of A. Oh and I have my first test today in Greek at 6 so we will see how much I've learned! Today is also Lauren's Birthday which means it should be another great day here on the island in the sun!

Hope everyone likes the posts and I always love emails! And don't trust Doug to tell me anything including a simple "Hello" > : o . . . : )

Love everyone and hope you all had a great Valentine's Day!!

From Coast to Coast

Let's see. This week. I don't really even know where to start. Tuesday was a normal school day and Wednesday was too. We went to Bennigan's for some more amazing milkshakes and then out to Ithaki at night for an open bar which was very fun, as always.Thursday is full of classes for me and the day started out normal, except in the afternoon on Wednesday, Anwar stumbled to our apartment after he had been hit by a car while riding his bike. He managed to make it to our apartment about a block away and Martin took him to the hospital. The woman driving didn't stop or anything. But I bet this kind of stuff isn't unheard of because people here drive out of control. He's alright now, just beaten up for a couple of days. I went to the rest of my classes and then Lauren, Martin, Kelley, and I went out to a new club that had just opened up. Well it was definately an interesting experience but one that I think we could all agree on not participating in again. But anyways, once that was a bust, Martin took me and Kel to the only place that still serves food past two in the morning. Its called 'quik stop' and well it was pretty good. We spent the rest our night getting caught up on the Office and watching 'Two Men and a Half' (Martin's personal fav.)

The next day was Friday and so the weekend started. We (Kel, Kel, Lauren, Martin, Zenobia, and Me) had planned to go to the Turkish side similiar to what Dana and I did on Monday. However, it did not go as planned. Martin agreed to drive us but we ended up driving across the border instead of walking through the old city. The whole place is very disorganized and stragnely set up. We were all very confused and of course, Martin forgot his passport once we got through the traffic so we had to run home and get it again. Its very strange being in a UN buffer zone in the back seat of a green hatch back while everyone is beeping at you for stopping traffic. But none the less, it was entertaining. We finally got across in the late afternoon but didn't really know where to go. The Turkish side is very different from the developed Greek side. We browsed a few shops and a monument of some sort (none of us could read the plaque in Turkish so we didn't know what we were looking at). Then decided to try some food from the local 'Donerista'. Who would have thought that I would try Turkish doner and like it?! Well I did. Zenobia (from Ghana) also bought this fruit called leechie from a stand on the side of the road. Its covered in a hardshell and resembles an eyeball on the inside. Hmmm. But anyways, also very good. Then it had gotten dark and we decided we should head back considering we didn't really know our way around. Luckily we figured it out with not too much trouble and made it successfully back to the Greek side.

Once we got back, we all got ready to go out to dinner for ,our neighbor, Kendra's birthday. We all went to a small restaurant in the old city for Cyprus meze. The place was soley filled with us GLS kids (and Martin of course). It was a great dinner and a great cozy place with great conversation. After our wonderful dinner we headed back home for a hang out night because we had a big day ahead of us. We just played some more Bullshit, more of the Office, and of course "Two Men and a Half" (which I have to say is quite an awful show). But of course Kel and I stayed up way to late and barely got any sleep but I think my body is getting used to it.

On Saturday we had to get up and be on the bus by 10. Today we were going to Kyrenia. A town on the Northwest shore in the Turkish side. This all meant we had to cross the border the same as we did the day before. Its a pretty simple process with really no problems except Lauren ended up taking a picture from the bus of some of the UN soldiers and apparently that is not okay at all. So a guy ended up coming on to the bus and had her delete the photo. That is not something you see everyday. But all is well and it makes for a good story.

The actual distance of Nicosia to Kyrenia is really not far at all, maybe twenty minutes. We first headed up the mountains to a castle! A real castle! It was the most beautiful place I've ever seen. It was set high up and over looked the see. I have pictures but it really just doesn't do it justice. We were all so excited to finally see the sea and it was just so beautiful. After a little while, we got back on the bus and headed down to Kyrenia. Once again, taking a full scale charter bus up the side of a mountain is not the safest of activites in Cyprus. Next they took us to Bellapais Abbey. It was a beautiful church with Gothic arches set right between the mountains and the water. Did I mention the weather was perfect? Well it was. Probably 69 and sunny.

After an hour, we headed back to the bus for another desitnation. Kyrenia Castle and Harbor was the last stop of the day. We got a chance to explore the castle and once again it was so beautiful. It sat right along the shore and with no restrictions like in the US, you could climb all over the place and sit on the rock walls and stare at the sea.

After we had our princess fun, we went to the harbor to have lunch. We sat right along the waters edge surrounded by ships that looked like they could be used by real life pirates. The whole place basically looked like Disney World except it was all real. Oh and while we were waiting for our food, cats began to appear from everywhere and sit under my chair. One kitty jumped into Lauren's lap and then into mine. It purred at me :D and then when I tried to put it down, it bit me > : o. I guess you win some and you lose some. Moral of the story - don't pet the Turkish cats.

After our long, wonderful day in the sun we boarded the bus for home. Then we all took basically a four hour nap : ) its what princesses do. With all of restored energy, we decided to go to a club to work it off. A late night turned into morning really quickly and I'm pretty sure me and Kel didn't go to bed until 8 in the morning cuz Martin kept knocking on our door.

Regardless of lack of sleep, Martin has promised to take us to the beach the next day. So on Sunday, we got up, put of flip-flops on and piled into the car. Sometime during this process I managed to burn my arm on a frying pan. I guess that kind of stuff is started to be expected from me. Its fine now, I dont know when I'll learn to not be so clumsy.

It only took about 45 minutes to get to Larnaca which was great. We parked in a sketchy garage and practically ran to the water. It wasn't too warm outside but that didn't stop us from rolling up our pants and walking out as far as we could. The water - not that cold at all. Martin took a video that's on youtube if you search under American Girls in Cyprus. Its kind of long but we love it. Everyone thought were strange probably because some of them were in winter coats because they have no idea what cold is. We wandered around to a couple of shops and then had dinner at TGI Friday's. It was another great day and I'm started to feel really spoiled because everything has just been really great so far and I don't understand how I can be this lucky.

Were thinking about spending our Valentine's weekend together by going to Paphos (a city on the south shore) for two nights. I found a hotel for super cheap so its looking good. Paphos is where Martin lives so he's gonna hook me up with a haircut and were going to meet his mom who's helping us with our Egypt trip. Which may be the following weekend but I can't even get started on that because it blows my mind that I'm going to go there. Its all so much to take it but I'm loving every second of it. I hope I didn't write too much, I just have so much to tell!

Love everyone and I hope all is great there!

This weeks tales . . .

Hello Everyone! I had my first full week of classes last week and well its good so far. Nothing too extreme but only have three days of classes has really freed up my week which I love. Oh I should mention my Greek class. Its only Americans in my class and its a good thing. Its going to be so hard because first you have to learn the alphabet and the sounds and then learn the vocab and grammar. Its been fun so far but we'll see how it goes.

Tuesday night we went out to a jazz club for some drinks and dessert and it was great. We just mingled with some other GLS kids and Martin is back so we didn't need to take a cab which is great because it all really adds up.

Wednesday I had two more classes but stayed in at night because I was getting a bit sick and I have alot of classes on Thursday. After my full day of classes, we all headed out to start off the weekend. Friday was a lazy day that was concluded with a game of Kings with the roomies and out to Bling which has become the place to be on Friday nights.

On Saturday, we went and did a little shopping and then decided to have an American dinner at Bennigan's which is only 10-15 minutes walk away. Well, my dinner was delicious but Kel, Kel, and Lauren had burgers which they said were the most awful thing ever. So no more burgers at Bennigan's. We ended our meal with probably the best milkshakes ever and enjoyed a game of futbol ; )

Lata, Me, Kel, and Dana went to a club (again : )) but we got in for free because well we had our names on a list ; ) That was really a milestone for me. Its a good thing we didn't have to pay either because we were completely ripped off by our cab driver who was sitting at a green light but o well. He gave us his card and we will be sure not to call him again. I also got a free t-shirt which was saweet. Saturday = good night.

Sunday, we all decided to venture around our neighborhood a bit and found the perfect tanning spot on the roof of apartment building across the street where some of the other Americans live. The four of us walked for awhile with Dana and Jake (GLS boys)and ended up on this ridge where I had gone on my bicycle adventure and we watched the sun set. bitchin'.

Then, being Superbowl Sunday n all, Kelley and I decided to order ourselves some fried chicken from a place called SFC (Southern Fried Chicken). It was pretty good besides the fact that the delivery boy got lost and didn't have change and didn't speak very good English. It was an adventure all in itself.

The Superbowl didn't start here until 1:30 am so we had alot of time to kill before the game started. So we played Bullshit with Martin and Anwar which was very entertaining.

For the game we went to the local bar we went to the first night we got here because he had promised to have the game on. I was surprised that more Americans didn't come to watch the game but I guess the program is filled with girls so what can you expect. It was very strange to watch the game with mostly girls and the few guys that we there were not very into it. There was however a large group of Asians who came to see the game but were pretty sure they didn't know what was going on. Kelley and I stayed for the whole game ever though most everyone left at halftime. By the end, I was pretty much the only person routing against the Steelers left which helped the win to sting more. It was almost 5:30 when it was over and I had a big day of adventuring tomorrow!

Since I do not have classes on Mondays, it has been officially declared as my mini-adventure day! Dana didn't have class either so we decided we would walk to the old city and cross into the Turkish side. I was very unsure of what to expect. We also didn't really know how to get to the city so were definately shooting in the dark. We started walking in the assumed direction until we were unsure. Dana asked a guy which direction the city was in and he said he was headed there himself and we could just follow behind him. His name was Radwan and he was a welder from Paphos. He took us to the Greek side of the city and pointed us in the right direction from there. We grabbed some ice cream and then went across the border. It more or less just a little check point that doesn't even require you to go inside. It was pretty basic, all you need is your passport. They stamped a little piece of paper and we were in.

We wandered for a while and then decided to sit and eat. Not feeling very food adventurous, I opted not eat. Dana ordered some question mark lunch and disgusting yogurt drink. I tried it thinking how bad can it be but it was awful. There was a checkerboard in the bush next to our table so we played a game. Meanwhile a kitty came over and Dana fed it some fries. I thought what a nice kitty cuz all of the otherones we'd met so far had been friendly. But boy was I wrong. It scratched me and made me bleed. Bad kitty!

After lunch we wondered for a few more hours. All the people were extremely friendly and some store owners gave us their email and offered to cook us lunch or dinner. Only if the cats were as nice as the people.

It definately felt strange because it was very obvious that the Turks don't belong in the city and I can very easily see why many Greeks don't ever go over. As a matter of fact, Martin, who has lived in Cyprus for ten years has never been across the Green Line but he's planning on going with us on Friday!

The city is just generally more rundown on the Turkish side but it was definately interesting to see. A little after 4, we decided to catch a cab home but the driver said it would be ten euros so we thought we would walk instead. One problem, we had no idea how to get home, just once again, a general direction. We just started walking and kept walking for a really long time. We ended up back here sometime around 6. I don't know how but somehow we got back. My feet hurt but it was a good day and the weather was beautiful!

Martin made us all dinner which was good even though we didn't eat until 11:30.

Good day.

Well its sunny outside again today so we are going to head to the roof!

Rumor is, its the warmest day so far!!!!