Reflections on a holiday from home

Anna not quite 'engaged' with the
whole snow concept!

I wasn't expecting to live in this not very attractive city on the edge of Europe and take holidays at home.  If this had been suggested 6 months ago; it would not have got my vote.  However, as the year went on, as Ross' travel schedule became hard to follow and we all became involved in more activities; I think we all just grew weary.  By the time December rolled by, the thought of just hanging out and relaxing as a family  became very appealing.  Hence this blog.

So, what did we do?  Only one week into the school term and it feels like a blur already.  Perhaps a few photos will spark my memory.  Ah yes, the Camel Park.  Jessie, Angus and Sam were all dead keen to ride a real live camel......that is; until they sat on it and the camel stood up.  Anybody who has partaken of this delightful experience would well know that the 'rise up' from the camels sitting to standing position is nothing short of a LURCH.  Following that rather scary experience one finds themselves up a great deal higher than expected riding a wobbly legged camel who just might be a tad hard to 'bond' with.

As you can see from the picture above; Sam was completely freaked out by the mere movement of the camel and was not keen on persevering with the bonding process.  Much to Jessie's horror, it only took a few of Sam's deafening screams to 'rattle' the camel and before we knew it, the camel was doing his own thing.  A number of twisted zig zag steps and a lot of resistance to the trail leader's insistence that he sit back down again resulted in more pleading cries "I want to get off!"  Meanwhile, Angus and his two Egyptian mates, were oblivious to the spectacle and Ross & I had to smother our laughing because the entire scene was becoming more than comical.  Of course, having had a horse run off with me on it when I was young, I quickly identified with the possibility of exposing Sam to a life-long fear of all large and furry four-legged animals.  So, when it was clear that this wasn't going to be the character building moment that it could have been, we ran to his aid and helped him down.  That left one empty camel on a trail ride which I wasn't prepared to pass up.  All things well that end well!

The rest of the day passed fairly smoothly with us all enjoying the company of an Egyptian family we have come to know; they live close by and also have a couple of energetic young boys.  On the way home, we stumbled across a village with a beautiful old Orthodox church and an enormous open area for the community beside it.

To top it off for the kids,
we came across this amazing play park as well.

The rest of the days passed nicely; a picnic with some other families, casual trips to the park, a noisy play-over and last but not least; A TRIP TO THE SNOW.


When we invited Monica to join us so that she could see snow for the first time, she jumped at the opportunity.  We drove up the mountain, all 7 of us, watching the temperature gauge decrease and taking guesses as to who would hit the jack-pot of the coldest temp. and who was going to see the snow first.  When it was 1 degree and we were 1 km from the ski resort, the snow began to fall and the road became white.  Yeehah - SNOW!  We drove to where we could park near the village and all got out with our beanies & gloves on.  Everybody was happy EXCEPT ANNA.  I know she'll read this when she's older and curse me for writing it but I cannot tell a lie.  Anna was IMPOSSIBLE.  She didn't want any warm gear on and she cried non-stop for the entire time we played around in the snow.  With the 3 adults trying to appease her between snow ball fights and the other kids having a ball, we were not so disappointed when Jessie, Angus and Sam found themselves getting cold & wet and begging to go back to the car.


A second trip one week later, just for the boys, proved to be much more successful in terms of activity.  As you can see from the pics, Sam had a fun time on the sled and Angus fulfilled a long held dream of finally getting to ride a snowboard.  The first of many more trips we hope.

We hope you've had some good relaxing down time; perhaps with a bit of reflection on 2011.  My brief thoughts on the year that has passed are:

1. Yes, it really does take a full year to settle into a new place.  It's not until you get to the end of it that you realize what an up and down process it is.  I have experienced homesickness much more than I anticipated.  Now that this has largely passed however, I'm just glad & thankful we've all made it through in one piece.  Although immensely exciting at times, it has occurred to us more than once that this move was huge.
2.  I consider myself a more alert driver than perhaps I was in Australia but sadly I am not as humble.  Just like all the Cypriots here, I can be hot-headed and intolerant.  I love using my horn when it's warranted and the odd glare into the next car saying "that wasn't MY fault!" is something I'm not proud of.  I call it "blending in".
3. Having a maid is good and bad.  To say it was "an adjustment" for me would be an understatement. How do you go from doing everything in your home to almost needing to do nothing? And then finding that perhaps it's not done quite the way you would want it?  And then wondering how to motivate kids to do their own chores when it's clear that if they don't do it there IS a little fairy who will pick up after them?  Don't get me started here; one day I'll fill up a whole blog on it.
4. On the up side; not being so busy and tired has left room for other things.  More play time with the kids, more focus on us as a family, more relax time in the evenings with Ross and, perhaps some time to build friendships without interruption. As far as lifestyle goes, there has been some improvement for us here.  Something we can work on when we return to Australia. 
5. I have to say this: Skype is a wonderful invention.  Some calls have really picked me up.
6. Greek is a fascinating language but I quit.
7. Cyprus could be so much more if only they would embrace the great array of foreigners here.  
8. The summers are really VERY hot but the beaches around the island, in all their diversity, provide great relief and are truly magnificent.
9. Kids are amazing in how they adjust.  So temporal; just living for the day.
10. I'm glad we are here.  The opportunity to be involved in life changing programs for the disadvantaged is a real privilege.  Sometimes I would love to be more an active part of this but, in a sense, I am and perhaps being there for my kids is more important right now for the longer term.