The Jolly Cypriot Radiographer

We need to share a brief tale about medical care Cyprus style.  As part of our local immigration and working visa process, we and the kids all need to complete some local medical tests to check that we're all healthy and not bringing any exotic Australian diseases onto the island.  Yesterday afternoon we were duly informed that our 'fixer' Kostas was going to meet us at the office and would escort us through the process which involved a round of blood tests at a pre-arranged clinic, and then a separate chest x-ray.  The blood tests were all fairly routine (apart from the fact that there were 3 staff instead of one carrying out each test...all wearing the official designated uniform of a white labcoat).  Once blood tests were complete, we jumped back in the car and followed Kostas to a non-descript apartment block and were led to the third floor and ushered into a makeshift waiting area in what appeared to be someones living room.  After a short wait (and some awkward questions from the kids about what was happening), a very jolly old Cypriot gentleman greeted us, pointed at Ross and Jessie, and in his broken english said "you and you, come with me".  We duly followed him down a short hallway and into another part of the apartment where he had installed a somewhat antiquated looking x-ray machine.  There was another young girl in the room, who turned out to be his 8 year old grand-daughter.  She was visiting grandpa for the afternoon whilst mum was having a manicure.  Whilst he was preparing the equipment for our chest x-rays, he mentioned that his grand-daughter had a touch of sinusitis and he had taken the grandfatherly precaution of taking an x-ray of her face (which he duly showed us and pointed out where the sinuses were blocked).  Fascinating stuff for Jessie as you could imagine. 

Anyway, Jessie and this girl became good friends over the next hour and a half while we were in the apartment getting our x-rays done.  One by one our x-rays were fitted in between other patients who had wandered into the waiting room with various ailments.  Each patient was greeted with a jolly welcome, and much discussion in Greek (which may well have been refering to the various chest x-rays of our family that had been taken.......a fairly liberal interpretation of patient confidentiality).  It wasn't entirely clear what the order of proceedings was, and there was no dressing room or gown provided.  When it was Sarah's turn for her x-ray, she undressed as instructed, only to be surprised when she turned around to find that the next round of patients had wandered in.   Never mind, the jolly Cypriot walked in and ushered them back down the hall to the living room/waiting area??  Meantime our four kids were moving freely around the apartment, including the main office where at one point Ross counted 12 people gathered around the radiographer's desk as he prepared the various x-ray documents.  Fortunately Kostas was on the case for us, and ensured that our paperwork was completed and all in order.  We made it out in under two hours - 6.30pm and four hungry kids, a roadmap, and 30mins peak hour Nicosia traffic to endure.  Plenty of time to debrief on the experience.

ps. did we mention that the jolly radiographer had a very stone faced dour looking wife who moved quietly through the apartment, xrays in hand constantly crossing the crowded waiting area to get access to the unfortunately placed x-ray developing room.  This is how everybody there came to know that Sarah and Angus' x-rays had to be repeated because Angus moved and apparently Sarah had an extra rib??!!   

Crossing over

Last Saturday we went for a walk in the old town of Nicosia and were able to cross the 'green line' into the Turkish half of the city.  The green line basically demarcates the border between the Greek part of Cyprus and the Turkish part.  This has been in place since the cessation of fighting between Greece and Turkey over Cyprus in 1974, and effectively operates as a national border and divides the country in two.  Nowhere is this more apparent than in the old town of Nicosia, which is divided by a UN patrolled border zone right through its heart.  Fighting between the Turks and Greeks over the country has long since ceased, but the issues that caused the original conflict remain open. 

A view of the north from Nicosia

The giant Turkish flag painted onto the mountains overlooking Nicosia serves as a constant reminder of the unresolved territorial dispute in the country.  Since 2002, crossing the green line is now relatively easy, with standard passport controls on each side. 

So off we went on Saturday, passports in hand and crossed into northern Nicosia.  The contrast is immediately striking - mosque minarets instead of Orthodox churches, turkish coffee houses instead of starbucks, and the ever present drone of haunting Turkish pop music.  We walked for a while but alas the kids were not entirely engaged with the experience and spent most of the time whinging about a) food b) tired legs or c) a notable lack of skateramps in Nicosia..........  Alas we continue to hope that they may be able to absorb some of the cultural significance of their experiences here in time!

Those of you who know Sam will be pleased (or somewhat perplexed) to know that his interest in female clothing items continues unabated.  Whilst in northern Nicosia he succeeded in persuading his parents to buy him a smart belly dancing shawl.  He's been busily dancing with it ever since.  He did want to wear it to school but we had to tell him that his classmates were not quite ready for this.

Long black boots and hard tiled floors.

The Greeks don't do things by halves when it comes to fashion.  I wonder if that started when they joined the European Union or whether it has always been like that.  Not sure what I did with my black leather jacket that I bought in Montenegro but I really need it now.  Luckily I have my black boots (which don't really cut it against the full leather black ones that go above the knee) however I really need to make more of an effort to always wear them out in public.  I got caught out today, dropping Angus at a birthday party, with my daggy red summer shoes over navy socks (bad look).  Found myself having a drink with a few of the parents with my handbag oh so discreetly over my feet.  Yes, I felt quite self-concious... My only excuse for such a fashion crime is that wearing my boots all day is so damn uncomfortable on all these hard tiled floors.

Speaking of hard tiled floors, 21mth old Anna should be wearing a helmet.  I can't even count the number of times she has slipped or stumbled on the tiles in the house.  Today was a cracker (literally) with a number of falls including a split to the head in which so much blood came out we debated taking her to a doctor for a stitch or two.  I really feel for Anna at present, the house is not so child friendly and she misses the familiarity of our Mona Vale home.  Combine that with a number of bruises and it's no wonder she's a bit grumpy.  Spare a thought for her parents also...!

Nature Abounds

Well, to be honest, my first impressions of this city have been that it's not particularly attractive.  There's a lot of concrete, a good jumble of apartment blocks, heaps of traffic in the peak hours and the streets, footpaths and parks not so well maintained.  HOWEVER, the small bit of nature that I have seen over this weekend has helped my spirits rise.  An early morning walk along a trail beside the river and, later this afternoon, some forest areas with walking trails on the edge of town both helped me see that Cyprus is very proud of the 'natural' part of their island.  There's something for me about accessing beautiful places and accessing the spirit within.  In possibly homesick times ahead, I thank God for His awesome creation and know that I will go there for stillness and solace.  I'll post a photo for you one day soon!  No doubt as we venture toward the coast we'll all be blown away by the beauty, I'll send you shots to make you head straight for the travel agent and you'll wonder what on earth I was whinging about!  Still trying to find our way through the city streets so perhaps a couple of weeks away yet. Signing out to put kids to bed.  Avrio.

From Jetlag I Emerge...

It is with some trepidation that I, Sarah, begin participating in this blog.  I am not of the generation that finds it normal for the whole world to hear my daily news.  So...given that...this is not what my blogging will be about (and please hold me to account on this).  I hope that it will be more about 'noticing'.  What I 'noticed' that perhaps struck me for some reason that is worthy of a blog entry.  Mmmm...I hope I'm not setting myself up here!  Let me get on with it.

As the title says, I am only today starting to feel normal and on real Cyprus time.  Anna has a few hours to go in the wee hours of the morning but she'll get there.  Speaking of Anna, she is quite dealy loved and admired here (as are all children).  Nobody could tolerate her tired cry at the supermarket this afternoon and many local Cypriots made great efforts to soothe her.  Unfortunately Anna won't go to anybody that doesn't have a Piper surname at present so she's not made any friends so far.

Today was a real winner in terms of progress as we saw the kids off to school. 

Jessie came home reciting numbers and days in French, Angus boasted of 2 new friends (Reiss & Rushie) and Sam was right at home taking on the Giant's voice in the re-telling of Jack and the Beanstalk. All good news on that front with even a school party to look forward to next week.

As you can see in the background of this photo, there is a beautiful shady portico to sit under in the hot summer.  A far cry from that now with the temperature sitting around 8 degrees.  All the houses here seem especially designed for the heat.  Every square inch of floor is tiled, every room has an A/C and outdoor cooking and eating looks like the thing to do.  Roll along summer...

We are currently on the hunt for a more permanent place to rent.  We've seen 5 houses so far, with 2 different real estate agents to show us around.  A few things we've noted:

• why do they have so many bathrooms? It works out to almost 1 bathroom per bedroom!
• a backyard pool is hard to come by and the ones we've seen are very small and unfenced.
• no cabinet maker will starve here as every room is chockers with cupboards! So much so that I've seen cupboards tucked in behind doors and cupboards one needs a ladder to open.

Today we felt quite privileged to tour a beautiful big house with a massive garden full of olive trees, rosemary bushes, a decent sized pool and even a mini putt putt golf! Just a pity it's way out of town and way out of our price range.  We keep looking...

Just set myself up with a mobile phone today.  This will prevent the "mother with four children LOST" scenario happening again.  Yesterday, Ross needed to be on a call from home and since this tiled house is very noisy I thought I'd take the kids on our first expedition to the mall on the outskirts of town.  It started off as an everyday trip to the shops discovering the delights of IKEA (there's never one far from anywhere) and a purely Westernized glitzy shopping mall with a supermarket attendant having a very bad day. It finished off with me driving home in the dark trying to navigate a couple of massive round-a-bouts, taking several wrong turns, ending up in a village out of town, then finally asking a jewellry store attendant how the heck to get back to the city.  Thankfully not too many wise cracks from the back seat and a husband waiting at home who hadn't quite yet sent out the search party.  Yes, a mobile phone might have been handy.



And one last bit before I retire.  The Greek Alphabet above is my homework for the next week.  I am determined to be able to read the signs that are all around me.  And, once I can do that, I can start to look them up in my dictionary and translate them. Isn't learning a language hard enough without having to re-learn the alphabet?

Anyway, time to sign out.  Until next time...Kalinikhta (good night).

Arrival

Jessie, Angus, Sam and Anna upon arrival in Cyprus

Well we made it.  Arrived in Cyprus yesterday morning.  Flight wasn't too bad, apart from Anna having a reasonably major meltdown for an hour or two on the plane between Dubai and Larnaca.  Ah yes, the joys of travelling with a two year old.  Too old to sleep in a bassinet, too young to watch cartoons or be easily occupied.  The dead zone as someone once called it, when long distance travel should only be attempted with the aid of some heavy sedation (and that's only referring to the parents).  It's a bit like when one of the Apollo spacecraft rounds the moon.  There's a period of time when all radar contact with earth is lost.  A surreal moment where it feels like one is travelling in a parallel universe........but I digress.  Back to the main story.

We arrived in reasonably good shape.  The kids tested some of their elementary Greek on the customs officer at the airport, who was fortunately a good humoured chap and still let us into the country.  All our bags arrived intact and out we ventured to waiting arrivals area.  We'd been told to look for a driver by the name of Paul at the airport - Sam was on the case early and approached several waiting taxi drivers to ask if their name was Paul and was their car going to be big enough for us.  Fortunately we found Paul with ease, and were soon on our way to Nicosia some 40 minutes away. 


The first thing that gets you about this place is the light.  It's mid-winter here but it still feels like you need sunglasses for most of the day.  The countryside is greener than we expected, and the architecture has a distinct mediterranean feel to it.  Our temporary accommodation in Nicosia is a  large comortable house near the centre of town.  Nicosia is a city of approximately 200,000 people, notable for the fact that it's last divided city on earth with it's northern half sitting in a zone that has been occupied by Turkey since 1974.  Residents in Nicosia are reminded of this daily by the large 'football field sized' Turkish flag that has been painted onto the mountains facing Nicosia from the north.   

We've had a very warm welcome here thus far, including a landlady who lives next door and keeps baking cakes for us, and landlord who appears every 5 minutes with several tradespeople to stand and talk in low Greek tones whilst one of them changes a light bulb or some other maintenance task in the house.  The World Vision staff here have been fantastic, and have made sure our introduction to Cypriot life is a positive one.

The kids slept for 14 hours last night, so hopefully a fairly painless transition to the new timezone. 

Travelling lighter

Some brief reflections on cleaning up our house before leaving Australia.  Why is it that we accumulate so much stuff?  Someone once said to us that the more you own the less free you are, and I think there is some truth in this. We went through the process of sorting through what we needed in Cyprus, what we would store and what we would either sell or throw out.  Amazing how much stuff we actually threw out or passed onto unsuspecting friends whose children attended our recent garage sale and walked away with a wheelbarrow full of toys.........apologies to all, but there's always that next council cleanup! 


It feels good to be travelling a little lighter for a while in terms of posessions.  We'll see how long this lasts with four kids! 



Lightening the load at our recent garage sale