My Two Gifts in Cyprus

 Living in a new country brings all sorts of unexpected blessings and this blog is about two of them: Monica (our maid) and Katafiyo (my retreat house in the village).  It's a strange combination of subjects to write a blog about and they are not linked in any obvious way...nevertheless I am extremely thankful for both of them and they will no doubt be significant in my long term memories of Cyprus.

Monica in our living room opening her recent birthday gifts

MONICA is our Sri Lankan maid.  After 15mths working full time for us, she is almost institutionalised as part of our family and we quite honestly can't imagine life here without her.  All credit to her and her ability to manage the high workload, she is still smiling and an ever willing worker.  Her demeanour is calm, she takes initiative and she loves playing with the kids.  Monica is an amazing cook for somebody who had never used an oven nor knew what cheese on toast was.  She takes complete charge of the cleaning, washing and ironing and her eyes light up when I have a new recipe for her to try.  She babysits for us almost weekly and her schedule is flexible.  We trust her implicitly and we like her very much.

More thought provoking however, is the basic experience of having 42hrs of help at home.  In previous blogs I have referred to the fact that it took a lot of adjusting to.  At first I couldn't believe my luck and was ecstatic to drop the title of House Wife and have Monica do everything.  Then came the training phase and teaching her to bake and cook dinner.  Following that came the realisation that I had trained myself out of my own job and couldn't get a working visa to get a job in the big wide world.  Looking back I was taken by surprise by my sense of unproductiveness and how useless it made me feel.  It challenged my personal sense of worth and I struggled to accept the fact that shifting from a do everything Mum to a being Mum was going to work out OK.  Gradually I worked my way through it, improving the structure of Monica's hours, doing a bit to keep in touch with the house so as not to feel totally useless, and taking more opportunities to spend time with the kids and simply be present for them in the afternoons.  It's a real treat to sit down at the table with kids doing their homework and know that I can listen to all their tales of the day without the busy monkey in my mind of what I should be doing.

Looking back, there are a few significant learnings for me:

• managing a worker in my own home takes organisation and thought
• no family is perfect and the maid sees the good and the bad
• how lucky we are to have somebody as gracious in all things as Monica
• daily thankfulness prevents ungratefulness

And looking ahead, there are some challenges also:

• persevering with the children contributing around the house (more on principal than from necessity)
• taking advantage of Ross & I spending some time together regularly as a couple

In short, I have finally accepted to enjoy it whilst it lasts and prepare for a massive shock when I return to Australia!  Here's to enjoying domestic help and selfishly wishing that Australia might allow foreign domestic workers in.

Monica with all the children she knows.  Next year we
promised her we'd throw a party with HER friends!

My 2nd gift in Cyprus is this retreat house, in a village about 40 mins from Nicosia, called Katafiyo.  Managed by the Anglican Archdiocese of Cyprus and the Gulf, it is primarily set up as a place for missionaries to come and rest or seek God for new direction.  Local Christians in Cyprus are also welcome to use it when it is available.

As you can see from the photo, the place just emanates stillness.  I have loved the opportunity every couple of months or so to drop the kids at school and bolt up there for the entire school day and just BE.  I am thankful to Monica for taking Anna for the occasional day and I think Monica is thankful to Katafiyo as I seem to return somewhat more relaxed.

I discovered the retreat house only 6 weeks after arriving in Cyprus.  I will never forget the feeling of driving through the country side to have a half day retreat after all the many logistics and stresses of an international move.  The reality of being in a new country, so far from home, had become very real by that time and it was a relief to be able to stop and take it all in.  The winter was ending and the trees bursting into flower.  Everything around me seemed to say "It is all good Sarah, this change is big but it will be OK".

These days, now feeling more settled on the island, the challenge is to leave the many activities and obligations behind simply to REST.  Often I don't know I need it until I'm there.  My four busy and enthusiastic kids are a delight to have but they are even more delightful to see after a break!

That's all for now....as the good book says: Psalm 46:10 "Be still and know that I am God"