A slight obsession with football

"Pass to Socrates on left wing" yells the coach.  "Hercules is also clear in mid-field".  Angus deftly moves the ball around and manages to get a clean pass to Socrates who takes it forward and scores a goal.....

I don't know about you, but when I hear someone call for Socrates I'm normally not thinking of football? But this is the reality of football life in Cyprus, where the players names are as colourful as their hairstyles.

Football has become more than a slight obsession for Angus these last few years. He currently plays five days a week, training with Arsenal football academy and then playing a match on Saturday. The overall standard is good, and Angus is loving the training and matches. His main concern about returning to Australia next year is that it may be harder to get signed with a European club from downunder, as compared to playing with Arsenal in Cyprus......nothing wrong with a bit of ambition!

A particular highlight for Angus this season has been the qualification of Apoel, the leading team in Cyprus, in the European Champions League. This means that there are some great matches to be played in Cyprus over the coming months, including Apoel vs Barcelona, Paris St Germain and Ajax from the Netherlands. Each match sure to be a sellout; we are in the process of trying to get some tickets.

To give some sense of how much football currently dominates the landscape for Angus, his weekends are spent poring over form guides, matches and results from the English, German, Spanish and Italian league fixtures. Likewise he is continuously analysing the latest player transfers "(xx insert name of team) should have paid more for (xx insert name of player)" etc. But it's not always about the European competitions......on schooldays we also get a daily debrief from Angus each afternoon on what played out during the lunchtime match (I'm always particularly interested to know if Socrates was fouled or not??).

You don't have to go far in Nicosia to find a cafe or pub showing any one of the weekend or midweek games from all the European competitions; large tv screens are everywhere, and the whole place seems to stop when there is a big match on. We often hear the cheering from nearby cafes at our house. On some weekends we try to watch the Arsenal premier league match in a local cafe or pub. The Brickyard is a favourite venue only about 5 mins from home.

Jessie had taken to calling Angus 'mop-head' for the
last few months 

Football has even had an impact on fashion and hairstyles for Angus. Just this week he took the plunge to get his long locks finally cut off, modelling a new coif on one of his favourite players Gareth Bale (who plays for Real Madrid). He thinks his football will now improve no end, given the fact that he can actually see the ball now! Sarah has been at a conference in UK and Netherlands this week, and I'm sure will not recognise her son when she returns tomorrow.

Angus is shorn. A new 'Gareth Bale' look!

At the Champions League qualifier: Apoel vs Aalborg
from Denmark. Fans were much better behaved than a
regular Cypriot game (see pic below)

The mild mannered crowd at a 'normal' match in Cyprus

A rally in the buffer zone

Last Friday night we headed into town to do one of our favourite walks across into the north and through the Arab quarter of the old city. We had some good friends from Australia, Tim and Siobhan Barrett-Lennard and their four children staying with us for a few days, and were keen to show them some of the sights.  Alas we could not get into the town centre due to numerous road closures. A policeman informed us that a stage of the Cyprus rally championships was being held in Nicosia, so we had to change our plans.

Turkish Cypriots look down into the UN buffer zone from
the old city walls 

We parked the cars and walked towards the old town along a path that ran parallel to the actual rally course. Cars were racing around the course at great speed, and we were amused as officials repeatedly blew their whistles to remind people not to touch the somewhat flimsy wire fencing that lined the track.......as if this would somehow make a difference should a car veer off the track and into the viewing crowds. Occupational health and safety Cypriot style!

Despite the traffic disruption the rally was noteworthy in that part of the course actually went into the UN controlled buffer zone, therefore enabling both Greek and Turkish Cypriots to watch the race. Small steps towards reunification one day perhaps??

Keep your hands off the fences!!

We've enjoyed having Tim, Siobhan and their children with us these last few days.  It's been a Pilbara and West Australian reunion of sorts, although this time with 8 children in tow between the two families!  Here's a few other pics of what we've been up to:

Tim and Siobhan

Most of the kids at Kyrenia (1 missing!)

The old Nicosia airport in the UN buffer zone

Trip to the markets

Turkish icecream 'performer'

Mackenzie Beach last weekend

Happy to be swimming again

A special 12th birthday present

Buckingham Palace

A 12th birthday is a special milestone, and so it was with much excitement that Jessie and Ross headed to London for a flying visit last weekend to watch the musical Wicked. Ross had been in Armenia for the prior week, and was due to fly back to Cyprus via Kiev in the Ukraine on the Friday. Then later the same evening was the scheduled departure with Jessie for London.  Jessie had some nervous moments on the days leading up to the trip that Ross may get stuck in Kiev, given ongoing developments with the conflict in the Ukraine.  Suffice to say, Ross made it home fine on the Friday, and after a short turnaround he and Jessie were off for a late evening flight to London. 

They had a fantastic weekend together.  Here's Jessie to describe some of her highlights:

I really, really, REALLY enjoyed Wicked the Musical. There are no words to describe how phenomenal it was. It was BRILLIANT, MAGNIFICENT and BREATHTAKING!!! We had REALLY good seats so we could see everything perfectly. Even daddy enjoyed it bucket loads. After the show, we decided to hang around the stage door just to see if any cast members came out. And what do you know, the two LEAD ROLES came out!!! They both signed my programme and I got a picture taken with each of them. It was so special, I really didn't expect it. I also really enjoyed staying with our friends, the Priors. I loved seeing loads and loads of amazing street performers. We saw things from floating men to talking cats. I KIND of conquered my fear of riding the tube but not entirely. On our last night, we went to Covent garden which was lovely. I LOVED the Grey weather, but sadly we didn't get any  rain. Anyway, to cut a long story short It was the Best Birthday Present Ever! Trip of a Lifetime! Thank you mum and dad! Here's some pictures:

Here's the talking cat...

This was for Angus. (He seems to have just a
SLIGHT obsession with pugs at the moment. 

I WAS ACTUALLY THERE! (not in my dreams)
Actually there! 

Behind me is the stage door. (this was before the show) 

This is for Sam. 

Me and Kerry Ellis after the show at the stage door!
(she played Elphaba - lead role) 

Me and Savannah Stevenson after the show at
the stage door! (she played Glynda - lead role) 

Wicked selfie! 

We talked to Pop on Fathers day! 

Creepy floating man in Saw mask. 

Photography by me :) 

Just picked up some oboe reeds from
the best oboe shop ever...

Regents Park. 

Squirrels! My favourite animals. Loads in London!
None in Cyrus... :( 

Me and Archie. 

St Pauls Cathedral. Dad and I were able to
go to a service there. 

Archie and Fergus Prior. 

Books at southbank! 

Maybe for next time!

London Eye. (though we didn't go on it) 

The Wicked stage

I had to......

The End of Summer

A 12th birthday celebration for Jessie. This was her
'Idina Menzel in a crate' cake

After our blast in the Balkans, we returned to Cyprus happy to be back home in our own surroundings and ready to re-engage with life.  But...there were still two weeks of summer holidays left until school term started!  Temperatures averaged high 30's every day, none of the children were keen for the beach (much to Mum's dismay), and even a trip to the pool was met with a groan.  "We just want to go back to school!" they all said. This statement alone confirms for me that 12 weeks out of the classroom is just too long!

Nevertheless, we managed to pass the time.  Anna had her cast removed and could finally swim again, school supplies and shoes were purchased, a trip to the Waterpark killed a day, and sleep-overs and play dates helped to keep time moving. I can re-call one morning when I filled up a bucket of water and had them all bobbing for apples! (anything not to bring out the paints...)

Rashid joins us for Crepa-Land night at home

During most of this time, Menaka was taking a holiday back in Sri Lanka.  So, it was kind of lucky we were still on school holidays with not much on, because I found myself quite busy with domestics.  An clumsy feeling at first and a little physically tiring (never really thought of house-wives as 'fit' yet they are) but after a while I realised it was just like riding a bike; you never forget.  What I did find a bit tricky, even though I usually love it, was the cooking.  There's a certain rhythm that one develops in the way one prepares food and moves about their own kitchen, making the process quite quick and efficient and ready to reply to the kids asking "when's dinner?".  Unfortunately (or fortunately) I've not developed that 'flow' here and found myself forgetting all sorts of basic stuff and even burning a sauce. Shame, Sarah, shame.  As a result; between now and when we return in four months time, I've vowed to cook twice a week with Menaka tutoring me on one of those days. Mmmmm...I seem to remember that it was me who taught her to cook!

So, on September 2nd, it was with much delight that I drove down to the airport to pick up Menaka.  Now, I don't know about you, but I have this strange inclination to clean up for the cleaner.  So there we all were, rushing around like ants putting everything away and back in it's proper place, ready to welcome home Menaka.  I think I was probably trying to prove to myself that I can live without a maid and that somehow I'll manage to get by without her in Australia. Still quietly hoping that the government might introduce a new policy allowing foreign domestic workers in.

Today the children started back at school.  Anna looked very grown up jumping on the bus with her siblings at 6.55am!  Sam couldn't wait to be with all his friends again and Angus was pumped for playground football.  Jessie of course, would have started high school today, had it not been for her London trip - more on that later.  So there I was at 7am, with a full morning ahead of me until the 1.40pm pick up.  I wouldn't say I was euphoric but I was pretty happy to have the house to myself for a bit.

The early evenings are so beautiful at the moment; that lovely 'end of summer' feel in which the air temperature can only be described as 'balmy'.  Tonight we were all out the front; Anna hitting a tennis ball, Gus practising headers with his football, and Sam eating his yoghurt whilst he counts Anna down until it's his turn to grab the racquet.  I don't know why but I just sensed that it was one of those lovely moments with the kids that I never want to forget: their age & stage, their conversations, Anna's laugh etc... 

A few little quotes as well:
Angus after his first day of 6th grade: 
"yeah, today went pretty well" (about 10 times! - is that because he's approaching the mono-syllabic age I wonder?)
Anna whilst playing tennis: 
"Mum, I think I could be really good at this - like those people who play tennis on the TV"
Sam whilst playing tennis: "hey Mum, this racquet could be a great prop; you can dance with it and hide your face behind the strings" (said with accompanying theatrical movements).