feldmanlarry

The view from the site was spectacular. Yiorgio has played at this ancient amphitheater and says it has amazing acoustics, better than any modern place he’s heard. If anyone can explain how people from so many centuries ago could figure out the physics of sound better than people today, please let me know.

I’ll always if possible touch the water wherever I go. Someday, I’ll probably fall in. I didn’t fall in the Mediterranean this time but I did manage to get cakey sand stuck to my shoes that got all over my hotel room and their car, But it had to be done.

After they took me back, I went for a walk and ended up at the big park right next to the hotel, which was filled with young children playing. The zoo like a lot of Limassol was under construction. Apparently, they’re going to replace much of the downtown by 2013. Hopefully, they’ll keep the original Mediterranean feel of the town.

After a nap, we met up with the Headmaster of the school I’ll be teaching at and had probably the most famous meal of Cyprus. It’s called “meze” and consists of about 5 sets of 4-5 dishes in each set. There is meat meze, meat and fish, and just fish. We had the meat version. Irini gave me the complete list of what they brought as follows.

• Salad
• fresh vegetables
• tahini
• tzatzitiki
• kourvoula
• zalatina (pork in gelatine)
• wild mushrooms
• ravioles
• pourgouri
• loukaniko (cyprus sausage)
• halloumi (goat cheese)
• lountza (smoked porked)
• keftedes (meat balls)
• oven potatoes
• green vegetable omelet
• glistirida with vinegar
• sieftalia
• pork souvlaki
• chicken souvlaki
• flamantzeri (grilled pork)
• .. and for desert.. loukoumades (honey balls)

I made sure to try some of every dish. I wonder if the 4 of us had finished the entire thing, whether we would have needed to get our stomachs pumped. An amazing treat!

We closed the Forzo Tavern that night. Interesting about their liquor laws. They allow open containers, they have a drinking age but it’s not enforced. Public drunkenness is allowed unless you create a disturbance. But they are strict about drunk driving. Indiana, PA had a major controversy over whether to allow downtown restaurants to have alcohol served in tables on the sidewalk. The equivalent controversy in Cyprus might be if a restaurant decided not to serve alcohol outside. Maybe something in between is the best.

I called Margaret using iChat audio chat and got her to make an 800 call to Lufthansa since the Cyprus office wasn’t answering their phone. This worked very well. Instead of $2.50 a minute, it was a free call. Lufthansa refused to do anything and for the first time in dealing with bureaucracies on the phone, they would not connect me with a supervisor. They would only help me if I was in the US. The fact that no one was answering the phone in Cyprus didn’t impress them. The web site had said for over a day that the bag had been identified but awaiting confirmation. No mention was made of when if ever it might be coming, where it was, etc.

Another late to bed with messed up sleep.

• Surprisingly, there was no immigration or customs at the Frankfurt airport. No one looked at my passport. Of course, people looked at it multiple times in the US. The business class lounge was filled with free food and drink. It killed me to not be feeling up to taking anything. Margaret has noted that I love anything that people give for free. I’m trying to learn that sometimes “nothing” is better than something free.
• I made it to Cyprus but my bag didn’t.  I figured that was the most likely outcome since they told me to switch flights in Pittsburgh just a minute before we boarded. It took me quite a while to fill out all the information and I didn’t have Irene’s phone no. so she was waiting right outside customs wondering what happened. It all worked out fine and hopefully they’ll bring it to me tomorrow. They gave me a packet of items like toothpaste and a razor. I carried in my backpack mostly what I needed for teaching the class and my iPhone, iPad, Macbook Air and cables, no clothes. I guess that shows my priorities.
• I’ve been surprised at the extent of the British influence in Cyprus. I was expecting almost everything to be Greek with a small British part. But they drive on the left, they use British electrical plugs, and just about every sign is in Greek and English (except “Stop” signs which are English only). The signs to me are like flash cards to learn Greek. I almost knew the Greek alphabet before but am even closer now to having it down. I read as many signs as possible to learn as much as I can. My final exam will be at the end of the trip in Athens when there will be no flash cards.
• I’m staying in an old style British colonial hotel, which is great. They left me off at the hotel around 6 PM. I felt better but was severely lacking sleep. My goal was to fall asleep as soon as possible then get up for breakfast. They’ve invited me to hang out with them tomorrow to see the town. It’s in the 50s and was raining but not any more.
• I’m used to getting up around noon, which is 7 PM here so I’ll be getting up around 12 hours earlier than I’m used to. In March I’m going to Korea, India, and China, which are 12, 13, and 9.5 hours ahead respectively, so this is good practice.
• My son believes that you should immediately adjust to a new time zone. My goal is to forget about the 7 hour time difference  except when I want to call home. I called Margaret using iChat Instant Messaging service with audio chat. The sound quality was amazing, better than when we call each other at home.

• Crazy weather conditions for my first day. Just about every trip I’ve ever taken included a challenge at the very beginning. While Alan Enterline was driving me to the Pittsburgh airport, Margaret texted me that Philadelphia had 14 inches of snow and the airport had been closed. My flight wasn’t listed as delayed but all the earlier ones to Philly were. I only had 1.5 hours in Philly to get to the flight to Frankfurt, Germany.
• I dislike being a pushy person. I’d rather get places a little later than harass people. Unfortunately my evil side had to come through. I alternated between the service counter and 2 of the gates. One person was annoyed with me but if I hadn’t pushed it I would have gotten to Frankfurt at 6 for a 6:10 flight at the opposite end of the airport, which would have meant an overnight in the Philly airport.
• Finally they called my name and put me on a different flight that gave me enough time in Philly. When I got to Philly I checked in to ask if they could do anything about my bag, which I assumed would be on the     wrong flight and would miss the connection. They said they were about to cancel my ticket since they assumed I would miss it. But they did say my bag was already loaded. I was skeptical.
• Of course, so many people had it much worse. The person next to me had his flight from Newark cancelled and rented a car to get to Philly. He had a special diet ordered for his cancelled flight but with the new flight he couldn’t eat any of the food. Whenever I suffer travel problems, I think of people crossing the US in a wagon train but it doesn’t really help.
• In addition to pushy people, I’ve always disdained the people in business class and I now found myself one of those. With my bad shoulder and a 2 for 1 frequent flyer miles sale (that made it not much more expensive than coach), I decided to treat myself. The seat had 9 adjustment buttons plus a massage control. I could stretch all the way out, almost in a horizontal position. They gave champagne before take off, all the alcohol you can drink, and a very full dinner along with breakfast later on.
• I had a taste of cognac and it reminded me of how much I hate alcoholic beverages besides beer. It may have been the culprit that left me a little queasy and unable to sleep much.