I got up at 7:30 AM after alternating sleeping, tossing, and turning. I’ve read that you can’t really make up lost sleep. It seems to happen to me though. I feel about 1/2 way towards being caught up. I’ll try to keep getting caught up more as time goes on. The best way to do this for me will be afternoon naps, which is very un-American.

The free breakfast was great (again my obsession with free things). Fried and scrambled eggs, local cheeses and meats, cereal, real OJ, lots of other stuff. Irini and Yiorgio picked me up before 9. I’ve decided to use their Greek names instead of Irene and George, as a sign of respect for their language and also because it’s more fun for me to try to learn some Greek.

They’ve been wonderful, the ideal hosts. They’re taking me around and sharing clothes with me while I’m waiting for my bag (his clothes not hers in case you’re wondering). They are incredibly busy. They have a very beautiful 34 month old and a 14 month old. I offered to trade my bald head for the boy’s long curly locks, one brown and the other blond. Besides that, she teaches math at a secondary school and he teaches music at the same school. After he’s done he teaches at another school part time. They both sound like amazing teachers, very creative and dedicated.

They gave me a tour of Limassol, which is the second biggest city in Cyprus. It has an outstanding harbor on the Mediterranean and seems to be doing very well. There’s a castle built by Richard the Lionhearted, which unfortunately is closed for repair. We went to an amazing archaeological site from 300-400 AD, called the Curium Palace, which is the name of my hotel also (I think I can figure out which came first). It’s on top of a mountain and has amazing tiles on the ground. My favorite is one of a woman holding a “Roman Foot Measure”. I have taught a lesson for third graders expanding on the “How Big is a Foot?” children’s story. This picture will be part of my lesson from now on.

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.