It's all Greek to me!

Well not to M of course. But P for sure. After a much awaited flight from Mumbai to Doha, Qatar (best airport EVER) with a loooong layover to Athens, then a flight to Cyprus, we were greeted with cheerful faces of M's Nouna, Nouno, a Great Aunt and a Great Uncle. Many hugs and kisses and we were whisked away to begin the tour with the oldies. Our first day was spent sitting around houses, being fed more than we could digest, being hugged and kissed like mad, and then finally dropped off at M's Great Grandma's house where we would live for our time in Cyprus. P of course understood nothing of the conversations, but M played translator and did a mighty fine job. The first few days of Cyprus were a bit stressful as we were driven around to just about everyone's house in town to announce that we had arrived and needed to be fed. With some longering stomach issues, this did not make things easy. We were anxiously awaiting the arrival of our next visitor, Craig, while lazing the days away with M's family which basically includes the whole town of Athienou. We were able to borrow a car for the month from M's genorous family giving us the freedom to explore. With wheels and a house to our name, we felt like locals as we wathed one too many lemons fall from the tree in our courtyard. Our first beach day was oh so exciting in the gorgeous Mediterranean, but the smoke stacks in the distance fueled the search for the ultimate beach in Cyprus. The water in the Mediterranean was like nothing we had seen in the recent past so it was a very nice change from what we had become used to, The color of the water was a fabulous clear deep blue. Is that possible? We could walk out 100 meters into the sea and still be knee deep in warm water. It was pretty crazy. And perhaps boring as well as P has finally taught M the joy of jumping waves. But M has also learned the joy of relaxing and people watching on the beach, so the lack of waves was no big deal.
Let me tell you, M has got one big fat greek family! And boy do they know how to entertain! M's 28th turned into a huge party with 30+ family members she may or may not have known. It was loud, it was big, it was crazy, it was Greek! Check the photos and see the wild time. 2 days later, we headed to the airport for Craigs arrival, and brought him straight to a cousins engagement party including an obligatory session of getting lost in Athienou driving standard on the left side of the road. Seemed to be a theme of Craigs visit now that I think about it.