European Tarantulas...

are really, really scary.

For the past 9+ months (it's actually been for the past 5+ years, but who's counting), M has assumed the role of "taking care" of any scary, gross or otherwise questionable critter situations that we've come across. Usually these situations come and go and barely phase M...this was NOT the case when we encountered a tarantula in the shower of the old home we were staying in! The sight of this beast had us both screaming and shaking for a while before we calmed to decide what to do. Details of this encounter are better off told in person, so do ask when you see us next. Oh and if you're really lucky you can "watch" the video footage* of M "taking care" of this monster.

*= video footage is actually a 3 minute ordeal of M&P screaming obscenities while all you actually see on film is shaky, blurry concrete since P was too shaken up to focus on the subject.

"Ah! Sotira!"

I knew returning to Athienou after 12 years was going to be tough since it'd be my first visit without my dear Yiayia around, but we were greeted by enough family to ease the pain and put a smile on our faces...side note- My grandma is one of 16 children, 12 of which lived to marry and reproduce, so my mom has what seems like a million cousins and aunts, most of which live in Athienou. It also doesn't help that Athienou is a fairly small town and my dear mom is pretty well known by just about everyone in town. Oh and apparently, I look, sound and act EXACTLY like my mother so everywhere P and I went, a voice would exclaim "Ah! Etin Sotira! Irte ei Sotira!" (Ah! There's Sotira, Sotira is in town!") and often time there'd be a shout from around a nearby corner in response "Poon tin Sotira?! Ma irte che then mas ipe?!" (Where's Sotira? She came and didn't tell us?!") Which was fun at first, but after the 5th day, it just hindered our daily plans- it'd take over an hour to go to the market to pick up milk!
Now, being stuck in Athienou without wheels is like being stuck in Goshen without a car, makes for tough living. So cousin Irini saved the day by lending us her car for the month (we love you Irini!). After a few test drives around Athienou's windy, narrow maze-like streets, driving standard on the left side of the street was no biggie and we were off to explore Cyprus.
There was much of the island that I had never seen before since going to Cyprus in the past meant hanging with Yiayia, strolling the sleepy streets of Athienou and hitting up the beach. This time around P and I explored a different town or village a few times a week, visited ancient sites, old churches, old family, young family and managed to fit in plenty of beach time before returning to my great grandma's ancient home in Athienou for each night's rest.
Tourism has taken over Cyprus in a way I hadn't imagined, massive hotels have developed almost every inch of the island's coastline, restaurants catering to tourists are everywhere you look and every other car you see on the road is a red plated tourist rental. Though Athienou has not changed too much, the rest of the island barely looked familiar!
The small city of Larnaca was our stop for shopping to replace our cheesecloth third world clothing- we had to stroll in style now that we were back in the western world! The capital of Lefkosia was our history lesson of how Turkish Occupied Cyprus (TOC) came to be- as a divided capital city, there's a lot to be said. Taking the lift to the top of Shakolas Tower gave us a glimpse of TOC and had photo explanations of historical landmarks (one of the more interesting museum spaces we've seen along this trip, and I'm not being biased!). Paphos has become the city of tourists, though there are hidden gems if you stray inland from the pier and the archeological site just a few steps from the Paphos castle holds some of the more interesting ruins on the island. Lemesos seemed like a long strip of beach resorts, hotels and tacky restaurants so we didn't spend much time there. We thought we'd head to my mom's favorite spot in Protaras... I guess the deep blue yet crystal clear waters of the Mediterranean sea allows you to overlook the hideous concrete hotels and resorts which have taken over much of the sand along this beach. We did manage to find a pretty quiet and beautiful strip of Protaras, which we returned to several times. BUT thanks to P's convincing, our attempt to find a deserted, undeveloped, pristine strip of sand on Cyprus was successful! We found a great spot,(which we'll keep a secret) where there were no other tourists in site, nor a hotel or resort, just some olive trees to provide shade, deep white sand and crystal clear water. Oh and not too far away(but far enough) back on the road, we found a great little seafood restaurant where we watched the catch come in fresh as we placed our orders to complete the experience.
So, after all, Cyprus isn't completely doomed with development after all, if you look hard enough, you can find a peaceful, undisturbed sandy spot to claim as your own for your time on the island...just be sure to stay away from ours!

* Also of special note is P breaking out of her veggie role for a few tastes of Octopus. After chewing she decided she didnt like it because "It tastes like fish!" Back to veg I suppose.

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.