Falcon Blue

Birdlife event

2007-05-24T21:13:02Z

Just got back from an evening presented as part of the celebration of 50 years since formation of first Cyprus Ornithological Society organised by BirdLife Cyprus. I went to the part of the evening with the lecture and launch of the Cyprus area Worldbird database at the University of Cyprus having skipped the opening of the new offices.

There were a couple of opening speeches in Greek (as expected) and as I had gone to the wrong campus I came in just as the second was about to be read. This was followed by a video message from the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) in the UK which, I gather, BirdLife Cyprus has had a long collaboration with. I was interested to hear that the reason we were getting a video recorded message was that the RSPB is committed to reducing their carbon footprint so are paring down their travel plans. It was an interestingly recorded message and I did wonder a couple of times how many takes it took for the message to be filmed!

Next, we had a Powerpoint presentation on Cypriaca, the Cyprus WorldBirds database, that went live this Monday. The concept is very interesting in that one can use it to track the birds that one sees on outings. Certainly all of the birders I know have their little notebooks in which they faithfully track their sightings. A way that I see the site being helpful to me is that I can print the sightings that other users have seen at a location so I could do some preparation before heading out to the site.

Since Cypriaca is based on birdwatchers sightings it is close to real-time data and since it is a database, one can download data and extrapolate trends. They are inputting records and plan to have the sightings for 2001-2005 in to help with trending. Now that I go to the home page, I notice it is programmed in php which always warms my heart as that's what I use.

After the Cypriaca presentation, we finally moved to the part of the evening that I went for; namely, the lecture on 'Birds and Man' which was given by Dr. Nigel Collar. For an opening, he explored the roots of the word auspicious which derives from the practice of priests watching birds for indications on the outcome of an event. This explanation of the etymology flowed into how birds influence our everyday life from food, to entertainment as in cartoons, to language and phrases that we might use such as, 'Must fly!'.

We took a look back at how birds have been used in a wide variety of works of art - poetry, paintings, and music. I don't get a lot of exposure to art so it was a very nice run through. It also struck me how one's focus in viewing these pieces depends on one's greatest interest. I'm sure there are other art historians who would focus on the techniques used as opposed to whether a bird appears in the work! He also had an interesting conjecture that the legend of the phoenix is derived from the flamingo which is flaming red as an adult yet is ash gray when young.

Birds of course have been used in very practical ways as providers of fertiliser and warning signals to coal miners and this continues to today with research on Bowerbirds being applied to research on autism, and with the behaviour of the Arabian Babbler being applied to competitiveness in humans (leading to the book 'The Handicap Principle' which he said was an interesting read).

Although birds continue to help us, we, in our infinite human wisdom, choose to exploit them starting from the terrible conditions on poultry farms, going to the popularity of cockfighting, to the trade of songbirds and of houbara - the latter now threatened as it is heavily traded for use as prey when training falcons. What is extremely sad is that in the case of the songbirds and probably the houbara, half die before they reach a dealer due to the poor conditions under which they are kept. Even Cyprus is not exempt as we continually have problems with trappers of ambelopoulia, a small migratory bird which is trapped using nets.

Naturally, we pay the consequences of this exploitation - from the emergence of the avian flu, to extinction of birds, and the disappearance of birds from fields and areas where they had previously been abundant. Our speaker didn't have any concrete ways to approach this problem of the exploitation of birds.

Increasing awareness is obviously the first step. Our speaker's slides very effectively demonstrated his points - from the ways that birds creep into works of art to the conditions under which the traded birds are kept. The overcrowding and trading of birds closely paralleled human trafficking and while on the one hand, the conservation of birds is obviously important, it's difficult for me personally to argue than more priority should be given to that than say, human trafficking.

Definitely some food for thought.

Hiking

2007-03-21T22:23:51Z

I've been getting out into the great outdoors quite often recently. It's the appropriate time before summer descends upon us. Part of the reason is the recent BirdLife experiment. The other part is that I was introduced to a group in the north that goes on walks every Sunday.

To be precise, they are the Association of Mountaineering though mountaineering brings to mind pitons, rope, and belaying as opposed to the walking sticks that are de rigeur. Sadly their website is only in Turkish and has no maps so is a bit difficult to navigate and understand. Although, as with the language barrier of the TimeOut Cyprus, how much Turkish does one need to figure out that they meet at 7:30am? And on that note, 7:30 a.m. ??!! And that's at the starting point of the walk so one has to leave town about 7 a.m. and add in some time for crossing....

This past Sunday, my second outing with them, we went on a day trip to Troodos. The two coach buses left from Ledra Palace fairly close to the designated 7am time. It turns out that we were going to walk the Pouziaris trail. I was happy to discover this as I am on an informal quest to walk all the nature trails on the island! Maybe even leading up to the E4 unveiled in 2005.

We started off at the Troodos square where the streets had been cleared of the snow to enable vehicles to pass through. It was great hearing the crunch of the snow underfoot, with the occasional chirp of birds in the background (if I were actually a competent birdwatcher, I would undoubtedly be able to identify the type of bird from its chirp! Alas, I am nowhere near that level.). There was much photo taking by the group entranced by the novelty of the snow. Not that snow in Troodos is a novelty mind you, as we generally get snow up there every year, but rather the concept of snow on a Mediterranean island known for its beaches is! (Five photos).

The nice thing about going with a group is that they know where they're going. This is quite helpful when the trail has a few junctions that may or may not be well sign posted. We came across fabulous views - the Amniatos Dam, Limassol Bay and the Akrotiri Salt Lake (a view responsible for someone I met at a party to move to Cyprus!), as well as of Platres. Our destination turned out to be Psilo Dendro - a restaurant conveniently located for lunch. After coffee, I noticed people at a few tables practicing the art of reading the coffee grinds to tell the future - both by young (as at our table) and by old.

Next week they'll be going to the Pentadaktylos region, passing by an old Armenian church, in an area good for orchid viewing. Not sure if I'll be going as I have an option for a walk near Ayia Napa at a more civilised hour - 10 a.m.

For those opposed to crossing, there is the Nicosia Excursionist Club which has excursions also every Sunday morning. I believe these are the ones that my mom used to go on. She said that most of the participants were of the older generation - and this was confirmed by a fellow birdwatcher. I see their notices in the Cyprus Weekly event listings. They leave at the still early hour of 8 a.m.

One footnote on the Pouziaris trail - if you're into geocaching, there's apparently one there! Details.

Movies anyone?

2007-03-13T18:24:38Z

Or as they call it in Brit speak, the cinema. I went to the movies last night with a friend. We went to the multiplex, K-Cineplex which, according to their website, opened in 2002. It's got six screens though the sixth one is smaller than the others, all with stadium seating. We watched The Illusionist. One of the things that often surprises visitors is that the films here are shown in English (or perhaps more correctly, in their original language) with Greek subtitles. About the only time that they are shown in Greek is if they are showing the Greek release of animated movies such as Cars and even then there will usually be an English speaking, Greek subtitled version.

Now, The Illusionist it turns out, is a relatively old movie in that it was released in Aug/Sep 2006. This is more in line with when I was growing up here when movies were routinely at the cinema six months after their U.S release date. So I am often surprised now when films are shown soon after their U.S release, e.g., last weekend, we went and saw Ghost Rider which was released mid February so that was only a two week lag. And we do have the occasional worldwide release e.g. the Star Wars prequel movies as well as the Harry Potter movies. This Cyprus Mail article talks a little about what goes into releasing abroad.

The case of the missing sorters

2007-03-07T23:45:04Z

The other day I went to the main post office by Eleftheria Square to mail off these newsletters. The franking machine that saves me from having to affix postage stamps to the envelopes is located on the ground level, with the doors behind the steps leading up to the post office. I've been going there for as long as I've taken on this newsletter role so close to two years now.

I entered the franking room and was very surprised to see that the sorter tables had been cleared out. This meant that exactly 3/4 of the room was empty! I asked the man if he was there all on his own and he said that they'd moved the sorters out last month. He explained that it was because of the quality control they were now implementing which involved micro-chip monitoring and for cost issues they had gathered the sorters to three sorting facilities so that they didn't have to attach the chip monitoring devices to the doors of every post office that had sorters. Very intriguing.

I was most amused when I came across an article from a December issue of the Cyprus Weekly which had the headline of 'Postal Services fined for tardiness'! The Cyprus Postal Services Quality Service page agrees: "The results of the measurements, [..] are deemed satisfactory for the outgoing mail, while for the incoming there is considerable room for improvement." I have to agree with that outgoing mail evaluation. I'd always considered mail from here to the States to take two weeks as that is how long it took when we sent mail to my siblings away at university back in the 80s, and even when I was in university in the early 90s so I've been pleasantly surprised now that I'm back that it now seems to take about five days!! That page also gave me the hint I was looking for with regard to who exactly, was doing the monitoring.

International Post Corporation (IPC) is a cooperative association and provides "monitor[ing of] transponder-equipped test letters through the mail processing pipeline". Amongst its members are United States Postal Services and Royal Mail! According to their 2005 UNipost EXternal Monitoring System (UNEX) results, "Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) transponder tags are inserted into test letters. These provide IPC with detailed information on the letter journey, automatically gathered by RFID equipment placed at strategic intervals along the mail processing chain. In a fully anonymous manner, they help to identify any delays which may occur along the postal pipeline."

So there you go, unbeknownst to us, technology comes to Cyprus in the most surprising of places.

Packaging

2007-03-05T23:04:10Z

I stopped at the stationer's today for some envelopes. The lady pulled off a plastic bag to put the envelopes in but I stopped her and handed her the small drawstring bag that folds up neatly and that I carry with me for just such occasions.

She surprised me by saying,"Ah! Good!" Usually, the shop people look at me strangely when I decline the shop issued plastic bags. It took me about three months of repeatedly saying, 'No plastic bag' at the bakery before they really seemed to believe that I did not in fact need another plastic bag in which to put the already plastic bag-encased round of bread.

Back to the stationers, she told me of how her daughter had come back for a visit from London and given her a cloth bag with the instructions that it be used for purchases from now on and substitute it for the plastic bags.

I responded with, "The next thing you know, she'll be getting you to recycle!". To which she affirmed that she already had! So now even though her daughter has returned back to London, she still has three big bags on the veranda in which she places her recycle-ables!

It was a heartening story. I actually use cloth bags when I go to the grocers. One is from a volunteer event in Austin. The other is from an World Environment event that was held a couple of years ago here in Nicosia (!!) and for which I could only find this description (undp.org).

I actually did a speech about plastic bags for Toastmasters. It's said that plastic bags take anywhere from 20 to 1000 years to decompose. Given that they only became ubiquitous for groceries in the 1980s, that means that those first plastic bags are still probably happily taking up space today! Perhaps even contributing to marine animals deaths along the way.

The numbers for plastic bags were mind-boggling. Before a ban in 2003 in Taiwan of freely distributed plastic bags, it was estimated that they went through the equivalent of roughly 900 bags per person per year!! I know that if I didn't use my canvas bags, each grocery trip would yield at least five bags - and that's not counting the ones used for vegetables. Plus that's just for one person! I shudder to think of the accumulation for families with kids.

Unbelievably, after Ireland introduced a bag tax in 2002, there was a 90% fall in the number of bags handed out. Now those are some results!

Until such radical measures come to this island, I'll be continuing to take my reusable bags with me whenever I go shopping.

Public Speaking competition for teenagers

2007-03-04T17:38:28Z

When you have to speak in front of a group, what's your reaction? For most of us, it's fear and dread. In fact, "The Book of Lists" once listed public speaking as the number one fear. Still, it's a skill that will often be called upon as we progress through life and one that would serve us well the sooner we master it. With this in mind, the Nicosia Rotary Club and the Nicosia-Aspelia Rotary Club with the support of the Nicosia Toastmasters Club held a 25 hour course on public speaking for teenagers.

This morning was the competition and culmination of this course. There were five groups of three to five members each with members coming from as far afield as Paphos and Limassol! Now that's some dedication!

As I'd arrived a little early, I walked around and ran into the various groups doing a final run-through. I could only imagine the butterflies, nervousness, and even pressure that they were feeling. We've all been there.

Presentations were titled: Women's Rights, 8 Ways to Brighten Your Day, Adolescence Is, Traffic Accidents, and Colours. They ranged from very serious to quite humourous and it was most impressive that all of the groups presented without notes. Their slides were relevant and provided supporting evidence as opposed to being the main focus. I learnt at least one new nugget of information from each presentation.

Judging the competition was no easy task I'm sure. I must say that though the winning team's presentation was not text-book perfect (there were some ums and ers and a few of the transitions were awkward), their palpable enthusiasm and spirit was very endearing.

Photos of the competition were available at the exit. It's amazing how even though technology advances, it still doesn't advance fast enough. There was a large crowd waiting for the photos to be printed on the color printer and impatience was rampant! At one point, the photo paper and 'ink' had to be changed out so that was interesting to watch.

It was a very positive and interesting morning!

Book launch: “Oysters with the missing pearls”

2007-02-28T22:38:08Z

I went to a book launch tonight. It was held at the Goethe Institute in the Buffer Zone which is very convenient because neither side has to fully cross to attend the event. The program was as follows:

Presentation of the book by Takis Hadjidemetriou – President of IKME
Speeches from relatives of those missing and mass graves: Andonis Costis (Tururu) from Palekythro and Hüseyin Rüstem Akansoy from Maratha
Experiences of Andreas Paraschos – journalist – POLITIS newspaper
Speech of Murat Kanatli – journalist – YENİCAG newspaper
Closing remarks by the author, Sevgul Uludag

Although the start time was said to be 7pm, it didn't get started until 7:40pm. Three people had prepared speeches - although one had leeway since he was standing in for his father - though they were surprisingly short, about 5 mins each so we were done by 9pm.

The author wrapped up. The book is "Oysters with the missing pearls": Untold stories about missing persons, mass graves and memories from the past of Cyprus and is written by Sevgul Uludag. It's been published in Turkish, then Greek, and tonight was the English launch. The interesting thing about the book is that it has the experiences from both Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots so hopefully one doesn't feel like you're getting an agenda.

Anyways, maybe more after I'm done with the book.

Time Out Cyprus

2007-02-27T22:30:20Z

I picked up the March issue of Time Out Cyprus today. I think I first got wind that there was even a Cyprus version as I was browsing through a bookstore here and saw some past issues. The monthly issues are in Greek and back then, my Greek was worse than it is now but I figured, "How much do I need to know anyways? The names of the places are in English and the music genre names are in English too!" so I started buying it. There is a yearly English version titled Time Out Visitor's Guide that comes out in June/July-ish and as the title suggests, it's mostly aimed at the tourists. I pick that up as well so now I have quite the stash of magazines. This past February issue was their five year anniversary!

These days I can skim quite well but I definitely don't read it cover to cover. My first priority is the Agenda section - what's going on around the island? It's for this reason that I try to pick up the magazine as soon as it comes out. It normally comes out the last Friday of the month. The freebie bundled with the January issue was a calendar that helpfully notes when the issue comes out each month (e.g. the March issue came out yesterday, Monday 26th). Even with a variety of resources bookmarked, I still find it difficult to hear of everything going on - mostly because in my experience most of Cyprus is still not online or if they are online, it's not up-to-date.

In fact, only recently did Time Out Cyprus get online in the sense that their content was online. Before last year, it was more a brochureware site. And the site still lags when it comes to being updated. Not to mention that it's only in Greek. Still, progress is discernible.

I've now gotten two other people to buy issues too hopefully on a regular basis. So get your issue today at the favorite periptero! It costs CYP1.50. Or, check out the online version at timeoutcyprus.com.

European Film Festival at Cine Studio

2007-02-26T00:00:17Z

I finally made it to a movie at the Cine Studio, Intercollege. I went to see "The Wind That Shakes the Barley" (IMDB entry) that's being shown as part of the European Film Festival by Friends of Cinema.

The movie is set in Ireland in 1920 and follows two brothers as they fight against the British rule. I wondered how close to home this was hitting the audience as Cyprus was also under British rule and had guerilla soldiers during the period of 1955-1959 (EOKA on Wiki). Was the interaction at the same level of violence? Less? There were some scenes that had the female audience members gasping and tut-tutting.

I was quite impressed at the turnout - close to 100 people. Impressed because a friend of mine had gone to a film that was being shown as part of the Romanian Film Festival last year and she said that there were only four people at that screening! Similarly, another acquaintance had commented on low turnout when they had gone to a screening that was part of the Irish Film Festival.

The European Film Festival continues until 11 March and all the movies are subtitled in Greek. Unfortunately, that means I'm out of luck for the non-English movies.

Eurovision starts again

2007-02-25T00:20:28Z

Yesterday there was a special programme on TV where the Cyprus entry for this year's Eurovision debuted. About a month ago, there was a special Q&A program with the artist(s). According to the Wiki entry, the song was chosen internally due to "national finals trouble last year".

Apart from the fact that the Eurovision is a long standing tradition, my interest is marginally greater this year because I happen to like the sound of Dimitris Korgialas, the composer of the song.

The first song of his that I heard was Mia Fora (One Time) which is very electro like and reminded me of the EBM genre. Since then, I've heard songs of his that aren't in that vein but it's still reassuring to hear inklings of that kind of music around.

He and Evridiki (who's singing this year's entry) played at the University of Cyprus last summer and I moseyed along to see them and that was rather fun.

Unfortunately his website doesn't have any song samples up - plus, it appears to be only in Greek - however you can download the Cyprus entry which was sung entirely in French (??!!) on the program from Rapidshare.
Supposedly there are English and Greek versions of the song as well which is reassuring since I would think either of those languages would make more sense (the contest is being held in Finland this year).

Friday and the Limassol Dispatch

2007-02-23T19:19:22Z

Fridays are when the weekly English-language Cyprus Weekly newspaper is published. One of my favorite sections has to be the Limassol Dispatch. It's written by Lucas Psillakis and has been around for a little over a year now.

My favorite topics have to be the ones on the history of Cyprus, the current state of affairs in Cyprus, as well as his interactions with his niece and nephew.

The appeal of the first two are obvious; I'm interested in all matters related to Cyprus. I still find information about Cyprus, past the cursory level of tourist information, to be difficult to come by. Probably part of it is the language barrier. I know that's definitely the reason why I miss some of the hullabaloo that gets shown during the news and all it takes is a sentence or two in his column to bring me up to date.

I was especially amused by an early column of his on the spelling of street names in Cyprus. It's something I'd been struggling with because apart from the fact that misspellings seem uneducated it's also difficult when I'm trying to find something on the map and am not sure how to look the street up in the street index. His observations on the state of affairs especially when they reinforce something I've noticed are most reassuring.

Probably part of the reason why his niece and nephew anecdotes appeal because it's a dosage of little kid antics that I don't get what with being far from my own nieces and (upcoming!) nephew. Family is such a strong bond here that I think I've learnt more about being an aunt by watching my friend than I have through practical experience!

In any case, be sure to read more of his writings on his family site where there's a rich sampling of his columns.

the periptero by the old General Hospital

2007-02-22T19:42:31Z

All throughout the towns, there are the ubiquitous peripteros - or kiosks in English. An online friend referred to them as newsagents and I'm fairly certain that the American translation is convenience store (though the periptero does not sell gas/petrol). What they do sell varies - magazines, newspapers, stationery, baked goods, variety of drinks, snacks, candy, cards to top up your mobile phone account, cigarettes, you get the idea.

The most convenient thing is that apart from the fact that they're literally everywhere, they are also open late - the one two streets down from me is open until 11pm or so - and some are even 24 hours (practically unheard of for Cyprus!). Peripteros are regulated and there are rules as to how many square metres they can be, what kinds of goods they can carry, and how late they can be open. Actually, there's quite a lot of discussion about it but that's a topic for another time.

On my most frequently taken route home, I pass a periptero located at the emergency entry to the old General Hospital. It's never seemed heavily patronised but I've always assumed that they get a slew of customers due to it being literally at the gates of the hospital.

However, ever since October, that hospital has closed and all operations have been moved to the new General Hospital out in Latsia on the outskirts of town. It's still unbelievable driving down that road because there are no longer any cars double parked on the side of the road and the parking slots outside are always empty.

So I wonder about the fate of that periptero. Will it remain open? Will it shrink in size? I have no idea how long it's been there but it's been there as long as I can recollect. And I can say for sure that it's been there since 1988.

It's located near the Nicosia Courthouse; however the courts have their own coffee place and the courts stop work at 2:30pm on the weekdays. It's also located opposite the Municipal Gardens - however that too has it's own periptero located within the playground area though I think that that closes fairly early. Also opposite is the House of Representatives which I suppose would be where most of their patronage would come from - that is if the customers choose not to go to the periptero that's on the Cyprus Museum grounds that's on the other side of the street to the House of Representatives.

Add in the fact that the street is a one-way street and one has to wonder if they'll get enough business to make it. I'll be keeping an eye out.

My favorite copy center

2007-02-21T21:53:36Z

My favorite copy center has to be the CopyChasers located in the Cyprus College library. I put together the newsletter for a club/association of sorts and have done it for two years now - well, with a one year break in between.

When I'd inquired at CopyChasers about newsletter printing and whether their machines stapled, they suggested folding a double-sided A3 paper to make it into an A4 size thus removing the need to staple two double-sided A4 sheets together. Ever since then, that's the format I try to adhere to - which means having enough content for either 4, 6 or 8 pages.

The only disadvantage of the copy center is its hours which are M-F 8:30am-1:30pm, and 3:30pm-6:30pm when classes are in session. They take off a couple of weeks for the Christmas holidays (which meant that I had to get the January newsletter printed elsewhere), then IIRC they are again closed during the summer break. All understandable since without the students, it means that business is slow.

So for the times when they're closed and I've had to get the newsletter printed, I've had opportunity to try out/enquire at other copy centers in town. I have to be frank and admit that I got miffed at the one nearest to me when I had the viewer software needed to view a file (I think it was a Visio file) but they still insisted they couldn't print it out, so I'm not sure what their A3 capabilities are.

Then there's the one that's part of a call center/Internet cafe and is unbelievably smoky as well as not having the machinery equipped to even make double-sided A3 copies. When I went in there, they tried taping the pages back to back and feeding that through the machine. Needless to say, it got stuck and the quality was poor and out of frustration, I told them to give up after making 20 of the 100 copies I needed.

The third closest to me turned out to be not only horrendously expensive but also lacking in that the folding of the A3 had to be done manually.

Ditto the manual folding of the A3 at the Alphagraphics, the other PC Printways located in Makedonitissa (same price as CopyChasers and open until 10pm weekdays and, I think, 7pm or so on Saturdays), the PC Printways located close to Athalassa Ave, the copy center by the Coca Cola Bottling Plant (open until 8pm on weekdays), the copy center/stationary store by the Prodromos Church, and even, I think, the one (again, open until 7pm) near the Solenion Book Shop.

CopyChasers supposedly charges for the machine folding but since I get so many copies done there, they waive that part. The owner is also quite jovial so it's a nice atmosphere.

Still, the search for another copy center with a machine that folds A3 into an A4 size continues. And, yes, I did just go to the copy center today to get the March newsletter printed!

Taxi Girl on Mega TV

2007-02-20T21:59:39Z

One of my favourite TV programs right now is Taxi Girl. It's a quiz show filmed in Athens. The pool of participants are those flagging down a taxi. They are given as many questions as the distance to their destination.

Participants are given three 'lives'. If they get three incorrect answers, they must get out of the taxi regardless of where they are and naturally, lose any money they've accumulated. For help, they have the 'phone a friend' option as well as an 'ask a passerby' option.

The host of the show (and the taxi driver) is Vicky Stavropoulou who's a well-known Greek actress. Or at least, I assume she's well known because heck, I know her! Her IMDB entry is rather sparse but here's a link to the IMDB entry for the series that I know her from: Eisai to tairi mou. She's a very likeble host and a majority of the reason why the show appeals to me.

The concept of the show apparently comes from Cash Cab which started in England.

It's been really interesting watching the evolution of the program. I think they started showing it in October or so 2006. The episodes were all filmed at night. And when the passengers reached their destination they had to decide whether to risk doubling their winnings before they heard the final question.

A couple of months later, we see episodes filmed during the day, most of the passengers know the rules, the passengers hear the final question before they decide whether to double or nothing, and they've added a new slot on Tuesday evenings (which is what finally inspired me to post because I caught the episode tonight). Admittedly, tonight's episode was a repeat so I'm not sure if the Tuesday slot is something the Cyprus station has decided to throw in.

Anyway, episodes are Saturday, Sunday at 7:15pm, and Tuesdays at 10pm. The Mega webpage for Taxi Girl is quite lame (and really only a poster) but for completeness sake it's here.

Greece wins the Eurovision

2005-05-21T23:44:28Z

The last time the Eurovision Song Contest was on in 2004 I wrote about. Tonight, we watched the 2005 contest and Greece won with their entry by Elena Paparizou.

Why is this particularly significant to those in Cyprus? Well, Cypriots on the south side have this tendency to celebrate whenever something good happens in Greece since many see themselves as extended Greeks.

I had to drive from one end of town to the other to get home from my friend's where I'd watched the show and already the streets were filling up with cars decorated with Greek flags, honking horns on their way downtown. I imagine they were congregating on Makarios Aveneue and Eleftheria Square. This even at 1:30am!!

US visa application

2005-01-28T10:34:36Z

I had to apply for an American visa. The first step is to set up an appointment. This can be done via their website. Appointments are only set for Tuesdays and Thursdays. I sent my request in on Monday afternoon, left the requested date blank so that I would get the earliest available and received an email stating that my appointment would be that Thursday. Quite a good response time there. I filled out and printed the application form (also found online) and got the requisite photo taken.

I was to arrive at the Embassy between 0830 - 0900h. The best place to park is in the field opposite the embassy on the north side since the north gate is where one goes for consular matters. We waited outside at which point we had to remove the batteries from our mobile phones. We handed in our passports (two at a time), then waited to be called in.

Once inside we sent our belongings through the x-ray machine and had the wand waved over us. The security officer was quite rabid about going through my handbag and wallet - moving a wooden toothpick (?!?) and an earring post from my wallet to my bag. I was given a bag check number and told to take what I thought I needed out of my bag so I just took my wallet. She refused to let me take my gloves in as well. I was quite taken aback at that. We walked through the metal detector and paid our application fee.

Then it was to the main building where again we had the wand waved over us before *finally* being shown into the consular waiting room. They took my application and passport and I waited. They had CNN on to pass the time and I was just kicking myself mentally for not taking in a pen and blank paper to write on when I realized that they also had magazines so I picked one up to read. There isn't a clock in the room and since we had had our mobile phones taken away from us, we had no idea what time it was. I was called up again, "interviewed" and then was told that my visa would be ready at 3:30pm. Surprisingly I didn't have to show any additional documents (such as plane ticket or bank statements). I got out of there about 9:20 am which is quite fast.

I went back in the afternoon. About 3:45pm someone came out and handed out our passports. Our visas are good for 10 years so I hopefully won't have to go through that again any time soon. One of my Toastmasters people said that the visa is still good even if you get a new passport - just travel carrying the old passport with the valid visa. This is also good to know although I would be sure to verify this.

Apparently, you can also pass by the consular office, M, T, Th, F, 8:30-11 a.m. to pick up the required forms. www.americanembassy.org.cy

observations

2004-11-02T15:56:16Z

Christmas preparations have begun here. Yesterday on the way back to work after lunch, I saw workers winding lights around the trees near the Ayios Dhometios crossing. And artificial trees are being assembled and showcased at the AlphaMega. Plus two weeks ago, I was in Pissarides and they already had decorations on sale. Perhaps the Oxi day celebration is the marker - kinda like how Christmas preparations really get going after Thanksgiving in the States.

I must say that street signs have been popping up every where around the city. It's quite disconcerting to say the least. I was entering the roundabout at the English School when I was quite distracted by the not one, not two but three signs that were posted on the roundabout - one at each entryway!! This weekend, I noticed that there was a sign pointing to Eleftheria Square at the Digheni/Severi intersection (where Demstar/Honda, Ariston confectionary, Spidernet and Renault are). There's a similar sign at the top of my street opposite the Astra building. Very weird.

And in interesting news (for me), the eatery downstairs has closed and has been dismantled. They'd changed ownership probably in the spring time. They've been closed for about the same time as the call center across the street. At first I figured they were on vacation although I was a little confused by that since they'd gone on vacation in August for two weeks so it seemed awfully soon for a second vacation. Perhaps they are just moving; though if that were the case then one would expect a sign on the door to that effect.

Images Without Borders

2004-10-31T23:12:14Z

Happened 25-29 October 2004.
The Ambassador of Finland H.E. Mr. Risto Piiponen and the Ambassador of Sweden H.E. Mr. Ingemar Lindahl cordially invite you to a bi-communal film week Images Without Borders: Truth, reconciliation and dialogue in film. Hosted by the Embassy of Finland and the Embassy of Sweden in cooperation with the Swedish Institute and the Finnish Film Institute.

Program
Monday 25th October 2004.
19:30. Ledra Palace. Inauguration reception - by invitation only.
  Film: Elina, Director: Klaus Haro

Tuesday 26th October 2004.
20:00. Ledra Palace, feature film - open (free) for the public
  Film: Handcuff King, Director: Arto Koskinen, (90 minutes)
20:00. Weaving Mill - screening of documentaries Yugolife by Ali Fegan and A Tale of Two Soldiers by Michael Franck, followed by "Truth in documentary films" an informal workshop for filmmakers and producers.

Wednesday 27th October 2004.
20:00. Ledra Palace, documentary film - open (free) for the public
  Film: Parallel trips. The production of this film has been possible by a grant from the Bi-communal Development Programme, which is funded by the United States Agency for International Development and the United Nations Development Programme and executed by the United Nations Office for Project Services. Directors: Panicos Chrysanthou and Dervish Zaim. Followed by a panel discussion "The image and reconciliation" chaired by Professor Peter Loizou of the London School of Economics and Intercollege.

Thursday 28th October 2004.
20:00. Ledra Palace, documentaries - open (free) for the public
  Film: Freedom is a Personal Journey, Director: Akiedah Mohamed, (48 minutes)
  Film: Lech Walesa, Director: Martti Puukko (52 minutes)
20:00 Arabahmet
  Film: Conductor of Shadows, Director: Martti Puukko (52 minutes)
  Film: Yugolife, Director: Ali Fegan (27 minutes)
  Film: Talking to the Enemy, Director: Nitza Kakoseos (52 minutes)
Followed by “Filming Conflict” an informal workshop for filmmakers and producers.

Friday 29th October 2004
20:00 Ledra Palace, documentaries – open (free) for the public
  Film: Talking to the enemy, Director: Nitza Kakoseos (52 minutes)
  Coffee break and discussion
  Film: The Labyrinth of Truth, Director: Nitza Kakoseos (75 minutes)

films: (excuse the grammar)
Elina
Elina is 9 years old and lives with her mother and two smaller siblings in a village in northern Sweden. She misses her dead father. When she comes back to school after a long illness she gets into a fight with the strict teacher when she defends another pupil. Nobody dares to side with Elina and she finally escapes alone to the dangerous marshes.
Directed by Klaus Haro. Klaus Haro was born in 1971 in Finland. he studied film in Helsinki and has made short films, and documentaries for television, one of them, the award winning "Into the Night" (1999). This drama for children is his feature debut.

The Handcuff King
Finland in the 1970s. 12-year-old Esko lives in Tornio, a town near the Swedish border. Esko is a boy with a lot of problems. For one thing, he has succeeded in getting on the wrong side of his gang - of which he is the leader. This came about when the boys caused an accident during an attempt to lure a rival gang from Sweden into a trap. Elko lied about his involvement in the affair and his mates were forced to take the rap for the damage done. Since then, none of them want anything to do with him. things don't look much better at home either. Esko's father falls ill and loses his job. Then, when Dad starts to hit the bottle, Esko's mother threatens to pack her bags. Esko's elder brother is oblivious to all of this - his head is full of his dreams of becoming a rock star. Esko's only friend turns out to be a boy from 'enemy' country in Sweden. Patrick is a great fan of the legendary escapologist, Henry Houdini, and he soon shows Esko a trick or two.

A Tale of Two Soldiers
A story about two childhood friends from the Lebanese capital Beirut. Akram, a Shiite Moslem and Faris a Maronite Christian, were separated by the war and became Rambo-type of soldiers in two armies involved in a fierce and long war against each other. Fox prize for the best domestic documentary 1987.
Directed by Michael Franck. Michael Franck was born in Helsinki, Finland, 1954. Journalist and documentary film director/producer with over 15 years of experience in electronic and print media. News and current affairs production in Finland and abroad. 1976-1988 free correspondent in Teheran and Beirut. He has directed and produced more than 20 television documentaries in Finland and abroad.

Lech Walesa
The documentary gives a unique insight into both Lech Walesa's personal background as well as the political events and their backgrounds during the rise and time of the Solidarity movement. Triggered by the Pope's encouragement to his fellow countrymen "If you want change - you must not be afraid" - the exponential growth of the Solidarity-opposition movement gained such momentum, that historical change soon became in evident. An interview with Michael Gorbatsov brings to light new information on the Kreml's reactions and chosen agenda in regards to the Walesa led up rise of the Polish people (e.g. even the hardliners at the Politburo had found sending the tanks in ill-advised policy). General Jaruzelski was pressured to find a political solution - Jaruzelski was playing a difficult game of chess. Mrs. Danuta Walesa's interview opens - for the first time - perspective into the personal life of and private person Lech Walesa. Directed by: Martti Puukko.

Freedom is a Personal Journey
This is a story of two women who have been to prison, one for political reasons, and the other for criminal reasons - and they are asked to explore what it means to them to be free in South Africa post democracy ten years later.
Gertrude Foster is the head of the Gender Commission in South Africa and campaigns tirelessly for the liberation of women as valuable contributors to society. Her journey beings with the strong awakenings of racial discrimination and an intense motivation to take charge of her destiny. Political activism leads to her arrest and interrogation and follows through to her release and continual journey to liberation.
Miriam Benjamin started life as one of twelve children cooped up in a little room. Believing that there is more to life than having a suffocated existence, she decides to hitch hike to Durban in search of a free life. For Miriam, money and power become synonymous with freedom but this leads to a life of crime and also to her arrest. Her rebellious nature and a strong survival instinct leads her to "run" Pollsmoor, one of the most dangerous prisons in the country.
Directed by: Akiedah Mohamed. Akiedah Mohamed, born 1971, is a writer, director, filmmaker based in Cape Town. Was born into a Cape Malay Muslim family. Having completed her exams, Akiedah transferred to the faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities and completed her Bachelor of Arts Degree, cum laude, majoring in Religious Traditions, specifically Islamic Studies and English. "Freedom is a Personal Journey" is Akiedah's latest film. Previously she made films about the HIV/AIDS problem in South Africa "Malawian Kiss", "The Second Wife" (about polygamy in the Muslim culture) and several films on various subjects.

Yugolife
"YugoLife" is a film about Maja, Dejan, and Srdan. Three 22-years old who were never defeated. Presently they are building a new future which they can believe in, each one in their hometown. Dejan is a techno-DJ and important figure in Night-life Belgrade, Maja is a punk singer who started her own band and Srdan is a press photographer and soccer fan. They live in Belgrade, Zagreb and Sarajevo - three capitals in three new countries. Ali Fegan, Hannes Eder, Erica Sunden who in August 2001 traveled in former Yugoslavia to find out what happened 10 years after wars started.
Directed by Ali Fegan. Ali Fegan was born in Stockholm, Sweden, 1975. His father originates from Lefkosa, northern Cyprus and mother from Trabzon, Turkey. He started his career as a journalist at the webmagazine Sourze.se in 2000. The magazine got acknowledged for their covering from the EU-summit in Gothenburg 2001, when Ali Fegan filmed the Swedish police shooting activists in the streets. At the same time he produced reportages and documentaries for Swedish Broadcast Television. "Yugolife" - 2001, "Olga" - 2002, "They all speak Swedish" - 2003, are some of the films and reportages he has produced. In 2003 he worked fulltime as a reporter with the mediacritical tv-magazine Mediemagasinet. Ali Fegan has also written for the football magazine "Offside", mainly covering Turkish football.

Talking to the Enemy
They were enemies by birth and class in a 12 years long the civil war in El Salvador. Jaime Hill a hard drinking multimillionaire polo player and infamous womanizer and Joaquin Villalobos, the feared ERP Marxist guerilla commander, who financed his army by kidnapping the rich and the famous - among them Jamie Hill - their most lucrative kidnapping ever. Talking the Enemy is a film about how peace and reconciliation have grown out of war and pain in a country not long apart by bloody and tattering civil wars.
Directed by Nitza Kakoseos. Nitza Kakoseos is an award winning documentary filmmaker. She is born and raised in Sweden of Greek parents. "I Faderns Namn" (2004,80') is the most recent documentary produced and directed by her and tells the story of a young man of Swedish-Chilean descent and his trip to Santiago de Chile to reconciliate with his dead socialist father. "Talking to the enemy" has received several international gold awards and has together with her first documentary - "Fichu Women at a special time in Cuba" toured some twenty festivals over the past years. "The labyrinth of truth"(2001, 75') tells us the story of what happens after a civil war is over and a country, a people, a family are left to start anew. Nitza Kakoseos residence in Stockholm, Sweden.

The Labyrinth of Truth
Sofia, daughter of a high-ranking colonel in the service of Nicaraguan dictator, Anastasio Somoza, makes a journey back to post-revoluntionary Nicaragua. She is determined to unravel the mystery surrounding the life and the death of her, who was killed by the Sandinistas. Through her search for the truth concealed from her for close to two decades we come to understand how war and ideologies divide not only entire nations but entire families. And how only the truth can help to get rid of the demons which dwell within each one of its victims and ultimately lead to their reconciliation and void of guilt.
Directed by Nitza Kakoseos.

On Thurs at the Ledra Palace, we ended up seeing A Tale of Two Soldiers and Lech Walesa in conference room 1. Attendance probably about 20.

from newspaper: Ikea, Ermes, road stats

2004-10-03T21:28:44Z

Some interesting blurbs from The Cyprus Weekly, October 1-7, 2004. They don't have all their articles online more's the pity.

Ikea Store in Cyprus

The Shacolas group of companies has not concluded any deal with the Swedish IKEA chain of stores, it was stated this week, in response to a local newspaper report. But an IKEA store will be perating in the Shacolas Commerical Centre outside Nicosia in two years time. A statement from the Shacolas Group explained that Fourlis of Greece has exclusive franchise for IKEA in both Greece and Cyprus.

Under a deal between Shacolas and Fourlis, the Greek group will have its own section in the Shacolas Commercial Centre which is to built near the new Nicosia General Hospital. An IKEA department will operate in this section by the middle of 2006, it was stated.

New name for Woolworth

The Woolworth stores in Cyprus are being renamed Ermes as part of a company face lift after thirty years of operation. The name was chosen because of its Greek origin and its indirect connection with trade (according to Greek mythology Hermes was the god of commerce and communication).

It also offers the opportunity to disassociate the local department stores from the Woolworth chain abroad - thus dispelling confusion among thousands of tourists who visit Cyprus. The new name does not deprive the firm of the advantages built up through the years but opens up new opportunities for further growth.

I definitely understand the dispelling of confusion reason.

Some facts about driving in Cyprus

With a population of 735,000 in 2002, Cyprus boasted a paved road network of 7,206 km or 60% of the Cyprus Republic's entire surface area. Paved roads in 1981 amounted to only 3,988 km. In 2002, there were 465,357 licensed vehicles while licensed drivers were 452,466. In 1981, there were only 191,422 licensed vehicles. [..]

happenings

2004-09-22T22:20:27Z

Open Studios is starting tomorrow: "A 10-day event that offers the general public the opportunity to meet a variety of artists at their studios located in the walled city of Nicosia." Cool concept. Cyprus Weekly article here, 2nd blurb down. Not sure how good that link will be good for cos they just revamped their website and have moved lightning paces ahead by using a content managment system so hopefully, the articles will continue to be accessible instead of mysteriously disappearing when their week is up.

Speaking of downtown, Woolworth stores will apparently be changing their name to Ermes on Saturday. About 2/3 of the way down, this vaguely refers to a group reorg and transfer and sale of trading activities that happened in Dec 2003. Ah: "Ermes Department Stores Ltd was incorporated in 2002 with a primary purpose of conducting retail operations and managing shops and department stores.Ermes has been so far dormant since its incorporation." from here. That explains it.

Also, I noticed that the Classic Motorcycle Museum was open on Granikou St (around the corner from the Maronite church). Their grand opening was two weeks ago and the lady there said they were closed from 1-3pm, open weekdays. I'd seen their entry in the Yellow Pages but hadn't been able to find it and now we know why. They have about 20? motorcycles from 1939-1981, a small break area (4 tables and an old soda machine), and a couple of other small rooms - one currently serving as a storage and the other as potentially a photo exhibition area? Go check it out.

Price List for Pharmaceutical Products

2004-09-22T12:58:03Z

Found out that the Ministry of Health controls the price for all pharmaceutical products. Availability and pricelist for May 1, 2004 - April 30, 2005 at http://www.capc.org.cy/pricelist_1-B.html

(x-posted to Cyprus Community)

Plans in hand to beautify the capital of Cyprus

2004-09-08T16:04:09Z

by Philippos Stylianou
The Cyprus Weekly, February 20-26, 2004

The Town Planning Department is revealing its plans for making Nicosia a prettier and more interesting place to live. Below are details of two strikingly different projects in different parts of the capital that are certain to capture the imagination of the inhabitants.

Pedios River Park
The preliminary designs for the last section of the Pedios River Park running through the western part of the capital were recently presented to the Nicosia Municipal Council.

Two previous sections of the park - through Lakatamia and Strovolos - have been completed for some time and are popular with walkers and cyclists, who enjoy the exercise along the Pedieos river bed.

But unlike these, the remaining part will make extensive use of the river bed itself.

As Andreas Kyriakides of the Town Planning Design Section explained to The Cyprus Weekly, the river banks in this part of town are too steep and narrow to be used in the same way as in Lakatamia and Strovolos. Besides, he said, there is private property reaching right up to the river which have to be passed.

The solution is for the park to run straight through the river in many parts, using elevated wooden platforms and pathways with the water running underneath during the winter. The maximum height of the platforms will be 1.60m, based on a hydrological study by the Water Development Department.

Despite cutting right through the river course, Kyriakides assured that almost none of the eucalyptus trees that proliferate in the river bed will have to be cut in order to make some way for the park. Only some acacias will be cleared, he said.

The new sections of the park will start from the bridge south of the Presidential Palace, pass through the eucalyptus forest and the traditional quarter of Ayioi Omologites and then under the bridge across Grivas Dighenis Avenue.

From there it will link up with the Forest Association Park near the Yiorkion complex, cross underneath another bridge on Chilonos Street and end up by the junction of the General Hospital.

When this part is completed, the park will have a total length of 9 km.

Total cost is estimated at 900,000 two thirds of which will be borne by the Town Planning Department and one third by the Nicosia Municipality.

Arcades and Squares in Makarios Ave
The Town Planning Deparment has ambitious plans for other parts of Nicosia as well.

Makarios Avenue, the capital's main shopping and meeting place, will be linked to its smaller but more fashionable and expensive parallel Stasicratous Street, with arcades and small squares.

The new areas will be cobbled and closed to trafifc, while surrounding parts of the two streets would also turn pedestrian during weekends and holidays. Shops and cafes would be allowed to operate in the squares and the arcades.

In both Makarios Avenue and Stasicratous, the sidewalks will be widened at the expense of the street surface.

The Nicosia Municipal Council is yet to approve the town planning suggestions, but the greater obstacles are anticipated from shop and other property owners who will be affected.

Town Plannning officer Andreas Kyriakides said generous incentives will be given, both during construction time and when the project is finished to make it attractive to owners.

Apart from being given more space to operate their businesses in the squares and the arcades, an underground level with transparent roof will be allocated to them.

Two underground car parks will also be created, one of them to be run by the municipality.

The Town Planning has placed one arcade next to the City Plaza shopping centre, but similar ones could be constructed in other parts along Makarios Avenue.

Interesting how there're no tentative dates attached to these plans!

Driving in Cyprus

2004-08-18T10:47:15Z

DRIVING IN CYPRUS
(Taken from Mosaic – the in-flight magazine of Helios Airways)

Cyprus is a land where life moves along at a fairly leisurely rate. Visit one of the mountain villages or stroll the promenades of one of our many coastal resorts and you won't be hard pressed to spot locals taking a moment for themselves. Indeed, don't be surprised if you're asked to join them for coffee.

This laid back attitude is reflected throughout society: Go shopping in town and you will find the pace little more than an amble; visit a restaurant and, more often than not, your order will arrive at a leisurely pace.

Get in your car, however, and you'll notice a difference. In Cyprus, you see, we drive:

ON THE LEFT. And in the middle. And on the right.

In Cyprus, like the UK, drivers are required by law to drive on the left-hand side of the road. Lane discipline, though, isn't something drivers here worry too much about. Saying that, neither are red lights, white lines, yellow lines (double or otherwise), parking spaces, speed limits or indicators.

On the whole, though, there isn't too much to worry about, when driving in Cyprus. So that you feel better prepared, there follow a number of points on what you can expect when you turn the key, put the hire car in gear and head out onto the Cyprus roads.

• The Unexpected

Always, always, expect the unexpected. Cypriots are a very sociable race and, given that the island is so small, it should come as no surprise that everyone seems to know everyone else. A resident of Larnaka can travel to Pafos and bump into several people that he either, studied with, worked with, or is related to. As a result, drivers often spot friends coming the other way and will stop to chat. The end result of this is that the road will block - probably in both directions.

While this may be mildly irritating, it's best treated as an opportunity to sit back and relax - perhaps consult your map, or retune your radio. Leaning on the horn won’t help. In fact, you’ll probably just trigger another fond reminiscence. Instead, just hang on. After a while, with much hand waving, the friends will move on and you'll probably get a smiling nod from the oncoming driver.

Believe it or not, there isn't a national problem with colour-blindness! Distinguishing between red and green lights, however, isn't a local strong point. It is actually quite fascinating to watch at traffic lights as drivers manage to go through the entire red/amber/green cycle without actually stopping their vehicle. Instead, a low speed creep is adopted which sees the car slow just behind the white line and progress onward with agonising slowness until the lights change. Failing this, red lights are ignored altogether. Another interesting feature of Cypriot traffic lights is that, when you stop at a red light, you will notice a horn sounding from behind at the very instant the light turns green. Don't worry, this is quite normal and shouldn't be any cause for distress.

• Parking.

The basic rule goes like this: If it's flat, it can be parked on. (There is an exception to this rule, of course, where 4wdvehicles are concerned. They can park anywhere). Don't be surprised to find bicycles, cars, motorbikes, lorries, buses, trailers, donkeys or any other form of transport left unattended on the pavement or parked across an entrance. If the said vehicle / animal is causing an obstruction, the accepted local remedy is to lean heavily on your horn without let-up for at least 3minutes.

• Overtaking.

There is a certain hard-core group of drivers in Cyprus for whom bungee-jumping fails to provide a satisfying enough rush. Instead, they spend their time searching the roads for ever-more exciting bends, diversions and tight gaps at which to overtake. It is well worth you keeping one eye in the mirror and another around the next bend to ensure that nothing is coming. What is nice, however, is that, on difficult roads, truck drivers will often signal to you when it is clear to overtake. Not so nice is the fact that the same truck driver will probably quite happily just pull out in front of you next time he gets a chance.

• Filling up. Pulling into a petrol station is basically a lucky dip. Queues, it seems, are for the tourists only and there is no set guide as to which way to enter. Basically, you go in one end and out the other. Many stations still have pump attendants however, who will happily clean your windows for you at the same time as filling up the tank. Most speak English and will let you use their facilities if you need to make an unscheduled pit stop after consuming too much liquid. Fuel prices are fixed in Cyprus so expect to pay the same price at all petrol stations.

• Sightseeing.

Hire cars can easily be spotted in Cyprus thanks to their red number plates, prefixed with the letter Z. Almost always white, medium-sized saloons or SUV jeeps, these vehicles can be found all over the island. Literally. Travel into what seems to be the back of beyond, spending what seems like hours bumping down rutted tracks to reach that secluded cove you spotted on the map, and don't be surprised to find a battered and worn Suzuki Vitara sitting there – its proprietors off snorkelling or bird-watching.

While it's always nice to see visitors to the island exploring and enjoying what Cyprus has to offer, it's also worth remembering that these cars often don't know where they are going. If you find yourself in the middle of a village and unable to find your way out, you would therefore be better served tagging along behind the twin-cab pick-up truck loaded down with melons, than the white Mazda with the straw boater on the parcel shelf. (Of course, following the pick up might lead you out into the fields where the driver tends to his melon crop, but he's sure to be hospitable and to offer you a drink and sample of his produce).

• Buses & Taxis.

The bus service in Cyprus is a fascinating subject in its own right. The glorious sight of old Bedford coaches trundling around the island is heart warming, but travellers should be warned about the speed of the service - or rather the lack of it. Don't be surprised if the arrival of the bus you want to catch doesn't tally with the timetable.

Far more reliable is the taxi service. Service Taxis run scheduled trips between all the major towns at regular intervals. Your hotel or tour rep should be able to provide you with the details of a local firm. Once aboard, don't be surprised if you are sharing the cab with priests, little old ladies, livestock &/or poultry and businessmen/women. Also, local taxi drivers have access to technology only previously encountered on Star Trek. And you thought that warp drive was fictional.

• Motorways.

The main highways between towns are dual carriageways, which are referred to locally as motorways. Driving on these roads is straightforward although a couple of points are worth remembering.

Firstly, there are two lanes - one is the very fast lane, the other is the very slow lane.

Secondly, contrary to how it might seem, you are not allowed to undertake on the left - it's always worth checking your left-hand mirror before moving over, though, just in case somebody else is busy flouting this law.

Thirdly, the exits from the motorway do tend to be VERY tight - it's worth slowing down well before you reach the bend otherwise the mother-in-law in the back is likely to get quite thin-lipped about your World Rally Championship-like cornering!

• Motorbikes & Mopeds.

Visitors to the island will soon become aware of mopeds. Tiny, buzzing 50cc bikes, these things get and go everywhere. In town, don't be surprised to see one or more magically appear, apparently out of nowhere, and then disappear just as miraculously. Designed for one or two people, they can often be seen (illegally) supporting whole families on their errands. It is impossible not to feel sorry for the little engines as they are forced to haul mum, dad and the children up a steep hill at a snail's pace. You'll often see them expire half way up a hill. The family will promptly be ordered off to allow the exhausted little motor the chance to cool down – then its back to the grind.

Bigger motorbikes invariably don't appear until the summer months. Cyprus law requires all bike riders to wear crash helmets and stiff penalties exist for non-compliance. Visitors could be forgiven, however, for mistaking this as an elbow-protection law since many local riders prefer to ride illegally with their helmet slung over their arm. The "appearing-from-nowhere' factor is present with bigger bikes also, although to a lesser degree.

• Pedestrians.

While the pedestrian is often the single most dangerous form of road user, in Cyprus you have to feel some sympathy for them. Often forced into the road because of others parking on the pavement, the pedestrian in Cyprus is generally a cautious beast, not least because of the antics of the afore-mentioned road users. The lot of the pedestrian isn’t made any easier by drivers who, while they might occasionally use their indicators, don’t always indicate what they actually intend to do!

SO THERE YOU HAVE IT, A BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO DRIVING IN CYPRUS. GUARANTEED TO ADD ANOTHER DIMENSION TO YOUR HOLIDAY. YOU ARE SURE TO COME AWAY WITH STORIES TO TELL ABOUT WHATYOUVE SEEN. AND DON'T WORRY, ALMOST ANYTHING CAN BE FORGIVEN ON THE CYPRUS ROADS BY A SMILE, A WAVE AND A HOLLERED, "SIGNOMI!"

Paphos area sightseeing

2004-08-10T20:53:18Z

Note: M is my coworker and camping buddy.

We took off Sunday for the touristy part of the excursion. Just outside of Polis, there were lots of crops growing - it turns out that these are tobacco plants. Apparently, the majority of the cigarette brands in Cyprus are locally made - such as Senior Service (which one of our camp-mates smokes) and L&M.

First stop were the Sulphur Springs at Ayios Anargyioi between Polis and Paphos. Now, I'd talked to the lady at the Cyprus Tourist Organisation (CTO or KOT if you're Greek speaking - for Kypros Organismos Tourismos) and she'd said that people bathed there so I imagined a natural rock pool with the springs somehow filling said pool. This image was probably the result of having gone to Taos (? or someplace in the southwest US) where this was indeed the case. What I saw instead, was a fountain like fixture (the wall type) with the springs flowing freely from there. Were it not for the bold, loud sign proclaiming 'Sulphur Springs', I would certainly have been wondering if these were indeed the springs. Once again, the chasm between imagination and reality is revealed.

Onward, to 'Akourdaleia' for the herb garden opposite the local church. On the way there, M told me that there was a special kind of oregano that is highly prized because it only grows in that particular area of Cyprus and because it cannot (as yet) be cultivated.

It turns out that, as is common, there is a Kato (Lower) Akourdaleia and a Pano (Upper) Akourdaleia about 4 km away. Unfortunately, the article where I had read about the herb garden did not specify whether it was in Kato or Pano and we reached the Kato first. We stopped to ask some people at the kafenion and the exchange with the old woman, who took it upon herself to act as bridge, was translated to me as such:
- Do you know where the herb museum is?
- [answer in the negative]
- It's next to a church
- [still no recognition]
- Used to be an elementary school
- Ah! Yes, there is something like that. Where the elementary school is, they made it into something and now they call it a museum...
- ?!?!?

On the road to Pano A., we passed a sign claiming a excibition[sic] of a Cypriot farmyard so we headed that way but didn't see anything that might qualify. Luckily, it was a dead-end road so we didn't have to go far to make this discovery. We did find the village "tap" though from back in the day when it was the only source of water for the village. This "tap" being similar in style to the Sulphur Springs one. Back on track.

For background, the relevant part of the article from Issue 59 of the Cyprus Tourism International picked up from my local CTO office states:" The village of Akourdalia is the proud owner of its own herb museum. The museum is housed in what was once the elementary school of the village. At its entrance stands a gigantic circular stone once used as an olive press. Known as the Chryseleousa Herb Garden, it is named after the church of Panayia Chryseleousa just opposite. [..]
The Herb Garden is a veritable haven occupied by over forty species, six of which are endemic. Herbs such as lemon balm, thyme, oregano, peppermint, sage and lavender are grown, dried and packaged, and can be purchased to add that special flavour to any recipe or for a refreshing or therapeutic herbal tea. One of the two school rooms houses instruments employed in the drying of the herbs and documentation about procedures and uses of these aromatic plants. The second classroom lends itself nicely to a small tea room, but most visiotrs opt to sit outside on the seats amidst the fragrant bushes under the shade of the ancient olive tree."

It turns out that the schoolhouse was closed (and only now that I've typed in the description have I realized what we missed) but I still wandered around the garden (a small sort of affair - imagine something 30 feet x 15 feet). A good thing too as on the next part of the trip I was able to identify that the copious number of tall yellow flowered plants alongside the road were fennel. The six endemic plants must've been the ones with Latin and Greek names but no English one.

Our next stop was Coral Bay. However, we got distracted by a sign for the Adonis Baths waterfalls that we saw in the Kathikas village - a big village with 5000 residents. I asked after it and M said he'd been there over 10 years ago and that it was a nice spot and *then* he decided that we would go to see it. We drove on to Akoursos with the sporadic sign indicating the way. When we reached Akoursos though, the road forked and after asking someone we went forth (taking the left fork). We drove on. We'd been told that we'd see a sign but got to a main road with still no clue if we were heading in the correct direction. We persevered and finally came to a dirt road turnoff with the helpful sign, and then handwritten the statement "Road suitable for all vehicles". We continued. This was the part that M remembered going on - a long, long, winding dirt road.

Finally, we reached the place and M remarked that we now knew who'd written that the road was suitable for all vehicles: the restaurant owner! We walked through the patio into the restaurant section (where there was a guy operating as the ticket seller), followed by the set up of a traditional house. Now the thing about official CTO attractions is that entrance is free if you live in Cyprus. So M walks up and asks how much it is and is very surprised when he is told that it's £3 per person. He asks why and is told that it's because it's a private place (!!). So after driving such a long time to reach this place, we pay our admission and walk through the building. On the way to the waterfalls we pass a statue of Adonis - the sign claims that if you're infertile, touch Adonis' appendage and you will be blessed with children. Ahem.

The waterfalls were actually quite nice although the water in the pool was murky. Still, there was a rope hanging down and kids were jumping in. I walked a little away from the pool just to see what was there but it was just wilderness. There was a sign for a second waterfall so being the good tourist that I am, I walked up to check it out. Then out of curiosity, I walked a little further up to see well, whatever there was to see. And what did I see but a big black piece of tubing. I wondered flippantly to M if they were using the tubing to pump the water from the pool back up the mountain. I walked further up but there was nothing of interest so we went back down and left. M must've been pondering about the tubing because he mentioned that when he came, he remembered (being told?) that in the summer when there hadn't been much rain, the waterfall was a mere trickle (as I'd been told that the Caledonian Falls were in the Troodos mountains).

Anyway, on the way down the mountain, we saw numerous signs for these Adonis Baths Waterfalls. We ended up at the beginning of Peyia Municipality, and took a right to go to Coral Bay. Drove around. I got out of the car and looked at the beach. On the way out of the parking lot, I saw a poster for a snooker exhibition and got out to look at it - it had been held at the Crazy Spoon Snooker Hall (www.crazyspoon.com). Our next stop was the Tombs of the Kings but we actually passed the Crazy Spoon. Now way back when M had first found out I played pool, he said we should play a game but nothing ever came of it. M asked if I was up to the challenge and I said sure so we did a U-turn and went back to the Crazy Spoon.

Now, the snooker hall part is actually underground with the restaurant and supermarket on top. We went down and entered an unbelievably wide room, suitably dimly lit - I cannot emphasize how big this room seemed; it was as if stepping into a cavern. Nine beautiful snooker tables complete with dustcovers wonderfully spaced apart with each table having its own coffee table flanked by two tall round tables in the aisles, caricature posters of snooker players, and of course, a bar in the back of the room.

It's the first time I've played snooker in an actual snooker hall on a 'real' snooker table. There were 'short' X bridges on each short end of the table and along the length of the table there was the extra long bridge with accompanying extra long cue. To the left side of the table there was the marker with two areas - one slider counted the single digits and the other slider counted the points in denominations of 20.

We split the two games we played. I won the first because he wasn't concentrating much. He told me 'When you told me that you played pool, you didn't mention that you were good too'. Ha. No time for a third game so he said that our match would be decided on a pool table. Glad I got some pool time in though - I'd been jonesing for it. And I picked up a copy of What's On (www.wocy.com)

Onward to the Tombs of the Kings. This is where the fact that we read the tourist blurbs in our respective languages comes into play. Because in the English version it says that it's the burial chambers of high ranking officials possibly kings while apparently in the Greek version it says that it is possibly the burial chambers of kings. We had an animated discussion about this point.

Now I'd known that the Tombs of the Kings was a wide open space with no shade so I was prepared. We walked around the perimeter first before reaching the main attraction (mostly because we veered off to the right instead of following the obvious, in retrospect, main avenue). This gave us a taste of the main chambers which are naturally, at sub-ground level. Although you get shade down in the chambers, there's no breeze so you're still really hot. Anyway, lots of chambers to check out. The place abuts with the shore so across the way there you could see the waves crashing along the shore. M was obviously flagging at this point so I didn't press the visiting every single chamber (we went down 3 but apparently there were more somewhere).

Next stop, the mosaics. Or more precisely, the periptero for cold water, and then the mosaics. In the parking lot, I dropped my digital camera so it is no more [sniffle]. If you recall, someone had recommended to me to go to the mosaics after 4pm so that the light was better off the mosiacs so we did just that. This same person had also said that I could cover the whole place in 2 hours but I opted to save M from that torture of walking around in the hot, hot sun so we just hit the mosaics and checked out the Ancient Odeon. The houses with the mosaics are actually housed in order to protect the mosaics and one walks around on these raised wooden platforms with handrails that go around the perimeter of the house where the walls would've been.

While we were in the House of Aion, one of the other tourists took off his camera lens cover to take photos only to have the lens roll out of his hand, onto the mosaics to land with a triumphant clatter in their midst. The heads of the five other tourists in the place turned to witness this development and ponder the best way for him to retrieve it. In the end, he just got down there, placing his foot on an un-mosaiced part, put one of his hands on a mosaiced part and then stretched, stretched, stretched his other hand out to get the lens cover. Not bad.

In the House of Dionysos (the largest house with mosaics in it), we came across a tour guide with about 10 tourists in her group. Naturally, I eavesdropped on the monologue trying to figure out what language it was but to no avail so I asked M. He couldn't discern it either but did come up with a couple of guesses.

We headed to the Ancient Odeon because its often used as a venue for events so I was curious about the setting. In fact, as we reached there, people were setting up for a performance later that evening - involving wooden sheep and artificially grassed hills. As we were leaving, we checked out the placard and attempted to confirm where the Agora was. The tourist guide from before came up so I verified with her. And having broken the ice with this question, I asked where her group was from. And she said 'Hungary'. One of M's guesses was correct.

Done with Paphos, we headed out on the old road into Paphos - apparently why all the peripteros are on the right side of the road - stopping to pick up more cold beverages.

Eurovision Song Contest - the video clips

2004-04-17T22:05:51Z

The video clips for this year's song entries into the Eurovision Song Contest are on TV as I type. More info at http://www.eurovision.tv/ebu/micro_index.htm

I'm a bit disappointed that several of the songs seem to be in English. I think it definitely removes some of the international flavour that I'm used to.

I was interested to see the Greece entry since the singer is a big pop person and his song has been getting lots of air play. When it comes on the radio, I immediately imagine my coworker demonstrate some dance moves - the song is called 'Shake It' and is terribly poppy and cheesy.

The contest itself is on the 15 May. There's a qualifying round on 12 May for those who do not have a guaranteed spot. So undoubtedly, you'll be hearing more about the Eurovision Song Contest.