Athens

This past week I took a little solo trip to Athens, Greece. I was a little nervous going by myself but it worked out great because I was able to do what I wanted when I wanted to do it. A little selfish but I enjoyed my time there. The first thing I did when I got to Athens was to find my hostel, Athens Backpackers. Jackie recommended I stay there and it was really nice. The first night I was there, I was the only one in my room with six bunks to choose from. After I checked in, I decided to check out the Acropolis, the Parthenon, and a lot of other ancient things. While touring the sites, I found that taking pictures with me in them was a bit of a challenge. I asked people a few times and tried to take them myself. One time I wanted to climb some ancient building so I was trying to set up my timer and run over and climb. I was having some trouble getting my camera to stay so this man offered to help. As soon as I was climbing, some starting whistling at me and yelling at me to get off the ancient structure. The man with the camera was friendly and said, hang on, gotta get the picture, so it worked out. I was surprised to get yelled at because in Cyprus they let you climb on anything. Oh well I gotta good picture out of it. After checking out some of the ancient ruins, I went to see the Olympic Stadium from the first modern Olympics in 1896. It was cool to see where the first Olympics originated. I wish I could have gone on the track but they didn't allow that. After the Olympic Stadium, I went to Syntagma square and found all of the shops. It was neat to see all of the little streets with shops and see the Acropolis at night. Overall, it was a successful first day in Athens.

Day 2 of Athens featured me going to the Olympic site from the 2004 Olympics. I hopped on the Metro and found my way to the Olympic stadium. I was expecting to see a couple more people there but it was basically just me checking out the stadiums. It seemed like all of the buildings were abandoned and I wondered if there were any events that still happen there. The swimming pool is still used but it seemed like it was mainly used for recreation. It was really cool to see all of the stadiums but kind of sad at the same time. After the stadiums, I went to a mall that was near there. I didn't realize this at the time but I had to stay at the Mall for a very long time. When I was sick of being at the mall I went to find the metro which was conveniently right outside of the mall. I couldn't figure out how to get on, it looked like it was closed but I was like it can't be closed, not at 3 in the afternoon. I saw another metro that was running so I decided to just hop on and figure out from there. Not the best idea I ever had as I just went on for 2 stops and it turned back around back to the mall. After getting off on that stop, I decided to walk back to the Olympic stadium metro because I knew that worked since I got on it. Walked over there to find out, that was also closed. I asked someone nearby and they told me that the metro was on strike till 5. So I walked back to the mall and read my book for the next couple of hours and waited for the strike to be over. While waiting for the metro to arrive, more and more people started to come. The first train was packed and there was no way I could get on the train. I waited for the second train which was a little less packed, but packed nonetheless. After a hot uncomfortable ride back, I made it unharmed and wallet still with me. I got off the stop at Syntagma square and walked around there. I finally made it back to my hostel where I was welcomed by two guys that were staying with me. One guy was from Canada and the other guy was from South Africa. It was nice to actually talk to someone and hang out with them while in Athens. All three of us decided to head down to the Sports bar and Karaoke. While there we met some more Canadians and had a great time hanging out.

The next day I decided to head to Pireaus (Port) to try to catch a ferry and check out a Greek Island. When I bought the ticket I wasn't quite sure where I was but thought I would figure it out. I ended up taking the ferry for 40 minutes to an island called Aegina. I walked around the downtown area for a while and decided to rent a moped to check out more of the island. It was really fun, I think I was riding around for 2 hours. I went up to the mountains, took some videos while I was driving, saw more of what I thought Greece was like, and had fun. After riding on the moped for while, I decided to head back to Athens. When I got back to Athens, I took a nap and then headed to dinner with all of my roommates from the hostel. There were six of us that went to dinner and we had a good time trying Greek food and visiting. After dinner, I went back with one of my roommates, Ryan from Reno, because we both had flights at 7 in the morning. It was nice to have someone to go with to the airport to make sure I made it here. All in all it was a really nice trip. I was able to see a lot of cool things and have some fun getting to know other people. Here are some pictures from my trip.

The Olympic Swimming Pool.

Outside the Olympic Area.

The Acropolis

The Parthenon.

Theater of Dionysos

Easter in Cyprus

Easter in Cyprus is a huge holiday, much bigger than Christmas. The Cypriots spend almost 5 days celebrating the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Jackie and I decided to see what it was all about so we celebrated with our manager's family. On Thursday night, our manager's wife, Theresa, picked us up and we went to church with them at St. Lazarus's Church. We have walked by the church a few times but have not been inside until Thursday. The church was built during the medieval times and was really cool inside. At church we saw Jesus being crucified, he was put up on a cross and the priest showed him around the church. The church was packed, there were no seats in sight, so we stood on top of the stairs and tried to see from afar. We arrived late at the service but apparently that is commonplace as the church service is very long. We got there around 8 and the service was to go until midnight. We didn't stay very long because we couldn't understand anything as they were talking in ancient Greek. Anyways, it was very cool to see and go to a church in a different country.

The next night, Jackie's friend Jess came into town, and we went to check out church again for Good Friday. Theresa picked us up again and we went to St. Lazarus' Church. However, this time there was no chance of getting into the church. There were people just packed outside of the church preparing for Jesus' funeral. We waited outside until the band came out, the "girl scouts" marched by, the priests, mayor, and finally Jesus covered in flowers proceeded throughout the city of Larnaca. The processional goes around the city and stops by other churches who join in and have a ceremony in the middle of the city. After watching the processional at the church, we walked to Theresa's aunt's house to wait for the processional to come by again so we could get a much better look at it. At the house, we had wine, beer, and food and chatted with the family and had a great time. Finally, the processional came by and it was really cool to see. It was somewhat emotional for some because it was like you were seeing a real funeral procession. After the procession went by, the priests gave Theresa's mother holy water so she put it on our hands and we put it on our faces. So now Jackie, Jess, and I are holy I guess. The next day, the church takes down all of the black cloth (that is put up all around the church) and there is a huge celebration. Church service basically runs the full day until 1 in the morning. Throughout the whole night there were pipe bombs and fireworks going off. We decided not to take part in this part of the Easter because we went to the beach instead.

On Saturday, Jackie, Jess, and I went to the beach in Agia Napa. It was a gorgeous day and we were able to get a ton of sun, play some beach volleyball, and jump off of a 2 story boat. There was this party boat that came close to the beach so we decided to swim out to the boat to see if we could jump off of it too. It took about 20 minutes just to get there but all we did was hop on the boat, go to the second story, and then jumped off. After we jumped off, we swam back to shore. After spending a few hours at the beach we headed to a Mexican restaurant where there were sombreros, ponchos, guns, and bulls. Naturally this all means that I need to take a picture wearing a sombrero and poncho, holding a gun, while riding a bull. After going bull riding, we headed back home to prepare for tomorrows lamb roast.

On Easter Sunday, we went to Theresa's mother's house for lots of Cypriot food. There was a full lamb roasting, along with pork kebabs, and other crazy meats. There were also some bird heads and meat that were on a table and our manager, Xenios, just took a head, beak and all, and put it in his mouth and ate it. The bird heads were from those normal little birds that you see flying all the time. It was just crazy and I was not about to try and eat a beak. Aside from little bird heads, there was a ton of food to try including lamb, potatoes, pasta salad, and other meats that I wasn't quite sure of what it was. Some of it was great, some not for me, but it was an experience. After stuffing our faces with Cypriot food, we talked with most everyone, had desserts, and played with the kids. I did learn a new game from Aleksandra and Andreas that they had a blast with. It was called pikachu and it was basically like rock paper scissors, except if you lost, you got slapped in the face. It was a pretty fun game for all three of us involved.

I hope everyone has a great Easter. Wish I was back home to celebrate but have fun. Happy Easter.

Here are some pictures from Easter.

Jesus's Funeral.

Americans plus Estonian at Cypriot Easter.

Putting basil on the lamb.
Poor lamb chop

Cypriot Lunch, Road Trip to Pafos, and Karaoke

Lots of things have happened since I last posted. Last Wednesday we went to Paralimni to have a ladies night with Kendra and her friend from North Carolina, Stephanie. Stephanie is visiting Cyprus for three weeks to study the culture, visit with the Loizou's, and see the sights. All of us girls went out to a local bar and were hoping to karaoke but there was an important soccer game so they canceled it. We had a nice time having a little American ladies night out. After our night out we stayed at Loizos and Kendra's house and helped Stephanie become addicted to our new favorite show, Criminal Minds.

On Thursday was a holiday here in Cyprus, it was Fish day where all of the Cypriots can have fish that day. For lent, the local Cypriots fast and essentially become vegans, where they don't eat anything that comes from an animal. After Jackie and I spent a few hours at the beach, we went to Loizos's parents house for a traditional Cypriot meal. They made pork chops for us meat eaters, chips (fries), a few Cypriot salads, and plenty of other great foods. I found that lemons are very popular to add to almost every meal. I noticed that almost every dish had lemon juice added to it. That must be a reason that there are so many lemon trees everywhere. Anyways, the meal was awesome, and we were able to see what a traditional Cypriot meal is like. It was also really interesting to listen to his parents tell us a little about the history of the island. Thank you Loizou's family for a great meal.




This past weekend, Loizos and his family took us on a road trip to see the other side of the island, Pafos. We started off driving down the sea coast and first made a stop in Limmasol. We checked out this really old amphitheater that had some of the best acoustics. They said there are still jazz concerts that are played at the theater. After checking out some of the ancient mosaics there we hopped back in the car and headed towards Pafos. At Pafos we checked out some more ancient ruins with nearly intact mosaics and different houses. Jackie, Stephanie, and I climbed on some of the ancient ruins to make sure we would get the best shot. It was neat that we were able to actually climb on the ancient ruins and not get into trouble. After checking out the ancient ruins, we checked into our hotel, took a swim, and decided to go downtown Pafos to eat.


We found a place to have some souvlaki and chips and then Jackie and Stephanie decided to get some Starbucks for a nice little treat. Yes they do have Starbucks all the way in Cyprus. After Starbucks, we decided to walk back to the hotel by ourselves and hopefully find our way. We were successful in our adventure!

The next day we headed next door to the Tomb of the Kings to check out some ancient tombs with very important dead people. We of course did some rock climbing on the tombs and even played dead in some of them. After checking out all of the tombs we hopped in the car and went up to the mountains. A few struggled with car sickness but in the end we made up to the Kykkos mountains and checked out a Monastery. We had to wear these really cool purple robes because we couldn't show any skin. In the monastery there were a lot of really impressive mosaics and the church was filled a lot of gold chandeliers, candles, and art pieces. After checking out the monastery we head back down the mountain, had dinner, and headed back home. Overall, it was a really fun trip and really cool to see all of the ancient ruins. I think my favorite part of the whole trip was climbing on all of the ancient pieces and taking fun pictures.

On Monday, after practice, we went to Derynia to check out our roommates volleyball match. His team was playing the last place team and it was a very important game. Whoever lost the match had to move down to the second division and is essentially demoted. It was a really great matches to watch as it went to five games. Josh's team came out on top but after the game things really started to get interesting. For some reason, some people were angry and a fight broke out between some managers, fans, and players. One guy came flying in from the stands and jumped on someone's back to hit another guy in the back of the head. One guy from Paralimni who is from the US said he got spit on but did not get attacked so that was a plus. The locals take their sports very seriously here. After the whole debacle we were treated to a free meal with Josh's team and then went home.

Finally the last part of my blog is our time last night performing Karaoke. We have been trying to make it to the Skylight bar for Karaoke and we finally did last night. Jackie, Stephanie, Alina (teammate from Belarus) and I went and sang a few songs. Jackie and Alina started us off with a very interesting and entertaining version of Total Eclipse of the Heart. At one point Jackie started to make up her own words but she was very entertaining. Next Stephanie and I performed a classic hit with Hit Me Baby One More Time. I think we were pretty entertaining because we pretended to hit each other throughout the song. One funny thing about the night was that we were very goofy with each song and having fun with it, however the rest of the crowd all chose very serious songs. We also attracted a lot of weirdos that night. Our next performances included Jackie and Stephanie doing I'll Make Love to You, that got a little weird with the English guys getting a little too close to stage. Alina and I performed Love Will Keep Us Together, which prompted an Indian guy to ask me if I would do a duet with him next time at Karaoke and rehearse with him. I definitely found a way to get out of that one, but creepy! Finally Alina closed out the show with Kiss Me and in turned received a kiss from one of the karaoke singers. The night was a success and we had a great time.

That is all, until next time! BYE! Here are some more pictures from the trip.

Birthplace of Aphrodite.

Renting a car makes all the difference

Well the weather has been starting to get a lot nicer. Last week we spent a couple of days going to the beach to play some beach volleyball and to go swimming. We found this really nice beach in Larnaca that has a high enough net and nice sand. Going to the beach has been much more fun than sitting in our apartment all day.

On Friday we had a match against the top team in the league and almost won! We lost in 5 sets by two points but our team played really well. It was the best I have seen all season so it was much more enjoyable to watch and cheer for. We also had another match on Tuesday but it wasn't as good as Friday's match. We won the first set, however, we decided to not to continue playing well and lost in four. Our next match we play Anorthosis who is also a top team and has an American on the team! Hopefully we can pull out a win there but it will be tough.

Jackie and Alina "talking" to the press.
Cheering during the game.

This past weekend Jackie and I decided to rent a car so we could see more of the island. On Saturday we drove to Limassol to meet our American friends, Morgan and Matt. Both Morgan and Matt play for the women's and men's team of Anorthosis. We were hoping to watch Matt play a cup match but the other team did not show up. Aparrently they were afraid for their safety because the last time they played Anorthosis, the team got chased into the locker room by the fans. Matt's team was trying to hold back their own fans. Matt was also telling us that their have been fights between the fans in the stands, the fans painted a rabbit green and threw it onto the court during the match, and other crazy things happening. (Apparently there is some symbolism for the rabbit? I am not sure?) Anyways, the fans here in Cyprus get pretty into it.

Since Matt didn't play Jackie and I went to the mall in Limassol which reminded us of home. They had a taco bell and a TGIF at the food court but I went with gyros! We did a little shopping, stopped at an Adidas outlet (got some pretty cool shoes) and then went to a barbecue with Matt and Morgan at Matt's teammates house. It was nice to hang out with some other people especially Morgan and Matt. After spending a few hours in Limassol we decided to head back to Larnaca.

Adidas Outlet!

On Sunday we had another really fun day. We went to Agia Napa to play some beach volleyball with our coach and some other friends. Agia Napa has some really nice beaches and really clear water. It is pretty neat to see the sand and everything at the bottom so well. After spending a few hours at the beach we went to Loizos house for dinner. Kendra made a ton of different pastas that we could all try. It was really fun and great to have some homecooked meals that tasted good. We spent time playing with their daughter Eleni and hanging out with our roommates and friends.

On Tuesday we decided to go shopping and hang out downtown Larnaca. Once again we stopped at the Adidas outlet but I had no luck. I am still thinking about getting a really cool dress but will have to wait until it goes on sale. My mom taught me well! We walked around a lot and stopped in practically every sports stores to check out the sales. We also stopped at a coffee shop to play some checkers. Jackie and I get really into checkers and basically don't speak the whole time we are playing. It was still fun though. These past few days have been really nice because we have been able to actually go out and do stuff. It is amazing how a car can make a lot of difference.

On Wednesday we got up to go have breakfast with Trent and see him before he headed back to the States. He was all packed and ready to go to the airport, however, he received a call saying they didn't get the ticket for that day, but that he was leaving the next day. Later in the morning he then received another call saying they couldn't get that ticket so he now had to wait until next Thursday to leave. I felt really bad for Trent because he has been here since August and has been wanting to go home. That's the way things go here in Cyprus, you just have to be patient and realize that things are never going to happen the way you think they do. Oh well, hopefully he will go home soon. After breakfast Jackie and I went back to Agia Napa to lay on the beach before we had to go babysit for Kendra and Loizos. The weather was great and we had a nice time relaxing and getting some sun. We went to Paralimni to babysit little Eleni so that Loizos and Kendra could have date night. They haven't gone out to dinner by themselves for almost 6 months so I am so glad that they could finally have a date. Jackie and I had fun making an art project, watching cartoons, and playing with Eleni.

There were a bunch of chickens and eggs on the roundabouts for Easter.

Well hope you all enjoyed all that we have done here in Cyprus. I have to go to practice now so until next time, talk to you all later.

Pizza, Chilli, and Hide and Go Seek.

Last weekend Jackie and I decided to get out of the apartment and go to this restaurant called Pitta Pizza. As soon as we walked in the owner started talking with us and wondered where we were from. As soon as we said we were American he started making an American pizza and we could have whatever we wanted on it. Apparently the owner, Chris, lives 7 months out of the year in New Jersey where he has his own pizza chain called Chris' Pizza. He loves the US and he even had an American flag for us to use as our table decoration. Jackie and I went in for either gyros or pizza and we got both. They just started making gyros, pizza, fries, and kebabs. Everything tasted really well and the company was great. One of the workers there, George, talked with us for about two and a half hours while we ate. It was really entertaining. George even tried to read our verbal body language to see what we are all about. He was right about a few things but he thought I had a temper or that I should watch out for my temper in the future. So we will see if he is right. Anyways we will be back to Pitta Pizza soon.

Jackie, me, George, and Chris at Pitta Pizza.

On our day off on Sunday, Trent, Jackie, and I went to our coach Loizos house for dinner. Trent made me drive all the way to Paralimni although both Jackie and Trent did not make the trip very easy for me. They like to not tell me where to go and complain about my driving skills. I had to pull over and refuse to drive if they didn't tell me where to go. Finally they decided they wanted to eat so we were on our way. We did make it safe and sound as I am a much safer driver than Trent! When we got to Loizo's house we were treated to chili, corn bread, fries, and cookies. It is really nice to be able to spend time with Kendra (Loizos wife), Loizo, and their daughter Elainey. It is so nice of them to have us come and eat their great food and enjoy their company. After spending a few hours playing with Elainey and watching college basketball we decided to head back home and of course they made me drive again. Again no treat to drive with Trent and Jackie complaining all the time but we made it back again safely.

This weekend it was our roommate, Kalle's, birthday. Krista and Kalle made lots of food including potato salad, tuna bruschetta, a biscuit cake, and jello shots. We had dinner and then decided to go bowling for his birthday. So all of the roommates (all six of us) went to the bowling alley to see who was the best bowler. We bowled two games and Jackie came out on top. It was fun to do something together and to celebrate Kalle's birthday. After bowling we came back to the apartment and played a few games including hide and go seek and Jackie, Kalle and Krista also made a fort. Apparently when you turn 29 you can still play hide and go seek and build forts. Happy Birthday Kalle!

On the volleyball side of things, we have started our cup games and league playoffs. On Tuesday and Friday we played AEL for the cup championships. To move on to the finals you need to win more sets out of two matches. Unfortunately for our team we lost both matches in three so we are out of the cup. Next we have the league playoffs where we have to play AEL again so hopefully the third time is the charm. I am still enjoying practicing but I wish I could play.

Well I hope everyone is having a great time back home in the states. Stay tuned for another blog soon.

Carnival!

This past week it was Carnival here in Cyprus. It's similar to Halloween back home in that everyone dresses up in a costume. Our coach told us a lot of the guys will be dressed as women and he sure was right. There were a lot of times that I was not sure if it was a girl or a guy. The day of carnival fell on Valentine's Day, which was when Jackie and I decided to go on a date with a couple of American basketball players (Trent and Brandon) that play for our club team. We called it our "I love America" date and decided to go to an All-American place TGI-Fridays. It was pretty fun and nice to talk to other Americans. After dinner we decided to check out the crazy Cypriots all dressed up in downtown Larnaca. We saw a lot of things including a baby goat, a crazy Lebanese guy, many guys dressed in drag of course, a giant butterfly, the band KISS, and the Taliban. It was very entertaining to say the least and we took a lot of good pictures.

Me shooting up the Taliban.

Jackie, Brandon, Trent, and I on our "I Love America" date.

The next morning we had practice which was pretty difficult due to our late night. Practice was surprising since we only had 6 players and two of us can't even play in the matches. Oh well, the team won on Tuesday against the second to last place team. The match on Tuesday concluded the regular season so now up ahead are the cup championships and the league playoffs. The postseason here is a little different so I will try to explain it. There are the cup championships which the first round has already been played. It is like a bracket in that when you lose you are done. The top four teams in the league have all won so we are still in the cup. We have to play the second place team AEL two times, once at home and once at their place. Its basically the best of ten games so whoever has the most sets out of those two matches wins and moves on to the next round. So next Tuesday and Friday we play those matches.

Now for the league playoffs, this is really weird. So the top four teams play each other and the bottom four play each other. It goes all by points that have also been accumulated through out the league. Because we are the fourth place team we have no shot and winning the title because even if we win all our games the best we can do is fourth place. The way it is set up is so that there are to surprises for who wins the league playoffs. So the best we can do is shake up the top three teams and hope for third if we win all of our matches and they lose all of their matches. So it will be interesting to see what happens.

Some exciting news is that I just booked a trip to Athens, Greece in April. I am going by myself because Jackie has already been there and I found some cheap tickets. I may possibly meet up with Sherisa Livingston who used to play for the Badgers as she is playing on a professional team in Athens. Hopefully her team is still in the playoffs and she will still be there. Jackie and I are also thinking about taking a trip to Egypt to check out the pyramids. I have a few things to look forward to and see while I am here in Cyprus.

The weather is starting to warm up here, it was about 70 today and sunny. We went to the beach and went swimming. I am hoping for many more days as today. Well I think that is all for now. Stay warm and talk to you soon!

Clubbing and Barbecuing

After I left you last a few things have happened here in Cyprus. On Thursday night we decided to head to another city to watch to our roommate's boyfriend play his volleyball match. They were playing the first place team that included another American on the team. The gym was pretty packed to so it was cool to see a lot of fans having fun. The match ended up being pretty close going to five games. Josh played really well and basically shut down the American player so it was fun to watch. I got into the match and was yelling with the crowd "ANAGENESEE" or something like that. Even though it was a close match Josh's team did not win, but it was still a cool experience.

We had practice Friday night and Saturday morning. Our practices were fun but we only had about 6 or 7 at each practice so we only played triples or quads each practice. It's crazy that a lot of the locals just don't show up to practice. Oh well I still had a good time.

Saturday night we decided to venture out to the city center to see what the nightlife is like in Cyprus. I found out that all Cypriots wear black when they go out, the girls like 80's style hair, and middle schoolers also like to check out the clubs. The first club we went to it was 17 and older and it showed. I felt really old. Oh well, we found a way to still have fun. We decided to meet up with our teammate Chryso at another club called Geometry, although no learning was taking place at Geometry. My roommate Triin and I somehow got split up from Jackie and our other roommate Krista. Triin and I got in just fine however, Jackie and Krista did not have such luck. Jackie could not get in because she had "sportsman" shoes on. She had on chuck taylors and apparently they require some other form of footwear. Needless to say Jackie was not too happy so we decided to leave the math class and head home. Either way it was pretty fun to dance and just see what the nightlife is all about.

Jackie, Triin, Krista, and I at the club.

The next day we got up and decided to have a barbecue by the beach and this really scenic place called Cape Greco. Everyone who can cook prepared the food and we got in our tiny cars and went for a drive to Paralimni. As we got closer, the weather got worse and worse and it started to rain. Our great idea of a picnic was not as cool with the rain and cold weather. We did see some really cool scenic areas which I will show below. After we checked out Cape Greco we went to Josh's apartment to cook our meal. We borrowed a pretty nice grill from our coach and sat in Josh's freezing apartment. The food was really good but it was quite the experience.

Jackie and Triin cheering at the soccer game next to our sweet grill.

On Tuesday our team had a match against a bunch of 13-18 year olds and one 40 year old. I am not kidding. AEK played Grammar School and apparently they don't have any money to pay any professionals or get any locals above the age of 18. The scores were 25-8, 25-6, 25-9 and some of our younger kids came in the match and played. I guess next weeks match will not be much better than Grammar School so it should be interesting.

Today Jackie and I decided to take a super long walk to the city center and of course shop. We went to an Adidas outlet store but didn't have any luck. Hopefully there will be some good sales coming up. After shopping we decided to go to the cineplex and watch a movie. Our roomates Krista and Cullah went to see Avatar so Jackie and I had some time to kill at the theater before our movie, Up in the Air, started. There was a bowling alley there so we bowled one game, then ate at the KFC at the theater and then watched the movie. We had a pretty All-American day so we felt like we were back at home.

I hope you aren't too bored with all of my ranting. Stay warm and look for another blog next week!