First day in Cyprus

Hey everyone,

We're ending our first day in Cyprus pretty early because we haven't completely caught up on sleep yet, despite the fact that we slept til noon. We went in search of some coffee and what we found was interesting. Someone else said it better than me, so here it is.

"Cyprian coffee is hot as hell, dark as night, bitter as poison or sweet as love."

Needless to say, it was different, but we're committed to liking it so that we can enjoy it on our lil patio. We also found the grocery store, which was fun because they don't have buggies (or if they do they certainly don't call them that), but instead they have little baskets that you wheel around with a handle like you do your suitcase. Best part is, it's two story and instead of stairs, there is a escalator without stairs (aka a conveyor belt) for you and your forementioned wheely cart to ride on. Moral of the story: Make sure you are fully prepared to ride the conveyor belt before worrying about your wheely cart. We almost gave the supermaket a show.

Tonight we took a taxi downtown -- the number was saved as "Best Taxi" in my phone (which someone in the program had before me) and when we got in the cab the man said, "Sarah?" She evidently is the girl who had the phone before me. When I responded, "Christi," he quickly changed the name in his phone so that he would know who was calling the next time we needed a cab. And we thought we left small town back home.

Dinner was really fun-- our first shot at traditional Cyprian food. They brought out dish after dish for us to try, and after a while we gave up trying to ask what we were eating. The gentlemen at the next table were charmed by the accents, bought wine, and (family get ready) told us they actually graduated college at NLU in '85. When they asked if I knew where Ruston was, I just smiled.

PS that is our new friend Rebecca in the picture :)

Like I said, we're turning in early, but it's off for a tour of the city tomorrow.

Love and miss,

Kam and Christi