It must seem as if I talk about the weather a lot. 'Typical Brit', you might think. But actually, people in Cyprus discuss the weather with more interest and enthusiasm than most Brits (who mainly complain about it being too wet, too cold, or too hot. Not that Britain has extreme weather at all compared to most of the world).
Anyway, this blog gets several hits from people searching for information about weather in Cyprus, so here's today's bulletin:
It feels as if winter is starting, a couple of weeks earlier than usual. Last night, for the first time since about April, I felt chilly enough in the evening to go around the house shutting all the windows and closing the curtains. The cool night air was not as pleasantly refreshing as it had been. According to the weather site we were down to about 12C overnight.
What's more, I put on a sweatshirt around lunch-time yesterday, and didn't feel over-warm at all. This morning, I put one on when I got up. It's rained off and on all day so far. Very welcome, since Cyprus is distinctly short of water in reservoirs at present, but I doubt if it was very popular since today is οχι day. No, that's not supposed to read as oxi day; 'οχι', transliterated as ' ochi' is the Greek word for 'no' which is pronounced with something like the Scots/German soft 'ch' in the middle, as in loch or Bach (ie not lock or bark!). You can read about Οχι day here - it's the anniversary of the day when Greece wisely said 'no' to an invasion by Italy.
It's a public holiday, and is also a day when the town band, the schools, and the uniformed organisations such as Scouts march through the town. We didn't go to see them, so we don't know if they went ahead with the march or decided to say 'οχι' once again, in view of the rain.
Showing posts with label municipal band. Show all posts
Showing posts with label municipal band. Show all posts
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Music school concert
Although we've been here over eight-and-a-half years, and the boys have done a lot of music in that time, we had never been to a teacher's end-of-year concert or recital. This is because they learned piano from friends, Dan's clarinet teaching was attached to the Larnaka Municipal Band, and Tim's guitar teacher, although attached to a music school, taught him privately. The same was true of Daniel's drum teacher. We went to some municipal band concerts, as well as seeing them marching several times, and also had a few mini-recitals at church or home educators' events, but we thought our days of listening to dozens of students from beginner to advanced, in a lengthy programme, were over.
We were wrong. When Tim started taking singing lessons last September, he did so at a music school. Last night was their end-of-year concert, held at the Municipal Theatre. Not just a random set of music, either, but themed around music performance and musicals through the ages. Tim was singing - of all things! - 'The Hippopotamus Song' by Flanders and Swann (also known as 'Mud, Glorious Mud') as a represenative of the 20th century/jazz era.
We were presented with a very nice-looking printed programme when we arrived, in English and Greek. We did notice a few unfortunate typing mistakes, and were amused to see a beginner pianist billed to perform Beethoven's 'Joy to the World'... which, of course, should have been 'Ode to Joy'. Nevertheless, the overall effect of the programme was very professional.
So was the start of the concert. Chairs and footrests were in place for guitarists, and the curtain drew back to reveal children in appropriate costumes for the baroque/classical era. Adults dressed equally grandly walked in, two by two, and walked around the stage eventually settling in different places awaiting their turns. The first performance was a brilliant violinist playing 'Ave Maria' - possibly the best item of the evening, but then the violinist was in fact the violin teacher, not a student. A piano student was accompanying her.
There was then a nice mixture of beginners and more advanced students, with the vast majority being either guitarists, singers or pianists. Strangely, all the pianists and most of singers were girls, while nearly all the guitarists were boys. As each performer finished, he or she bowed and moved off, then another was announced and moved quickly to his or her place. We were impressed.
Unfortunately, this planning only seemed to go as far as the first half hour. The second section, supposedly romantic/impressionistic music, included - bizarrely - a song from 'The Sound of Music'. Students were no longer dressed in period costume, and no longer on stage in groups, so there were sometimes lengthy gaps between pieces. The curtains seemed to take on a life of their own, opening and closing apparently at random, and there was a computer projected onto the backdrop, showing classic bits of film (without sound) to accompany some of the performances. During the 'Sound of Music' song, part of the film was showed. Unfortunately, although the singer was singing the title song, the film showed the von Trapp children singing 'So long, farewell'. Then there were several times when the Microsoft logo was projected onto the backdrop, even less relevant!
The highlight of the evening was two little girls, who could not have been more than about six years old, dressed in brightly-coloured Russian peasant costumes, doing a little hankerchief dance and song in Russian for the start of the '20th century' section. They were delightful, and one in particular turned around and waved her hanky to the audience on the way out. They probably attracted more applause than any of the other acts!
Tim sang his song confidently, although I doubt if the mainly Cypriot audience really appreciated the words:
We stayed about half an hour longer, particularly enjoying a choral trio and a couple of items from 'Oliver'. However we decided not to stay to the end, and since people were coming and going all the time, and we were at the end of a row anyway, it wasn't difficult to get up and leave.
We were wrong. When Tim started taking singing lessons last September, he did so at a music school. Last night was their end-of-year concert, held at the Municipal Theatre. Not just a random set of music, either, but themed around music performance and musicals through the ages. Tim was singing - of all things! - 'The Hippopotamus Song' by Flanders and Swann (also known as 'Mud, Glorious Mud') as a represenative of the 20th century/jazz era.
We were presented with a very nice-looking printed programme when we arrived, in English and Greek. We did notice a few unfortunate typing mistakes, and were amused to see a beginner pianist billed to perform Beethoven's 'Joy to the World'... which, of course, should have been 'Ode to Joy'. Nevertheless, the overall effect of the programme was very professional.
So was the start of the concert. Chairs and footrests were in place for guitarists, and the curtain drew back to reveal children in appropriate costumes for the baroque/classical era. Adults dressed equally grandly walked in, two by two, and walked around the stage eventually settling in different places awaiting their turns. The first performance was a brilliant violinist playing 'Ave Maria' - possibly the best item of the evening, but then the violinist was in fact the violin teacher, not a student. A piano student was accompanying her.
There was then a nice mixture of beginners and more advanced students, with the vast majority being either guitarists, singers or pianists. Strangely, all the pianists and most of singers were girls, while nearly all the guitarists were boys. As each performer finished, he or she bowed and moved off, then another was announced and moved quickly to his or her place. We were impressed.
Unfortunately, this planning only seemed to go as far as the first half hour. The second section, supposedly romantic/impressionistic music, included - bizarrely - a song from 'The Sound of Music'. Students were no longer dressed in period costume, and no longer on stage in groups, so there were sometimes lengthy gaps between pieces. The curtains seemed to take on a life of their own, opening and closing apparently at random, and there was a computer projected onto the backdrop, showing classic bits of film (without sound) to accompany some of the performances. During the 'Sound of Music' song, part of the film was showed. Unfortunately, although the singer was singing the title song, the film showed the von Trapp children singing 'So long, farewell'. Then there were several times when the Microsoft logo was projected onto the backdrop, even less relevant!
The highlight of the evening was two little girls, who could not have been more than about six years old, dressed in brightly-coloured Russian peasant costumes, doing a little hankerchief dance and song in Russian for the start of the '20th century' section. They were delightful, and one in particular turned around and waved her hanky to the audience on the way out. They probably attracted more applause than any of the other acts!
Tim sang his song confidently, although I doubt if the mainly Cypriot audience really appreciated the words:
We stayed about half an hour longer, particularly enjoying a choral trio and a couple of items from 'Oliver'. However we decided not to stay to the end, and since people were coming and going all the time, and we were at the end of a row anyway, it wasn't difficult to get up and leave.
Saturday, March 25, 2006
Parades
Today is a public holiday, for Greek Independence Day. I'm not entirely sure why Cyprus celebrates it, although it has much in common with Greece, and people here enjoy any reason for a parade.
Since we were at the sailing club this morning (see below) we didn't see or hear the parades. But most shops were closed, and the main Larnaka sea-front was closed to traffic. I expect the Town Band were marching: we used to go and watch them when Dan played clarinet with them, but they're much the same each year. Most of the high schools have groups who march too, and the Scouting organisations.
It seems that March here is the season of marching since we've heard school drum bands almost every morning, practising. Not just for today, either; next Saturday, April 1st, is another public holiday, for Cyprus National Day. I expect the children in schools are annoyed that they both fall on Saturdays this year, since they don't get a day of school - as they do when they fall on weekdays - but have to attend the parades at weekends.
Since we were at the sailing club this morning (see below) we didn't see or hear the parades. But most shops were closed, and the main Larnaka sea-front was closed to traffic. I expect the Town Band were marching: we used to go and watch them when Dan played clarinet with them, but they're much the same each year. Most of the high schools have groups who march too, and the Scouting organisations.
It seems that March here is the season of marching since we've heard school drum bands almost every morning, practising. Not just for today, either; next Saturday, April 1st, is another public holiday, for Cyprus National Day. I expect the children in schools are annoyed that they both fall on Saturdays this year, since they don't get a day of school - as they do when they fall on weekdays - but have to attend the parades at weekends.
Monday, November 14, 2005
Complicated...
I don't really like the phone. I much prefer email, and usually that's fine. Typically we might get one phone call in a day, although Richard gets plenty of work calls on his mobile.
This afternoon, though, I think the phone has rung seven times in the past four hours since Richard went back to work after lunch. I was expecting one of the calls: house-browsing online again, I found another one that looks interesting so Richard called the guy who's shown us two already, and enquired about it. It may be a bit further away than we want, since we walk nearly everywhere, but it sounds quite nice and well within our budget. The guy did indeed call back, and we should see it tomorrow.
I also had a call from the other agent we've spoken to, saying she's found a three-bedroom house that might suit us. No, I said, we definitely want four. OK, she'll continue looking.
Then there were two calls for Daniel, and three from Daniel, who's in Nicosia for the afternoon. Only forty-five minutes' drive away, but this has turned out surprisingly complicated.
Let me back-track.
When we moved here eight years ago, Dan had been playing clarinet for a year, was doing well, and loved it. A big priority was to find a teacher in Cyprus. We enquired at several music schools locally, but they all seemed to teach piano, guitar and violin only. None of the ordinary schools do music at all (other than a little recorder and guitar at some of them) so they were no good either.
Finally we heard about the Town Band, and the leader who taught woodwind. To cut a long story short Dan auditioned, was accepted, and had heavily subsidised lessons for a couple of years. Then he joined the band as he was both tall enough and advanced enough, and his lessons were free.
However the band leader isn't really a clarinetist. Most of the people who learn from him are almost beginners, whose only ambition is to get to play in the band. He doesn't teach at advanced level, and so for the past couple of years or so Dan's really been teaching himself. He plays for at least an hour each day, often more, but was worrying at the lack of an expert who can tell him if he's going wrong, help him with tricky techniques, and so on. Particularly since he recently bought a professional level instrument.
A few months ago we heard that one of the local music schools had a clarinet teacher. So Dan phoned them in early September. They said the teacher was away but would phone him when he got back. Every three or four days he called again, and each time was told a slightly different story. The guy was on a concert tour, it seemed. Encouraging in a way - he must be a very good player. But he didn't seem to be returning!
Then when we were in the UK, Dan had a call on his mobile from the music school, saying that the teacher never came back so they had found a new one who lives in Nicosia, and comes to the music school in Larnaka to teach. They said they would phone when we got back, and try to arrange a lesson for the first weekend.
We got back, and heard nothing. So Dan rang them. Ah, they said, the teacher isn't here. Try tomorrow.
Tomorrow came. Ah, they said, she's busy. She'll call you later.
She didn't.
He started phoning every other day, and getting a different story every time. She'll call you. She's abroad. The office is locked so we can't find her details. If he wasn't so eager to find a teacher it would have been funny...
Eventually he got through to someone who told him that she wasn't coming any more to Larnaka, but they did give him her number. Progress! He called her, and eventually managed to arrange a lesson in Nicosia at 6.15pm today. The lessons were enormously expensive by Cyprus standards, but he really needs them. Perhaps he could have them every other week once he's established a pattern, we thought.
In fact he heard on Saturday that he's been accepted by the Doulos to return for two years, leaving on January 12th, so these lessons will probably only be for four or five weeks before Christmas, assuming he and the teacher are happy with each other.
His friends the Antidote Theatre company go to Nicosia on Monday afternoons and said Dan could ride with them, but they leave here at 2pm. That was OK, he didn't mind hanging out at a coffee shop for a few hours beforehand.
His first phone call was to tell me that he wouldn't be able to get a ride home with Antidote. They were going out with someone to eat after the classes. He phoned to ask me for the phone number of the shared taxi ('service') firm. I didn't have the number but our Yellow Pages listed the Nicosia tourist information office, so I gave him that number.
Ten minutes later he called back. The last service leaves Nicosia at 7pm (the lesson should end at 7.15) - and it's full anyway.
Uh-oh.
I did have a quick look online for bus timetables, but they're even worse: they stop at 6pm. Even after eight years here I'm not quite used to the appalling public transport here, but then we haven't often had cause to use it.
I was trying to think of people we know in Nicosia, where he could stay overnight if necessary, but that's no good: he needs to be at the theatre tomorrow morning for a rehearsal, as there's an extra performance of last year's play 'The Little Man's Best Friend' at a school on Thursday. Daniel plays the clarinet in this play...
Well, he said, he'd just have to see if he could get home with Antidote after all; however it would be very late. He'll buy a sandwich somewhere (I always worry he's going to get hungry!) and will let us know when to expect him. I don't think he even took his key but if necessary we can leave one under the doormat. Cyprus is pretty safe that way.
I just hope the lesson goes well and is worth all this hassle!
This afternoon, though, I think the phone has rung seven times in the past four hours since Richard went back to work after lunch. I was expecting one of the calls: house-browsing online again, I found another one that looks interesting so Richard called the guy who's shown us two already, and enquired about it. It may be a bit further away than we want, since we walk nearly everywhere, but it sounds quite nice and well within our budget. The guy did indeed call back, and we should see it tomorrow.
I also had a call from the other agent we've spoken to, saying she's found a three-bedroom house that might suit us. No, I said, we definitely want four. OK, she'll continue looking.
Then there were two calls for Daniel, and three from Daniel, who's in Nicosia for the afternoon. Only forty-five minutes' drive away, but this has turned out surprisingly complicated.
Let me back-track.
When we moved here eight years ago, Dan had been playing clarinet for a year, was doing well, and loved it. A big priority was to find a teacher in Cyprus. We enquired at several music schools locally, but they all seemed to teach piano, guitar and violin only. None of the ordinary schools do music at all (other than a little recorder and guitar at some of them) so they were no good either.
Finally we heard about the Town Band, and the leader who taught woodwind. To cut a long story short Dan auditioned, was accepted, and had heavily subsidised lessons for a couple of years. Then he joined the band as he was both tall enough and advanced enough, and his lessons were free.
However the band leader isn't really a clarinetist. Most of the people who learn from him are almost beginners, whose only ambition is to get to play in the band. He doesn't teach at advanced level, and so for the past couple of years or so Dan's really been teaching himself. He plays for at least an hour each day, often more, but was worrying at the lack of an expert who can tell him if he's going wrong, help him with tricky techniques, and so on. Particularly since he recently bought a professional level instrument.
A few months ago we heard that one of the local music schools had a clarinet teacher. So Dan phoned them in early September. They said the teacher was away but would phone him when he got back. Every three or four days he called again, and each time was told a slightly different story. The guy was on a concert tour, it seemed. Encouraging in a way - he must be a very good player. But he didn't seem to be returning!
Then when we were in the UK, Dan had a call on his mobile from the music school, saying that the teacher never came back so they had found a new one who lives in Nicosia, and comes to the music school in Larnaka to teach. They said they would phone when we got back, and try to arrange a lesson for the first weekend.
We got back, and heard nothing. So Dan rang them. Ah, they said, the teacher isn't here. Try tomorrow.
Tomorrow came. Ah, they said, she's busy. She'll call you later.
She didn't.
He started phoning every other day, and getting a different story every time. She'll call you. She's abroad. The office is locked so we can't find her details. If he wasn't so eager to find a teacher it would have been funny...
Eventually he got through to someone who told him that she wasn't coming any more to Larnaka, but they did give him her number. Progress! He called her, and eventually managed to arrange a lesson in Nicosia at 6.15pm today. The lessons were enormously expensive by Cyprus standards, but he really needs them. Perhaps he could have them every other week once he's established a pattern, we thought.
In fact he heard on Saturday that he's been accepted by the Doulos to return for two years, leaving on January 12th, so these lessons will probably only be for four or five weeks before Christmas, assuming he and the teacher are happy with each other.
His friends the Antidote Theatre company go to Nicosia on Monday afternoons and said Dan could ride with them, but they leave here at 2pm. That was OK, he didn't mind hanging out at a coffee shop for a few hours beforehand.
His first phone call was to tell me that he wouldn't be able to get a ride home with Antidote. They were going out with someone to eat after the classes. He phoned to ask me for the phone number of the shared taxi ('service') firm. I didn't have the number but our Yellow Pages listed the Nicosia tourist information office, so I gave him that number.
Ten minutes later he called back. The last service leaves Nicosia at 7pm (the lesson should end at 7.15) - and it's full anyway.
Uh-oh.
I did have a quick look online for bus timetables, but they're even worse: they stop at 6pm. Even after eight years here I'm not quite used to the appalling public transport here, but then we haven't often had cause to use it.
I was trying to think of people we know in Nicosia, where he could stay overnight if necessary, but that's no good: he needs to be at the theatre tomorrow morning for a rehearsal, as there's an extra performance of last year's play 'The Little Man's Best Friend' at a school on Thursday. Daniel plays the clarinet in this play...
Well, he said, he'd just have to see if he could get home with Antidote after all; however it would be very late. He'll buy a sandwich somewhere (I always worry he's going to get hungry!) and will let us know when to expect him. I don't think he even took his key but if necessary we can leave one under the doormat. Cyprus is pretty safe that way.
I just hope the lesson goes well and is worth all this hassle!
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Monday activities
Some people are skilled in organisation and logistics. Unfortunately, in our family none of us is particularly gifted in these areas. As I'm at home, I mostly keep track of everyone's activities, but it's sometimes a struggle to remember what's going on. I'm glad the boys do so many things, but trying to fit meals and general life (not to mention the academic part of home education) around everything else can be difficult, even stressful at times.
After the summer, it always takes a while for my brain to get around so much action all at once. In previous years it seems to have happened more slowly, too. Schools started either in the middle of last week or yesterday morning, and it appears that most extra-curricular activities are starting this week too.
Monday is a 'music day' in our household. At 9am a friend arrives to give the boys aural music lessons - one at a time, and although in theory they have half an hour each they often chat, or talk about music in general, and she's often here till nearly 11am. This was the first aural lesson since June. Both boys play instruments but have hardly taken any exams; however they're both thinking about doing one or two of the higher grades, just so as to have extra paper qualifications. Besides, people in Cyprus seem to like certification. Aural music is part of the RSM and Guildhall exams, and although they've both picked up a fair amout through general musical experience, there are some gaps.
At 11am Daniel then has his drum lesson for an hour. That also happens in our house, and is fairly noisy! The cats are distinctly unimpressed. Dan uses drum pads for some of his practising, which makes the sound much quieter, but for the lesson they have to be removed. He seems to be progressing fast: his teacher says he could take grade 5 in the early spring, which is pretty good going as he only really started last October. But as he may be returning to the Doulos in February, there probably won't be time.
At lunchtime we had a guest - a colleague of Richard's who lives in Malta but is here for a conference. He stayed overnight at the office, and came here with Richard for lunch. Not a problem: we nearly always have bread-based lunches with cheese, salad, fruit etc, so as long as I know someone's coming it's easy enough to cater for them.
After lunch Tim usually does his piano practice, now it's September and there's no siesta-time (in July and August we're supposed to keep quiet between 1pm and 4pm) and later on Dan does his clarinet practice. However they spent most of the afternoon at Theatre Antidote, helping to set up lights for the premiere of their new performance, which is on Saturday.
At 6pm Tim had a singing lesson at one of the local music schools. This is something he's been hoping to do for some time, but only just got around to arranging. He said it went extremely well. Apparently he has an advantage over many of the students in that he can read music, and did sing in a choir when he was younger.
Then Dan should probably have gone to the Municipal Band practice at 8pm. However he couldn't remember if it started yesterday or on Thursday. Besides that, our car was in for a major service and some repairs, so he would have had to walk, and he was pretty tired. So he decided not to go. Just as well since we ended up eating quite late, nearly 7.30pm by the time everyone was home.
After supper, Richard went to his office to do some recording for Theatre Antidote - sound effects and so on for their new play. Tim went to help. They weren't back by the time I went to sleep around 10.30; Tim, who slept till late morning today, told me they didn't get back till 1.30am!! He hadn't noticed the time...
After the summer, it always takes a while for my brain to get around so much action all at once. In previous years it seems to have happened more slowly, too. Schools started either in the middle of last week or yesterday morning, and it appears that most extra-curricular activities are starting this week too.
Monday is a 'music day' in our household. At 9am a friend arrives to give the boys aural music lessons - one at a time, and although in theory they have half an hour each they often chat, or talk about music in general, and she's often here till nearly 11am. This was the first aural lesson since June. Both boys play instruments but have hardly taken any exams; however they're both thinking about doing one or two of the higher grades, just so as to have extra paper qualifications. Besides, people in Cyprus seem to like certification. Aural music is part of the RSM and Guildhall exams, and although they've both picked up a fair amout through general musical experience, there are some gaps.
At 11am Daniel then has his drum lesson for an hour. That also happens in our house, and is fairly noisy! The cats are distinctly unimpressed. Dan uses drum pads for some of his practising, which makes the sound much quieter, but for the lesson they have to be removed. He seems to be progressing fast: his teacher says he could take grade 5 in the early spring, which is pretty good going as he only really started last October. But as he may be returning to the Doulos in February, there probably won't be time.
At lunchtime we had a guest - a colleague of Richard's who lives in Malta but is here for a conference. He stayed overnight at the office, and came here with Richard for lunch. Not a problem: we nearly always have bread-based lunches with cheese, salad, fruit etc, so as long as I know someone's coming it's easy enough to cater for them.
After lunch Tim usually does his piano practice, now it's September and there's no siesta-time (in July and August we're supposed to keep quiet between 1pm and 4pm) and later on Dan does his clarinet practice. However they spent most of the afternoon at Theatre Antidote, helping to set up lights for the premiere of their new performance, which is on Saturday.
At 6pm Tim had a singing lesson at one of the local music schools. This is something he's been hoping to do for some time, but only just got around to arranging. He said it went extremely well. Apparently he has an advantage over many of the students in that he can read music, and did sing in a choir when he was younger.
Then Dan should probably have gone to the Municipal Band practice at 8pm. However he couldn't remember if it started yesterday or on Thursday. Besides that, our car was in for a major service and some repairs, so he would have had to walk, and he was pretty tired. So he decided not to go. Just as well since we ended up eating quite late, nearly 7.30pm by the time everyone was home.
After supper, Richard went to his office to do some recording for Theatre Antidote - sound effects and so on for their new play. Tim went to help. They weren't back by the time I went to sleep around 10.30; Tim, who slept till late morning today, told me they didn't get back till 1.30am!! He hadn't noticed the time...
Saturday, May 07, 2005
Lazy Day
It's strange, sometimes I wake up full of energy, and - if I don't sit down at the computer too early and become distracted - manage to get a huge amount done. I'm already amazed at how much food I managed to preserve and/or freeze on Thursday. Yesterday I didn't switch the computer on at all until 7pm - before that I did three loads of laundry, changed all the sheets and pillowcases on the beds, cleaned the bathroom, cleaned the kitchen, vacuumed half the house, and did a load of dusting and sweeping too. Which doesn't sound much, but it seemed to take most of the day - or at least, most of the day from about 11am onwards since we did our weekly supermarket shop before that, and then I put everything away.
It seems incredible that it's only a week since our new fridge arrived, and so nice to have plenty of room to put stuff in it without having to rearrange what's already there. On the other hand, the week appears to have flown past. I'm not at all sure where Tuesday and Wednesday vanished to. Sometimes I think Terry Pratchett's entirely right with his stories of history monks who play around with time, sometimes stretching it and sometimes making it contract.
Today I was going to do lots of gardening. Cutting the lawn, for instance, and some much-needed weeding. And probably begin the season's thorough watering of trees (which takes at least an hour, often more). Oh, and I was going to pick another few kilograms of loquats for the freezer.
Unfortunately I didn't get to sleep till past midnight. I was reading a book that kept me wide awake, and also half waiting for the boys to get back. Tim was at youth group as usual, and Dan was in Nicosia, playing clarinet for a performance by the Antidote Nicosia group at the High Commissioner's house. He thought he would be home in time to get to youth group before they went downtown, but I had no idea if in fact he would be back for that. When both boys are together, I have almost no worries about them. It's a safe town, and there are plenty of people wandering around on a Friday night. But Tim on his own concerns me slightly more, and I had no idea whether Dan had even taken his key...
We did turn the lights off about 11.15 but by then I'd started listening out for the boys. Tim got back about 11.30, I suppose, or a little later, but he was alone. So then I started wondering if the Antidote truck had broken down... and what Dan would do if he arrived back without a key to find the house in darkness. Eventually Richard got up to open the window in the front door, which enables any of the family to open the door by slipping a hand around inside. Of course it would allow anyone else to do the same, but it's a knack which most visitors haven't grasped. Besides, it's never obvious that it's open until someone actually gets up close. And it's Larnaka where burglaries are very rare.
I was almost drifting off to sleep when Dan did get back and at that point I fell soundly asleep. But he said this morning it was about ten past midnight.
I slept for eight hours, which is what I seem to need; I was shocked to find it was past eight when I woke this morning. But somehow I don't feel refreshed or rested. by the time I'd done the various morning stuff including washing up breakfast, hanging out the damp towels, watering the recently-planted flowers and strawberries, and bringing in the last of yesterday's dry laundry, it was past eleven o'clock. I still had to photocopy the church bulletin, and by the time I'd done that it was distinctly warmer with the sun all over the garden, no good for weeding or mowing.
Then I remembered that I'm helping at a church event for local families this afternoon - a sort of Easter fair, with music later on by the youth band. Richard's doing the PA, Tim's in the band and helping on a stall, Dan's helping move equipment and probably also helping on a stall, I shall be behind a stall too and need to be there by around 4.30. So I won't get the main watering done today either. And tomorrow I shall almost certainly need a day to recharge and reflect, and read and write.
It seems incredible that it's only a week since our new fridge arrived, and so nice to have plenty of room to put stuff in it without having to rearrange what's already there. On the other hand, the week appears to have flown past. I'm not at all sure where Tuesday and Wednesday vanished to. Sometimes I think Terry Pratchett's entirely right with his stories of history monks who play around with time, sometimes stretching it and sometimes making it contract.
Today I was going to do lots of gardening. Cutting the lawn, for instance, and some much-needed weeding. And probably begin the season's thorough watering of trees (which takes at least an hour, often more). Oh, and I was going to pick another few kilograms of loquats for the freezer.
Unfortunately I didn't get to sleep till past midnight. I was reading a book that kept me wide awake, and also half waiting for the boys to get back. Tim was at youth group as usual, and Dan was in Nicosia, playing clarinet for a performance by the Antidote Nicosia group at the High Commissioner's house. He thought he would be home in time to get to youth group before they went downtown, but I had no idea if in fact he would be back for that. When both boys are together, I have almost no worries about them. It's a safe town, and there are plenty of people wandering around on a Friday night. But Tim on his own concerns me slightly more, and I had no idea whether Dan had even taken his key...
We did turn the lights off about 11.15 but by then I'd started listening out for the boys. Tim got back about 11.30, I suppose, or a little later, but he was alone. So then I started wondering if the Antidote truck had broken down... and what Dan would do if he arrived back without a key to find the house in darkness. Eventually Richard got up to open the window in the front door, which enables any of the family to open the door by slipping a hand around inside. Of course it would allow anyone else to do the same, but it's a knack which most visitors haven't grasped. Besides, it's never obvious that it's open until someone actually gets up close. And it's Larnaka where burglaries are very rare.
I was almost drifting off to sleep when Dan did get back and at that point I fell soundly asleep. But he said this morning it was about ten past midnight.
I slept for eight hours, which is what I seem to need; I was shocked to find it was past eight when I woke this morning. But somehow I don't feel refreshed or rested. by the time I'd done the various morning stuff including washing up breakfast, hanging out the damp towels, watering the recently-planted flowers and strawberries, and bringing in the last of yesterday's dry laundry, it was past eleven o'clock. I still had to photocopy the church bulletin, and by the time I'd done that it was distinctly warmer with the sun all over the garden, no good for weeding or mowing.
Then I remembered that I'm helping at a church event for local families this afternoon - a sort of Easter fair, with music later on by the youth band. Richard's doing the PA, Tim's in the band and helping on a stall, Dan's helping move equipment and probably also helping on a stall, I shall be behind a stall too and need to be there by around 4.30. So I won't get the main watering done today either. And tomorrow I shall almost certainly need a day to recharge and reflect, and read and write.
Parades
I thought perhaps the annual May Day parade was cancelled this year, since Greek Easter fell on May 1st. In fact I'd quite forgotten about it until about 10am this morning, when the most awful racket of drums and trumpets started up. I didn't even go out to look, since I knew what it would be. It's the only parade that actually goes down the street next to ours, to and fro at least four times.
Cyprus is very keen on parades, we're not entirely sure why. They have them for several national days, and on Good Friday, and at Epiphany, as well as flower festivals and various other events or anniversaries. Daniel marches with the town band for some of the important ones, and he can't really see the point either. There always seem to be school groups, and the Scouting organisations, and sometimes army people too, walking along the streets in uniform. Marching is a euphemism, really, since many of them are unable to keep time with the drums or other music, and those that do don't seem to care much.
There are usually crowds watching these parades, but as Dan pointed out somewhat cynically, the majority are probably proud parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles who turn out to see their little Andreas or Elena marching. Of course there are always a few tourists, too, slightly bemused but enjoying something quaintly cultural. When we first arrived we watched a couple of parades out of interest, then when Dan joined the band we watched a few more... these days we don't tend to bother.
And we certainly weren't very interested in the communist Party parade this morning, which didn't even have real musicians - just a blaring fanfare on one or two notes, and a load of drums going BOOM! BOOM! BOOM-BOOM BOOM!
Cyprus is very keen on parades, we're not entirely sure why. They have them for several national days, and on Good Friday, and at Epiphany, as well as flower festivals and various other events or anniversaries. Daniel marches with the town band for some of the important ones, and he can't really see the point either. There always seem to be school groups, and the Scouting organisations, and sometimes army people too, walking along the streets in uniform. Marching is a euphemism, really, since many of them are unable to keep time with the drums or other music, and those that do don't seem to care much.
There are usually crowds watching these parades, but as Dan pointed out somewhat cynically, the majority are probably proud parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles who turn out to see their little Andreas or Elena marching. Of course there are always a few tourists, too, slightly bemused but enjoying something quaintly cultural. When we first arrived we watched a couple of parades out of interest, then when Dan joined the band we watched a few more... these days we don't tend to bother.
And we certainly weren't very interested in the communist Party parade this morning, which didn't even have real musicians - just a blaring fanfare on one or two notes, and a load of drums going BOOM! BOOM! BOOM-BOOM BOOM!
Friday, March 25, 2005
Good Friday
Today has felt like Saturday, it's very strange. This morning we heard band music so I assume the town band were marching (for the Cypriot national day, nothing to do with Good Friday - the Greek Good Friday isn't for another five weeks), followed by the uniformed organisations and schools. We didn't go to watch, it's not very exciting! Dan is in the town band, but decided not to play today; he still has a slight cough and there are plenty of clarinets anyway.
Tim went to the Anglican church for a quiet service, where apparently he was singing with the choir. As this was at the same time as the marching, I don't suppose it was actually all that quiet! It was followed by a simple lunch, then a 'Stations of the Cross' service, something I had never heard of before. I spent some of the morning gardening, tidying up the beds at the front of the house where I planted some bedding plants about a month ago. One of them is doing well - a riot of red, with some freesias (planted in October) smelling wonderful. Freesias are the only bulbs we seem able to grow here; it's not cold enough for daffodils or crocuses, and tulips get eaten by snails. But I do love freesias!
However the other bed is rather disappointing. The plants are still alive and flowering, but very small. I did some extensive weeding of both beds, then watered the disappointing bed with phostrogen - I don't like to use artificial fertilisers, but it's not as if we're going to eat the plants. Then I did put some compost (home made from the heap) around them. I've posted a photo below; it will be interesting - for me, anyway! - to see if this makes any difference.
By about 11am the sun was on most of the garden, back and front, so I came in for a while. It's about 20C in the shade during the daytime, so not extremely hot yet, but I don't do well in bright sunlight.
In the afternoon, once the sun had moved from most of the back garden, I moved most of the remaining compost from the current heap to around some of the trees, did a lot of weeding, and Richard and I mowed the rest of the 'lawn', so it looks a lot neater. There are still huge grassy weeds around the edge of the garden, but it will take ages to get rid of those.
I started using compost from this heap last November, so it's done well. The newest one is enormous, as tall as me, so I was glad to have a space to start another new one after removing the last of the current compost. The third heap - which I stopped adding to last Autumn - is doing quite well, so I hope it will be ready to use by the end of this year when we need some more.
We had one set of hot cross buns about 4.30pm, but decided to eat the others tomorrow as we were eating our evening meal at 5.30, since the boys both had to leave about 6.00pm. Dan is in a performance of FairyTaleHeart in Nicosia this evening, Tim is at the youth group where they're having a sleepover.
At 7.00pm (after a quick shower!) I went to our church's Good Friday service which was informal and organised by the YWAM group. There was a guest speaker from Grace Church, one of the other churches in Larnaka. It went well, although I was saddened to hear from one of the youth group that another youth group member had a terrible bereavement this morning when his mother died suddenly. I don't know any more details, and wondered if they would go ahead with the sleepover - but Tim hasn't returned yet.
Tim went to the Anglican church for a quiet service, where apparently he was singing with the choir. As this was at the same time as the marching, I don't suppose it was actually all that quiet! It was followed by a simple lunch, then a 'Stations of the Cross' service, something I had never heard of before. I spent some of the morning gardening, tidying up the beds at the front of the house where I planted some bedding plants about a month ago. One of them is doing well - a riot of red, with some freesias (planted in October) smelling wonderful. Freesias are the only bulbs we seem able to grow here; it's not cold enough for daffodils or crocuses, and tulips get eaten by snails. But I do love freesias!
However the other bed is rather disappointing. The plants are still alive and flowering, but very small. I did some extensive weeding of both beds, then watered the disappointing bed with phostrogen - I don't like to use artificial fertilisers, but it's not as if we're going to eat the plants. Then I did put some compost (home made from the heap) around them. I've posted a photo below; it will be interesting - for me, anyway! - to see if this makes any difference.
By about 11am the sun was on most of the garden, back and front, so I came in for a while. It's about 20C in the shade during the daytime, so not extremely hot yet, but I don't do well in bright sunlight.
In the afternoon, once the sun had moved from most of the back garden, I moved most of the remaining compost from the current heap to around some of the trees, did a lot of weeding, and Richard and I mowed the rest of the 'lawn', so it looks a lot neater. There are still huge grassy weeds around the edge of the garden, but it will take ages to get rid of those.
I started using compost from this heap last November, so it's done well. The newest one is enormous, as tall as me, so I was glad to have a space to start another new one after removing the last of the current compost. The third heap - which I stopped adding to last Autumn - is doing quite well, so I hope it will be ready to use by the end of this year when we need some more.
We had one set of hot cross buns about 4.30pm, but decided to eat the others tomorrow as we were eating our evening meal at 5.30, since the boys both had to leave about 6.00pm. Dan is in a performance of FairyTaleHeart in Nicosia this evening, Tim is at the youth group where they're having a sleepover.
At 7.00pm (after a quick shower!) I went to our church's Good Friday service which was informal and organised by the YWAM group. There was a guest speaker from Grace Church, one of the other churches in Larnaka. It went well, although I was saddened to hear from one of the youth group that another youth group member had a terrible bereavement this morning when his mother died suddenly. I don't know any more details, and wondered if they would go ahead with the sleepover - but Tim hasn't returned yet.
Thursday, March 24, 2005
Out and About Locally
We usually go to the supermarket once a week in the car, on Friday mornings. But tomorrow is a public holiday - not because it's Good Friday (and hence a British public holiday) but because it's one of the Cypriot national days. That means most shops, including the supermarket, will be shut and there will be marching parades along the sea-front.
So we went this morning instead. I was pleased to see that there was a reasonable selection of chocolate Easter eggs; I had wondered if there would be any in time for the Western Easter, since the Eastern/Orthodox Easter isn't until May 1st. There were also some hot cross buns in packs of four, so I bought some for tomorrow, although everyone's going to be so busy that I've no idea when we'll actually eat them!
Sometimes people ask me what kinds of foods we can get at the supermarket. We can get most regular groceries - flour, fruit juice, washing powder, cans of tomatoes etc, and a fair selection of fresh fruit and veggies. There are organic beans and lentils, and an increasing number of other organic foods available, although as they're mostly shipped from Canada or Mexico, it's more environmentally sound to buy non-organic ones from Cyprus or Egypt. A difficult decision.
In addition there's a meat counter and a delicatessan with cheeses, humous and other salads, and of course refrigerated and frozen foods. Much like a British supermarket really, except that there's far less convenience food. This is all to the good as it's not very nutritious to eat processed food, but occasionally it would be nice just to pick up a ready-made quiche!
I bought three large bags of oranges today (25c per kilogram) in addition to everything else we need for the next week, and the hot cross buns, and a couple of Easter eggs for the boys. The total bill came to £80 - that's Cyprus pounds, so about £90 sterling, or $150 US. I don't know if this is high or low for a family of four, but it's about our normal weekly supermarket bill.
In the afternoon I thought I might cut some more of the lawn - so far Tim and I have done about half of it this week, and it could probably be finished in another hour, but instead I decided to walk to the town to collect our snail-mail. We don't have doorstep delivery here; there are American style letter-boxes next to the street, but they're not at all secure, so we have all our mail sent to a PO Box which is about a mile away, at the far end of the town.
I was pleased to find a DVD which I ordered from Play.com on Sunday night had arrived already, along with some photos from the UK; I sent the films back with my brother when he left just over a week ago, so that's fairly good service too. Plus a card and a couple of statements. There's more coming from Play.com but I didn't expect anything to arrive until after Easter so it was a bonus to have one early.
I'm pretty tired now; Daniel had to leave the house at 6.30am this morning as the theatre group had a performance in Paphos which is about an hour and a half's drive away. So I set my alarm for just before 6am to ensure he got up, and once I was up I knew I wouldn't get back to sleep.
Dan got back about 2.30pm, then both boys were out at 3.30 for a church music group rehearsal. They got back about 5.00 and we ate at 6.00 as they were both out yet again at 6.30 - Dan to a drama rehearsal, Tim to a youth band practice. Life tends to be fairly hectic in our household and the timing of meals is quite complicated at times, since we all like to eat together whenever possible (and usually succeed).
So we went this morning instead. I was pleased to see that there was a reasonable selection of chocolate Easter eggs; I had wondered if there would be any in time for the Western Easter, since the Eastern/Orthodox Easter isn't until May 1st. There were also some hot cross buns in packs of four, so I bought some for tomorrow, although everyone's going to be so busy that I've no idea when we'll actually eat them!
Sometimes people ask me what kinds of foods we can get at the supermarket. We can get most regular groceries - flour, fruit juice, washing powder, cans of tomatoes etc, and a fair selection of fresh fruit and veggies. There are organic beans and lentils, and an increasing number of other organic foods available, although as they're mostly shipped from Canada or Mexico, it's more environmentally sound to buy non-organic ones from Cyprus or Egypt. A difficult decision.
In addition there's a meat counter and a delicatessan with cheeses, humous and other salads, and of course refrigerated and frozen foods. Much like a British supermarket really, except that there's far less convenience food. This is all to the good as it's not very nutritious to eat processed food, but occasionally it would be nice just to pick up a ready-made quiche!
I bought three large bags of oranges today (25c per kilogram) in addition to everything else we need for the next week, and the hot cross buns, and a couple of Easter eggs for the boys. The total bill came to £80 - that's Cyprus pounds, so about £90 sterling, or $150 US. I don't know if this is high or low for a family of four, but it's about our normal weekly supermarket bill.
In the afternoon I thought I might cut some more of the lawn - so far Tim and I have done about half of it this week, and it could probably be finished in another hour, but instead I decided to walk to the town to collect our snail-mail. We don't have doorstep delivery here; there are American style letter-boxes next to the street, but they're not at all secure, so we have all our mail sent to a PO Box which is about a mile away, at the far end of the town.
I was pleased to find a DVD which I ordered from Play.com on Sunday night had arrived already, along with some photos from the UK; I sent the films back with my brother when he left just over a week ago, so that's fairly good service too. Plus a card and a couple of statements. There's more coming from Play.com but I didn't expect anything to arrive until after Easter so it was a bonus to have one early.
I'm pretty tired now; Daniel had to leave the house at 6.30am this morning as the theatre group had a performance in Paphos which is about an hour and a half's drive away. So I set my alarm for just before 6am to ensure he got up, and once I was up I knew I wouldn't get back to sleep.
Dan got back about 2.30pm, then both boys were out at 3.30 for a church music group rehearsal. They got back about 5.00 and we ate at 6.00 as they were both out yet again at 6.30 - Dan to a drama rehearsal, Tim to a youth band practice. Life tends to be fairly hectic in our household and the timing of meals is quite complicated at times, since we all like to eat together whenever possible (and usually succeed).
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Water from above, but not from below
The forecast has been for sun all week, but the sky was a bit grey this morning and it's just started spitting. A pity as Tim had started cutting the grass at the back - a two-hour job in all, and had only done about a quarter of it when the rain started. Only a few drops so far, but of course it's not a good idea to use an electric lawnmower in the rain even though it has a surge protector thing. I was going to do some weeding this afternoon too, but perhaps not after all.
Our mains water is off at present. This used to be a regular feature of Cyprus life until a new desalination plant was built about three years ago. That was followed by some very wet winters, so the reservoirs are now full rather than almost empty. Theoretically we have water on all the time (it used to be just twice per week) but every so often the mains tap stops working without any warning.
I should perhaps explain that we have two different taps in the kitchen. One regular hot/cold mixer tap which is sourced from our tanks, and one that's directly from the mains. In general people drink the mains water, but tank water is used for washing up, for the washing machine, and also for the bathroom. So we're not without water entirely - the tanks still have plenty. And we still fill up plastic bottles with mains water for convenience - not as many as we used to in the days when the mains was sometimes off for three days in a row, but five or six. However we tend to forget to fill them as we take the mains water for granted, meaning that this morning when it went off there were only two bottles of drinking water. That's three litres in all, so assuming the mains comes on again before the evening we'll probably be all right.
Still, it meant that I didn't do the load of laundry I was planning to do this morning (the washing machine takes 60 litres in all so I didn't want to use up that much tank water, just in case....) and I suppose that's all to the good in view of the rain.
Daniel had another theatre performance this morning, at a school in Nicosia. He got back about 2.00pm, had a quick bite to eat, and then rushed out again for the 'stage combat' class he attends at the theatre. He's tired already... yesterday morning might have been peaceful, but in the afternoon he went to his art class, stayed late talking and then had to rush back to eat at great speed before rushing out again to his music theory class (he's taking the grade 5 theory exam in the spring which will then allow him to take instrument exams higher than grade 5). After that he decided not to go to the town band - they're marching on Friday for a national day and he finds that very dull - but instead went to a meeting at our church run by a group called YWAM.
Our mains water is off at present. This used to be a regular feature of Cyprus life until a new desalination plant was built about three years ago. That was followed by some very wet winters, so the reservoirs are now full rather than almost empty. Theoretically we have water on all the time (it used to be just twice per week) but every so often the mains tap stops working without any warning.
I should perhaps explain that we have two different taps in the kitchen. One regular hot/cold mixer tap which is sourced from our tanks, and one that's directly from the mains. In general people drink the mains water, but tank water is used for washing up, for the washing machine, and also for the bathroom. So we're not without water entirely - the tanks still have plenty. And we still fill up plastic bottles with mains water for convenience - not as many as we used to in the days when the mains was sometimes off for three days in a row, but five or six. However we tend to forget to fill them as we take the mains water for granted, meaning that this morning when it went off there were only two bottles of drinking water. That's three litres in all, so assuming the mains comes on again before the evening we'll probably be all right.
Still, it meant that I didn't do the load of laundry I was planning to do this morning (the washing machine takes 60 litres in all so I didn't want to use up that much tank water, just in case....) and I suppose that's all to the good in view of the rain.
Daniel had another theatre performance this morning, at a school in Nicosia. He got back about 2.00pm, had a quick bite to eat, and then rushed out again for the 'stage combat' class he attends at the theatre. He's tired already... yesterday morning might have been peaceful, but in the afternoon he went to his art class, stayed late talking and then had to rush back to eat at great speed before rushing out again to his music theory class (he's taking the grade 5 theory exam in the spring which will then allow him to take instrument exams higher than grade 5). After that he decided not to go to the town band - they're marching on Friday for a national day and he finds that very dull - but instead went to a meeting at our church run by a group called YWAM.
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