Stanley_in_Cyprus's Xanga

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Tue, 24 Jan 2006 18:27:59 GMT

Well, we're almost to the end of our trip!

It would be great to stay in Cyprus forever, but it is also good to go home and see my Mom and Dad again (even if they don't let me have Loukoumades for dinner)

The next day went to see an archeological site:

	Lefkosia
	Politiko - Tamassos Royal Tombs

	Politiko village, 17 km (10 miles), Southwest of Lefkosia Tel: 357 22 62 26 19 Tuesday-Friday: 09:00-15:00 Saturday-Sunday: 10:00-15:00 Monday: Closed Entrance fees: C£0,75

	Tamassos was a rich city-kingdom in ancient Cyprus renown for its copper mines. Excavations have brought to light the Royal Tombs and copper workshops associated with Aphrodite-Astarte.

Here are Maria and Anna with Maria's Cousins, Antigoni and Andreas:

Then we went to see a Monastery. It has and Icon of the Virgin Mary that was written by St. Luke himself:

	Lefkosia
	Machairas Monastery

	41 km south of Lefkosia through Deftera and Pera villages. Tel: 357 22 35 93 34 The convent is open for group visits only on Monday Tuesday and Thursday: 09:00-12:00

	Founded by two monks in 1148, when an icon of the Virgin Mary was found in a nearby cave, the monastery is set in a picturesque dip in the Machairas mountains. Following a grant by the Anastasios G. Leventis Foundation the vestry of Machairas monastery which is housed in the monastery basement, has been renovated and consists of the original cells of the monks as well as stables and storage areas which were restored specifically for this purpose. The Vestry has a room where the Monastery's old books and manuscripts are kept, galleries and rooms containing icons and other religious artefacts. No photos or video -cameras are allowed within the Monastery area.

We weren't allowed to take any pictures inside, but the Church was beautiful, and so were the Monastery grounds. Here is a picture of the outside, notice that they use terraces for gardening, too:

After that, we went out for dinner in a great little restaurant up in the mountains. We had a dinner of mezedhes - that's where they bring out a whole lot of little dishes of food for everyone to try - bread, meat, olives, dips, veggies - all sorts of yummy food. You get to eat a little bit of everything.

See these gourds hanging from the ceiling? When they get dry and yellow, like the one hanging against the wall, they will cut off the top use it for a pitcher to serve beverages (it will be hollow when it is dry)

Then, we went late at night to see the hideout of another soldier who died in the war for independence from Britain. Here is a memorial to him:

Here is the inside of his hideout. You can't tell in this picture, but it was pretty small - about 1/4 as big as your bedroom. I think it would have been a little scary for him to be in there at night by himself when he knew people were looking for him. He must have been very brave.

The last night there, Tasos' sister had a big New Year's party for the whole family. New Year's Day is more of a family holiday in Cyprus than it is in America. And, remember, Agios Vasilios brings presents!

On New Year's Day, we went to Church. We went to a Church where Tasos' Dad was a Chanter when Tasos was a kid. Since New Year's Day is also St. Basil's Day, there was a big procession around the Church at the end of the service, to honor St. Basil.

After that, it was a long, long trip home. We were very tired, but we had a wonderful time!

Here are some facts about Cyprus

(most of the facts on this site are from the official Cyprus Tourism Site - you can look there if you want to learn more http://www.visitcyprus.org.cy/ )

Population

Demography
Population (de jure): 818.200 (End 2003)
79,1%: Greek Cypriots (646.900)
10,7%: Turkish Cypriots (87.800)
10,2%: Foreign residents (83.500)

Geography

Physical Map

Island Contours
Cyprus is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Its 9,251 square kilometres (3,572 square miles) encompass citrus and olive groves, pine forested mountains, and some of Europe's cleanest beaches. Also the easternmost island in the Mediterranean Sea, Cyprus is approximately 105kilometres (60 miles) west of Syria, 75kilometres (47 miles) south of Turkey and 380kilometres (200 miles) north of Egypt. The nearest Greek point is the Greek island of Rhodes which is 380kilometres (200miles) to the west. The island has a mild, typically Mediterranean climate, with abundant sunshine even in winter and little rainfall. Prominent geographic features include the Troodos massif that occupies most of the southwestern part of the country, the Pentadaktylos range in the north around Kyrenia and the Messaoria Plain in between them. It is here that the capital city, Lefkosia, is located.

The elongated Karpasia Peninsula occupies the northeastern part of Cyprus, while the southeastern point terminates in Cape Gkreco. The southern coast is where the major towns of Larnaka and Lemesos are located. Pafos and the Akamas Peninsula are on the far western edge.

The latitude of Cyprus is 34° 33'-35° 34' North, and its longitude 32° 16'-34° 37' East.

Note: Prior to the Turkish invasion (July-August 1974) the two communities lived together in roughly the same proportions (4 Greek Cypriots : 1Turkish Cypriot) in all six administrative districts of the island. Since the invasion, about 57 000 Turkish Cypriots emigrated, with the result that today they constitute only 10,7% of the population compared to 18% before July 1974.

Population of Main Towns
(End 2003)
Lefkosia (Nicosia): 213.500 (part of Lefkosia in the Government controlled area)
Lemesos (Limassol): 167.800
Larnaka: 74.700
Pafos: 49.700

Religion Today

Denominations

Perhaps because Cyprus has seen so many empires and cultural influences ebb and flow over the centuries, the country enjoys an exceedingly high level of freedom of worship. While the majority of Cypriots are Greek Orthodox Christian (85%), other religious faiths are represented on the island as well, including Armenians, Maronites, Roman Catholics, Latins and Muslims.

Languages

Greek and Turkish are the main languages. English is widely spoken. French and German are also spoken within the tourism Industry.

I really think you'd love Cyprus if you ever get a Chance to go there!

Your flat friend, -Stanley

Monday, January 23, 2006

Mon, 23 Jan 2006 18:04:53 GMT

Then we were back to Paphos, and went to see a Catacomb. A Catacomb is a place underground where Christians used to go to worship in secret during the times of Ancient Rome, when they could be killed if people found out they were Christians. Most people think that Catacombs were only in Italy, but here is one in Cyprus called Agia Solomoni:

Agia Solomoni was a devout Jewish Mother before the time of Christ. She and her seven sons courageously gave their lives because they would not deny their belief in God. The books of Maccabbes in the Bible tell about her, and the Jewish Feast of Hannukah is a feast that celebrates the final victory of those who were faithful to God in those times. This is an Early Christian Church that honored her and her love for God.

Then we went to see a Monastery

Pafos
		Agios Neofytos Monastery

		9km (5.5 miles) north of Pafos. April-October Monday-Sunday: 09:00-12:00 & 14:00-16:00 November-March Monday-Sunday: 09:00-16:00 Entrance fee for the Museum and the Encleistra: C£0,50

	Founded at the end of the 12th century by the Cypriot hermit and writer Neofytos. The 'Egkleistra', an enclosure carved out of the mountain by the hermit, contains some of the finest Byzantine frescoes dating from the 12th to 15th century. In the monastery church which contains some of the most beautiful icons of the Post-Byzantine period of the 16th century is a very interesting ecclesiastical museum.

This is the courtyard of the Monastery:

Here you can see the caves up on the side of the Mountain where St. Neophytos and some of his followers used to stay - about 800 years ago. They didn't have steps back then, but climbed up the side of the rock. The steps were built for visitors like us:

The Monks at the Monastery grew their crops on terraces - a very ancient (but still very useful) method of farming on the sides of hills. This is their garden.

Follow the link if you want to learn more about this kind of farming.

http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/geography/terracefarming.htm

The next day we went to see the Church of St. Lazarus, in Larnaca on the Southeast end of the Island.

You may know the story of how Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. Well, after that, Lazarus went to Cyprus and became a Bishop. When he died again, they buried him here, and this Church is built in his honor.


	Larnaka
	Agios Lazaros Church

	Plateia Agiou Lazarou Tel: 357 24 65 24 98 April - August Monday-Sunday: 08:00-12:30 & 15:30-18:30 September to March Monday-Sunday: 08:00-12:30 & 14:30-17:00 Entrance free

	Saint Lazarus is the patron saint of Larnaka. Kition became his second home after his resurrection by Christ, and he lived here for another 30 years. He was ordained Bishop of Kition by Saints Barbaras and Mark. In the 9th century a magnificent church was erected over his tomb by Emperor Leo VI. The church one of the finest examples of Byzantine architecture in Cyprus, was faithfully restored in the 17th century, and the iconostasis is an excellent example of baroque woodcarving.

This is the Icon Screen in the front of the Church - it is a little dark in the Picture, but it was very beautiful:

This is where his Relics are:

This is where he was buried:

Here is an Icon of St. Lazarus with his two sisters, Mary and Martha:

This was a neat Icon in the Church of the Prophets Elijah and Elisha in the Old Testament:

Well time to go for now! See you soon!

Friday, January 20, 2006

Fri, 20 Jan 2006 18:19:26 GMT

The next day was Christmas!

Since Agios Vasilios comes on New Years, Christmas morning there are no presents under the tree - everyone waits another week.

Christmas is a day for Church and to spend with your family having a special Christmas Dinner.

We went to Church in the morning. It was a really big Church, but still, there were a lot of people standing because there weren't enough chairs for everyone. Everyone shares their chairs, letting other people sit when they're tired.

In Cyprus, the Churches have chairs instead of long benches or pews like in America. The chairs are all connected to each other, and they have wooden seats that fold down, so that they aren't in the way when you stand up.

Church was four hours long, but most families with kids my age came when it was part way over, so they were only there about an hour or an hour and a half.

This is the Church we went to:

After Church, we all went out to a nice restaurant for Christmas Dinner. At the restaurant, they had "Christmas Crackers" - these are from the British Culture - it's little wrapped tube, where each person pulls on one end of the tube, and it makes a loud popping sound when it breaks. The person who gets the biggest half wins. There are little toys inside, and a little paper crown. Here I am with Anna and a Christmas Cracker.

The next day, we went to the Troodos Mountains. In most of Cyprus it never snows, but in the mountains, there was snow:

We went to visit a Church of St. Mavra. She lived during the early centuries, and she had to hide from the Romans who were trying to kill Christians like her because they were Christians.

Here is the little tunnel that she hid in - it is very small. No one knows how far it goes into the side of the mountain. People burn candles outside of it. The things inside are things people leave when they request her prayers. One person left a picture of someone.

The next day, we went to see the dam that Tasos helped to build when he was a graduate student in Engineering.

Here is the water that is being held back by the dam

Here are the Orange trees down below - where there used to be water, but now there's not because the dam stops it.

I thought that this looked like a water slide for giants (of course, it is hard to slide on rough concrete) - but Tasos told me what it is really for. If the water gets too high, and some of it needs to escape, this helps it escape gently, instead of causing a lot of damage down below.

Well, it's time to go. Hope to see you again soon!

Your flat friend, -Stanley

Thursday, January 19, 2006

Thu, 19 Jan 2006 18:06:53 GMT

The next day we went to see a very, very old Church. It had Icons painted on the walls in the 1100's - almost a thousand years ago - and the colours were still bright and clear! (Icons are a special kind of Christian Religious painting)

It was interesting, because we could see what the Icons back then were like, and how they are different from newer Icons.

Troodos
		Panagia tis Asinou Church - Nikitari (UNESCO World Heritage Site)

		Nikitari village, Tel: 357 22 85 29 22 Daily: 09:00-17:00 (summer) Daily: 09:00-16:00 (winter)

	An early 12th century church dedicated to the Virgin Mary with frescoes of the 12th century and the later periods, considered to be among the finest examples of Byzantine mural painting in the island. Visitors should ask for the priest of Nikitari village to escort them.

I thought this one was the most interesting, because usually in Icons Saints have a golden Halo, and other people don't have any Halo at all. In this one, though, Judas is betraying Jesus, and he has a Halo, but it is dark instead of gold.

Here are some other ones you might like to see. Can you figure out what they are?

The Church was up in the mountains - here is the view from the front door:

The next day was Christmas Eve, and we went to visit a Monastery. This is one of the many Churches and Monasteries where we weren't allowed to take pictures, so this is just a picture outside

Agios Irakleidios Convent




	by Irakleidios , whom they later consecrated as Bishop of Tamassos. He was martyred and buried in the cave where he had lived and preached. The monastery, founded in 400 AD, was destroyed and rebuilt several times until Archibishop Chrysanthos renovated the church and cells in 1773. The relics of the saint are kept in a silver gilt case. The use of photo and video cameras inside the convent is prohibited.

For Christmas Eve Vespers, we went to Maria's Church. Greek Orthodox Church Services are sometimes very long (Christmas morning services were four hours!) and everybody knows that we kids can't sit still that long without little breaks. A lot of times, families with kids just come late, so that it's not so long. But, at Maria's Church, they have a kid's Chapel, where the Icon screen and everything else is just our size, and there is a loudspeaker so everyone can hear the service. We were allowed to go in there and stay with other kids whenever we felt like it, and then go back with the grown-ups when we felt like it. You can see how big it is in this picture I took of Maria in the kid's Chapel:

That's all for today! Hope you're enjoying reading about our trip!

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Wed, 18 Jan 2006 18:14:05 GMT

I was still learning lots of stuff on my trip:

Did you know that the 4th most important place in the Religion of Islam is in Cyprus?


	Larnaka
	Hala Sultan Tekke - Salt Lake

	Dromolaxia, 5 km (3 miles) west of Larnaka town Daily: 07:30-19:30 (June-August) 09:00-18:00 (April-May & Sept-Oct) 09:00-17:00 (November-March) Entrance free

	Built in 1816 over the tomb of Umm Haram, allegedly a relative of Prophet Mohhamed who died on this spot in 649 during the first Arab raids. The mosque is an important place of Moslem pilgrimage ranking immediately after the shrines of Mecca, Medina and Al Aqsha in Jerusalem.

The Aunt of the Prophet Mohhamed was buried here. She died when she fell off of a horse and broke her neck.

The Great Grandmother of King Abdullah of Jordan is also buried here. She exiled to Cyprus by the British Government (Exile means that the government where you live won't let you live in your own country any more, and they make you go live in a different country - away from all your friends and family)

Since it is a Mosque, we were sure to take off our shoes when we went inside

We also went to Kavo Gkreko, a very beautiful, very rocky beach.

Kavo Gkreko

A National Forest Park at the southeastern end of the island between Agia Napa and Paralimni. The uniqueness of the area is not only due to its natural beauty but also to the fact that it offers a wide range of interests such as swimming, diving, towed parachute, fishing, rowing, cycling, riding, climbing, airsports, and hiking.
The vegetation is dominated by coastal shrubs of which the most frequent observed species is Juniperus Phoenicea and plants such as chrysanthemums, wild onions, poppies, anemones, mainly in spring time.
There are about 300 plant species in the area, 11 of which are endemic. The fauna includes species such as partridge, wood pigeon, crow, owl, as well as a large number of migratory birds, which stop on the island chiefly to rest. These include blackbirds, thrushes etc. Also observed in the area are foxes, hares and various species of bats, reptiles and butterflies. To date, 9 trails have been constructed in Kavo Gkreko - Paralimni area.

We went to see a war memorial too.

America fought a war of independence against the British in 1776 - back in the time of George Washington.

Cyprus fought a war of independence against the British in 1955 - probably about when your grandparents were little kids.

Here are 4 brave men who died in that war.

The brother of one of these men, who is now old enough to be a grandpa himself, came and talked to Tasos in Greek and told him all about his brother's sacrifice for his country. He was proud of his brother, but sad, too, because he died.

I think the stories weren't all okay for kids (because wars are violent and sad) because the story was really long in Greek, and when Tasos told it to me, it was pretty short.

Oh, and Maria got back her picture with Santa Claus!

In Greek, Santa's name is "Agios Vasilios"

I have often wondered how Santa could visit all of the kids on earth in one night - that's a lot of houses!

Well, I learned on this trip that Santa goes to Cyprus and Greece and Russia on New Years! And, Anna told me that her Mom went to Spain once, and the kids there get their presents on January 6, (Epiphany or Theophany) - So it's not as hard as I thought - he can space it out over a few days instead of doing it all in one night.

You might wonder what kind of presents the kids in Cyprus like? Well, since we were only days away from New Years, there was a lot of excitement about what Agios Vasilios might bring. The kids there like the same things as kids here (of course, older kids and younger kids like different things) - video games, dvd's, cd's, Barbie dolls, My Little Pony, stuff to play house or school with, jewelry and nice lotions or perfumes, sports stuff, clothes - just everything you can think of that kids like here, they like there, too!

Well, time to go!

See you soon!

-Stanley

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

Tue, 17 Jan 2006 18:24:00 GMT

I'm back!

Hope everyone had a Good Martin Luther King Day Weekend!

Here's a little article about the next place we went to see:

	Lemesos
	Kourion, Archaelogical Site

	Episkopi, 19 km (11,5 miles) west of Lemesos Tel: 357 25 99 10 48 Daily : 08:00-17:00 (November-March) 08:00-18:00 (April-May & Sept-Oct) 08:00-19:30 (June-August) Entrance fees: C£1,00

	An important ancient city-kingdom, and one of the most spectacular archaeological sites on the island where excavations still bring new treasures to light. The magnificent Graeco-Roman Theatre was originally built in the 2nd century BC and is now fully restored and used for musical and theatrical performances. The House of Eustolios, originally a private Roman villa, became a public recreation centre during the Early Christian period. It consists of a complex of baths and a number of rooms with beautiful 5th century AD mosaic floors. The Early Christian basilica dated to the 5th century, was probably the Cathedral of Kourion with a baptistery attached to the north face. The House of Achilles and the House of the Gladiators have beautiful mosaic floors. The Nymphaeum, dedicated to the water nymphs, is an elegant Roman structure. The Stadium lies 1km to the west on the right side of the road to Pafos and is dated to the 2nd century AD.

An Amphitheatre is a place you could go to watch a play. Back in the Second Century they didn't have Microphones, so instead they built Amphitheatres. They were built in a half circle so that everyone could see, and had steps to sit on (like bleachers). But the most amazing thing is that they were built so that people's voices could be heard way up at the top level when the actors were at the bottom.

Here is a picture of Tasos and Me - we have front row seats! We got the good seats because there was no play that day. But, other days they do have plays. Can you imagine going to see a play and sitting on the same seats people sat on almost 2000 years ago?

We went to the House of Eustolios, which was a place where people could go for baths. Back then, baths weren't like taking a bath at home, but they were more like going to a swimming pool or to a spa. You could go in hot baths, then cold baths, and get a massage. Friends would go to the baths together and talk and just hang out at the baths. I like this picture because you can see the clay pipe that brought the water in. Did you know that they had plumbing way back then?

Here I am at the swimming pool! It's that star shaped thing behind me. Of course, it's a little chilly today for swimming (about 50 degrees F.) and there hasn't been any water in it for almost 2000 years, but still, it's a swimming pool!

Here is the Mosaic on the floor of the House of the Gladiators. A mosaic is a picture that is made only of little pieces of tile, glass, or sometimes paper glued onto a background. No pens, pencils or paint!

It was called the House of the Gladiators not because Gladiators lived there, but because there were Mosaics of Gladiators on the floors. Guess the people who lived there were big sports fans!

This is a neat picture. When Archeologists find things, they have to keep a very careful record of what they found and what else was near it, and if something is broken, they try to figure out what other things used to be part of the same piece - kind of like putting together a puzzle. If you look closely, you can see that they have put little numbers on each piece, to help them do their work:

After spending lots of time there, we were off to Paphos - the big city on the Southwestern side of Cyprus. There we saw a great museum of Mosaics. these were very old, but still had almost all their tiles. they were in really good shape. Here is a picture of me at a "Labyrinth" Mosaic. A Labyrinth is like a maze - you're supposed to try to find your way through.

Here are a few links, if you want to try to make your own Mosaic:

http://www.historyforkids.org/crafts/projects/mosaic.htm

http://www.frugalcrafts.com/craft_projects/Kid's_Crafts/mosheart.html

http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/magic_mosaics.htm

Here is the beach at Paphos. Isn't it beautiful?

Here is an ancient Arch - you can see a Church in the Middle that is almost new:

And, finally, these are Loukoumades - "Honey Balls" in English. They're kind of like doughnuts, but much better! Anna and Tasos let me have these for dinner. (don't tell my mom!)

Bye for Now, -Stanley

Thursday, January 12, 2006

Thu, 12 Jan 2006 18:17:08 GMT

The next Monday Morning was really exciting! I finally got to meet Fania's Yiayia (that's Greek for "Grandma"), She has her own radio show, and my friend, Tasos was on her show. Here they are in the Radio Studio recording the show (I was very quiet so that I wouldn't mess up the recording):

If you want to hear a radio show from Cyprus, you can check out this link. It has Fania's Yiayia's show on it sometimes! It is also neat because if you have never heard what the Greek language sounds like, you can hear it. (they also have shows in English, and lots of music)

http://www.cybc.com.cy/audio.htm

Next, we went to the Archeological Site of Amathous. This is me standing with Anna next to the ruins of the Agora there. "Agora" is Greek for "Market" - I picture it as a little like a Mall - a place where people shopped, but also where they would go to just hang out with their friends.

Here is a page about the site from the Cyprus Tourism Official Website:

http://www.visitcyprus.org.cy/




	Amathous Archaeological Site

	11 km (7 miles) east of Lemesos centre Daily: 09:00-17:00 (November-March) 09:00-18:00 (April-May & Sept-Oct) 09:00-19:30 (June-August) Entrance fees: C£0,75

	One of the ancient city-kingdoms of Cyprus where, according to mythology, Theseus left the pregnant Ariadne to be taken care of after his battle with the Minotaur. A very important cult of Aphrodite-Astarte flourished here. Excavations have revealed parts of the Acropolis and Agora areas, as well as part of the upper and lower city. The remains including five early Christian Basilicas date from the Archaic, Roman and Christian periods.

The next morning we went to Kolossi Castle - this is the Castle where Richard the Lionheart spent his Honeymoon in the Middle ages.

Here we are sitting in the window of the Castle - you can see how thick the walls were! Sometimes we think of Castles as Magical places where Princes and Princesses lived, but they were really built to keep enemies from hurting people who lived there. It would be really hard to get through this wall to hurt someone inside.

Here is the Spiral Staircase - it doesn't take much room in a corner, but it is kind of steep and hard to climb - and there's no railing, either. On the right side of the column, you see the tops of the steps, on the left side, you see the bottoms:

Here we are on the top of the castle - those stone things that stick up gave the knights somewhere to hide from being shot at -then they could peek around the corner and shoot at their attackers.

And, last for today, here is a flower. It is winter in Cyprus, but it is still nice enough weather that the flowers bloom!

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Wed, 11 Jan 2006 18:11:40 GMT

The Next day we did a whole lot of stuff - I may not even be able to tell about it all in one day, but here goes . . .

Remember a couple of days ago, I told you about the places in Nicosia where there are soldiers and you're not allowed to go any further?

Well, a couple of years ago, they started letting people go across to the other side and visit, just for a little bit. So, we went to the Turkish side of the city and looked at things over there.

We had to take our passports and get a visa from a soldier, just like we were visiting a different country - even though we were just going to the other side of the city. Then we had to cross through a "buffer zone" - an area where no one is allowed to stay, and no one can take pictures. I would have liked to take some pictures, but I wasn't allowed. The buildings there looked just like they did during the invasion in 1974 - you could see damage from bombs and bullets and sandbags in front of the windows. It must have been very scary back then . . .

When we got to the Turkish side of the city, it was very different from the Greek side. We found a lot of neat stuff to look at, though.

First we went to a very old hotel. A hotel people stayed in back in the 1200's - back when there were knights and castles.

Here is me with Anna at the old Hotel - it's not a hotel any more, but a place where they have stores and things to look at. It's hard to see me, but I am on Anna's lap:

I really liked one of the places they had there - it was a Shadow Theater! Have you ever wondered what kids did before they had TV? Well, one of the things (if you lived in Cyprus, or in a lot of other countries) was Shadow Theater. There are flat (like me!) puppets, that are made out of very thin leather that is colored in. Then, they put a light behind the puppet, and the puppet behind a screen. Since this Shadow Theater is run by a Turkish Cypriot man, you will notice the Turkish flag, and the old style Turkish outfits. Both Greek and Turkish Cypriots had Shadow Theater. There is a Shadow Theater museum on the Greek side that I want to visit if I ever get to go to Cyprus again!

Here is a website I found on how to make your own Shadow Theater. It says to use cardboard - so you won't get all the pretty colours. If you use clear plastic and color it, you could get colorful puppets like these.

http://www.osv.org/kids/crafts2.htm

In the courtyard of the hotel I found this old round stone with a square hole in the middle. Do you know what it was used for? it was used (before they got the new machines) to grind olives and make olive oil. They put a big square pole through the middle, and set the stone inside another stone, then they tied the pole to donkeys and had the donkeys walk in a circle. Pretty neat, huh?

Next, we went to visit this Mosque. A Mosque is where Moslem people worship. Before we went in, we took our shoes off, because that is the respectful thing to do when you visit a Mosque.

This particular Mosque used to be a Christian Church - you can see that outside it looks like a Church, except that a Minaret was added. A Minaret is a tower over a Mosque where the Moslem Clergyman (called an "Imam") goes to call everyone to prayer:

This is an old Orthodox Christian Church next door to the Mosque. You can see that the roof is missing and it is in very bad repair. The United Nations is working on repairing it:

Here are some friendly Turkish Cypriot Children we met on our trip. They were on recess at school. They are just starting to learn English, so they askes us what our names were, but couldn't say much else in English. They were friendly enough to make up for the language problem, though!

Here are some other little Children, who aren't old enought to be in school yet.

Well, I was right! I'm out of time to tell about the rest of that day. Anna needs her computer back. I'll try again soon!

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Tue, 10 Jan 2006 18:05:52 GMT

That was a long post yesterday!

I think today's will be shorter -but still with lots of pictures

In the morning, we went to the library and found a book of old pictures from Tasos' High School. He saw some pictures of old friends in there - and lots of pictures from when his Dad and his friends' Dads had gone to the same school.

But, we were really suprised to see a picture of someone that Anna knew from America! Dr. Weir had worked in Cyprus, but when he was old, he went home to America when he retired. He lived in the same building as Anna's Grandma and Grandpa!

The next evening, we went to see the Handicraft Center in Nicosia. There, you can watch people make all sorts of traditional crafts. If you buy something there, the money goes to help those people who lost their houses during the invasion (see yesterday's 'blog).

Here is a woman weaving. If you look closely at the front of the loom (the part closest to her) you can see the pretty pattern she is making in the fabric:

Here are some people making wood carvings - in the second picuture you can see some of the completed work hanging up on the wall behind them:

On the way home, we could see all of the holiday lights in the streets and public places. Cypriots decorate with Christmas trees and holiday lights just like we do. My Greek isn't very good, but I think this sign says something like "Happy New Year, 2006"

Well, that's all for today! Hope you enjoyed it! See you Soon

Monday, January 09, 2006

Mon, 09 Jan 2006 18:06:46 GMT

Hi Again!

Over the weekend, several friends helped me with the name of the place I talked about the last time. It is called "Choirokoitia." Here are a couple of links if you want to read more about it. (a note for Grown-ups: you might want to know that this is a UNESCO site, and this link has a program for teaching kids about the UNESCO World Heritage Program http://whc.unesco.org/?cid=295 )

http://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=31&id_site=848

http://www.worldheritagesite.org/sites/choirokoitia.html

Now, let me see, what did we do next?

Oh, yeah!

The next day we went to see the English Academy, the High School where my friend, Tasos had gone

Maria and I went to a Birthday party at McDonald's Playland. It was nice to see some things that are just like at home! - I got a picture of this McDonalds sign written in Greek:

We went to St. Eleftherios Church in Nicosia, where Tasos' Dad served as a Chanter when Tasos was a kid. (a Chanter is someone who helps with the music and reading in a Greek Orthodox Church)

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Then, we visited the part of Nicosia that is inside the walls. A long time ago, before there were airplanes, cities used to have walls and moats (like castles) to protect them from attackers. Some very old cities, like Nicosia, still have these walls - even tho the city is much bigger now and there is a lot of city outside the walls, too. Now, people park in the moat. Here is a picture of Anna and Me standing in front of the wall, in the moat. See how tiny I am next to the wall? (I'm glad it doesn't have water in it anymore!)

When your parents were young, (in 1974), the country of Turkey invaded Cyprus. They took the North half of Nicosia, and the North part of the whole country. A lot of Greek Cypriots had their houses and all of their things taken away. Some of them even died. Now, when you visit Nicosia, you come to a place in each road that goes North where you're not allowed to go any further - there is a guard there with a gun. It is very sad.

Here is a place where you are allowed to look across and see the other side:

Here is a picture of a little girl with her Mom. The don't know what happened to her Dad during the invasion, but they never saw him again. They are very sad. There were a lot of other sad pictures, but they are too sad or violent for kids like us - so Anna said I shouldn't put them in here.

People in Cyprus wish that the soldiers who invaded would go home and let them travel and go back to their houses, and that everyone could just live together and be happy. Maybe one day that will happen. I sure hope so.

Well, time to sign off for today. Hope you found this part of our trip interesting. See you again, soon, I hope!