Amay Update

It’s been a while since I’ve provided an update on this fella: I’ve been riding at Lapatsa four to five times a week (including two horses on both weekend days) and it has completely ruined me. I don’t know how Read More

Piles of Rocks

On May 6, the Embassy’s locally employed staff association organized a trip to visit the Soli mosaics northwest of Nicosia.  Our Embassy staff is a mix of Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots, and while the Turkish Cypriots frequently cross to Read More

When [Possible] Disaster Strikes

These are not peaceful times in Europe.  Since we’ve arrived in Nicosia, there have been major terrorist attacks in Ankara, Istanbul, Brussels, and Paris.  A passenger jet was blown up over Egypt. We were initially excited about the great regional Read More

USS Mount Whitney

Being an island in a fairly chaotic part of the world, U.S. naval ships visit Cyprus sometimes. At the end of February, we received a visit by the USS Mount Whitney, the flagship of the U.S. Navy’s Sixth Fleet (which Read More

Cyprus Horse Show(s)!

Most, if not all, of the horse shows under the Cyprus Equestrian Federation are held about a 30 or 40 minute drive from our house, in a town called Lythrodontas in the foothills of the Troodos Mountains. Apparently, they used Read More

Life in a Divided City

In 1567, the Venetians built fortified walls around Nicosia. The walls form a circle, punctuated by 11 bastions which make the city look like a sort of super-stylized medieval star. Fast forward four centuries, and Cyprus has passed from Ottoman Read More

Marine Corps Ball

I take a break from our regularly scheduled Christmas recaps to bring you back to Cyprus, the week before Thanksgiving. Every November, at every U.S. embassy around the world, we gather to celebrate the birthday of the U.S. Marine Corps. Read More

Thanksgiving with Strangers

Since leaving for college, I have been a diligent practitioner of Thanksgiving. It’s my favorite holiday. I would sooner work on Christmas than on Thanksgiving. All three years of college (and the first year after), I prepared Thanksgiving dinner in Read More

Lapatsa

When I joined the Foreign Service, I had but one serious rule:  NO ISLANDS.  I’m now wrapping up my fourth month on an island (a very sleepy and not a particularly large one at that!) and I haven’t gone totally Read More