A short spring is quickly being chased out of town by the rapid onset of summer– it’s in the high 80s this weekend, hard to believe considering it was only (Orthodox) Easter last weekend. After a week-long spell of Saharan Read More
Foreign Service Life
Horse Update
Just about two years ago, I started riding again after last riding seriously in the summer of 2006. While it’s not travel or food related, it has been an indelible component of my time here in Cyprus so it seems Read More
Coming Up For Air
Back in late May, I signed up to take the Graduate Management Admissions Exam (GMAT), which is a required component of every MBA application. It isn’t offered in Cyprus, so I signed up to take the exam in Thessaloniki, Greece. Read More
A Segway Tour of Nicosia
In the category of “Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it” we went on a segway tour of Nicosia. One of our friends wanted to do something goofy for her husband’s birthday, so eight of us got together and went Read More
The August Doldrums
It’s my third August in Nicosia, and this month, and the whole summer really, has felt exceptionally long. I’ve compiled a long bucket list of all the places we still need to explore, restaurants we want to re-visit, and trips Read More
Cyprus in May
And just like that, it’s August again, and in late July we crossed our two-year threshold. Now, we begin with the “lasts”– this is my last August in Cyprus, and we have no idea where we’ll be next August. Read More
In Which Only the Strong Survive
Several months ago, one of the embassy’s local guards sent an enthusiastic email to all Embassy staff announcing “SOCRATES’ FIRST ANNUAL ROAD TRIP!” and promising 10,000 years of history in a single day. Since I appreciated his gumption, and the Read More
Lost in Translation
It is funny to me how subtle differences in language can really make a big difference. Cyprus is, for all intents and purposes, an English speaking country. When our garbagemen came around for their holiday tip, they spoke English. Rarely Read More
Back on Track
My, has time flown by. I signed up for an online course through Harvard which basically sucked up every ounce of spare time I’ve had since early October through five days ago when I took my final exam. It was 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