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. Of course, this is the normal rhythm of Foreign Service life, but with the added of anxiety of wondering, “Will I get into business school? Will we be in California this time next year? Or Texas? Or somewhere else?” I’d be lying if I said that anxiety, and missing Severin during his one month foray back to the United States, had not weighed heavily on me lately. And when I’m anxious, I want to be out in the fresh air– but the temperatures are still hovering around 100 degrees with 50 percent humidity, and not a rain drop or cloud in sight, so I take a cold shower and park myself under the split A/C and close my eyes and pretend it’s a cool fall breeze. It will be fall soon.
Before Severin left, I really tried to re-double our exploring efforts because I think I was subconsciously aware that our time here is fleeting. The first order of business was to see a damn painted church, and FINALLY I did back in May. The church’s custodian was asleep inside, but woke up and talked to Severin in Greek for a little bit. Every square inch of the walls and ceilings of the place was covered in frescos. In the church’s small dome, Christ Pantocrator (which is Greek for almighty!) casts his eyes downward toward the faithful, always watching from heaven. I’m not religious, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t stand there staring upward with my mouth agape for a good two minutes.
No pictures allowed inside, but I did take a snap of some of the frescoes on the exterior wall. These are nothing compared to the details and vibrancy of the ones inside, but you’ll just have to use your imagination. This church is Panagia tou Araka, located in Lagoudhera village. The church dates to the 12th century, and has you can see it has a large roof built over the top of it and wood screens along all sides. Underneath, it is a stone church like all the others– apparently the large roof was added in the 14th century, but the plaque out front didn’t offer any reason why (and most of the other painted churches I’ve seen from the outside don’t have this).
A friend on R&R from Afghanistan visited in late May as well, and in honor of his visit a mutual friend got a group together to hire a boat for a sail off Kyrenia. Kyrenia is only about 40 minutes away from Nicosia, but we don’t go nearly enough– even with easy access to the diplomatic checkpoint, there is still a psychological barrier associated with crossing to the north, i.e., I always think it takes way more time and effort than it actually does. Really it’s five extra minutes to stop, get out of the car, show our Embassy badges, and continue on.
Descending from the Pentadaktylos mountains to Kyrenia always reminds me of cresting Leucadia Boulevard and catching my first glimpse of the Pacific (except the Pentadaktylos are much taller than the hills of Southern California)– I feel a pang of homesickness every time we go. Kyrenia has a pretty epic crusader fortress though, which we definitely don’t have at home. I liked this shot because you can see how huge the walls are compared to the cars.
Kyrenia has a beautiful horseshoe-shaped harbor. About a mile offshore, a diver in the 1960s found a 2300 year-old shipwreck; a merchant boat laden with almonds and amphorae. The wreck is remarkably well-preserved and now lives in an exhibit in Kyrenia castle.
In terms of natural beauty, Cyprus’ northern coastline is incredibly beautiful– I think it’s the proximity of the mountains to the sea, there’s just something very striking about it.
Even in late May, the eastern Mediterranean is still a might bit chilly. That didn’t stop any of us from jumping in at several of the stops along the way. If you look closely, in the upper right corner above the bush, you can see a bunker…Cyprus doesn’t have bunkers EVERYWHERE the way the Albanians do, but they do seem to pop up often in the places you least expect them to.
