Cyprus

This past weekend we took a trip to the island of Cyprus with Mike and Gretchen. It is a 45 min flight from Beirut, so it is the perfect long weekend trip. We had Friday off for Lebanese Independence Day, so we took off Thursday night after Parent Teacher Conferences. When we landed, we got our cars that we rented, and realized they drove on the other side of the road and car. It was a lot of fun to drive, not that I drove much. We did manage to make a 20 minute drive to our hotel a 2 hour drive, the signs were not the easiest to follow, being in Greek and all! We figured it out though, after a quick stop at a police station.

We got to the hotel and were so pleasantly surprised with how nice the hotel was and we had a quick bite to eat. Our hotel was in Kalavasos, and we flew into Larnaca. Both of those names are different on different signs, which was part of the fun. The next day we took a drive to see some ruins, of course, what trip with Ryan is complete without a stop to see ruins. After, we went to the Cyprus Wine Museum in Lemoses, which is also called Limassol(?), which was hilarious, but the tasting was delicious.  That night, we hung out in our library at our hotel for a while playing card games and dominoes, which was hilarious. We headed out to Zygi for dinner, and had some amazing mezze.

The next day we drove all through the mountains and the amazing small villages. We then went down to Aphrodite's Beach and hung out. Ryan went swimming in the Mediterranean, it was a little chilly for me, although the weather was beautiful the entire trip. We then had to find a bar that was showing the Liverpool vs Everton game. Ryan had found a local Cyprus Liverpool Facebook page, and asked the guys the best place to watch the game. We found the place and it didn't disappoint. There were probably fifty guys there all decked out in Liverpool gear yelling and cheering the whole game. That night we ate at a local place called the Bridge House Tavern, and there was a guitar on the wall that Ryan picked up and played for us all.

The next day we went to Lekosia, which is also Nicosia. This is the capital of Cyprus, and it is a divided castle. The northern part of Cyrpus is occupied by Turkey. We went to the Ikea there, which was a treat for us since we needed to get a few cheaper items for our apartment. We then ate lunch in the town square, and took a walk through the UN Green Zone to the Turkish side. That night we went to the Salt Lake, which at this time is not full of water till the winter. We ate on the beach in Larnaca and then off to get lost to return the car. Overall, it was a beautiful trip, and I'll let the pictures prove that to you.

This week is another four day week, and we are celebrating Thanksgiving on Friday. Looking forward to a nice dinner with a lot of teachers. We will be back in the States in less than a month, which is so crazy. Enjoy the pictures! 

Ryan driving on other side

Rocks at Aphrodite beach

Aphrodite Beach

Cairn made at Aphrodite beach

Library at our hotel

Driving through the villages

Breakfast nook at our hotel

Wine museum

Bar we found to watch the Liverpool game Saturday

Lefkosis

Ryan's Birthday

This was another whirlwind week. I can't believe it is already the middle of November and we have been here for three months. We had Thursday off this week, and we took a trip with Jamil (our neighbor) and Jesse to Jezzine. Jezzine is in the south of Lebanon and it has a waterfall there. It was a wonderful day out of the city, and we finally got to have bread purses called Kaak. In mine, I had the cheese and spices, Ryan went with Nutella and bananas. They were delicious.

Picture of the bread purses

Jamil's dogs Steve and Duke

The whole crew at the waterfall

Wednesday at school we started our community service project that Ryan has been organizing for a long time. Some groups of students volunteered to help clean up an area that a lot of us walk through daily to get to school called the Rainbow Stairs. The buildings around this area were covered in graffiti, and filled with trash. We worked Wednesday clearing the garbage, rocks, dirt etc. Friday we painted over all the graffiti. Saturday we repainted designs on the walls and steps. It is incredible what we got accomplished all because of Ryan's amazing idea, vision and hard work, and these impressive students who gave up a lot of time, got dirty and covered in paint, for the good of the neighborhood. 

Before we painted. 

Group of kids who helped. 

After the first coat of paint. 

Ryan's spray painting design

The stairs I painted green. 

Kids cleaning before we painted

 Gretchen and Mike's stencil

 

Saturday was Ryan's birthday, so we had a few people over that night. Sunday was the big adventure. Fabio took Jamil, Ryan and I to Jounieh to jump off a mountain and paraglide down the beach. It was an incredible experience. I went first, and had really no time to think about it at all. Ryan got a great video of me jumping. Ryan went next, and I have some great pictures of him landing. The guy he tandemed with was about 5 feet tall, so it was hilarious to see them together. While we were in the air we were both able to take the controls for a while, which was really cool. I was able to do a downward spiral dive which was a G force. It was so crazy. It seemed like we went around one hundred times, but probably closer to five.  Then we stopped for a little while along the beach. It was such a beautiful place to relax, and another part of Lebanon that we really haven't been in.  There are some great hotels there that we might go back and stay at some time. 

Where we sat after the jump

The water where we were landing near

Yachts in the water still

Jamil flying

Ryan flying

Sweet helmet

Ryan's selfie

Ryan's feet

My foot

view from the air

Ryan's landing

Me before take off

Beirut Marathon

Today I completes my fourth marathon. I didn't ever think I would run a marathon, especially after Jbo and I trained one year till we realized how much of our social life it killed. I have run the Chicago three times, and it has always been right after when I say "I'm never doing that again."  This year when we moved we heard about the marathon here and then I saw this amazing Ted Talk about the marathon.  Anyways, after seeing that I decided to give it another go. Ryan got a team together from school to do a cheering section, and we had 3 of us that ran the full marathon for Braveheart, which is a nonprofit that works to combat childhood heart disease.  There was also a relay team of teachers who did the marathon, as well as some teachers that did the 10k. Overall, there were about 600 people that ran the marathon, which is sooooo small compared to the 40,000 that run Chicago. I was nervous because I knew the course was going to be hilly, and it did not disappoint. Man, it was tough plus, they don't really do cheering sections like they do in Chicago, so at parts it was just me running through the streets of Beirut with police and army men watching. A very crazy experience, and a lonely experience too. At the 35k mark Ryan showed up on our neighbor Fabio's bike to go with me till the end which was so needed.

Also strange, there were not as many water or Gatorade stations and instead of cups they were full bottles, which is way to much and a little hard to open while running. It was great to cross the finish line and see Jesse and Jalal there cheering me on, and if course Ryan. These great new friends made me really want to push it at the end to see them. It was a good event that clearly took a lot of organization and street closures, except at one point where we crossed the highway with traffic stopped for us, interesting. I'm glad it did it, but seriously never again. Here at least....remind me of this next year when the pain is long gone.

Recovery time. Ice on knees and ankles, pizza and cider in belly. 

 Bib and medal.

Jared, another history teacher and Jamil our neighbor who we had brunch with last week, posing before the marathon. So happy, so little idea of the pain to come. 

Warming up with the elite runners, since there weren't that many of us, why not pretend. 

Start line.