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

One week away

Back in the Fall of 2012, Ryan and I started thinking of teaching internationally. I had no idea what that meant or how to go about the process, but we have been fortunate enough to travel to many places, and knew we were interested in an adventure. The decision was not easy because of how amazing our life in Chicago has been. We have great families and friends in Chicago and we were teaching some of the greatest students. 

After talking to Ryan's cousin Christi, who lives in Belgium, about her amazing boys and their international school, we knew we wanted to try teaching internationally. We joined Search Associates, put our resumes and references on the website and started emailing schools. When we had our first Skype interview with the American Community School in Beirut, we didn't have high expectations. We were blown away. ACS seems to have everything we were looking for in a school. Ryan will be working as the athletic director/activities director for the school, which includes elementary through high school. I will be teaching World History for Sophomores, and the first year of the International Baccalaureate to juniors, which includes the 1900s. ACS sent me to a conference this summer in Lake Tahoe to learn all about this program, and it seems amazing. 

Fast forward to today, and we are just about one week from leaving. The last few months have both flown by and dragged on. We have had an incredible summer traveling around the US, seeing family and friends, and of course Lollapalooza.  Everyone we talk to asks us if we're nervous, and weirdly, we are not nervous. We are excited for this new chapter. We know moving internationally is going to come with challenges but we are excited for the next two years, or possibly more, in Beirut. 

The first challenge will be packing! We are lucky that we are moving into a three bedroom apartment right near the school and near the Mediterranean. Three bedrooms is the biggest place I have lived in since my sweet house with five girls at EIU. The apartment is furnished, including towels, sheets, hangers and more so all we really need are our clothes, computer and pictures. The other big item for this week is unlocking our phones and figuring out how to use them in Lebanon. 

The goal is to keep this blog updates with our adventures and pictures. Also, hopefully to give advice to anyone thinking of embarking on the same adventure.  I hope to post soon after we land with pictures of our place and the neighborhood. School doesn't start for a couple of weeks so we have time to do some exploring. The school has set up some trips right away when we get there, including the first trip to Costco. Now I have never even been to Costco here in the States, so I am doubly excited for a huge jar of hummus. There are also trips set up to go to dinners, the wineries and more.