Missionary Apartment and Cyprus Inspections

 

Greetings to our Friends and Family

We are just returning from a lovely walk along the beach boardwalk, about a 5-

minute drive from our apartment. It was about 4:00 pm, lots of people, families

out enjoying the sunny afternoon, albeit a cooler temp today than the past. It

was probably 63 today. Maybe we’re acclimating but I wore my light down jacket

for a layer against the cool breeze coming off the water. It was just glorious

January weather.

One of many neighborhood orange trees.

We’ve had some delightful visits with various branch members this past week.

They hail from Liberia, Iran, Congo, Bulgaria, Philippines, and Armenia. It’s so

fascinating to hear their stories and experiences but mostly how they

encountered the gospel of Jesus Christ and the difference it has made in their

lives. It truly is an international congregation of people we are amongst. We’re

just happy to be connecting with people following the holidays and their return.

We will go to Nicosia tomorrow, the capital city of Cyprus. We are meeting with

the attorneys assigned to us to help us be prepared for our residency visa

appointment scheduled for February 7. We secured a significant amount of

required documentation prior to our arrival. And since being here have

completed the necessary chest x-rays and blood tests indicating we are free of TB,

AIDS, Hepatitis, STDs etc. We passed! It’s unbelievable the requirements to stay

here beyond the 90 days that our passports will allow.

Walking Streets of Old Nicosia

Cyprus is an interesting place. Just a few details we’re learning. It lies just south

of Turkey in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. It is the third largest island in the

Mediterranean after Sicily and Sardinia. It’s about half the size of Connecticut.

Of its total area, 1,295 square miles are controlled by the self-proclaimed Turkish

Republic of Northern Cyprus, a separate entity recognized only by Turkey. The

North population is comprised of 50,000 Russians, 15,000 Iranians and 140,000

citizens of Turkey. We have visited Northern Cyprus a couple of times, which

requires passing through the border. Both of those visits involved driving across

the border. There is a portion accessible by foot but we’ve not yet crossed in that

manner.  The south is administered by the Republic of Cyprus and has a 

population of about 1.26 million, 13,000 of them being asylum seekers.

The foot border crossing.

Now that we’ve been here a month, we’ve got a few things sorted out. We’re

sharing a compilation of the unique ways of Cyprus as prepared by a fellow senior

couple. Some may delight or surprise you, they certainly have us.

Police cars drive around all over the country with their blue lights flashing atop

their cars. We’ve yet to see a police car with a different color light flashing so

we’re not sure what happens if they ever try to pull someone over. One night we

saw about 8 cars with flashing lights all going the same direction down the road.

So unusual…………

From the Holts

• The children go to school from 7am to 1 pin. No way I could have had my

children to school every day by 7 am.

• Government and bank workers call it a day between 2-3 pm

• There are three different colors of license plates on the cars, each color

means something different. White-regular cars, Red-rental cars, Yellow authority

cars.

• ln Cyprus, their license plates have 3 letters and 3 numbers with a blue

spot with a circle of yellow stars with CY below it. In the occupied north,

their license plates have 2 letters and 3 numbers with a blue spot with a

circle of yellow stars with no CY.

• They have signs on the roads reminding you that you “drive on the left side

of the road”; and to ”keep 2 chevrons distance between you and the car in

front of you”. They have chevrons painted in the lane.

• You cannot predict when “rush hour” driving will be because every day it is

different.

• The whole country has many castles, tombs, stone walls, ruins, churches,

monasteries. Some of the monasteries only let men in.

• This is a country rich in history and tradition. Lazarus and Barnabas (see

New Testament) are buried here. The Apostle Paul taught here several

Times.

• There are a few things we canNOT find: whole wheat bread (some is

labeled as such but looks sort of sketchy), canned pumpkin, real chocolate

chips, salted butter, good hot chocolate, enchilada sauce, buttermilk,

canola or vegetable oil, canned chicken broth, heavy whipping cream,

refrigerated orange juice] nothing larger than a 2-liter jug of milk, large

bags of chips (only lunch size, or slightly larger).

• Bakeries are on nearly every corner. Some small and some quite large.

Some are filled with cakes, pies, rolls, bread, with all kinds of fillings we

cannot pronounce, deli meals, some grocery items like milk and cheeses,

and other really tasty dessert treats, like mousse, cheesecake, velvet cakes,

etc. Most of these are small, individual servings. When we splurge we split

one between us so we can stick with our Mediterranean diets.

• We are not really on Mediterranean diets. But we figure we are on an

island in the Mediterranean Sea and, therefore, all we eat must be part of a

Mediterranean diet. We must be really healthy.

After our apartment inspections on Saturday we took a long route home and

visited Kourion. It was an important city-kingdom in antiquity and stands as one

of the most impressive archaeological sites in Cyprus. The theatre was

constructed at the end of the 2nd century BC and could seat up to 3,500

spectators. 

Think about that. It was built 200 years before the birth of Jesus

Christ. Amazing. It is still used in summer months for theatrical performances.

Maybe we’ll attempt going at some point.

The tiled mosaic floors of the house were absolutely stunning, the intricacies of

the work were spectacular. We especially loved the inscription of one,

Enter to thy good fortune

And may thy coming bless this house. (not shown)

We’ll return for another visit I’m certain. There are so many places yet to

explore. Check out the largest poinsettia I’ve ever seen.

Prior to arriving in Kourion we stopped by Aphrodite’s Rock. 

A local myth is that

any person who swims around the Aphrodite Rock will be blessed with eternal

beauty. It was totally unnecessary to do so for that purpose and so we enjoyed it

from afar. As well, it really wasn’t swimming weather that day!

We remain grateful for this opportunity to be in such a unique environment,

amongst people who are seeking the covenant path and trust our efforts will aid

them in their pursuits. The adventures and blessings continue.

We continue to hear from people who are unable to comment on the blog.  There is a space at the end where you can do so.  If unable to do that, just drop a line to either of our emails.  We'd love to hear from you.

meredithkiddle@gmail.com

roland.kiddle@gmail.com