the accidental girl

Living without running water in a hot country is not fun. I tried to have a shower this morning- the shower head simple spluttered a few meagre drops and then gave up.. what a nightmare! I'm glad I slept with the air con, so that I wasn't too sweaty through the night.

Anyway, Nicosia is suffering from a drought due to there not being enough rain, therefore no groundwater. So, the water gets turned off 4 days a week- in theory there should be enough water in the communal tank for the building my flat's in to last the drought days but, apparently, this was not the case today...

It reminds me of being in Africa where we had to wash with half a bucket of water and a sponge. You just don't feel squeaky clean after.
I came home this evening after my greek lesson and it was running. You'll be glad to know I no longer smell! Which it's easy to do considering the humidity- opening a window doesn't offer a breeze as much as the hot breath of the city on your skin.

I'm trying to make the most of my last week of freedom- my dad arrives next week and he's famously difficult to live with. But then I guess dads are supposed to be like that. Oh well..

I've finally exposed my crappy video to the world.. I'm not expecting great things because my rubbish laptop doens't go fast enough to let me edit the video into the masterpiece I saw in my mind. So, it's a bit jumpy, it's a bit shite but hey ho, the music's good.

It's 10am here in Cyprus. I've been awake three hours. Not that shocking but it's Saturday mornign and I'd been looking forward to a lie in. The problems being that it's BOILING hot today. at 9am- it was 31 degrees. Now, it's 32. At this rate, it'll be 35 at lunchtime.. and then hotter and humid(er) by 4pm. I'm going to melt!!

Anyway, I'm about to post my video. We'll see what the reaction is. Keep you posted

Most amazing thing I've seen lately.. It's tall, acts as a wind turbine, is dynamic and beautiful..
The rotating tower in Dubai:

Greek lesson this evening was fairly basic. I'm quite surprised at how much I'd remembered from my last lesson two years ago. I'm in a class with two other ladies. And I'm sorry to say this, but the difference between their aptitude is massive..
One, let's call her L, is very composed, autoratitive and analytical. She hails orginally from Croatia and after a stint in Zimbabwe has found herself in Cyprus. She catches on quickly to Greek and can manipulate the language in terms of grammar and reference. The other, lets call her E, is far less defined, she's sort of fuzzy around the edges, scatterbrained, seemingly unfocussed and painfully slow at catching on. I'm very aware that I might sound terribly snobbish but a two hour lesson is enough time to grasp the concept of 'einai diko/diki/dika.. mou.. etc' i.e. 'it belongs to me' and in fact, it was covered in 20 minutes but she promptly forgot it. I guess some people have a head for languages and some just don't.

Saying that, I don't think it's wholly her fault- in my experience, British people tend to not assimulate foreign languages very well (I don't mean this offensively- it's the fault of the education system and a lack of need to learn languages other than English) but the difference was shocking. L had never been exposed to Greek (yet speaks English, Croatian (presumably), French and German) and could converse with relative ease (disregarding small errors- language is best undertaken without too much hesitation and with enthusiasm) whereas E has two grandchildren who speak greek (they're half cypriot) and a daughter in law who also speaks greek so has been exposed to it for at least 14 years and yet struggles with the simplest of sentence constructions.

Anyway, rant over. Greek is difficult to learn I suppose, whether or not you've been exposed to it.

Here's a gratuitous nice photo to make up for my hostility towards poor E!

Right!! Holiday over. Back to being, to give myself my new official title, an Architectural draughtsperson. Who has been given a pay rise, following an inquiry into the discrepancy in my wages and offered a permanent job. Which, unfortunately, I cannot accept.

Although, if there are any AutoCAD geniuses out there who like the sound of working in Cyprus for 1 or 2 years, earning a decent wage for the island, then let me know! I'll pass interest on.. I would take the job if I intended to stay and live in Cyprus or if I wasn't about to finish my MEng. As it is, i can't take a year out mid-studies.

So the rest of the trip was fun- bar one day when both my friends were completely drunk and I wasn't- having to drive home via the motorway. Everyone else seemed to be driving dangerously and too fast so I was already stressed from avoiding imminent collisions when my pals in the back seat thought it appropriate to scream songs and to tickle me whilst on the motorway. Then, three cars in front of me- a crash happened. Having to do an emergency stop, flip the hazards on and avoid other cars seems to demand quite a bit of concentration.... it didn't seem to deter my fiends from their hour of play however.

The hightlight was going to a beach near Kantara castle where the sedimentary rock on the shoreline has been eaten away by the salty water. It's beautiful- forming shallow lagoons of warm sea water rife with small fish and green transluscence.

And then, I found a tonne of salt drying on the rocks, so I took it home to dry in the sun and it's lovely as a crust for fish suppers...

Anyway.. as I said earlier.. i'm back to work. Not yet settled in a routine as it's only been a day or so. Tonight i have a greek class. It'll be scary but fun! Oh, and other news- I've nearly finished my geekology film! Once it's up and running I'll post a link, promise
Right.. back to work. This facotory won't design itself.

My hermit's lifestyle has been shaken up by the arrival of two friends from Edinburgh. The past week has been filled with beaches, driving and drink (not at the same time of course). Pleasantly different from my usual monastic routine although i am starting to miss it a little as I'm unable to go for runs when i want or continue with my projects... a brief hiatus, it'll be back to normal in a week!

We went to Salamis the other day, after a gruelling 3 hour drive through the Kyrenia mountains, we finally reached it and promptly had a swim (glorious)

then we visited the ruins, which is always fun- the lack of any safety precautions means you can clamber about on the ruins and not get stopped!

Anyway, it's been a fun packed week, with another to follow. The benefit being that I have no time to be excessively introspective as I tend to be. I noticed from M's blog that he's travelling to Greece and Turkey. i'm wondering whether I should offer him the chance to come and see Cyprus while I'm here. Something tells me that he'll decline so I'm not sure I want the potential shame of rejection... but could it be an olive branch? I'm not sure.

I had a weird dream last night- It was a tangled three way love triangle. My ex, Blair (who orginally caused me much heartbreak) decided to become my flatmate, which was fine- there was no ill feeling and I discovered I felt nothing for him, then a family friend I used to have a massive crush on moved in opposite and we started a brief fling which was ended abruptly by the arrival of V, who i was supposedly seeing. Therefore I was cheating on him, quite blatantly but had no feelings of guilt, just irritation at having been interrupted. Methinks it's a sign that I maybe shouldn't consider taking him back (he's been asking me to recently). I don't know....

Anyway, that's it for now. I shall return soon.

Payday! Hurrah!

LAst year, my wage was CY£550 per month. Which is a damn good wage in this country- equivalent at the time, to about £750 a month. So my boss, kindly I suppose, decided to give me a pay raise this summer.

"So you were on £550 last summer, right?"
"Yes, I think so.."
"Ok! Time for a pay raise! You're nearly a graduate and you've saved my life, so lets say £600?"
"Ooh! Ok! Thank you!"
He hands me 600....
...in Euros..
So, 600 euros is what, £400 pounds? Should I mention that Cyprus has changed from Cyprus pounds to Euros since last summer? So I should be getting 900-1000 euros...?

Not that I'm working here for the money. If I wanted to earn lots I'd keep doing what I do in Edinburgh- part time CAD technician, part time sous chef. Between the two I get about £300 a week when full time.

Other news: I'm succumbing to total geek-hood and embarking on a new hobby. Film making. I've started making little paper based stories for songs I like which aren't on youtube. I'm officially a sad sack. Oh well! I can be an underpaid sad sack now.

So at last I've settled into a good routine. I'm now going to indulge in my female traits and share with the world the contents which have been through my stomach today. It's not something I subject people to normally, although I often overhear girlfriends telling their partners what they've eaten in some sort of quest for reassurance that they're not neurotic or obsessive.
I have no partner (through choice, I'm not seeking pity), so I shall tell cyberspace.

Breakfast: museli with yoghurt
Pot of green tea (followed by frequent toilet breaks)
Lunch: Courgette bake I made the otherday. It's better cold, pleasant surprise. Then some almonds.
Pot of white tea
Dinner: Green beans with lemon and oregano

And a 50 minute run. Bikini body here I come..
In maybe, 5 weeks of this.. argh

On another note, I'm now in charge of two projects! No more slacking at work. I can put my bossyboots face on and get stuff done.

I've come to a realisation, a few days late admittedly: It's June... in Edinburgh the sun would still be up even at this time. Here, it gets dark at 8pm on.the.dot. It's nice in a way.. especially as it defines my routine here. Edinburgh fo rme represents parties, friends, endless nghts out.. so it's good it never gets dark. Nicosia represents getting it together, running, eating well, working, getting healthier and stronger so it's nice to have definition to my day.

It's June. It means I have 3 months almost exactly before I turn old. Crap!

Apart from struggling to fit two portal frames together, today was relatively hassle free. Unfortunately I did my usual thing of punishing my emotions by listening to the saddest songs on repeat. Today was one of my favourites, but it is quite soul destroying..

Ode to Divorce

Anyway.. I spent the rest of my day planning MOTs for my two days in London before I go back to Edinburgh. I have to go back to the dentist to make sure my one and only filling hasn't set up a guerilla resistance squad against my molar and then I have to see my physiotherapist to try and work out the root of my weak back and get some excercise routine set up. Definitely don't want to hurt it again.