Randal and I went for a walk this morning, took a new route, saw a brand new baby lamb, got lost, met some young girls who tried to teach me how to say sheep and goat in Turkish, got lost, met two amused Turkish women who pointed through there fields as a "short cut" back to the coast road, passed by two very suspicious BIG cows, one with horns, and finally got back to the boat STARVING!  This afternoon I spent an hour with the online Mango language product on the RCPL website.  I’d tried it not very successfully, when we were in Turkey, but now that I’m taking lessons from a real person, I can use this online product and understand it. 

  I have my Turkish word cards to paint and label and a scarf to knit as a Christmas gift.  I did paint an orange and learn the word is portakal (from the word Portugal because the Portuguese introduced oranges into countries who then named it for them.  So much to do, so much to do!  I have adventures worth of photos to share and will try to catch up.  This one is a start.

Ru

About a week ago, Randal and I were wondering if winter in Cyprus wouldn’t be as great as we’d hoped. Thanks to some cold rainy weather we were spending too much time on the boat, our usual Thursday Deks walk being rained out.  We were getting, I’m embarrassed to say, bored. Two things my mother used to say about boredom: “Only bores get bored,” and “if you’re bored, go for a walk.” I certainly know going for walks cures boredom. Making new friends and learning new languages also, has not only eliminated boredom, it has left us with too little “free time” these past few days. Or so it seems and that’s why I’m behind on my emails.

Tuesdays are Turkish lesson days and this past lesson ran from 10:30 am until 1 pm. After that Randal and I biked to the Lamar supermarket about an hour away. We left the marina about 1:45 pm, stopped for gasoline, got to the market, shopped and were back on the bike heading home about 3:15 pm. We stopped in Yenierenköy at the hardware store sometime around 4 pm as it was getting dusk and finally got back to DoraMac chilled and tired just before 5 PM. Wednesday morning was walk up into Sipahi and Wednesday evening our new friend Eve came for dinner. Eve, an Israeli, is a single-hander. We’d met at a “Monday evening cruiser get together” and had invited her for a chat and drinks one night. Eve left today for travels and will be back in March. We wanted to nab her one last time before she left so had invited her for an informal salmon patty dinner Wednesday night.

Eve

Eve has a catamaran that she charters. She had been married with two children and teaching ceramic arts also creating one-of-a kind pieces in her studio. One day, after her two children were grown, she decided she wanted to be a charter sailboat captain. Her husband wanted to be a recreational cyclist. They parted amicably each to pursue a dream.

Thursday was a Deks Walk Day with an added tour at the end. The usual group met at Deks 9 AM and then piled into 2 cars to caravan down the road for a coastal walk to the ruins of the 5^th century AD Ayios Philon Church. According to the local guide book, “Ayios Philon is the last remaining remnant of the ancient Phoenician city of Karpasia which used to be a marketplace between Salamis and Anatolia.” Thanks to fellow walker, Julia and her husband Robin we actually made a visit to Salamis on Friday.

We were ferried to a spot about 1 ½ hours from the Ayios Philon Church and the Oasis Restaurant where we would have a coffee at the end. Then we would have been driven back to Deks except Julia and Robin kindly drove Randal and me farther down the coast to visit another site, Aphendrika.

The beaches along the coast are nesting spots for sea turtles.

Denise and one of the walkers, Sue, have volunteered during the nights of hatching. http://www.seaturtle.org/mtrg/projects/cyprus/

From across the hillside tractors came zooming down the path stopping at this cultivated field.

Oh boy, a puddle!

The dogs really are such fun to have with us on the walks.

They run two miles for every one that we walk!

Sheep ahead so the dogs go on the leads.

This was the funniest group of sheep. They would walk ahead and then stop and all face us and then walk on, stop, and then face us until we finally passed them by.

Lining up to face us.

I don’t know if they were entertaining us or we were entertaining them. There were no shepherds in sight here or later when we saw 3 more herds of sheep.

We left the sheep behind and continued on to the beach.

The beaches had litter washed up from the sea but the water was clear and you can see the ripples in the sand under the water. Closer to the Church is the old harbour where apparently you can snorkel and see odd bits buried in the sand.

Ayios Philon Church

“In the centre of Dipkarpaz, if you leave the road that takes you to along the southern coast of the Karpaz to Apostolos Andreas Monastery, and take the northern coast road instead, you will end up at Ayios Philon.

The church here, was built in the 10th Century, on top of a much earlier, possibly 5th Century, basilica, and is virtually all that remains of the ancient Phoenician port of Karpasia. Founded by King Pygmalion of Cyprus, it was a flourishing trading port, half way between Salamis and Anatolia. It was, however, abandoned in 802, after Arab raiders burnt and sacked it and its inhabitants moved inland, founding Dipkarpaz. (This is a fate seen time and time again when we look at the coastal villages of the time.)

Traces of the old harbour wall can still be seen off shore, but the majority of the village is now under sand dunes to the west of the church.

The church is named after St Philo, who converted the people of the area to Christianity, and had been ordained by St Epiphanios in the 4th Century. (St Epiphanios’ Basilica is to be seen at Salamis) It is a typically domed Byzantine church, with a three-part apse and a courtyard surrounded by columns. There is a cistern and baptizing room, as well as numerous mosaics all around from the earlier structure.

Ayios Philon is a pleasant place to pause your exploration of the Karpaz. From here you can continue to the Aphendrika, or turn back to Dipkarpaz to continue to Apostolos Andreas Monastery. Or have a snack overlooking the old harbour while you think about it.” http://www.whatson-northcyprus.com/interest/dipkarpaz/philon.htm

We did have a snack and we then continued on to Aphendrika courtesy of Julia and Robin. That will be my next email.

Church interior

Ruins of the 5^th Century Basilica and the Church interior.

The mosaics look to be laid out like a Jewish Star.

Hunting for the same spot shone on the Ayios Philon postcard we bought in Yenierenköy.

In August Randal and I had gone looking for the ruins but somehow had missed.

Found it.

  Not sure if you’re getting tired of the north Cyprus scenery, but I always love it.  We are holding off on doing much castle or museum touring until our friends Charmaine and Linda arrive in late March.  Then we’ll rent a car and see everything.  They will stay with us until we all move the boat from Cyprus to Israel in April.  If the weather is nice we’ll probably make some trips to Famagusta and Girne where, hopefully, we can meet Heidi and her husband in person.  Until then we’ll do our Thursday Deks walk and I’ll continue with my Turkish lessons and we’ll continue our walks around the hills of Sipahi.  And I’ve decided to try to create a Turkish picture dictionary for myself.  I sketch a sheep or cat or hill and then write the word in Turkish and make flash cards.  Actually sounds like fun rather than like work!  Amazing!

Ru

Sipahi Trail and Sheep

I took the dirt trail that leads up to Sipahi rather than the usual paved road. It’s pretty hard to get lost since the trail is through fields rather than forests and as long as I can see the sea, I know how to get back to the marina. This trail actually looks as if it were made by humans rather than by goats or sheep so it was easier to follow.

An animal skull skeleton.

It’s amazing the amount of animal bones I see when we walk the trails. I didn’t pick it up, but if we go back I will and add it to the leg bone and the electrocuted lizard in my collection. Randal found the tiny lizard behind a 220 outlet he was fixing.

The Med and tiny bit of the marina are visible: a security blanket when I hike.

The path is easy to follow.

Everything is green now with small green plants and tiny yellow flowers.

On the left is a pasture for what looked like a hundred sheep. You can hear their bleating and bells throughout the valley. Their Bahaahaa, Clang Clang attracts me like a magnet.

Sheep

I didn’t want to get to close because when they saw me they started to bleat louder and walk closer to the fence. They seemed to look at me very intensely which is a bit off putting when it happens. I didn’t want to disturb them and possibly attract the attention of any herd dog that might be around. I saw neither dog, nor human, but still since I don’t know proper “sheep viewing etiquette,” and didn’t want to do something “wrong,” I just took a few photos and went on my way. These sheep for some reason reminded me of the sheep from Wallace and Gromit! http://wallaceandgromit.wikia.com/wiki/Shaun_the_Sheep http://www.wallaceandgromit.com/

A pile of stones arranged to support the branch of this tree.

But not really.

It was such an unexpected sight, very intriguing as to who would have placed the stones there and why.

I came out from the dirt path onto the pave road to Sipahi and heard more sheep so went to look. They were behind what might or might not be an empty house so I didn’t invade the yard to get close. Being watched seems to disturb sheep, and this flock had a shepherd, so I just walked off to see if I could find the high school boy and his flock since it was after school time in the afternoon.

Cat on a ladder.

This house was where I found help cutting the choking twine from the puppy that found me in the basilica last August. I hope the puppy is doing well; too many abandoned dogs here on Cyprus.

I turned around to walk back to the main road and saw the sheep coming my way. So all I had to do was stand there and watch. I did say “Merhaba” to the shepherd and he returned my hello but only focused on his sheep.

Notice the sheep on the far left looking at the camera? It’s so odd because you just feel as if they are staring at you and waiting for some kind of explanation of what you are doing.

The lambs would jump and folic and butt heads with each other and play! I want one!

With just his voice, the shepherd could keep the sheep moving where he wanted them to go.

The stick was just for show….though he would tap it on the ground and that got the sheep’s attention.

Off to another pasture for the night.

All of this walking wool and no wool yarn in the local shops. It is all acrylic!

I probably shouldn’t add this, but Rustam said the meat/lamb on North Cyprus was wonderful because it was so fresh and there are several butcher shops in the small village of Yenierenköy. But at least their lives seem good until the end with lots of lovely grass and scenery and shepherds who really seem to care for them.

And to change the subject…

A sculpture? Archeological find?

More geologic than archeological or art, just part of the hillside on the road to Sipahi, but interesting.

Hi All and Happy Birthday to my brother-in-law Jim!

  It’s 9:38 PM and I’m tired!  But it’s a good tired so that’s okay.  Here’s the story.

Ru

A Very Full Tuesday

It was a bright and sunny morning and the forecast was for sun all day. A good day to do laundry. When we were here in August, everyday could be a laundry day, but not now. So when the sun shines, do laundry! But Tuesday is also Turkish Lesson day at Deks. The lessons begin at 10:30, but I like to walk the almost two miles and I wanted to get there especially early to finish my sketch of the Ayios Thrysos church just next to Deks. It came out, “not bad.”

About 10:25 Pete cycled up. Pete rides his bike from the marina where he and his wife Sue have their sailboat Rock Hopper. This is Pete’s 7^th lesson and I’m really impressed and proposed that during the week we could meet once and I would buy him beer and he would teach me what he already knows. Sounds like a fair exchange to me. We will hopefully start that this week. Our homework had been to find a word beginning with each of the letters of the Turkish alphabet. It was fun to learn new words and to learn what words were important to each of us. Most of Pete’s words were boat related. Mine were food or hiking related and Evelyn had a variety, but her A word was at which is Turkish for horse because she loves horses as does my niece Jessica.  That led to a discussion about what you call someone who rides a horse which is jokey and seyis (with no dot over the i because an i with a dot is a different letter and different sound) which is the person who takes care of the horse. And very importantly I learned that to be polite one asks for the lavabo which means sink in Turkish, rather than the tuvalet which means toilet though it’s what you see written to indicate where there is a public bathroom. My K word was kitaplik which means library or really anything that holds a group of books, kitap means book. I’m also learning how to make words plural and a bit of grammar which Denise thinks is easy once you get the hang of it.

Deks Entrance

Giris (with a squiggle) also means the noun login. Girmek is the verb to logon.

I noticed all of the church doors were open and a women sweeping inside. Evelyn said there is a Greek Orthodox holiday tomorrow and Thursday to celebrate the day of Saint Thrysos whom the church is named for.  Not sure if we’ll go see any of the service, but maybe.

.

Pete, Evelyn and Rustam.

Pete has his laptop, his Turkish dictionary of boating terms and a small general dictionary with tiny print.

Evelyn had her Polish/Turkish dictionary and her Turkish lesson books and her Turkish husband who was born in Turkey but relocated here after finishing university here. His grandfather was born in south Cyprus but was relocated after the “troubles.” Evelyn was in Cyprus in university studying archeology. I have a Berlitz Turkish phrase book and dictionary and my google translate which can be good or wrong, depending.  My Roanoke library has an online language product that I think I am ready to try again.  I had tried earlier, but now with the lessons from Denise I think I can use it and it will make sense.

The class really is a lot of fun and I’ve never thought studying any language has ever been fun. So that says something!

A discussion of ‘minced meat” led to these words… ground beef, lamb,…. which is fitting because the board is usually used for Deks specials!

Denise, our teacher and also our Thursday walk leader.

We often have quesitons about word stems and how to make them plurals or possesives, etc. My knowledge of English grammar is at times shakey as is my spelling so this is all a wonderful learning experience. And we have tea as you can see from the pots and cups.

Rustum offered to drive me back to the marina, but he an Evelyn were going to stay for lunch and though it was tempting to join them, Randal and I had planned on a bike trip to Lamar Grocery Store for “our essentials” that we can’t get in the village shops. Raisin Bran cereal for Randal and Diet 7UP for me so I can avoid the caffeine in Coke Zero. We did get a few other things too, but most items we really can get in Yenierenkoy shops or the Monday market. Good thing too because it took us an hour to go the 40 kilometers – 24 miles from the marina Lamar. We had left the marina about 2 PM in the sun and I was pretty comfortable for the trip to the market; but the sun was going down on the way back and I got pretty chilly. Randal even got cold and he doesn’t usually. I bought some tam yagli beyos peynir which is “full fat white cheese.” I’ve left out the vowel marks and added i dots where they don’t belong as I haven’t figured out how to change my the type yet. I’d tried to buy some white cheese the other day in our favorite local market but somehow confused the owner so I ended up with mozzarella. When I used Google Translate to see what I’d gotten it translated it to fresh parmesan! Luckily I like all cheese so it’s just a fun learning experience.

I have to mention too, a local artist, Heidi Trautmann. www.heiditrautmann.com is her website. I’d found it and emailed her asking if she knew any local artists in the Yenierenkoy area who could give me lessons. Unfortunately she didn’t but has written several times offering pointers. I love her artwork and her philosophy of creating art. Unfortunately she lives in Girne, too far for me to join the Thursday art group that has met at her home for the past 6 years. Hopefully one day we will visit Girne and we can say hello. She and her husband are sailors and have sailed the entire Mediterranean.

More rain and strong winds!

  We certainly don’t have tropical heat to complain about any longer!  And I really don’t miss it.  What I do miss is the dry weather we were lucky enough to have had during our July in Turkey and August in Cyprus.  Rain and winds, not so good for motorbike travel.  We did bike in the rain in Malaysia, but it was warm rain and there was usually an overpass or restaurant where you could wait it out.  Cyprus has long stretches of nothing that offers protection so we really wouldn’t want to get caught out in anything other than a light drizzle; certainly not one of the intense hail storms.  Oddly, I do remember cycling in one in Boones Mill, Virginia and freezing my feet.   And biking on the Blue Ridge Parkway when it was closed to car traffic due to snow.  But you don’t pedal a motorbike; you just sit and get cold.  And that was then;  I’m almost 20 years older now.  Good Grief! 

Ru

Thursday’s Hail Storm

We moved onto DoraMac in February 2006 so experienced some cold Chinese weather, but not hail storms like we’ve had in Cyprus.  And that cold, damp February in China was years ago. Sweltering in tropical heat for years since then had dimmed that memory and we were sure we’d enjoy a winter on the boat. Now, not so sure. Actually, it’s not the cold that we mind; it’s the wet and wind. Can’t ride the motorbike in the rain and certainly not in gale winds like we had today.

Rain was predicted for Thursday’s 9am Deks’ walk.  Denise said she goes rain or shine, but we opted out because by 8:45 the early rain still hadn’t cleared. By 9:30 it had so shortly after that I took myself for a walk up the paved road to Sipahi just for the exercise. I walked for about 90 minutes in the very light warm drizzle. By mid-day the sky turned dark and by mid-afternoon we had our second hail storm since we’ve returned. It was pretty amazing to experience it on the boat.

Hail hitting the water

Walking on the teak deck afterwards was like walking on ice marbles

Hail in the cockpit

The force of the storm created enough run off from the hills that it turned the blue marina water brown.

By about 3 pm the storm had stopped and the sky had cleared enough for us to motorbike into town. We needed to pick up our motorbike insurance papers and also some small blades Randal had ordered. They were to have been delivered by 3 pm. I put on about 5 layers of clothing including an old pair of snow-skiing pants that Randal had bought years ago. I don’t know what had possessed either of us to have loaded them on our palate for China but I’m glad we did. I wore them over my jeans and it really makes a difference. I can pull them up about 4 inches above my waist keeping my back warm too. And since the legs zip half way up the calf and snap, I can get them on and off over my shoes. So we bundled up, biked to town and were told that the weather had been too awful for either the insurance papers or the blades to have been delivered. Today, Friday, was no better. We had no hail, but we had 35 knot winds indicated in the marina and rain. Tomorrow’s forecast is for sunny weather so we can finally get out for a walk and a ride to town. Maybe we’ll even bike to Dipkarpaz down the coast. Maybe.

  Just catching up on a few stories.  One of them is about my first Turkish lesson.  Learning Turkish will be work and I hope I’m not too lazy because that would be my only excuse.  Cypriot Turkish and Turkey Turkish isn’t pronounced exactly alike, but it is the same written word.  If we return to Turkey at some point, as we hope, I would be able to use it much more than just the time here in Cyprus.   The lesson was certainly fun and I wish I’d been there from the start of the course.  One of the other students, Pete has writes up the lessons on his computer and said he would email them to me so maybe I can begin to catch up.  I’ll have too look for a dictionary in Girne next time we go or I’ll download one from Amazon.  We’ve been lucky enough to have had sun most days since we’ve returned here.  The rest of this week is iffy and rain is called for from tomorrow until maybe Sunday.  Denise leads walks even in the rain, but I’m not sure I can talk Randal into going.  We’ll see.

Ru

Deks Walk # 2; Monday Market; Painting Hike, Turkish Lesson # 1

Last Thursday was bright and sunny so Randal and I joined Denise for our Deks Walk # 2. We walked across the road from Deks and up into the hills past cultivated fields, huge tractors, a small farm with sheep and then finally turning onto an almost hidden path into the forest where we came to the remains of a tiny church.

Denise Randal Scruffy (Julia’s dog) Julia, Dedi (Mick’s dog) and Mick

The guess is that the church remains are very old and that the land was once cleared for a community of Greek Orthodox Cypriots. Randal says the trees now are maybe 20 years old perhaps growing up sometime after the 1974 Turkish invasion of North Cyprus.

Hay on a truck and water in the tank under the tree and sheep that were guarded by a friendly German Shepherd and what looked like a shepherd/husky mix. Here German Shepherds are called Alsatians.

Returning to Deks (just beyond the small church on the right) for our after hike lunch of meze.

Sunday was Census Day and we were counted as “retired American tourists” during our interview with the census takers. 

Monday is Market Day in Yenierenköy so we went early while all of the vendors were still open for business. Last week we got there mid-afternoon and most were closed up.

Lots of great produce

You can see from the photos that some women dress traditionally and cover their hair and some wear more western style clothing. I bought broccoli, green beans, cabbage and a pomegranate. That was probably my first and last pomegranate and I’m not sure it was actually quite ripe when I cut it open and made a mess eating it. Our white cutting board will never be the same. And I bought some heavier socks. I’m on a quest for warmer, thicker socks. The first I bought in the Lamar Supermarket were too big and too thin. The ones I bought here are ok. Maybe when we go to Girne I’ll find some. And leg warmers too for riding the motorbike. I could have brought some from home but who thought it would be as cold as it is on the bike. While I was buying some veggies I met our census taker and she remembered me too. And at one of the stalls I bought 2 small blue ceramic bud vases that are sort of shaped in a way that they can be used for a tiny milk pitcher while serving tea. The young girl who helped me spoke flawless English so I complimented her. She smiled and said that was because she was English and was in Cyprus on vacation visiting family!

A simit in the hand is worth a dozen in a bag to take home!

Grandmother gave me permission to take the photo of the girls eating their simit and banana. The simit is visible in the right hand of the girl in front. Her sister has a banana in one hand and a simit in the other. Randal bought another huge loaf of bread which comes with a free simit which I ate in about a minute when we got back to the boat.

Monday afternoon I took myself for a hike into the hills just across from the marina. I took my paints and painted a terrible picture I’m not showing. I’ll have to try it again. No one is around to watch so if it’s terrible only I know.

This is the scene I tried to paint but it didn’t quite come out except for the land pieces sticking out into the water. I can’t seem to paint foliage at all or dirt roads.

My first Turkish Lesson at Deks.

Tuesdays at 10:30 Denise teaches Turkish. There is no charge and she even serves tea! I walked the 2 miles from the marina and did a not great sketch of the big church out front while I waited. There was a skinny sweet dog sitting in the enclosed porch area so I fed him two packets of cookies I had in my backpack. He left when Denise drove up with the other students.

On my way to Deks I walked past these giant aloe plants.

Our classroom.

Pete, Evelyn and her husband Rustam

Pete has a boat here in the marina. Evelyn, originally from Poland is married to Turkish policeman Rustam. We started in with lessons immediately so I really can’t tell you much about any of them other than that they have been studying for 6 weeks and seem to have learned a great deal of Turkish. Class began at 10:30 ish and went on past noon! I doubt I’ll catch up with the others but I will learn more than I know now. Our homework is to find a word that starts with each of the 29 letters of the Turkish alphabet except for the silent G.

I caught a ride back to the marina with Rustam and Evelyn who were also taking Pete back there. They have offered to pick me up if I’d like but I do like the walk. Pete normally rides his bicycle but it was in town for repairs.

We had to go into town in the afternoon for a few things. Randal needed a new connector to connect our new Digiturk satellite TV box to our old Chinese TV. I wanted some yarn and some yogurt. I’d bought some yogurt the other day but there must be no preservatives in it because it seemed to get way too tangy way too fast. The expiration date was 4 days after the date it was packaged as is most of the yogurt in the local shops. Maybe it was the brand I’d bought, this in a plastic container and not the ceramic container from my first shopping trip. Today I asked the woman who owns the small shop where I’d bought the yogurt in the ceramic container about the expiration dates and she was amazed that I wouldn’t use a pint of yogurt in 4 days because her family would use it in one day! People here and in Turkey eat yogurt by the ton with everything. Randal likes it with cucumber and onions chopped up in it. But he doesn’t eat it every day or think of it unless I give it to him with a meal. I eat maybe a third of a cup of plain yogurt with my oatmeal for breakfast. Sadly, none that I have bought here tastes as good as the yogurt we are served at Deks. I will have to ask Denise the brand she uses. It was so much easier to buy it in Marmaris from the cheese guys. They had a huge tub of it and would scoop some out into a container. That was great yogurt, like Deks! The other funny thing, with all of the sheep here, the local shops sell acrylic yarn and not wool. Yarn and knit and wool will be some of the vocabulary words I use for my homework. And boat so we can explain we live on a boat. And goat and cow so I can tell the difference in the cheeses.

Randal has hooked up the TV and I wish he had earphones to go with it because I can’t tune it out. Oh well, in the winter it will be nice to have it when the weather is bad.

This huge truck was expertly squeezing itself through the main street in town.

Randal and his Glenfiddich

We saw the truck in town making its rounds and then we saw it at Deks where we biked because I’d forgotten to ask Denise about the Sunday bazaar Deks will be holding. I’m hoping to sell the clothes Randal and I no longer wear and give the money to the two charities supported by Deks with the profits from their Bingo and Quiz nights. 

  Just came back from the marina office where we were interviewed by the census takers.  I asked the reason and they are attempting to learn about tourists as well as count their own population.  It took about 10 minutes because we had two forms and one translator.  Now we’re back to boat chores which I don’t mind since we can’t leave the marina anyway until 6pm.  By 6pm we’re bundled up in our stay on the boat and keep warm clothes so don’t go out anyway. 

Ru

Sheep and Goats and Hellim or Halloumi Cheese

They look like the sheep in the Certa mattress commercial!

My walk Friday afternoon into Sipahi and the walk Randal and I did Saturday morning both involved herds of sheep and goats, which not only makes me think of yarn and knitting, but especially the wonderful white cheese I love. There is a cheese factory in Yenierenköy and I was finally able to find its website along with some information from a website about rural development in Europe.

“ Dairy In the Karpaz area there is only one modern private milk factory in Yenierenköy (Akgöl Dairy plant http://www.akgoldairies.com/) Actual amount of milk processed is around 20 tons/day (which is around 50% of the installed capacity). The dairy is oriented on one product hellim, which is 95% for export markets (particularly in the Middle East). The managers of the plant report that there is a potential to substantially increase exports of their product, even in the actual markets, allowing at least to use the installed capacity, and that the limiting factor is the insufficient milk

supply.”

http://www.tccruraldevelopment.eu/rdst/images/docs/ldskarpaz.pdf

Because North Cyprus isn’t recognized by most of the world, its products have been embargoed.

“European Union have put a ban on direct trading by the Turkish Cyprus. Such embargo has raised the cost of business and exports because the islanders have to trade through Turkey…..Dairy is another source of earning foreign exchange from export of cheese. Cyprus Cheese has high demand in the outside world. There are small manufacturing units in TRNC. The infra-structure development is quite impressive.” http://www.trncinfo.org/tanitma/en/index.asp?sayfa=haberdetay&newsid=902

The Akgöl Dairy’s website is quite interesting and it’s in English. They explain the different cheeses and how they are made. They also mentioned storing cheese in clay pots like the ones my yogurt came in. “Village Halloumi is still produced all around the island, stored either in traditional earthenware pots or, increasingly, in the refrigerator.” Maybe this is why the yogurt I bought came in the “earthenware pot” though Akgöl doesn’t list yogurt as one of their products. Judy on BeBe has a special water sealed ceramic pot for butter than makes refrigeration unnecessary.

My walk Friday afternoon was my usual up the hill into Sipahi towards the basilica. But now they have a ticket collector at the gate so I just walk past it. Luckily I made all of my visits in August when it was free. Instead I walked down the street of the home where I’d gotten help with the puppy that had found me.

Everyone’s second car is a tractor.

Back in our bike riding days we used to joke that our second car was a bicycle. But here lots of people farm so tractors are more necessary than bicycles. Actually we don’t see many bicycles on the road except those owned by cruisers.

Unpicked pomegranates left on the vine looked really pretty against the green grass and white window.

When we left Cyprus for the US our taxi driver told us we would return to a country that had turned green. Well, it’s not as green as Ireland, but there are many fields that are now green and the dirt is dark brown soil rather than dusty brown desert.

Shepherd and his flock of sheep.

He and I had an interesting conversation since he spoke about as much English as I do Turkish. I wanted to know if the sheep were for wool of food. I think we figured out they weren’t for food because I could mime eating, but the knitting mime didn’t quite work. His brother came along as well as the small boy who lived across from the basilica with his puppy. The older boy is in grade 10 and his younger brother in grade 4. They go to the school in Yenierenköy up the hill from the cheese factory.

I started back down the hill because by 4pm the sun starts to set and the temperature seems to drop 10 degrees. However, I couldn’t pass up the sound of sheep/goat bells in the distance so turned off the paved road onto a dirt road heading back into the hills. This truck pulled onto the dirt road shortly after I had and the passenger jumped out and started running back across the main road, I thought for maybe a missing sheep or two.

These sheep seemed to be heading to another pasture.

Actually it was a whole herd and they seemed to be aiming for me!

I just backed into some brush because they were coming quite fast and some were big, with horns! It’s hard to tell from this photo how surrounded I was. Once I decided they wouldn’t trample over me, I worried that I’d scare them away from where they were supposed to be going. But these herds of sheep are well trained and the young man was able to get what looked like about 60 or 70 sheep to do exactly what he wanted and go where he wanted them to go. I guess that’s why the expression about following along like sheep arose. They do follow. But so do goats and lots of other animals.

Sunday, December 4^th, is census day in North Cyprus and everyone has to stay in the marina close to their boat. Apparently everyone on the island is counted and not just those who actually live here. Knowing we couldn’t go off for a walk Sunday, I wanted to do a longer one on Saturday. So Randal and I biked down to Deks, parked the motorbike, and did the loop hike we’d done the prior Saturday past the icon church near the stone statues. It takes about 2 hours and then it’s time for lunch at Deks!

Not long after we started a man drove by in a pickup truck. He was wearing a NY Yankees hat! He waved and that was that. Later we would see him again. As we neared the church we heard the sound of animal bells. I say animal because it could be sheep, goats, or possibly cows. This time it turned out to be a herd of goats!

A multicolored herd of goats.

They pretty much ignored us, followed the other goats and the man on the mule.

Still wearing his NY hat but this time riding a mule.

He led the way and the goats followed herded along by the dogs and the sound of the man’s occasional calls.

The goats passed just by the church ruins but none stopped to go in.

We didn’t take the same route down the mountain as the goats, but occasionally we would get to the same point at the same time. I was worried about one silly, tiny white goat that kept lagging behind and then bleating forlornly for the herd. I wanted to “help” it but Randal told me to leave it alone and not confuse it or have someone think I was rustling tiny goats. Eventually it found some other stragglers and I guess they all got to where they were going.

If this was an old well, it was dry now. I threw down a stone and there was no splash.

An Arthur Rackham fairy tale tree.

http://www.library.pitt.edu/libraries/is/enroom/illustrators/rackham.htm if you want to see why I say that.

Randal with his Efes beer and my pot of English tea while we wait for our usual lunch of meze.

We are always “starving” when we start lunch and too full by the end having eaten every bit plus I drank the entire pot of tea! There is humus, white cheese, thick yogurt, olives, pickled beets, sun-dried tomatoes and bread. Yum. We have lots of the same stuff on the boat, but it always tastes better at Deks served in a collection of small white bowls.

The “bar” part of Deks Restaurant and Bar.

Cypriot halloumi (pronounced "ha-loo-mee").

Grilled Halloumi cheese

Halloumi cheese originated in Cyprus^[4] and was initially made during the Medieval Byzantine period,^[8] subsequently gaining popularity throughout the rest of the Middle East region.

The cheese is white, with a distinctive layered texture, similar to mozzarella and has a salty flavour. It is stored in its natural juices with salt-water and can keep for up to a year if frozen below −18 °C (0 °F) and defrosted to +4 °C (39 °F) for sale. It is often garnished with mint to add to the taste. Traditionally, the mint leaves were used as a preservative, this practice arising from the serendipitous discovery that Halloumi kept better and was fresher and more flavourful when wrapped with mint leaves. In accordance with this tradition, many packages of halloumi contain fragments of mint leaves on the surface of the cheese.

The cheese is much used in cooking and can be fried until brown without melting, owing to its higher-than-normal melting point. This makes it an excellent cheese for frying or grilling (e.g. in saganaki) or fried and served with vegetables, as an ingredient in salads. Cypriots like eating halloumi with watermelon in the warm months, and as halloumi and lountza – a combination of halloumi cheese and either a slice of smoked pork, or a soft lamb sausage.^{[citation needed]}

The resistance to melting comes from the fresh curd being heated before being shaped and placed in brine.^[9] Traditional halloumi is a semicircular shape, about the size of a large wallet, weighing 220-270 g. The fat content is approximately 25% wet weight, 47% dry weight with about 17% protein. Its firm texture when cooked causes it to squeak on the teeth when being chewed.

Traditional halloumi is made from unpasteurised sheep and goats milk. Many people also like halloumi that has been aged; kept in its own brine, it is much drier, much stronger and much saltier. This cheese is very different from the milder halloumi that Western chefs use as an ingredient.

Although it is made worldwide and is of rather disputed origin due to the mixed cultures in the Levant and East Mediterranean, halloumi is currently registered as a protected Cypriot product within the US (since the 1990s) but not the EU. The delay in registering the name halloumi with the EU has been largely due to a conflict between dairy producers and sheep and goat farmers as to whether registered halloumi will contain cow’s milk or not and if so, at what ratios with sheep and goat’s milk.^[10][11] If it is registered as a PDO (Protected designation of origin) it will receive similar status as 600 or so other agricultural products such as feta and parmesan cheese.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloumi

Med Mooring

I was looking for the spelling of "passerelle" and came across the following where I found my answer.

“Is there any special mooring hardware I should be using? And how do I get off

the damn boat!? “

www.svsarah.com/Whoosh/WhooshCruiseMedMoor.htm

Answer here in Karpaz Gate Marina; a passerelle which is French for footbridge or gangway or, in our case a plank borrowed from the boat across the dock. They had a new spiffy one so gave us their old one. We’d been tied alongside the dock in August so hadn’t needed a passerelle. I’ve gotten used to it, but if it had been a longer plank, I’d have hated it.

Our weight lowers it to the dock so we don’t have to step down at the end but this way it doesn’t bang about when the boat moves.

Our neighbor’s spiffy new passerelle with wheels to roll with the boat’s movement when it rests on the dock so it doesn’t bang. Ours is held off the dock by our gate which we lowered to allow us to get on and off from the swim platform on the stern.

No rail and too long; I would hate to have to deal with this version on a catamaran down the dock.

Another passerelle with some barely visible robe lines to hold onto while getting on or off.

Our new parking space.

An anchor is dropped from the bow and then you back up to the dock and tie up so you don’t swing and more boats can be crammed into the marina. We have more space than many on our right and the boat on our left is for sale and empty.

Yogurt

Lots of options for yogurt though not like in Marmaris where I bought it from the wonderful cheese guys. There is a cheese factory in town and we need to explore that somehow and find the names of the really local products. I just guess most of the time. At a small shop in Yeni Erenkoy I asked for the thickest and was told to buy this Akova because it was the thickest but that  it was more expensive than the others. It was 6 TL about $3.20 for 750 grams (Yogurt: 1 cup = 245 grams so a little over 3 cups of yogurt.)  It is a bit cheaper than the Chobani yogurt I bought at home though not by much. But this yogurt came in a non-returnable ceramic pot.

I asked if the pot was returnable because what would you do with a zillion ceramic pots? But the date of production and the sell by date, a space of about 4 days was stamped on the bottom in blue ink and that’s the reason the shop owner told me was why it’s not recyclable.   I bought one but won’t do it again because one souvenir ceramic yogurt pot is enough. I could make my own if I could find powdered milk but no market so far has had it. Yogurt is very available and mostly cheap so it’s not a problem. I’ve already begun using the now empty pot for “stuff by my bed” though the top was tossed after I took the photo. It was just soft flimsy plastic. I would recycle but there’s not much, any really on North Cyprus.  I need to ask the folks at Deks what brand of yogurt and cheese they buy because theirs is really good.  Tomorrow, Thursday,  we’re going with Denise on another Deks walk.  We ate lunch there today, Wednesday and asked what the walk would be.  Denise wasn’t working, but Dibs told us that Denise would choose a walk "depending on whether Randal and Ruth came!"  How’s that for great new friends!

Shovel Riding

Construction worker transported in the shovel of the tractor at the marina.

I just barely caught this so it’s not great. Lots of tree planting at the marina now as we go into the rainy growing season. The bucket was lowered to the ground and the worker stepped out. I didn’t like elephant riding so I don’t think I’d like shovel riding.

A Visit to the Greek South Cyprus, The Republic of Cyprus.

Bill and Judy had their rental car available Tuesday so asked if we wanted to take a drive to South Cyprus just to see the procedure and do some grocery shopping. We went off but found the prices in the south higher so only bought a few things we don’t often see, like salami and chorizo. We bought it at a German supermarket, Lidl which is a discount food store chain. Our friend Helen emailed that she thought salami was Italian and I emailed that I thought it was Jewish because my father ate it. And I though chorizo was Portuguese because we ate it in New Bedford, but Judy ate it in Texas and though it was Mexican. You can get Kosher beef salami but the salami we bought in Lidl is pork. Our frig now smells like salami. In Israel we’ll get “Jewish” salami but my guess is it will smell just like this stuff.

Border Crossing

Photos weren’t allowed as we drove across the Green Line that divides Nicosia the capital of Cyprus but I snuck a few.

No armed guards or anything, just eventually a booth where you get your piece of paper stamped by the Turkish Cypriot who don’t stamp passports which would make future entry into Greece impossible. You have to get out of the car to go to the booth which Judy and I did while Bill and Randal waited in the car. Then you drive a little further and wave at the Greek booth without getting out of the car. Returning from the south you do it in reverse; wave at the Greek booth and stop for a re-entry stamp at the Turkish booth. We asked for a new 90 day stamp and it was no problem.

A UN Building.

It looked pretty abandoned. Perhaps the UN doesn’t patrol the Nicosia crossing. We were told they deliver food to Greek Cypriots in north Cyprus because they were given refugee status.

The Mall

Our first stop was a motorcycle shop on the way to the Mall: we’re always looking to see if we can find a larger motorbike that would be the perfect size and shape, but no luck this time. Then we went to The Mall to go to Carrefour to do some food shopping. We stopped at the food court for lunch and everything seemed expensive at first. Bill got a McDonald’s burger, fries and a drink for 5.20 Euros about $7. Randal and I got salads and they were about the same price for a large salad in a “taco” bowl. The day before Randal and I had each eaten a filling grilled chicken sandwiches in pita bread for 6TL , about $3.20 in a small restaurant in Yeni Erenkoy, the village just down the road from the marina. The food court was filled with high school age kids eating so they could afford the prices. Maybe we’re just still used to Southeast Asia and have no clue even after being back in the US for 3 months.

The Mall decorated for Christmas and some Euro notes.

The southern part of Cyprus, the officially recognized part of Cyprus in Greek Orthodox.

Since everything seemed to be more expensive in South Cyprus we just bought a few things I hadn’t found easily in the North, like whole wheat flour, some chicken broth in cans, and I needed baking soda. I tried to find milk powder and some of the “3 in 1” instant coffee packets Randal drinks. I asked one of the Greek store clerks but she spoke no English and I, of course, no Greek. But she took my hand and led me down two isles to another clerk who spoke some English. “No” was all the English she needed because they didn’t have that or the milk powder a Greek woman shopper helped me ask about. The small, older clerk who had taken my hand had been so sweet and holding hands as we walked such a different experience than I would have had at home. She was small and a bit plump and just perfect. The younger clerks had no desire to make any type of contact, physical or just human. They wanted to just impart information and that’s it. And that’s really enough but just so different from the first sweet woman who had tried to help me.

We shopped at Carrefour and Lidl and then a new supermarket in the north which had almost as many choices and lower prices. In the cheese isle they had too many choices. The men working in the cheese isle only spoke Turkish and just sort of gave up on me so I just picked what I hoped was a less salty white cheese. But in the fruit juice isle, the young clerk wanted to be helpful. I told him I wanted juice without sugar like the Diet Cranberry from Ocean Spray. I didn’t mention Ocean Spray to him, just diet juice and he found one for me. ( At least it has no sugar added so has half the calories of sugared juice. I have bought Ocean Spray cran/raspberry juice here, just not the really low calorie kind we have at home.) Then I told him about my cheese quest and he walked back to the cheese isle with me and helped me find a low salt white cheese. It is also low fat which certainly can’t hurt. I was also looking for a new shower curtain. The clerk didn’t speak English so didn’t know what I meant by shower curtain until I mimed a curtain and then shower which looked silly but she understood what I meant and showed me where they were. It was about $9 US, cheaper than the one in Carrefour which was 9 Euro.  I have no idea how much they cost back home but they were a lot cheaper in Malaysia! I should have bought a dozen.

Sunset

We got back to the marina about 4pm just in time to watch the sun begin to set. It really was these shades of red and the dirt mounds from the construction site and the palm tree made me think of the pyramids of Egypt which hopefully we’ll see when we have the boat in Israel. 

Randal and I did our first "Thursday Deks Walk" Thanksgiving morning and we can’t wait to go next Thursday.  We had a great time.

Ru

Deks Walk # 1

Deks Restaurant and Bar

The walks are advertised as starting at 9 am (as long as there is no rain;)  but  it being our first walk, Randal and I got there early. There was no one there but the front porch of the restaurant was open so we each chose a book from the racks and made ourselves comfortable. Everyone always meets at Deks, but not all walks start at Deks. Denise said Randal and I could drive with her and leave the motorbike at Deks. This morning’s walk actually did start just across the road from Deks.

Deks activities.

Shortly after 9 am Denise arrived. An xpat Brit married to a Turkish Cypriot, I believe she is part owner of the restaurant. She leads the walks and also teaches Turkish Tuesday mornings. I’m planning to go Tuesday morning, but there is “homework” so we’ll see. I’m going to get stuff together for the Christmas Bazaar they are having December 11th. We’d collected stuff to give away on our journey up the Red Sea, but as we shipped the boat instead, we still have those things. I’ll give the money to the charities Deks contributes to; the local clinic and a group of 5 donkeys that had been rescued and given shelter by some Americans? Brits? I can’t remember. But they can’t be let back into the wild because they are too old, too blind and one just born among other things.

Mick, Julia, Denise, Randal and me.

Mick and Julia left their spouses behind but each took the family dog. Both couples, one Scottish and one British, live in North Cyprus. This photo was actually taken on the way back but it shows the path we took most of the way up to the church and statues. We had been told the hike was up to see an old stone church but nothing much was said about the statues so I expected regular old church statues.

Trails are marked just as the dirt path we motorbiked back in August over the mountain roads.

The stone church.

This is the back of the church. Just through the arch a small bit of fresco is still visible.

You can just make out the shape of the people and the books they are holding.

The man on the left has a white beard and mustache and you can just make out some of his face.

The fresco was up too high to really see it well.

This recent icon had been hung on the wall.

The stone remains of something, perhaps a house is just near the church.

Denise explaining Cypriot history to Randal while Julia and Mick water their dogs that, once they’d been let off their leads, had been running like mad the entire way up.

We left the church and continued up into the hills to find the statues.

The statues!

I was not expecting these stone statues that looked Roman or Egyptian to me.

Denise said that no one has studied the statues so their origin and history is not known.

Denise is explaining which way is up because it takes a while to understand what you are seeing.

This statue is lying on her back; at least Denise thinks it’s a woman.

How not to take a photo and have shadows obscure the stone carving.

It looked to me like a soldier with a helmet and his right arm bent to hold a weapon.

Farming must have been difficult.

An old stone house off in the distance.

This land had been church land and now is owned by the Turkish government and leased out.

I think the land is beautiful with its openness and stone walls.

And the views overlooking the Mediterranean

This walk took us to the right: wonder what’s to the left?

  Hope everyone had a Thanksgiving with family or friends which is the best part of Thanksgiving.  We had dinner on BeBe with Bill and Judy and there was enough food for all of you to have joined us.  We had chicken and cornbread stuffing, cranberry sauce that both Judy and I had bought somewhere once upon a time, roasted vegetables, peas, rolls, gravy apple cake and caramel ice cream.  There was champagne and wine but I stuck to my "no wine" pledge and had diet gingerale.  More room for food!  Luckily Randal and I had joined the Deks hike up into the hills that was about 4.5 miles.  I’ll share those photos next email. 

  No big shopping day here.  We did go into Yeni Erenkoy for a new watch battery.  I’d bought my watch in Kota Tinghy years ago for less than $10 and it has worked like a champ ever since.  I guess it deserved a new battery. 

    There is a cheese factory in the village and maybe one day we can see it.  Shops sell the local cheese.  Interestingly, olives aren’t readily for sale because everyone grows their own so there’s no market! 

Ru

 

A new hike and lunch at Deks, Wednesday, the day BEFORE Thanksgiving.

This morning Randal and I went off on what hopefully will become a daily walk somewhere. We left the marina and walked north rather than up the hill toward Sipahi and the basilica. We looked for some paths up into the hills which are covered with scrub, stone walls, or farm fields. Eventually we found one that led up the hillside to two abandoned homes, an abandoned church and an active farm. After our walk we motorbiked down the road for lunch at Deks a local restaurant and bar that caters to xpat and visiting Brits. You can get roast beef or fish and chips. But you can also come for free Turkish lessons, the weekly hike into the hills, bingo night to raise funds for the wild donkeys and there are even books for loan or trade. I had done an early load of laundry; if it’s sunny I do laundry because there will be rain every so often. I left it our while we walked my logic being if It looked at all like rain we wouldn’t be going for a walk. By the time we got back it was dry enough to bring in and hang for the last bit. I’m learning to do small loads so if I do have to hang it inside there will still be room to walk around.

Off the beaten path..

The stone walls were used to create terraces for farming. Now you see scrub and stones.

An abandoned stone home in a beautiful setting overlooking the Mediterranean.

This was a back window: now grass grows and the wood roof has decayed away leaving it open to sun and rain. The wood could have been taken off the doors, roof and windows to use for another purpose.

Who lived here?

The owner of Deks told us that much of this land was owned by the Green Orthodox Church and had been rented out at very low rates for long life time leases. When the Greeks abandoned the land, the Turkish government took over the Church land and continued renting it out, now to Turkish Cypriots at the same low rates. When we asked about walking around through the hills, she told us that the Cypriots didn’t mind and would more likely invite us for tea.

We kept walking and found this dirt road that led up to an abandoned church and another house.

Across the way, on the sea side of the main road is where we’d had our picnic lunch Monday.

Abandoned Greek Church

Another abandoned roofless home.

The marina is visible from the top of this hill.

On the other side of the church is an active farm with a herd of sheep. A truck passed us on its way out and I called merhaba (hello) and they waved and said hello.

Lunch at Deks of lentil, carrot, ginger soup and cold meze of cheese, yogurt, olives, sundried tomatoes, peppers, pickled beets and bread. The olives came from the orchards of the owners of Deks and they were wonderful, olives and the owners come to think of it. The owner, Kip, explained to us the whole process or picking and curing and flavoring the olives. The less perfect olives are pressed for oil. Normally Deks sells jars but this year the harvest was so small due to the weather that they have none other than what they serve in the restaurant.

Books to share even if one now has a Kindle!

We ate outside on the sunny porch.

Just next to Deks on the road is the 15^th century Ayios Thrysos Church. (The tour book from the local tourist association say 15^th century BC but that couldn’t be possible for a church.) Next to Deks is the small Byzantine Church Randal and I had visited when we were first in Cyprus. Today I noticed the door to the Ayios Thrysos Church was open so we went inside.

“Whitewashed with no fresco and empty except for a few wooden pews and the shell of the iconostasis.”

These cardboard icons represent what the frescos must have looked like but many have been taken from the churches.

On Thursdays at 9 am a walking tour starts at Deks and anyone can go. There is no charge and it’s led by Deks co-owner, Denise. Randal and I joined the Thanksgiving morning tour and that’s my next email.

7:34 am  7 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time

So this morning is bright and sunny and I have yet another load of laundry washing.  Randal suggested that since it was sunny we should motorbike to Dipkarpaz and eat at our favorite restaurant. I said we’d be eating a big dinner with Bill and Judy on BeBe because it was Thanksgiving.  Randal laughed and said he’d read my blogmail and noticed that I was a day ahead.  Somehow I managed to miss Wednesday and skipped all the way to Thursday.  Must have been that 2 for 1 Happy Hour wine. 

And I didn’t mention the mosques in the photo at the fruit and veggie market because we’re just so used to them I don’t always take notice.  North Cyprus is the Turkish side of Cyprus which is Muslim.  I don’t know if most of the mosques date from after the 1974 Turkish invasion of the north.  It’s difficult to find any information at all.  Think of it this way.  The American Civil War ended in 1865 but there are still sensitivities about it.  The war here ended with no real closure; just a "Green Line" monitored by the UN so it’s hard to know whom to ask about what without offending someone.  We will definitely make some trips to South Cyprus when our friends Charmaine and Linda come to visit.  But we may also go next week with Bill and Judy so we can check on motorbike issues like insurance for driving in the South and maybe registering it there so we can possibly sell it and get a larger one. 

As for the fruit and veggies, not sure where they are all actually grown since the ground here seems pretty baron.  There are orange trees and pomegranates growing.  But Randal said he noticed the bananas were from Ecuador.  We bought oranges, grapefruit and bananas.  It looked they were selling a wide variety of pears but I’m not a pear fan.  There were lots of apples too and grapes.  Next market I’ll buy a few things we don’t know, like olive bread with pits, and see what we like or not.  But since I’d rather read, walk, or paint than cook or clean there’s less incentive to worry about unidentified local food. 

The people three boats down have a parrot and I hear it whistling really loudly every morning.  It talks too, but I don’t know it well enough to talk with it yet.  It is owned by Brits so it does speak English!

So…..just to clear things up. 

Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow.