Friday, December 7, 2007

I'm busy living my life don't have time to Blog!

It's very hard to juggle writing in the blog and living life...I have to do interesting and fun things so that I can write in the Blog, but I don't have time to write because I'm doing interesting and fun things...

For example, I just got back to my hotel room after eating fresh fish and drinking excellent wine, while watching the sun set on the Mediterranean Sea...



Last night my colleague Aleco and I were interviewed by 2 different radio stations. We were asked about the project we were working on...I'm now signing autographs in Cyprus....the line will form to the left when I get back to Michigan...



I also helped a new Cypriot friend plant 2 lemon trees on his property this afternoon...

It's tough work but somebody has to do it!

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

3 Interesting TidBits....

Guess what? I have been told that Cypriots don't follow the clock--it is typical for meetings to start late, people show up to work around 10:00, etc...they are very hard workers, but they start things slowly. I'm use to that, I understand it, I have people in my life that are like that too--we all know people like that. Heck, I want to be like that...but this entire Island is like that!


I'm in my hotel room, with my twin bed and no cable (both of which are refreshing) and I notice there is no alarm clock. I have not seen one clock or watch since I've been here! the clock on my computer is still on Michigan time--I'm not going to change it because I like to know what time it is for you guys. For you, it is 3 in the morning and for me it is 10:00 with the sun shining and city alive with horns honking and sounds of construction...what's up with construction happening all over the world?






(view from my hotel balcony)

Anyway, enough about clocks, another interesting thing that happens on this Island is that around sunrise every morning a priest goes to the top of a mosque and sings his prayers...this is calling all Muslims to pray. He can be heard throughout the whole Island. I took this picture from my hotel room... Can you see him?





I also wanted share with you a cool feature this hotel has...I don't know if it's a Cyprus thing or if we have it in other hotels in the states too, but I've never seen it...I'm at a Holiday Inn and to turn on the lights, you have to put your card/key into a holder on the wall. This powers up the lights. I'm assuming its for conservation--when you leave, you pull out your key/card and all the lights go out at once...cool huh?

Have you seen that at Hotels you've been to??




I have to prepare for our project now (that's code for I'm going shopping to buy me something nice--perhaps a necklace or ring) But I'll leave you with my new favorite quote...I think I'm going to donate some of my clocks to good will...

"I give it to you not that you may remember time, but that you might forget it now and then for a moment and not spend all of your breath trying to conquer it."
William Faulkner

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Why I haven't posted

I'm so sorry I haven't put anything on my blog since I landed in Cyprus...but I have a good excuse--actually I have several excuses...some of them you may actually believe..

First--When I got to my hotel room I could not plug any of my devices into their outlets. I knew this would be an issue but i was told that they had adapters. I didn't get an adapter until Monday and of course I was too busy working, seeing my friends face to face for the first time and getting over my jet lag...


Here is what my outlet looked like Sunday and Monday


Sad isn't it?



The cords around here look like this




But now my outlet looks like this





I still don't know what goes in the other outlet--do you?


Second: The first time I started up my Blog in Cyprus all of the navigation tools were in Greek! My text was still in English but everything else was Greek! I didn't know where the setting was to change it back to english, but my friend Yiannis helped me...



So now I've explained why it's taken me a while to post a new message....I will try to get caught up later today.


Sorry to hear it's snowing and freezing rain in Michigan...I have to get up and shut the curtains now, the warm breeze blew them open and the sun is shining in my eyes too much..