Hi All,
I hope to have more time to post soon. Finding a car weighs heavily on my mind and time. Below is a mail I wrote to Linda Blokland. It has some information in that may interest some of you. Also remember, you can post responses and comments on our blog for the world to see! Well, at least the Viljoens in Cyprus will read it!
Hi Linda,
I owe you a mail for a while now. Is there work here for you? I'm still not sure. Perhaps not immediately, but perhaps I'll know sometime soon. In many respects this is not an eaasy job. The students speak poor English, there is quite a heavy lecture load, there is little time for research, courses have to be developed from the ground (this I see as a plus although it does take up valuable beach time), and there seems to be a lot of institutional politics that, at this time, I am successful in avoiding (given your history of activism, I am not so sure whether you will be as good at avoiding it as I am). Does all this sound familiar? Unfortunately there is not much spare time for research, although, I think once the courses and their contents settle, time slots will open up. My biggest class has 22 students in and some classes I present to only four studens. Imagine that! The admin will be a breeze! Furthermore, there are great colleagues from places as far as Uzbekistan and California. I am probably the first and only Southern Hemispherite here. Another drawback is that pay is not too great and I do not think there are too many opportunities too supplement it.
Adapting to the new country is challenging, especially without car and with the two little huns hanging on to our eyelids in and out of mini-bus taxi's. We need a car and Internet at home. We should get a car in the next two days and the Internet by Friday. Cars and Internet are expensive. We found a little '98 Hyundai Accent without Aircon for 2500 Sterling. (Edit - It is a left-hand drive and here, like in SA we drive on the left side of the road. JM says she is willing to learn)We hope to post a picture of our car on he blog soon! (They work in at least 3 currencies here, which makes it difficult sometimes.) ( Edit - Wireless Internet costs 40 Sterling or about R 555/month, but we need it for Jeanne-Marie's work and to set up Skype so that the kids can talk to their Grandparents in SA).
The country looks great. No extreme poverty. Its safe - left about R35000 on my desk in an open office for a day unknowingly and nobody touched it. The Cypriot psyche is very much a more is nog 'n dag, subsistance farmer, cottage economy kind of psyche. Sometimes it is frustrating, but most of the time it reminds us why we came here - to slow down. There are mountain villages that surpass your wildest dreams of the mediterrannean lifestyle. (Edit - Photos to follow soon) There is also a property boom, which means that vast parts of the island are under construction. This is aesthetically less pleasing. If you, or anyone want to come have a look, we have a spare room in a very comfortable apartment. (Edit - My dad alwways told of the American that said that Pretoria would be a beautiful city once they're finished building it. I guess that was in the 70's. Now the centre is decaying and the East is exploding, Tuscan style!)
At this time we are far from deciding on a possible longer term involvement with Cyprus, but despite all our trials and tribulations in the initial month, we have not decided dead against it. I suppose, along with many nice things that the environment offer, safety is a big factor. Would you like me to do more scouting here? I'll let you know of further developments.
Hang in there",
Gerhard
Monday, February 26, 2007
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Life (in Cyprus) goes on...
Blog
We have now been in Cyprus for 16 days. You do know, of course, that it is Northern Cyprus, more correctly, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. It is not a real country, because it is only recognised by Turkey. A little like the Transkei in the 80’s. No, Transkei was not recognised by Turkey but… Work this one out for yourself.
The fact that we now live in a non-country has certain advantages and disadvantages. One of the advantages, though my publisher friend Stephen Naude may disagree, is that there are no copyright laws. I know of a number of people (some of which are called Chris), who wouldn’t mind that at all. I still need to explore all the possibilities that this particular form of lawlessness would afford me. One of the disadvantages is that goods may be a little more expensive here than, well South Africa (but only a little), and of course, the Southern part of the Island, inhabited by the Greeks. My erstwhile friends, the Anagnostari (Latinised plural for Anagnostaras), will probably land in their graves and then turn in them if they had to find out that this Afrikaner has betrayed them a second time (at least) by coming to the land of the enemy – THE TURKS. Evan Anagnostaras, the patriarch, has however once begrudgingly admitted that Greek cuisine was largely influenced by the Turks. But I digress (as Trevor Reynolds always said and did).
Back to life in Northern Cyprus: We are trying to buy a little runabout to make our lives much easier than they are now. The public transport is OK, but it is rather cumbersome to get on and off crowded mini-busses with two tantric (I know its wrong, but it does sound like the adjective describing a child throwing a tantrum, doesn’t it?) children, several bags of shopping, (including a number of 5 or 8 litre bottles of water). We were advised not to drink the tap water, not because its dirty, but because it has high levels of calcium or some other innocuous chemical, that may over time be bad for your kidneys if you circulate too much of it through you system. Water is heavy. 1 kg/litre. (For those of you who don’t know, that is one of the cornerstones reference points of the metric system). Fact is, lugging huge amounts around in taxis does tax (no pun intended) the almost 43 year-old out-of-shape body (to quote Rodney Dangerfield, I cannot even donate this body to Science-fiction). I have lost some weight – confirmed by an independent analyst, Jeanne-Marie, which is good, but a car would make our lives considerably easier. Apart from the comfort factor, a car would also allow us to explore more of this wonderful ancient country – well at least the Northern 40% of it. We can also go to Cuban Jazz evenings, and classical concerts in places like the Kyrenia Castle or the Bellapais Abbey, either one by one or depending on how long it takes to find suitable friends that can double as reliable baby sitters, both together. Danny has started school today as part of an evil plot by his parents to find people of the above description – baby sitters! There is also a possibility that we might be able to travel to the South, but different people we meet have different opinions about the feasibility of such an adventure. The only thing we need to guard against is that the Greeks in a rage of typical irrationality may throw us in a ‘damp dirty prison’ (Bob Dylan, 1963) for being “illegal immigrants” (personal communication, Republic of Cyprus Beaurocrat, Nov 2006), and throw away the key. But hell, the guy in Midnight Express made it out… No, that was a Turkish prison, but they all look the same to me. Just a note to the concerned family members – it is in all probability not dangerous and we will not take unnecessary risks.
But cars, according to ex-pat Brits of which there is an abundance on the Island (nice people, but sometimes the English is harder to understand than Turkish), are expensive. We have about £3000 to spend. Doesn’t sound like much, but convert it to Rand and you can probably buy quite a reasonable second-hand skedonk in SA. Here it is a little more difficult, so, anyone with a few thousand rand blocking their way to their favourite couch in their living room can apply for our bank account number and we will help you to get rid of your financial burden (obstacle).
There is much more to say, but I will try to write often. I’ll let you know about the kids and Jeanne-Marie and how they are doing. (I will also ask JM to write, so we can add a bit of laughter to the blog). Furthermore, I can possibly write a whole book, Douglas Adams or Monty Python style already about my experiences of the Girne American University. In the mean time, being a man of great spiritual discipline, I have decided to give up mieliepap, biltong, Castle, and Mrs Balls Chutney for Lent. I will have to make use of some of the local brew Leffe, not half bad, to help me through these trying times. Of course, we also appreciate news from the good ol’ R of SA and you can post it on this blog. Or, use viljoensincyprus@gmail.com. See ya…
We have now been in Cyprus for 16 days. You do know, of course, that it is Northern Cyprus, more correctly, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. It is not a real country, because it is only recognised by Turkey. A little like the Transkei in the 80’s. No, Transkei was not recognised by Turkey but… Work this one out for yourself.
The fact that we now live in a non-country has certain advantages and disadvantages. One of the advantages, though my publisher friend Stephen Naude may disagree, is that there are no copyright laws. I know of a number of people (some of which are called Chris), who wouldn’t mind that at all. I still need to explore all the possibilities that this particular form of lawlessness would afford me. One of the disadvantages is that goods may be a little more expensive here than, well South Africa (but only a little), and of course, the Southern part of the Island, inhabited by the Greeks. My erstwhile friends, the Anagnostari (Latinised plural for Anagnostaras), will probably land in their graves and then turn in them if they had to find out that this Afrikaner has betrayed them a second time (at least) by coming to the land of the enemy – THE TURKS. Evan Anagnostaras, the patriarch, has however once begrudgingly admitted that Greek cuisine was largely influenced by the Turks. But I digress (as Trevor Reynolds always said and did).
Back to life in Northern Cyprus: We are trying to buy a little runabout to make our lives much easier than they are now. The public transport is OK, but it is rather cumbersome to get on and off crowded mini-busses with two tantric (I know its wrong, but it does sound like the adjective describing a child throwing a tantrum, doesn’t it?) children, several bags of shopping, (including a number of 5 or 8 litre bottles of water). We were advised not to drink the tap water, not because its dirty, but because it has high levels of calcium or some other innocuous chemical, that may over time be bad for your kidneys if you circulate too much of it through you system. Water is heavy. 1 kg/litre. (For those of you who don’t know, that is one of the cornerstones reference points of the metric system). Fact is, lugging huge amounts around in taxis does tax (no pun intended) the almost 43 year-old out-of-shape body (to quote Rodney Dangerfield, I cannot even donate this body to Science-fiction). I have lost some weight – confirmed by an independent analyst, Jeanne-Marie, which is good, but a car would make our lives considerably easier. Apart from the comfort factor, a car would also allow us to explore more of this wonderful ancient country – well at least the Northern 40% of it. We can also go to Cuban Jazz evenings, and classical concerts in places like the Kyrenia Castle or the Bellapais Abbey, either one by one or depending on how long it takes to find suitable friends that can double as reliable baby sitters, both together. Danny has started school today as part of an evil plot by his parents to find people of the above description – baby sitters! There is also a possibility that we might be able to travel to the South, but different people we meet have different opinions about the feasibility of such an adventure. The only thing we need to guard against is that the Greeks in a rage of typical irrationality may throw us in a ‘damp dirty prison’ (Bob Dylan, 1963) for being “illegal immigrants” (personal communication, Republic of Cyprus Beaurocrat, Nov 2006), and throw away the key. But hell, the guy in Midnight Express made it out… No, that was a Turkish prison, but they all look the same to me. Just a note to the concerned family members – it is in all probability not dangerous and we will not take unnecessary risks.
But cars, according to ex-pat Brits of which there is an abundance on the Island (nice people, but sometimes the English is harder to understand than Turkish), are expensive. We have about £3000 to spend. Doesn’t sound like much, but convert it to Rand and you can probably buy quite a reasonable second-hand skedonk in SA. Here it is a little more difficult, so, anyone with a few thousand rand blocking their way to their favourite couch in their living room can apply for our bank account number and we will help you to get rid of your financial burden (obstacle).
There is much more to say, but I will try to write often. I’ll let you know about the kids and Jeanne-Marie and how they are doing. (I will also ask JM to write, so we can add a bit of laughter to the blog). Furthermore, I can possibly write a whole book, Douglas Adams or Monty Python style already about my experiences of the Girne American University. In the mean time, being a man of great spiritual discipline, I have decided to give up mieliepap, biltong, Castle, and Mrs Balls Chutney for Lent. I will have to make use of some of the local brew Leffe, not half bad, to help me through these trying times. Of course, we also appreciate news from the good ol’ R of SA and you can post it on this blog. Or, use viljoensincyprus@gmail.com. See ya…
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Hi All,
Just a general mail to establish comms. I will investigate setting up a blog later and let you know the address.
* We have been in Cyprus now for a week. It was quite rough, but hey, what do you expect of an adventure? It is cold-ish, like a Pretoria winter, except with rain. We have found a very grand 3 bedroom apartment in a small village - Lapta - about 8 km west of the University. (320 British pounds a month - a steal 2 about R4500) Here they deal in at leas 5 different currencies of which the SA Rand is not one. (Next is to look for an affordable runabout) The apartment has a swimming pool and the children love it (they're not swimming yet, but we believe that the Mediterranean summer is not far off). They are settling in nicely - took a bit of knock last week because we dragged them everywhere with us in our house hunting expedition and other things we had to do. Daniel says he wants to grow up in Cyprus. Isabella says she is Superman - I guess that means she'll deal with things just fine.
We first spent one cold day in Istanbul and couldn't see as much as we wanted. The children were quite tired and, can one ever spend enough time in Istanbul? When the Imam started calling the prayers from the Blue Mosque, Isabella looked up and casually said: “There is a man singing in my castle and it’s beautiful." I suppose the Turks do not even vaguely suspect that there is another in a long line of invaders in their midst. We managed to go on a grand tour with a very good guide through the Hagia Sophia. This is an amazing place - the Hagia (Holy) Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey, Cyprus, the Eastern Mediterranean/Middle East. Imagine walking in a building that has been standing since the fourth century! And there is more!
When we got to Cyprus last Sunday we bumped into Bob and Connie Boyer at the crummy apartment block where the university first put us up. They are from Fairfields, Iowa and Bob will be my colleague in the Psych department. Very interesting man. Had great chats with him so far and I am looking forward to many more. Meeting them was a stroke of luck because they speak English (Yes, Americans can speak English) and they had, by that time, been there for about three days. Amazing what one can learn in three days in a new country! Their experience helped us a lot in settling in. Connie will be returning to Iowa soon to run their guest house there.
Yesterday we rented a car and went exploring. Bob and Connie came along. It makes it easier with the kids if there are more adults. A ratio of 2:1 seems to be working just fine. We went to the St Hilarion castle on the mountain behind Girne. For those of you who were wondering, St Hilarion is not the patron saint of stand-up comics. His story has a little humour in it though. He fled prosecution in the Holy Land round about the turn of the 1st Millennium. When he came to Cyprus there were demons whose trick was to scare people by making them hear terrible voices. They could be appeased if one gave them honey donuts. St.Hilarion, however thought that the worst efforts of the demons were actually a welcoming committee. This understandably left the demons a little confused and they didn't bother him anymore. How's that for reframing! (A little like Oscar Wild's "The Canterville Ghost") Of course, if the poor man had lived today, he would probably find himself slap bang in the middle of a mental asylum with a chemical straightjacket to help him sleep at night. The castle is impressive and the highest point is 732m above sea level. I am sure that one would be able to see Turkey on a clear day. If I get blog going, I will post some pictures. Words fail... We then drove on top of the mountain and for about 20 km and went westwards towards an old village called Lefka. Saw a bit of the countryside and so on. Beautiful. It looks like the Cederberg!
Started work today. Very deurmekaar. Feels a little like Vista of old, so I feel right at home. From what I've heard my Vista experience will be invaluable here.
Lots more to tell, but I have to sign off now. Lunch, you see.
Gerhard (and the rest)
* Ek skryf maar in Engels want ek dink nie almal is slim genoeg om hoogdrawende en poetiese Afrikaans te verstaan nie.
PS. Gene, (of Ignatius), please phone my parents and get their new email address for me. With the changing of sim cards in my phone I seem to have lost their SMS. Also forward this mail to them.
PPS. Chris, Please forward to Noomes, Naudes, Standers. I do not have their emails with me.
PPPS. Karen de Wet, Stuur asb aan Karel
PPPPS. Martin, Stuur asb aan Johann Kruger
PPPPPS. Send to anyone who might be interested or jealous!
Just a general mail to establish comms. I will investigate setting up a blog later and let you know the address.
* We have been in Cyprus now for a week. It was quite rough, but hey, what do you expect of an adventure? It is cold-ish, like a Pretoria winter, except with rain. We have found a very grand 3 bedroom apartment in a small village - Lapta - about 8 km west of the University. (320 British pounds a month - a steal 2 about R4500) Here they deal in at leas 5 different currencies of which the SA Rand is not one. (Next is to look for an affordable runabout) The apartment has a swimming pool and the children love it (they're not swimming yet, but we believe that the Mediterranean summer is not far off). They are settling in nicely - took a bit of knock last week because we dragged them everywhere with us in our house hunting expedition and other things we had to do. Daniel says he wants to grow up in Cyprus. Isabella says she is Superman - I guess that means she'll deal with things just fine.
We first spent one cold day in Istanbul and couldn't see as much as we wanted. The children were quite tired and, can one ever spend enough time in Istanbul? When the Imam started calling the prayers from the Blue Mosque, Isabella looked up and casually said: “There is a man singing in my castle and it’s beautiful." I suppose the Turks do not even vaguely suspect that there is another in a long line of invaders in their midst. We managed to go on a grand tour with a very good guide through the Hagia Sophia. This is an amazing place - the Hagia (Holy) Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey, Cyprus, the Eastern Mediterranean/Middle East. Imagine walking in a building that has been standing since the fourth century! And there is more!
When we got to Cyprus last Sunday we bumped into Bob and Connie Boyer at the crummy apartment block where the university first put us up. They are from Fairfields, Iowa and Bob will be my colleague in the Psych department. Very interesting man. Had great chats with him so far and I am looking forward to many more. Meeting them was a stroke of luck because they speak English (Yes, Americans can speak English) and they had, by that time, been there for about three days. Amazing what one can learn in three days in a new country! Their experience helped us a lot in settling in. Connie will be returning to Iowa soon to run their guest house there.
Yesterday we rented a car and went exploring. Bob and Connie came along. It makes it easier with the kids if there are more adults. A ratio of 2:1 seems to be working just fine. We went to the St Hilarion castle on the mountain behind Girne. For those of you who were wondering, St Hilarion is not the patron saint of stand-up comics. His story has a little humour in it though. He fled prosecution in the Holy Land round about the turn of the 1st Millennium. When he came to Cyprus there were demons whose trick was to scare people by making them hear terrible voices. They could be appeased if one gave them honey donuts. St.Hilarion, however thought that the worst efforts of the demons were actually a welcoming committee. This understandably left the demons a little confused and they didn't bother him anymore. How's that for reframing! (A little like Oscar Wild's "The Canterville Ghost") Of course, if the poor man had lived today, he would probably find himself slap bang in the middle of a mental asylum with a chemical straightjacket to help him sleep at night. The castle is impressive and the highest point is 732m above sea level. I am sure that one would be able to see Turkey on a clear day. If I get blog going, I will post some pictures. Words fail... We then drove on top of the mountain and for about 20 km and went westwards towards an old village called Lefka. Saw a bit of the countryside and so on. Beautiful. It looks like the Cederberg!
Started work today. Very deurmekaar. Feels a little like Vista of old, so I feel right at home. From what I've heard my Vista experience will be invaluable here.
Lots more to tell, but I have to sign off now. Lunch, you see.
Gerhard (and the rest)
* Ek skryf maar in Engels want ek dink nie almal is slim genoeg om hoogdrawende en poetiese Afrikaans te verstaan nie.
PS. Gene, (of Ignatius), please phone my parents and get their new email address for me. With the changing of sim cards in my phone I seem to have lost their SMS. Also forward this mail to them.
PPS. Chris, Please forward to Noomes, Naudes, Standers. I do not have their emails with me.
PPPS. Karen de Wet, Stuur asb aan Karel
PPPPS. Martin, Stuur asb aan Johann Kruger
PPPPPS. Send to anyone who might be interested or jealous!
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