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!