Letter to Linda

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