I’m very behind in posts right now.  Katie’s (the Bethel intern) last couple of weeks here were quite busy.  I put some pictures of our trip to Famagusta on flickr.  The city is filled with ruins from it heyday from the end of the 12th century through the 16th century.  The city was sacked by the Ottomans in 1571.  That’s why the churches are either in ruins or have been converted into mosques.  You can read more about Famagusta here.

Saturday Soccer has come to a close for the season and will start again in the fall.  This year Colson and Cali were both on the Red Team.  They had a losing season and some trouble along the way.  They made it throught though and will live to play another day.  Colson won the “Most Valuable Player” award for his team.

One of the things I(DeAnn) do but haven’t written about here is Guides, which is the British version of Girl Scouts. I’ve been volunteering there every Wednesday for the entire school year.  Always short of helpers, Kath, the Anglican Dean’s wife asked me if I would volunteer to just at least be there so they would have enough adults present to hold the meetings.  So I said I could do that. 

I wasn’t sure what to expect.  These girls are from the wealthier British ex-pat community and I hadn’t had any experience with them.  But girls are girls all over the world.  And these are no exception.  They have hopes, dreams, struggles, and self-esteem issues.  As I was helping with a craft or activity I found that my main job every week was just to listen.  They needed to tell someone about what was going on at school, with friends, etc.  I have really enjoyed getting to know these girls and will continue to work with them next year.

Last week was the final meeting until school starts in the fall.  The girls decided they wanted to have a Mexican party.  I made refried beans and Mexican rice and helped the girls make a pinata.  They had never heard of a pinata before.  We made one out of paper mache’ and the girls decorated it.  Check out the photos on flickr of the fun. 

At the kids’ school they have a promotion ceremony when the students move from the primary school to the secondary school.  So last Friday night Cami was officially promoted from 6th grade into 7th (or 1st prep as they call it here.)  The program was very nice.  Chris put together a power point slide presentation of pictures of the students.  Because of the transitory nature of life here there was only one student out her class of 18 that had started at the school in 1st grade.  Cami was at the school for a year and half.  She actually went to this school longer than any other school in her 7 years of formal education.  (She was at the Reit im Winkl school junst one month less.)  She is an amazing kid and has developed great skill at adapting to new situations.  We are very thankful that she will be able to attend the same school next year.

Check out some pictures on flickr.

Last week we celebrated Colson’s birthday with a trip to the water park.  He invited two of his best friends, Jack and Marcus, to go with us.  It was a super day.  It wasn’t too hot or too windy  and the lines for each slide were short. 

Today I took the final exam for Modern Greek 2 at Americanos College.  It was not easy.  It has been awhile since I took a final exam and I had forgotten what a big deal it can be.  I think I passed if 60% is a passing grade.  In the last two weeks we learned the past continuous, past simple and future tenses.  I can see the benefit of Modern Greek 1, which I chose to skip and basically covered the material the first two weeks of Greek 2.  But let’s not think about what I don’t know.  I’m am really amazed at what I do know.  If any of you speak Greek you know that it isn’t the easiest language.  Actually for me the hardest part for me is spelling the words correctly.  And remembering what all those words mean.  But I am very thankful for how much I do remember and am relatively pleased with my Greek learning experience.

Josh put together a really nice video from the pictures he took while he was in Cyprus.  You can see it here.

Yesterday we were back in Kyrenia.  This time Chris stayed at home for sermon prep and the  Alpha course he is leading at the prison.  That left me to drive (which turned out ok.)  The trip came about because Cami wanted to stay the night with her friend that lives in Kyrenia so I said I could drive her over.  I wanted to make the most of the trip so I invited a couple of students, Pam and Junaid, to join us for the day. 

So, after an hour long wait at the border (because of the holiday, May 1st is Labour Day) we arrived safely at Kyrenia and met up with Cami’s friend and her dad.  We left Cam with them and went out for some good Turkish food.  I’m not sure why, but it is actually affordable to eat out in the north.  The same meal on this side would have cost at least twice as much. 

After lunch we visited the Kyrenia Castle.  Pam and Junaid hadn’t been before and its such a cool castle it wasn’t a problem for Colson, Cali and I to see it again. 

Of course, we took lots of photos.  Check them out on flickr.

Josh just gave me a disc of some of the photos he has taken during his visit.  I’ve posted some on flickr.

Today was Easter in Cyprus.  The Orthodox Church follows a different calender than the western church.  This year I(DeAnn) attended the Good Friday service of a nearby church.  I wasn’t able to get any good pictures but you can see some that Rick took here and some Josh took here.  Today at NIC we celebrated Easter for the second time and had a fellowship lunch/grill party after the service.  I did get some pictures of that.  Check them out on flickr.