Getting Situated

me in front of the flat
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Saturday was my first day in Nicosia.  The apartment is really nice, spacious and has a balcony (where we have breakfast :))

However, that day I woke up completely lost..no idea where I was on the map, no car ( a necessity here), and no ability to speak in Greek!  Of course, it was Letizia to the rescue..she had me covered!  Our first stop was the mobile shop, where I picked up my MTN card (sim card)..Im connected now! If anyone wants to call..my number is 01135796446413...that's exactly how u dial it from the U.S.

at coffee shop
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From there we headed for the supermarket...

Cyprus is expensive!!!  This is their first year with the Euro..and it's ridiculous.. A packet of cheese costs 6 euros..that's almost ten bucks!  I enjoyed roaming around the market, checking out local brands..but in the end I couldn't help buying at least a few comfort foods..chips and salsa, peanut butter and jelly..cereal and milk :) Oh ya, and there was a huuuge Indian foods sections...as in every other place in the world..there are tons if Indians here!  I've only talked to a few so far..but it's so funny to hear them all speaking fluent Greek!

the pink flowers are my landmarks...make left here to go to clinic...
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The supermarket and small errands took up a large chunk of the day, especially since things are spread out here and we walked a looot that day.   But it was fun getting to know Letizia (Lives in Belgium, but half Italian half Greek--speaks fluent English, French and Greek) and I think we will end up becoming really good friends, she's super sweet and we get along great.  I spent the rest of the day unpacking.  Around evening time I was getting kinda homesick again...mainly cause I did not have work until Monday and was just feeling kinda lost in general...so Letizia and I went to a coffee shop with free internet... we were catching up on e-mails when she got a call from her Cypriot friend saying he could get us in to a very posh club...the one and only Taj Mahal (of course, I came to Cyprus to go to the Taj Mahal :) )

me and Letizia
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It was  a great night!!! Everyone from the apartment ended up coming.   It was a very trendy, high end crowd, a mix of Cypriots and internationals...Music was great (a heavy western influence)...but was a blast nonetheless...by the end of the night..everyone from the apartment was pretty wasted and as they began to stumble back..Letizia's Cypriot friend stole the two of us away and took us to an underground Cypriot bar, Avalaya.  At 2 am the place was bumping! It was a live, local band, one guitarist and two singers..and the crowd was going nuts!  Of course it was all in Greek..but the music was great and we continued dancing till 4:30...occasionally I'd recognize a tune..realizing that it's just an American song in Greek!

internationals
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By the end of my first night in Nicosia, I was already feeling like I lived here...