One week down in Cyprus, another four to go. It is an interesting place, I must say. When we first arrived, it reminded me of a mixture between Mexico and Florida. That was strictly from a visual standpoint. After a week, I have decided that it looks much better than both. It isn’t quite paradise, but the sea and mountains set a nice scene for a lovely vacation spot. The culture is much different as well, naturally. The pubs of jolly old London have been replaced by the coffee shops of Cyprus. The coffee here is really good, even if it is considered Greek. It comes in very small cups, almost like espresso but much better. Now I know why it takes me two hours to fall asleep at night! The stuff is wicked strong.
Unfortunately Cyprus isn’t the liveliest of places this time of year (winter), with temperatures hanging around 60-70 degrees. Now that is a winter that I can bear! The weather here is lovely, even if it has been raining a bit lately. This weekend, everyone kept commenting on the air, saying it was full of dust. Apparently sand from the Sahara Dessert travels across the Mediterranean and into Cypriot air.
Our hotel is very nice (http://www.paphosgardens.com) and the food they serve is even nicer. It is so good. We are trying to counter all of our eating with daily trips to the gym. We’ll see how long that lasts. We coach for a few hours a day, the rest of the time is spent eating, sleeping, and stealing internet from a café down the street. Well, it’s not really stealing if they leave their connection wide open. We had to do something, I can't last long without the world wide web and the hotel charges way too much (6 Euros for 90 minutes).
All of our colleagues are really friendly and talented guys. A few of them are ex-professionals, oh yes. I have kicked a ball with someone who scored against Real Madrid. I feel special. The level of football here is really good as well, these kids can ping the ball around very well. It is certainly the biggest sport on the island, followed by basketball. Gross.
So the first week has been a lot of fun, lots of coaching and eating. If you are friends with me on facebook, look for some pictures soon! Cheeeeeeeeeeers!
