Friday, September 2, 2016

The Carpaz Penisula

The Karpaz Penisula is the long skinny part of Cyprus which points east.  It is a beautiful, relatively untouched part of the island.  Some friends and I went out for the weekend, and it was beautiful.  Golden beaches, donkeys, Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots living in harmony (because they are so far from all of the political nonsense), and such sweet water.  


of course, flowers everywhere
Ottoman architecture everywhere

aptly named Golden Beach
sunset at the monastery
Mosiacs everywhere, even in the ruins of a 14th century monastery on the Carpaz
And I FINALLY saw some Cypriot donkeys, after a year of hearing about them





Kyrenia with Kim and Rob

Kim and Rob are good friends from Panama.  In June, they flew down to visit Cyprus (since both are big history nerds, and Cyprus is dripping with history).  In three days, we visited the entire old town of Nicosia, went to the Turkish side town of Kyrenia for a boat ride and castle exploration, and had a great time.
The Crusaders built a huge fortress into the side of the mountain in the 1100s
It was spread over a half mile of mountain range, all of which we climbed
After a day of boating in the Med, we had earned our amazing fish dinner
In Nicosia, we visited a Cypriot Gastropub, and of course Rob got into a long
discussion with the brew master
We also accidentally stumbled upon a solar car race- 200 laps of a 2 kilometer course

Friday, June 24, 2016

my sistah from another mistah

I made a lot of good friends this year in Cyprus.  With my buddy Dina, I shared countless laughs, concerns about shared students, many cups of coffee, personal drama, many meals, and a great adventure in Barcelona.  She is the brains behind our Leslie Knope inspired Galentine's Day, a tradition which I will carry on.  I'm going to miss her a lot as she moves on to the next adventure, but hey, Dubai is only a short flight away;  we will have a lot of laughs in the future.


Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Love is love is love

My heart is breaking.  So many steps forward towards equality, and then a tragedy like this happens. As an ally, I am heartbroken for the community, and heartbroken for the victims and their families- both their blood relatives and the families they created.  As an ally, I've double-dated with same sex couples, volunteered with homeless LGBT kids, marched with the Coalition of Welcoming Churches in the Chicago Pride Parade, danced in many gay clubs, banned the "f" word from my classrooms, and done everything else I can to embrace the community.  

We will keep welcoming those who need to be unconditionally accepted.  We will keep marching. We will continue petitioning the government to protect fundamental rights.  We will continue celebrating the big and the small.  We will keep dancing.

Coffee morning hosting duties at Lakeview Presbyterian Church

Laughing and dancing with the fabulous
Dixie Lynn Cartwright at Berlin
Lin-Manuel Miranda said it best:

My wife’s the reason anything gets done
She nudges me towards promise by degrees
She is a perfect symphony of one
Our son is her most beautiful reprise.
We chase the melodies that seem to find us
Until they’re finished songs and start to play
When senseless acts of tragedy remind us
That nothing here is promised, not one day.
This show is proof that history remembers
We lived through times when hate and fear seemed stronger;
We rise and fall and light from dying embers, remembrances that hope and love last longer
And love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love cannot be killed or swept aside.
I sing Vanessa’s symphony, Eliza tells her story
Now fill the world with music, love and pride.




Saturday, June 11, 2016

AISC graduation 2016

One of the biggest adjustments this year was working in such a small school. From Lincoln Park HS, where we had 2400 kids 9-12 to ISP, with 1400 kids K-12, to AISC, with 220 kids K-12.  We have tiny classes, amazing teachers, and everyone wears 12 hats b/c we are such a small staff.

AISC graduation, with 18 graduates, was a very nice event.  The US Ambassador to Cyprus was the key note speaker.  With only 18 names to read, and 5 speeches, it was a short but sweet event.  And then we headed poolside for appetizers and mocktails.  Congratulations class of 2016.  

Class of 2016

Amanda's Cyprus visit

My good friend Amanda came to Cyprus for two weeks to decompress, to warm up a long chicago winter, and to visit me.  We started in Paphos, a lovely beach town in the Greek side of Cyprus.

Welcome to Pahpos
we even made time for high tea
No a bad way to spend a Saturday

In, what was described as the hippest restaurant in Paphos, which
was more like a Jetsons reject.  

After a great long weekend, I had to go back to work. Amanda headed to the Turkish side of Cyprus on her to explore.  I met her there for the second weekend of the trip.  We had a great time, met some fun people, and spent all of our time outside in the lovely Mediterranean sun.  

Great day in Kyrenia!  Boat, music, swimming, sunshine!
The Norwegians on the trip with us knew how to party.


Sunset in Kyrenia

Monday, May 23, 2016

a lot of champagne photos

Taking pictures of the bubbly is a great way to amuse oneself when dining alone in a foreign country.