So, I am done with border control in the UK and I am patiently waiting for Blondie to go through the foreigners line (how does it feel huh?). As I am waiting I see this short blonde lady coming through the border control. She is kind of stylish, wearing nice jeans and a black top. As she gets closer I see her face and start thinking.."oh my God, how many plastic surgeries did she have?". Then I am also thinking.."she is a woman isn't she?". She looks at me and I try not to make eye contact.
She is past gone. Blondie is done with the border control. I can see the smile breaking when she gets close to me. She is full of excitement when she asks me "Oh my God, have you seen Donatella Versace passing right next to you?"
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Life in Cyprus
There are a lot of things going on in Cyprus nowadays that not only worry me but also make me very sad. One should be proud of their country but the more I see, the more I find myself skeptical about that. Following are some of the things going on that bother me:
1. Robbing the body of ex-President Tassos Papadopoulos from its grave
How could I not start from that? Macabre. I am not going to get into the discussion of who might have done such a thing and which are the reasons? I am going to talk however about the consequences of this. During a vital point in the discussions for the solution in the Cyprus Problem, this event has somehow brought a political unrest with some politicians taking the opportunity to link the stealing of the body with the political views of the ex-President. There is also unrest among the public with people from different political sides blaming each other. I am not taking this any further. I do have my own views about what possibly happened but I am keeping them to myself.
2. The public sector in Cyprus
It would be unfair to include all public sector services in this category but at least the ones that I had the bad luck to be involved with, I have had a really bad experience. I could start from the non-smiley faces, the very slow service, the rudeness, the people who do not want to work, the tardiness and I could go on forever. The last of this however that has really bothered me is the moving of the Migration department from one location to the other. In any European country (excluding Greece probably) this would have been a smooth transition. In Cyprus, they decided to close down for 1 month!! Any private organization would have gone bankrupt if they had stopped operations for 1 month. The Migration department who is 6 months behind in taking care of all the applications, has no problem.
3. Parking in Cyprus
I am going to steal a phrase of a friend to start this one. “We have a lot of disabled people in Cyprus lately”.
You guessed wrong, we do not have a lot of people with disabilities in Cyprus. We have a lot of assholes in Cyprus that think it is a good idea to parking in spots who are designated for people with disabilities. For the people who do that, I wish that one day you will be able to feel first-hand how these people feel, when they try to park and their designated spot is occupied by an insensitive person like you.
Let’s go to the regular parking. The streets in Cyprus with two lanes are obviously used for parking in the left lane and driving on the right. And if you are unlucky enough to be behind a person who wants to turn right, and there is a parked car on the left, hey who cares? Ohh, and the other thing, some drivers think that it is OK to park anywhere once they turn on their parking light. And for those who park on the sidewalks/ pavements these are for the pedestrians you assholes.
How hard is it in 21st century Cyprus to have 10 policemen each day giving tickets to these people. And give them commission for it. If they only get 1% of the ticket they will be rich in no time. And maybe the public will get more money, and maybe the people will learn to park in the parking spaces!
4. Prices
Many things are outrageously expensive in Cyprus. Prices are comparable to London and Tokyo. Starting from real estate, to apartments, to consumer goods, to services. It makes you think twice and three times before buying something. Nevertheless this is the only one point for which I am optimistic. The economic crisis, the increasing competition will probably lead to a price war which will benefit the giants and the consumers. Hopefully this will happen without the deterioration of quality but that remains to be seen.
1. Robbing the body of ex-President Tassos Papadopoulos from its grave
How could I not start from that? Macabre. I am not going to get into the discussion of who might have done such a thing and which are the reasons? I am going to talk however about the consequences of this. During a vital point in the discussions for the solution in the Cyprus Problem, this event has somehow brought a political unrest with some politicians taking the opportunity to link the stealing of the body with the political views of the ex-President. There is also unrest among the public with people from different political sides blaming each other. I am not taking this any further. I do have my own views about what possibly happened but I am keeping them to myself.
2. The public sector in Cyprus
It would be unfair to include all public sector services in this category but at least the ones that I had the bad luck to be involved with, I have had a really bad experience. I could start from the non-smiley faces, the very slow service, the rudeness, the people who do not want to work, the tardiness and I could go on forever. The last of this however that has really bothered me is the moving of the Migration department from one location to the other. In any European country (excluding Greece probably) this would have been a smooth transition. In Cyprus, they decided to close down for 1 month!! Any private organization would have gone bankrupt if they had stopped operations for 1 month. The Migration department who is 6 months behind in taking care of all the applications, has no problem.
3. Parking in Cyprus
I am going to steal a phrase of a friend to start this one. “We have a lot of disabled people in Cyprus lately”.
You guessed wrong, we do not have a lot of people with disabilities in Cyprus. We have a lot of assholes in Cyprus that think it is a good idea to parking in spots who are designated for people with disabilities. For the people who do that, I wish that one day you will be able to feel first-hand how these people feel, when they try to park and their designated spot is occupied by an insensitive person like you.
Let’s go to the regular parking. The streets in Cyprus with two lanes are obviously used for parking in the left lane and driving on the right. And if you are unlucky enough to be behind a person who wants to turn right, and there is a parked car on the left, hey who cares? Ohh, and the other thing, some drivers think that it is OK to park anywhere once they turn on their parking light. And for those who park on the sidewalks/ pavements these are for the pedestrians you assholes.
How hard is it in 21st century Cyprus to have 10 policemen each day giving tickets to these people. And give them commission for it. If they only get 1% of the ticket they will be rich in no time. And maybe the public will get more money, and maybe the people will learn to park in the parking spaces!
4. Prices
Many things are outrageously expensive in Cyprus. Prices are comparable to London and Tokyo. Starting from real estate, to apartments, to consumer goods, to services. It makes you think twice and three times before buying something. Nevertheless this is the only one point for which I am optimistic. The economic crisis, the increasing competition will probably lead to a price war which will benefit the giants and the consumers. Hopefully this will happen without the deterioration of quality but that remains to be seen.
Monday, December 14, 2009
I am in love!!
So last Saturday we went to MyMall in Limassol to do our Christmas shopping. There is something about this specific mall that as soon as you walk in it makes you think you are in the U.S.
It could be the Aldo store, the Tommy Hilfiger, the TGI Fridays, the Taco Bell, the Cinabbon that give this perception.
That's for an introduction. You are probably wondering what the title has to do with the Mall in Limassol. Well, for the first time in my life, I tried Cinammon rolls from Cinabbon and I am in love. That thing is just amazing, extraordinary, I don't know how to describe it. I haven't been obsessed for anything else other than soccer in my life so much.
And my girl just informed me that Cinabbon has opened in Nicosia, in Ledras street. I don't know if I should be happy that I will have this obsession so close to me or sad that I will gain weight. I hope I get over it soon!
It could be the Aldo store, the Tommy Hilfiger, the TGI Fridays, the Taco Bell, the Cinabbon that give this perception.
That's for an introduction. You are probably wondering what the title has to do with the Mall in Limassol. Well, for the first time in my life, I tried Cinammon rolls from Cinabbon and I am in love. That thing is just amazing, extraordinary, I don't know how to describe it. I haven't been obsessed for anything else other than soccer in my life so much.
And my girl just informed me that Cinabbon has opened in Nicosia, in Ledras street. I don't know if I should be happy that I will have this obsession so close to me or sad that I will gain weight. I hope I get over it soon!
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