We just finished learning how to draw pottery. There are so many tools and steps for so little reward. Seriously, that's what digital camera's are for. Why can't archaeologist use technology?

Agh, bugs. There is not a single drop of water on Cyprus, where do all the mosquitos live?

Today it was too hot to work the whole 8 hours, so we spent two extra hours inside. The sick kids are getting better, and there were not dramatic fainting spells today. I was close to it though, running on 4 hours of sleep for 4 days in a row. Thank god tomorrow's Thursday.

I can hear the chilling wails circling the gym. Those little balls of fur and bone and flees. The stray cats are getting bolder, one climbed in through the bathroom window today. 5am surprise!

I need to sleep so that I can write in full sentences again.

Oh God a heat wave. It was over 110 degrees today when we went out to work, and everyone is getting sick  (not me). Only half of us were able to work today, so we got even less done than usual. We dig right next to a group of construction workers, who keep looking over at us wondering why we do the same job as them except for free. When I get home, I'm never getting out of the pool again. Seriously family, make sure it's clean by the time I get back. But I am getting tan, so that's nice. My hair is also gradually turning into hay, my hairdresser is going to kill me.

That is all.

Bad things: scorpions, tarantulas, land-mines, dust storms, tornados, vipers, BUG BITES!

Castle Colossi

This is Lain and I at the beach at Kourion. They didn't know how to make margarita's, but they still charged 5 Euro for them.

It's over 110 degrees today. It started to get hot around 530 this morning. Last week the average temperature was around 104, and that was unusually cool for this time of year. It's difficult to know the real temperature, because the weather stations are controlled by the government. My Cypriot friend Thea tells me, if the temperature is over a certain point, no one is required to go into work. And the government would hate to let anyone have a day off, so the temperature given by weather stations is almost always a lie. It's really hot right now, ugh.

Agios Sozomenos

Agios Sozomenos

We went to a Turkish ghost town on Friday called Agios Sozomenos. It's in the UN buffer zone between the Turkish and Greek sides of Cyprus, and the whole area is completely deserted. Back in the 70's, a Greek town attacked Agios Sozomenos over water. They were met with the Turkish military, and the two sides skirmished. Most of the villagers were annihilated and the rest fled.

The town is completely in ruins. Its only been 30 years, but the town looks like it had been deserted for hundreds of years. In some places, the buildings have been worn down to the foundations. Rusty military trucks sit abandoned in the hills. Everything is perfectly silent, except for the wind and our voices. Its very creepy.

We saw a cave up on the mountain/hill behind the town, and someone decided it would be a good idea to climb it. I think it was Lain aka the bionic woman. She powered up the mountain without even sweating, while Abbey, Claire, and I crawled up at the back of the line. After we had gotten halfway up one of our supervisors shouted "watch out for the vipers, they live in those kind of bushes!" Thanks a lot. We didn't run into any ssssnaakess, but it turned out that the cave was more of a hole filled with tarantulas and snake holes. Rori crawled into the hole to get a funny picture, and then we saw the tarantulas. So that was fun.

Because Cyprus is so small, not many non-Cyprians (no that is not the correct term, deal with it) know much about it. Here are the answers to some of the questions I've been asked:

• No Cyprus is not in Spain. Its an island off of Turkey.
• No Turkey doesn't border Spain.
• No it's not next to Italy.
• It's spelled Cyprus.
• It's pronounced Cyprus.
• Yes it's a real country.
• No it's not filled with terrorists.
• Yes I have seen Taken.
• Yes I have seen Hostel.
• No, there aren't any cannibals there.
• Of course, I always watch out for slavers and bombers.

I have researched Cyprus extensively for several minutes on wikipedia, and am prepared to answer any other questions you might have about the country/island of Cyprus.

Leaving for Cyprus on Sunday. Everything finalized (kinda). Am looking up "fun facts" about Cyprus. Example:

• fun fact #1- Nicosia is the capital city of Cyprus.

Wow, that fact is fun. Yet still informative.

• Main currency is the Cyprus Pound.
• Main currency is the Euro
  
• National Anthem is "Imnos pros tin Eleftherin"
• National Anthem is "Hymm"
• "Aphrodite is from Cyprus. He is the god of beauty"
• George Michael was born in Cyprus

I hate the internet.