So Many Activities!
This has certainly been a busy week! Filled with memories and educational encounters. First, I’ll discuss the educational part – it’s why I’m in Cyprus, right? Well, last Monday we went to a confectionery and filmed baklava being made. Kim and Emma were the talent and they were the perfect duo helping with the filo dough and learning the process. The two of them are so bubbly and cute and dessert is the best part of any meal so they made the experience light and fun.
My group was not filming so our biggest task was staying out of the way, much like the bread making process. However, the experience I got out of the confectionery filming was the sense of family. The restaurant was owned by father and son and had been for several years. Their bakery is in the Old City and it’s perfectly settled in a corner near the school – excellent planning on their part, every child wants a treat from their local bakery.
In the bakery, there were pictures of their family and friends everywhere along with certificates of achievement. The best one we found read, “This is to certify that [name] has completed one day bakery class in Switzerland.” I suppose we all have our achievements we’re proud of. There were also old pictures of Cyprus and drawings of images around the island. It was so easy to feel comfortable the moment I stepped in the door. The furniture was fairly old and comfortably worn in and had a nice sixties feel to it, almost.
The father and son have worked side by side in their confectionery artistry for over fifty years. When the son was asked if this is what he had always wanted to do as a career, he responded with, “Oh yes! Ever since I was a little boy.” However, much like our bread maker and halloumi cheese maker, the children do not seem interested to follow in the steps of the traditional Cypriot confectionery industry.
This seems to be a popular theme – out with the old, in with the new. Sounds vaguely familiar, no? America seemed to have gone through this several years ago when our country grew hastily. The Cypriots are starting to move out of villages and their pace of life has picked up rapidly. The villages are typically older and traditional while the cities are growing in population with the younger generation.
Back to the main point of this, at the confectionery, after the filming, we were each given a large piece of baklava. It was so delicious! At one point, Emma stepped away from her unfinished baklava and the baker [Father] got pretty upset because he thought she didn’t enjoy his baklava and wanted to know how he could make it better for her liking. She immediately apologized, it was very difficult to communicate her apologies because he didn’t speak English but when she eventually figured out the only way to patch things up, she sat down and ate the rest of her baklava.
On Thursday, we filmed Kleftiko being made in a butcher shop, also located in the Old City. My group was filming and we actually enjoyed the experience of watching the process much more than I anticipated. Just a brief history lesson, kleftiko comes from the Greek word, to steal. This is because, when a butcher would cook the meat (a long time ago), he would have to cook it in the ground or else thieves would come and steal his meat. So, kleftiko means to steal because the meat was often stolen, there you go. Say that last sentence in a Greek accent, it’s much more fun.
The Butcher has been at his expertise since 1975. He said he only eats meat twice a year, Easter and Christmas, since he fasts often for religious purposes at all other times of the year. Lance asked if he had the best meat in Cyprus and the Butcher had a humble response, “I like to think my meat is the best but no one is perfect.” We also asked if he had much competition from nearby supermarkets and he responded with, “Yes, but if the buyer is looking for quality, they should come to me; however, if they are looking for a better price, they should go to a supermarket.” The Butcher worked diligently and quickly, making our filming a breeze. To start, they put the weighed and netted meat in a large (American looking) trashcan. They fill it with water to wash the meat and then transfer them to crates to drain. Meanwhile, the Butcher & his helper pulled out clay pots and metal pans and added spices along with pure spirits (to clear the smell). They add fifteen pieces of meat to each clay pot and add potatoes in the metal pans. To finish preparing the meat, they cover the pot with a white plastic material then place pigskin on top then add tin foil. To prepare the potatoes, they wash them off and then add tomato juice on and then add another kind of meat for flavoring. The Butcher loads the truck to take the meat across the street to the ovens. The ovens are heated to 400; now, this is where we got confused because if it’s 400 Celsius, that’s about 752 Fahrenheit, which is ridiculous but since when does a European use Fahrenheit? Never. So we’re still a little unsure of how hot the clay ovens actually were. He placed the pots and pans in the oven and explained to us that as long as the oven has no air in it, he could leave the meat in the oven for as long as he wanted, the pigskin is apparently pretty tough – it keeps the meat from burning. Glad it is of some use. He leaves the meat in the oven for eight hours and when the kleftiko is finished, he turns on a siren to inform his loyal customers their meat is ready.
This weekend, the whole group took another beach holiday to Ayia Napa. Before we made it to the sea, we took two tourist visits in the city of Larnaka. Our first stop was in the most beautiful mosque, Hala Sultan Tekke, I have seen yet. It is placed on the lake of Larnaka and surrounded by palm trees. Umm Haram, the Islamic prophet Muhammed’s wet nurse and the wife of Ubada bin al-Samit, died in this exact location and they built a mosque surrounding her grave. It’s one of the most sacred mosques to the Turkish people.
Our next visit was to the Church of Lazarus. That was one of the coolest places, it was beautiful, but mostly because Lazarus is one of Jesus’ miracle victims – being raised from the dead should probably constitute for having a Greek Orthodox Church named after you, just saying. His skull lies in one of the fancy pure gold stands, not visible to tourists but it’s in there! St. Lazarus is also buried there but they found it necessary to take his skull when Jesus let him rest in peace instead of waking him up again. We got two free hours by the sea in Larnaka and decided to visit one more tourist spot before eating lunch. We visited a museum but didn’t have much to look at. I’m not even sure the name of it, unfortunately. I did, however, pay 1,70 euro in order to look at cannons and tombs from 14 A.D., which is pretty neat.
After our free time, we climbed on the bus to head to Ayia Napa where we would stay until Sunday. Ayia Napa is spring break all year long. The city is very tourist friendly but is home to some of the most beautiful beaches on the island – hence the tourist attraction. Friday night, we decided to go to a Top Chef Finalist’s restaurant that we passed on our last visit the Sunday prior to this weekend. I ordered the avocado and crab tower along with a Greco salad. For dessert my friend, Kelsey, and I opted to share the Milk Pyramid. It was a puff pastry filled with nutella (they love nutella) and brownie with a small scoop of ice cream on the side. Possibly one of the best meals I’ve had since I’ve been on the island.
Saturday night, we went to dinner at Bedrock again because we couldn’t make a unanimous decision for anywhere else. We went back to the hotel, got ready and made our way to Paddy’s – an Irish pub with live singing. The singer was Irish and loved the fact American girls had come to listen to him sing. He sang the “Galway Girl” from the movie, P.S. I love you, and I think all seven of us immediately fell in love. We stayed for a bit, danced and enjoyed a little more Irish culture before heading back to the hotel.
We made it back to Nicosia around 5 P.M. and most people decided to take naps. I wanted to stay awake so I could get to bed early because we woke up this morning around 7:15 to start editing our kleftiko documentary. We worked all day on the project but had to stop at 4:30 P.M. in order to get ready for the GLS Graduation. Most students attended classes and got to know the University of Nicosia well. The Tennessee group stepped into a classroom one time and hasn’t returned since the first week of being in Cyprus. I graduated from a University I didn’t technically attend, so that’s pretty neat! The graduation was short and sweet. Our Greek coordinator, Thanos, made a speech about how proud of us he is and how much we have changed but we just don’t realize it yet. I’m excited to see the change that has happened with me personally, but I’ll see it in good time. There was a slideshow of the past four weeks and the pictures were hilarious. Looking back, we have had the best time getting to know one another and experiencing life in a different culture. After I received my certificate, the forty-five minute graduation was over, we had a dinner at the Priscillian restaurant again and the food was fantastic.
Tonight (Tuesday) we have our big meze dinner. I’ve heard there are snails at the dinner so I’m interested to see if I actually work up the courage to try one. Tomorrow we are visiting Famagusta on the Turkish side of the island. Thursday we edit the film and Friday we are heading to Polis for another holiday. I’m excited we’re busy every day for the rest of our trip and experience every bit of the island up until our departure.