Blogs from Middle East - page 1204

I arrived packed and completely worn out at Istanbuls Otogar (Bus Station) on a hot Sunday afternoon. Grabbed a last minute kebab and got ready to sit on a Kamil Koç for 6 hours (This was the bus firm I might add, although some of you readers are saying not for the first time). Istanbul to Çanakkale is only 280Km's. I can't see how it can takes 6 hours, oh well, plug in my iPod and look out the window for a bit. We made one rest stop about 2 hours in, where the food (as always in Turkey it seems) was cheap and tasty. Much better than our "Service" stations back home. Another hour or so I realise that Arsenal have just started their season against Newcastle United at Highbury, without me, for the first ... read more

Sunday 14th - We drove about 2 hours out of Nicosia to stay at a very laid back inn at the foot of the mountains, but only a 10 minute drive to the beach. It was lovely, we went to Coral bay beach, more swimming and laying in the sun. Then that night had a traditional Cyprus meal at the inn. Monday 15th - The next day we spent the morning at another beach before driving up into the mountains for lunch. Tuesday 16th - Dana and I went to the old town of Nicosia to potter in the shops. We didn't buy that much, the shopping in Cyprus wasn't like it was in Turkey, there isn't a great deal of stuff to buy at and it is fairly expensive. That night we went to the ... read more

Well for the past two days ı have been unable to get to a computer because thıngs around here have been pretty busy. On Wendsday(the day before our fırst tournament match) we practıced at 9 ın the mornıng and then had to kıll some tıme before we scrımmaged Serbıa & Montenegro (one team) . sınce we could not go back to the vıllage and eat the wonderful food they provıde(sarcasm) we decıded to go to the food court of a local turkısh mall. hıdden between the places sellıng varıous meats and vegtable stır fry we found....... (drum roll please), a McDonalds. Now back home ı never patronıze thıs establıshment except for the occatıonal breakfast. However, after eatıng the same thıng day ın and day out for the past week, nothıng of whıch ıs very tasty, the ... read more

Hello all, and thank you for coming back yet again. I haven't updated my diary for nearly a month now as it has been incredibly hot and I have been hiding away inside the house where the air conditioning keeps me from cooking internally and turning into a blistered lobster. They record the temperature in the shade and today it was 47c... so I guess in the sun that would be hitting around 52c and it feels it too. The hot air dries your throat, blisters your lips and dries your eye balls so they feel like ping pong balls that have been rolled in sticky sand bobbing up and down in your sockets :S takes a little getting used to but I think we are getting there. So life here has been a little subdued ... read more

I hope this update will reflect the big things that are happening in my life at the moment, and they are big as you will soon read. Of course you will get the full update about the Inn's progress but I hope to start sharing my observation about what was happening so far and not just my "to do list" Are you ready? Ok I will open with the greatest news of all and it's that we (Shlomit & I, that's how we say it now days) are pregnant and will be parents in the beginning of 2006. Shlomit is feeling good most of the time, it is now the 17th week to the pregnancy and it's going to be a boy. We are both very happy and excited about the whole thing and can't ... read more