Christmas update letter

I don’t normally write Christmas circulars, but 2010 has been so unusual that I felt that it warranted this exception.

In November 2009 Sean accepted a job at a hedge fund which is based in Limassol, Cyprus. This was very welcome as he’d been looking for work for a while and our financial future was beginning to look somewhat flaky, but of course it was going to be a huge upheaval. I had minor (Sean might disagree over that description) hysterics over the prospect of uprooting the girls, leaving my job, leaving our family and friends behind, leaving my beloved house and the county of my birth.

This time last year Sean was racing round getting visas, work permits and even flying to South Africa to renew his passport which otherwise could have taken four months. We weren’t even sure if he’d get home for Christmas, but fortunately he did. Sean was then set to begin his new job in mid January.

Because of my aforementioned hysterics Sean travelled to Cyprus alone and left me and the girls behind to follow when I was ready (on the understanding that that was sometime, not never). Elizabeth started primary school at the beginning of January and I was particularly reluctant to uproot her so early in her education, so top of my priority list was to find her a good school in Cyprus. I flew over to spend a few days with Sean at the beginning of February, determined almost not to like what I saw, but of course I was seduced by the 14 degree temperature (remember what is was like in the UK then?) and a picnic on the beach. We found a property we liked to rent and I visited three schools. I found what I believe to a real gem called the Red Dragon Private School. Like the other fee paying schools on the island it broadly follows the UK curriculum (although Greek is compulsory) which enables students to slot in and out of schools here and back home without great disadvantage.

So as soon as I returned to the UK I handed in my notice at work and began the exhausting task of organising a complete removal 2000 miles away. It was physically and emotionally draining, especially as I was temporarily a single parent, but Sean’s family and my fantastic neighbour Ruth between them kept me almost sane. Thankfully finding a tenant for the house was easy. In fact the first three people who viewed it were fighting over it! But then there was finding the right removal firm, organising the transport of two live tortoises (not remotely straightforward unless one is prepared to pay someone over £600 for the privilege of doing it for you), selling two cars, getting first passports for the girls, renewing my own passport, letters, emails and phone calls here there and everywhere and worst of all sorting out my accumulated STUFF. At the same time I was also finishing off clearing my mum’s bungalow for her own tenant to move in. Undying thanks go here to my mum’s friend Jilly for helping beyond the call of duty, and often in the snow. You wouldn’t believe how many lists I made and how many mountains of things there were “to keep”, “for auction”, “for charity” and “for the tip”.

So, a mere eight tense and increasingly sleepless weeks later, on March 19^th, I, Elizabeth, Eleanor and two tortoises arrived in Cyprus.

Three days later Elizabeth settled in uncomplainingly at her new school but found that she had a lot of catching up to do, not really having got much beyond the Play Doh and sand-playing phase of things in her UK reception class. Here it was daily homework, real books to read and a spelling test every Friday. We both worked really hard to bring her up to speed. Initially Elizabeth found it difficult to make friends with her peers, arriving late in the academic year, but now she’s in Year 1 with a different set of classmates she’s completely found her feet. It seems to be a constant round of parties and play dates! I’ve also got involved with the school as the parent class rep and go in to help other children with their reading. Although the school uses English as its language of teaching, English isn’t the first language for many of the pupils. In Elizabeth’s class of just 10 her friends have parents from England, South Africa, Germany, Brazil, Italy, Israel, Poland, Cyprus and France. And because of the small class sizes and staff:pupil ratio the school seamlessly integrates children with autism and other learning difficulties.

To start with we were living in a company apartment that Sean had initially been sharing with another company employee. This was fun as it was right on the sea front with its own private pool and beach. The girls enjoyed going up and down in the lift and sharing a bed and I enjoyed the fact that the flat was serviced. It certainly felt like we were on holiday for the first few weeks. Meanwhile the tortoises were already living in our new house so we visited them regularly which gave me a chance to see where our furniture would fit and to try out the pool.

Our container arrived just after the Easter bank holiday. Amazingly everything arrived intact. The only mishap was a small but crucial piece of wood which enables the top of the dresser to rest on the bottom getting thrown out with all the packaging. It was great to be able to settle into our new home but I have to confess that the novelty of unpacking soon wore off and we were surrounded by boxes for some time! It just goes to show what a small percentage of one’s belongings are actually essential.

So what of life in Cyprus? Sean has felt at home since he arrived, not having strong emotional ties to the UK, and having already relocated from South Africa, which the atmosphere here, the climate and the proximity to the sea remind him of. Despite my best efforts I love it here too and think it’s the best thing that could have happened to us as a family. Of course I miss England (particularly the seasons and its flora and fauna) and being close to family, but Cyprus is a fantastic place to bring up children and the country is in most parts very beautiful and amazingly varied for a small island. Other things I like are the seasonality of fresh produce (although I miss Tesco deliveries!) and the unclogged roads (tho Cypriot driving leaves something to be desired) and although the intense heat of the high summer doesn’t really agree with me who could argue with 25 degrees in December?! And absolutely the best thing is all the amazing new friends I’ve made through the school and Eleanor’s playgroup. None of that British reserve here. Sean also has a good bunch of workmates. He plays 5-a-side football once a week and has invited colleagues round for supper.

Not only are the girls both very happy here with so much space in and out to play in, and no television to distract them, but the tortoises too are in their element. I’m not sure if Largo has quite got his technique right yet but one day we may have some Andantinos! We have also adopted two cats, half of a litter born to one of the large homeless feline population – a black and a tortoiseshell and white.

We haven’t been inundated with visitors. Sean’s parents came during July but it really was too hot to do a great deal with them. Ruth our Ardleigh neighbour has just visited. So I’m hoping that a few more of our friends and family will find their way to Cyprus in 2011. At the moment we have an enormous villa but are looking to slightly downsize and certainly down-price shortly. Cyprus isn’t a cheap place to live and we’ve been hit with particularly high electricity bills, which, combined with pool maintenance, rent, school fees etc hasn’t left much slack. The girls and I went home for a brief week in August largely to see my mum who had had a stroke. She’s doing OK but because her right arm has been affected she can no longer enjoy writing and painting as she did, and basic tasks are much more difficult.

I’m still doing a little bit of remote literature searching for Ipswich Hospital but the main project in 2011 will be The House on the Hill. This is the only playgroup in Limassol for English speaking children and their mothers to meet and play. For personal reasons the lady who has been running the playgroup is moving from her home where the group is held. Rather than let it fold a small group of us are funding the rental on the property and are looking to expand the use of the premises as a business venture. Watch this space, as they say! Eleanor simply adores the place and treats it like a second home. In fact we had her birthday party there at the weekend. She has grown up so much in the last year, moving from baby to toddler (or perhaps teenager?!). If she can emulate Elizabeth’s sweet nature as she tries to copy everything else her big sister does she won’t go far wrong.

If you read this before Christmas, which I hope you do, please don’t worry about sending us a Christmas card, but we would very much like to hear from you and perhaps in 2011 I’ll also get better at keeping in touch with our friends.

Shopping!

Shopping of any description has never been my favourite occupation, and in England I had that nice man from Mr Tesco deliver my weekly groceries. I justified the extra cost by thinking about all those special offers, the club card points, the club card vouchers, doing less spontaneous nonessential shopping, saving on petrol and most of all time and hassle.

Here, the option does't exist so I seem to spend an awful lot of time in the supermarket. And to be honest, for fresh produce, I wouldn't want to rely on home delivery for consistency of quality. Not that fruit and veg quality is poor, but it can vary from week to week, as can what's available. In actual fact the amount of good value, local, fresh produce in Cyprus is excellent. It is also more naturally seasonal. Unlike the UK, where if you want to buy something local you have to go to the nearest farm shop and pay more than something tasteless imported from abroad, here indigenous fruit and veg is widely available in supermarkets and greengrocers. And it tastes so good!

When we arrived in March it was the strawberry season, then we moved on to watermelon, and latterly it's been nectarines, peaches and plums, with grapes steadily improving. Basics like tomatoes, cucumber, potatoes, courgettes and peppers are also plentiful and very fresh. And I've never been able to squeeze so much juice out of a lemon! On my brief visit to Cyprus in February people were hawking oranges around the old town in their bicycle baskets. They let off an amazing aroma. It's very odd to see windfall oranges and lemons on the pavement.

Although local goods are very cheap, anything that comes out of a packet is hideously expensive especially things like nappies, cleaning products and toiletries. Mind you, basics such as milk and bread are also very dear. There are also very few special offers.

The shopping experience is also quite different, with lots of queuing involved. First of all you have to go to a counter to get your fruit and vegetables weighed and priced up, then there's the meat counter, the delicatessen and the fish counter. It definitely pays to buy cheese and cold meats from the deli. For meat if all you want is some mince and some pork chops then these can usually be found pre-packaged. These are the same product you would have bought from the butchery and for the same price. Unlike the UK there is a very limited choice of pre-packed meat so it's best to select from the whole meat counter. The girls have been fascinated by the sheep's heads and entire livers on display.

Back to school

It's that time of year which parents, children and teachers either dread or can't wait for. Here in Cyprus we have to return to school without that first autumnal nip. Very kindly Elizabeth said that she'd been having too much fun at home to go back to school but I think 10 weeks is enough for anyone. Not that I've been relishing a return to the 6am starts and spending 3 hours a day driving on both the school and husband runs, but a more disciplined routine will be good.

The school day here starts at 7.55 so we leave the house at 7.15 as we're roughly half an hour away. Because of the heat in the middle of the day and of high summer (July and August) school finishes between 1.15 and 1.45. Consequently there isn't a full half term holiday during the third term as the academic year ends by the close of June (hence the 10 week holiday). However schools here do offer after school clubs, both for fun activities and for getting homework done, until 5pm.

Elizabeth is a student at the Red Dragon Private School. There are a number of English language schools in Cyprus which follow the UK national curriculum with the addition of Greek, which is compulsory. The school is very international in flavour with children with parents from Russia, Holland, Israel, South and North America as well as the UK and Cyprus itself.

So why Red Dragon? There were several possible schools in Limassol which I discovered by searching the Internet. I scrutinised their websites, made a few phone calls and also used the ex-pat forums to canvass opinion. This was very interesting with some quite strong, often polarised, opinions and loyalties revealing themselves. Once Foley's had eliminated itself by not having a vacancy the two front runners were Heritage and Red Dragon. I visited both in early February.

Funnily enough, the Red Dragon school occupies the buildings vacated by Heritage when it built itself fancy new premises in the hills near Palodia. Physically the contrast between the shabby Red Dragon and Heritage's palace couldn't have been more marked. It was difficult not to be slightly seduced by the latter but I kept coming back to a very strong feeling that there was something inherently right about the ethos and the experience being offered by Red Dragon. Also perhaps that the Heritage had once had that itself but was beginning, in its new location, increasing numbers and class sizes, to lose the common touch amidst a well oiled machine.

Elizabeth started her new school just before the Easter break and only three days after we landed in Cyprus. It was certainly a shock to the system with three pieces of homework given a day and ten words to learn for a spelling test on Fridays. Elizabeth had only begun school in England in January, being "spring born", and was only just being introduced to basic phonics, so she had a lot of catching up to do. But she worked really hard and had a very satisfying school report and I was assured by her excellent class teacher that she had caught up, ready to start Year 1 today.

The House on the Hill

I've always avoided mother and toddler groups like the plague for fear of being trapped in a room with a load of perfect mums with one dimensional conversation about breastfeeding, nappies, teething etc. There is no fear of that at the House on the Hill playgroup, a sanctuary in the hills above Fasoula for children and parents alike.

I went one Friday with Eleanor who instantly fitted in and demanded to go back the following week. We now go every Tuesday and Friday morning. For Eleanor there is a wide range of toys in a large, light room (a converted tavern) and outside space when it's not too warm. She can play with the toy kitchen and shop, dolls, ride a car, or do dressing up, painting, a puzzle or read a book. She has started forming relationships with the other children and their parents.

For me there's an enforced sit down and a good excuse to avoid domestic duties. This comes with a selection of drinks, fruit, toast and delicious homemade cakes using Annalisa's own chickens' eggs. And conversation has been broader than expected, including Shakespeare, online dating and useful information sharing about hairdressers, restaurants and places to visit.

Annalisa offers a range of sessions throughout the week which you can read about on her website. Occasional extra events like family drumming sessions are offered and Annalisa also makes the venue available for birthday parties.

Swallow update

In case you were wondering what happened to our nesting swallows, about 10 days ago the first of three eggs hatched. Both parents are now busy feeding the chicks.

The chicks have grown some tufty feathers on their heads and have the widest hungry mouths I've ever seen.

• Feeding video for Facebook friends

Further update

Well, it didn't take too long for the chicks to become fledglings and we witnessed their maiden flights. After about a week of short forays during which they were still being parent-fed the whole family were up early and off for the day before we emerged but came home to roost at night. Imagine a small nest with two adults and three hefty teenagers perched on it!

Then one day they simply didn't return. It was rather sad and it now seems very quiet but hopefully we'll see them again next year.

Wildlife in our garden

Sparrows and swallows we have known in England but we have encountered some unfamiliar creatures in our Cypriot back garden.

There are sun-loving lizards who sit on the rockery and the wall and then scuttle away; locusts, and praying mantis. We christened one rather splendid preying mantis who had clearly just eaten a sizeable meal the "queen of the bush" as she took up residence in one of the shrubs in the garden. Another built an egg sac on the back of our post box. Come to think of it perhaps it was the same female and she'd previously been digesting her mate! After a couple of months a tribe of weeny mantis emerged.

Some lizards have made it into the house. One lived under the dishwasher for several weeks; we named it Slinky. A gecko, Shrimpy, may still be lurking upstairs providing pest control. Salmon pink and almost translucent with beady dark eyes it was first spotted clinging to the overhang of the top stair.

Other things we've spotted and managed to capture on camera are a big black beetle and a tiny frog with a big leap.

But perhaps the most amazing sight, and the most alarming, was the whip snake. Being a girlie my immediate reaction was of course to shriek, get the children indoors and shut the doors! But once I'd regained my composure and ascertained that snakes found in Cyprus are rarely poisonous to humans I went for a closer look. The snake was in fact in the process of constricting something. I couldn't tell if it was a rodent or a bird.

I really must dig out some facts and useful links for Cyprus wildlife. It has been interesting seeing new things but I do miss the English landscape and particularly the birdsong which is so evocative. I caught a snippet on the CBeebies website of all places the other day of woodland sounds. I want my robins, blackbirds, tits and wood pigeons back!

Swallows

Now that most of the sparrows living in our verandah roof have fledged (although we're still finding the odd corpse) our attention has now been grabbed by the swallows. We'd been seeing them flying around and occasionally swooping down to drink from the swimming pool. Then one evening they started showing an uncommon interest in the underside of the verandah roof. We thought they might be after insects but it transpired that they were looking for a nest site.

Last weekend they started building just outside the kitchen window and fascinating viewing it was. The pair worked together, one bringing mud (although in this dry climate it must have been been pretty dry) and the other bringing straw. Given the amount of building materials that were dropped we were surprised how quickly the nest took shape and by Sunday evening they were both sleeping there.

• Video of nest building for Facebook friends

The female is now sitting - with luck in a fortnight or so there should be babies. Watch this space ...