Events 2001

My first big adventure following graduation was to move from Lawrence to Cyprus. A good friend of mine, Andreas Kitsios, invited me to check out his home country. The plan was to live there for a few months and interview for any jobs that could allow me to keep traveling and having fun. This trip was another awesome experience, but in the end I ran out of money, my visa was up, and it was time to go home for Christmas.

Above: One of the many canals in Amsterdam Right: The Van Gogh Museum

Before actually arriving in Larnaca, I had a few days in Amsterdam to party and wander around. I did my usual routine of staying in the red light district and checking out the nightlife. This time around I finally went to the Van Gogh and Rembrandt Museums.

Above: One of my first adventures was the Limassol Wine Festival. Here I enjoy some of the local wine and food. Right: Doing the traditional wine dance in a barrel of grapes (with a nice scantily- clad Russian girl).

Upon arriving in Cyprus I moved in with my good friend from college Andreas. He lives in Nicosia which is the capital and largest city. The entire island has just over 1 million people and lies South of Turkey in the Mediterranean Sea. Since it was a British colony everyone speaks good english, but Greek is the official language.

Above: A huge weekend meal with Andreas's father and his side of the family.

Cyprus is a country that really values spending time with friends and family. I enjoyed many nice meals and parties with a variety of new people. We took trips to the beach, concerts, nightclubs, and tourist sites. Andreas has a huge crew of friends from high school and college that were always ready for a party.

Above: The normal crew of guys I hung out with to watch soccer, play games, and hit the bars. Right: Some of the women we partied with. Below: On the beach with Andreas and friends.

In terms of geography, Cyprus is a small island that has lots of variety. No matter where you are its normally only an hour to the nearest beach. In the winter there is even snow-skiing in the mountains. There are lots of possible cruises to other nearby countries including Egypt, Turkey, Greece, Lebanon, Isreal, etc. I wanted to visit all of these places, but events in the Middle East and lack of time and money prevented it. I did manage to go on a two day cruise to Cairo, Egypt. There I just had time to visit the archeological museum and the Great Pyramids of Giza.

Above: In front of the Sphinx with my famous "drifter" hat. Right: Riding a camel despite my best efforts to avoid it.

Egypt was an interesting and somewhat disappointing trip. Lots of poor people waving at our tour bus for no apparant reason and soldiers with machine guns everywhere. Protecting the tourists to and from the pyramids seemed like a big business.  I felt like a politician headed to some top secret Middle East peace meeting.  

 However, when you reach the pyramids all hell breaks loose. We were warned all about the many scams and tricks of the vendors there. It does you no good in the long run, unless you are prepared to be a rude asshole. They constantly try to sell you all sorts of trinkets, books, hats, and postcards. If you try to walk away be prepared to be chased and herded by men on huge camels. I grew up on a farm around bulls and other large animals, yet camels are still a bit scary since they are so tall and fast. The scam artists will do anything to get you into a conversation.  If they shake your hand they will pass you some piece of shit souvenir and demand money for it.   Put your hands in your pockets and they manage to put something between your arm and hip. No matter what you say or do they demand payment for the item and won't take it back. If you give them anything other than exact change prepare to be scammed on the change back and argue about the exchange rate.

The camels are the biggest and worst problem. They do whatever they can to convince you to sit on or near them for a picture. Suddenly the bastard stands up and you are 8 feet off the ground being told you must pay $30 to get back down. To make a long story short I wanted to beat the crap out of everyone I saw there within a few minutes.  I can honestly say to anyone wishing to see the pyramids:  go somewhere else instead.  Egypt sucks dick.  You will spend most of your time in heated arguments and have little or no time to actually take some pictures.  These people are the single biggest group of organized con artists and assholes you will ever meet.   Fuck Egypt, I'm never going back!