Yipes!

The AWC is a philanthropic organization sponsoring a number of charities, most notably our contributions to breast cancer research and treatment in the Netherlands. This is a cause near and dear to all of us (remember the Heart Pillow Project?) and we are continuing with our participation in fundraising for breast cancer.

As the Club's President, I am the ambassador to events in which we collaborate with other organizations and/or sponsor. This means some public speaking, which I dread. (I spoke at last year's 9/11 ceremony and found it to be really tough). And yes, I am aware that as a drama major I've never really had any anxiety about being on stage and performing. But in a role and with a script and blocking that has been rehearsed for a long time, it is quite different. And by the way, since college I've always found auditions very nerve-wracking. Anyway...

In just over a week I have to give a speech at an art auction (Christie's will be auctioning a painting acquired through a "friend of the AWC") in The Hague - it is a reception to which well over 100 people are confirmed to attend, and many of them are diplomats and high society folk - oh my God - what have I gotten myself into? The reception is the closing of a month-long art exhibition that has been ongoing for the month of September leading to October which is the 7th Annual Breast Cancer Awareness Month in the Netherlands. A pretty big deal. I agreed that the AWC would sponsor it so I'll be front and center, representing the Club. No pressure.

I did have to give a brief address to the Membership at our Sept 10 Kick Off meeting, but this was not much more than some simple introductions and a few reminders. This is quite a bit different. At least for me.

I can do this, but it won't be entirely comfortable. I've got to work with a colleague to learn the proper protocol for addressing and meeting some of these dignitaries. Well, I'll wear something spectacular and turn on the ol' New England charm - it'll be an experience!

It'll be a good warm up for my presentation of the new U.S. Ambassador when she addresses our Members at a meeting in November.

Any sage advice, my friends and family??

Full circle more than a year into our assignment...Prinsedaag has come and gone again

Sorry to have been lax in my updates! I have been a busy bee with the AWC, and on September 10 we held our semi-annual Kick Off meeting - my first public event as President (and one which required a speech - argh!). Our speakers included the Mayor of Wassenaar and the new US Consul General. Not bad. And it went well. Very well.

Among other things keeping me occupied, on September 11 I attended the annual 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony at the American School here in Wassenaar, and on Sunday, Sept 13 I attended a Gallery opening at the Club at which I unveiled a painting donated by "friend of the AWC" artist John Proctor for an auction supporting breast cancer research in the Netherlands (to be auctioned at the Oct 1 reception mentioned above).

I have also continued with my Dutch lessons and am making good progress. Hmmmm - just more than 1/2 of the way through our assignment, I can string some sentences (and even paragraphs) together. I'm reading very short stories as well, but looking up vocabulary makes this a slow process. By the time I have any real grasp on the language it'll be time to move on from Holland (where, by the way, is the only place where this bloody difficult language is of any use at all!)

I will be meeting the new U.S. Ambassador in a few weeks - but I'll post about that as it happens.

As I did last year, I attended a luncheon held by the AWC on Prinsjesdaag (the second Tuesday in September), which is the day the Queen opens parliament here in The Hague. This involves a huge procession which escorts to Queen to parliament, where she addresses the country, and her return trip. Inside the restaurant, a Dutch woman narrates for the guests (first in Dutch and then in English) what is happening, who is passing by, and she also dictates verbatim the Queen's actual address (just in Dutch :)

The luncheon is held in a wonderful Indonesian restaurant (a delicious rijstaffel buffet) which is located on the corner of the street along which military personnel (some on foot and some on horsebac), members of the Royal Family and, of course, Queen Beatrix herself pass in her golden carriage pass on their way to Parliament. Our event is held on the second floor which is perfect for bird's eye viewing without having to be on the street level trying to see around and through the elbows of some very tall Dutch folks! For a few hours the streets surrounding the area where the procession takes place are closed and thousands of people come to watch, many donning their orange hats and boas to signify their "Dutchness" :) I wore a simple, elegant orange scarf and some jewelry with orange stones - all of which were gifts from my mother-in-law - lovely and classic :o)

This year the AWC invited members of the BCH (British Club of The Hauge), the IWC (International Women's Club) and the PWC (Petroleum Wives' Club) - (yes, the Club names are approaching being outdated as neither are all wives, or even women, for that matter). The picture above is me with the current President, Patricia Hollamby.

It was a relaxing day and I took photos of everyone and made this little film. Enjoy!

The p

Cyprus Part 3 of 3

So, after our excursion to Nicosia we thought it might be worth renting a car for a day or so to do our own exploring on our own time, in our own way. Well, it was! We found a good deal at a place right across the street from the hotel, and we headed out with a couple of maps and some advice we'd been given by a nice couple we chatted with in a local curry house.

We headed west towards Pafos, but took the coastal road, as recommended. We drove out of Limassol, past the salt lake area to our first stop, nestled in an orchard area - a small castle in Kolossi, which wouldn't have made a half-bad summer place (with the exception of the lack of running water and electricity) and after which we sat at a local lean-to drinking fresh squeezed orange juice and enjoying the surroundings.

We continued to drive along the coast road admiring some stirring views, beautiful churches and mosques, and visiting several places of archeological interest. These included one of the largest on the island, Kourion, home to the House of Eustolios and which is also complete with a fully-restored Greco/Roman theatre. We also visited the Sanctuary of Apollo and the famous rock said to be the birthplace of Aphrodite (Aphrodite's Rock :) and a number of other very interesting (albeit very hot and dusty!) places, the last of which was the Tombs of the Kings (which is not actually for Kings, but some rich dudes anyway...)

We did a bit more driving toward the northwest portion of the island, hoping to get to the Baths of Aphrodite (which we didn't reach until another day) which was, I must say, the only really disappointing part of our trip! - not what we'd expected to see after quite a challenging journey. A very small, unattended, quite unremarkable spot. But still cool to have visited.

We also took a journey up and through the Troodos Mountains (where the temperature can be many degrees cooler than at sea level). We overshot the main road we should have taken, so were on a secondary road - which at times was treacherous (consider significant heights, and roads full of hairpin turns and switchbacks, with very few guard rails .... (and which later helped us make a decision *not* to try our original plan to get to another destination using what are shown on the map as "loose surface roads" much later in the day). And it took far longer than we'd anticipate, between the road conditions - and the fact that we hadn't considered that elevations were marked in meters - not feet - doh! At nearly 2,000 meters high, that's a substantial difference (than close to 6,000 feet).

Anyhow, the town of Troodos, when we finally got there, was lovely and we enjoyed the cool weather, fresh corn on the grill, some ice cream and some very serene and relaxing surroundings. On the way down the other side is the Kykkos Monastery, the largest and most famous on the island, and dating back to 1100. I know that we were in some of the oldest parts, but it was so immaculately kept that much of it seemed new. And clearly it has been expanded to accommodate such modern-day necessities, like a garage to house the many diplomatic vehicles and other vehicles housed there. And in the nearby market area, I found it inconsistent to may brain to see a robed monk, sitting on a stone wall - talking on his cell phone. But I guess technology knows no bounds. This is a monk yes, but we are also really in the middle of absolutely nothing else. I hope he gets a good deal on roaming charges :)

We made what turned out to be a wise decision to turn around after we'd gone up and over, to go back up and over from whence we came, but had we not done so, likely would have ended up in the middle of a sparsely-populated area of the island with no street lights and no real idea of which direction to take. As much as we enjoy watching Ray Mears and Bear Grylls documentaries about surviving in the wilderness, we were glad not to have had to put any of what we've learned into practice.

At the end of our three days of car journeys, we were exhausted but it was just the right amount of this kind of holiday and we'd spend the rest of our visit staying local, lazing by the pool and sea and tuning out the world for a bit. Nice.

We made friends with the proprietor (and wife and cousin) of a restaurant we quite enjoyed, called Dejeuner. We found overselves there on several evenings. And they must have liked having us around, too, because they gave us a very nice bottle of wine one evening "on the house." And each time after the first, any single glass of wine was larger and more full than the servings of other patrons. That worked out nicely, didn't it?

Now, there are other proprieters who weren't so keen on us. Not because we'd done anything wrong. But we were not the young, thin, single, barely-dressed young women that they wanted in their clubs. We were old, fat, married, and fully-dressed. No free drinks there, no sir!

Alex, naturally, found a die-hard football fan at a local pub (shock). The owner of Shakespeare's Pub in Limassol is a Chelsea supporter. He did give Alex a bit of grief about his beloved Wycombe Wanderers - but he was respectful. And he *also* gave us some free shots...what kind of impression are we giving these people ?! :) Could be that he wanted to get us too drunk so that we'd continue to pump money into the bar-top trivial pursuit machine. He was entertained, too, by the competitive nature and male/female dynamic that is highlighted when a husband and wife jockey to win.

Now, there was a bit of karoake, but fortunately nothing captured on film (or audio!) Let's just say that we decided not to return to that pub, at least not this time. And we didn't go looking for more, like we did in Portugal :)

We did, however, stay long enough that we were invited by our new friends (including the above-referenced cousin) into the underground disco that opens after the street-level pub must close for the evening. And we stayed for about 4 minutes and realized that we are just way too old (and too fat, and too married and too fully-dressed) for this sort of nonsense of staying out 'til 5 a.m. - and we grabbed some fast food and went to bed.

We also weren't able to capture on film one other thing that I was quite intrigued by, for some reason. Perhaps it is just my love for and healthy fear of the motorcyles. Let me first say that Cypriates are kind of crazy drivers, fast drivers...daring drivers. And it wasn't unusual on any evening on the high street in Limassol, for groups of motorcyles to drive by, all "popping a wheelies" (to nearly a 90-degree angle) - and for some length of time and distance. And sometimes with passengers on the back. I was just fascinated so we tried to capture it, but our luck and timing were just not with us. We did, however, get a great shot of a giant cockroach! Hey, no place in the world is 100% glamorous :)

This is the last of the films from Cyprus.

Cyprus Part 2 of 3 - Lefkosia and Parasailing

We booked ourselves on an organized tour to Nicosia (also known as Lefkosia) - the largest city in Cyprus, and the occupied territory and the border crossing. We weren't terribly impressed with Nicosia, with the exception of the area that is being rehabilited. A beautiful little European town with uneven cobbles with art, jewelry, linen and junk nobody would want. Very nice.

There is plenty of visible evidence of the hostilities in Nicosia. There are bullet holes in the sides of many buildings, some with sections of buildings that have been completely distroyed. Other buildings are abandoned. But there are some beautiful buildings, statues, churches and mosques in Nicosia and parts of the city that are quite pleasant and pretty.

We had a lovely lunch in the restored area of the city (I had a chicken sandwich and chips - that's French fries to us Yanks) and yes,of course, some beer (the local brew is KEO). Gotta love beer on a hot day in Cyprus.

We did venture up to the top of the building which houses Debenham's (a favorite UK department store) to get a good view. You can see quite clearly all around, and you can see where the Turks have painted a large Turkish flag across a forested area.

Crossing the border is quite obvious, at least at this juncture, because you are suddenly surrounded by shops who make fake designer handbags, shoes, belts, clothing, etc. I wasn't tempted. Ok, once, but in Limassol, and I resisted :) We didn't spend too much time on the Turkish side (in Metehan), in part because of the heat and the time limitations we had with an organized tour.

It was a very hot day when we visited, but we did get some good pictures and had an educational and lovely time. The tour guide gave us a lengthy and detailed history of Cyprus, details about the hostilities with the Turks and more. I'm not going to spit it out here. If you're truly interested you should just Google Cyprus and/or Nicosia or Lefkosia and you can read for yourself. But it is interesting.

Given the cost of the tour and the structured nature of such a tour (having to wait for everyone in the group to move on, etc.) we decided to rent a car and explore the island for ourselves. That's the next entry.

But before we decided that, we took a day to sit by the pool and sea and chill. I played with that great DSi to try to train my brain. Keeps me quiet so Alex loves it :) Lots of sunscreen, hats, cover ups and umbrellas.

So I decided to try parasailing - amazing! I was a bit worried that being pulled up on the chute would give me that "stomach in your throat" feeling but it was not like that at all. I was gently let out on the line until I was quite far up and able to see all over the island and the best perspective on the sea which was just so, so blue and beautiful. It was only about twenty minutes, but it was truly breathtaking. I'd definitely like to do that again.