Saturday February 25, 2005 – The Bachelor

"C" was stateside these past few days to participate in the bachelorette/wedding festivities for our friend Traci. Since “Uncle PwC’s” generosity only goes so far coupled with the shell shock of purchasing a ticket to fly home ($2,000), the decision easy to remain a bachelor in Cyprus was relatively easy. I had a "boys" weekend joining up with Kang and another guy (Steve), whom is yet another “new addition to the Cast of Characters.” He is from England, of course works for PwC, lives in N.Y.C., and is here for a couple weeks. Steve rented a convertible Renault for the weekend so the three of us went cruising around the south west coast of the Island. Upon seeing a car that was both a convertible and an unheard of automatic transmission after a month and a half of “what’s the cheapest you have” rental cars, Kane and I were star struck. Steve, a Quadruple Platinum diamond with two gold stars and an elite cherry on top member of British Airways, Hertz, Budget, Hilton…and work-a-holics anonymous for that matter, quickly put things in perspective because last week he rented a Jaguar. Regardless, Kane and I happily squeezed in and we visited some of the historical spots which Steve, being his first time in Cyprus when he had a weekend where he wasn't working, hadn't seen before. It was a “rerun” for me (same spots we stopped at during our first weekend here), but it was really a fun time.

At a tourist lookout point along the way we came across this camper that had been attached to a big truck chassis - making a big 4x4 looking camper conversion. I struck up a conversation with the German owner (guy in his mid-fifties I'd guess) and he and his wife sold their home, deposited the money in the bank, he built the meaty camper, and for the past year they have been driving around Asia and Far East Europe (China, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Nepal, Russia, All the "Stans" (Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, etc.), Iran, through Turkey, before boarding a ship into Cyprus. Granted "living" in that camper contraption for a year through monsoons, sand storms, bumpy dusty roads, would lead to a serious case of cabin fever. You think after at least 6 months you'd be "OK, seriously I need a real *%#@+#% bed and shower." The wife who was in the passenger seat (window up) the whole time while we were chatting outside looked as though she might be at that point. They're heading towards home (Hamburg) now to visit their grown daughters for a month or so before boarding the camper on a ship to South America where they will spend a year before driving up to North America for another year. I asked the guy if he was keeping a journal or anything; he said “that it was all in his mind.” Hopefully he's keeping notes somewhere because that is one heck of a journey. He said it had been an amazing trip so far, with the most beautiful place being Kyrgyzstan of all places. He hadn't had in problems along the way besides some minor camper repairs - he's a mechanic which would seem to be a requirement for that kind of adventure. I can picture going into some mechanic in Iran for a flat tire, suffering a language barrier, and coming out $3,000 down with a new “flux capacitor”, rustproofing and undercoating.

Steve is a huge rugby fan and he had to see the England/Scotland Eurocup match. We went to this very British sports pub/restaurant full of British fans and had dinner (fish and chips) and watched the game. That sport is nuts, but extremely entertaining to watch once you have a handle on the game. I was like an annoying confused girlfriend asking the rules the whole time (“what just happened,” “why does he have the ball,” “why was there a penalty…”) but we had a great time and I learned quite a bit about the game of rugby. Those guys really get the crap kicked out of them. There are "blood" substitutions so guys can get stitched up and run back in. Before the game, the announcer's were talking about some player on another team that got his two front teeth knocked out in a game last week, went to the hospital, got them rammed back in, and he was back playing in the same game. Just insane…American footballers really are a bunch of ninnies.

Five Caffrey’s Ales later (= two cokes for me), our threesome wandered back to Steve’s hotel bar overlooking the sea to top them off with three gin and tonics (= two sparkling waters for me). The conversation shifted to movies (as Steve is a HUGE cinema fan), and Kane and I were a disappointment in our lack of breadth. Over the next couple hours, through laughs and entertaining stories of Steve’s youth (on the wrong side of the tracks), a hearty homework assignment of movies was compiled. In case you are interested, here’s the "much watch movie " list Steve assigned me (the * indicates watch immediately). Mind you this wasn’t a complete list, but one thrown together late in the evening through a gin/beer/sparkling water and coke haze.

Bonnie and Clyde, The Girl in the Café*, Layer Cake, Snatch, Lock Stock and a Smoking Barrel*, Leon / The Professional, Italian Job, Taking of Pelam 123, Seven Samuri*, The Green Mile, Taxi, Great Escape*, One Who Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest*, Coyote Ugly, The Cooler, Oceans 11 (Original), Guns of Navaroon, Where Eagles Dare, Friday Night Lights, Radio, The Icestorm*, Citizen Kane, Raging Bull, True Romance*, Steve McQueen Movies in General, Cold Mountain, Girl in a Cake, The Inside Man, Syriana, Kingdom of Heaven, Blues Brothers, Boondock Saints*, The Blade Movies, Underworld, Saw and Saw II*, Remake of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Cape Fear, Point Break, Blow, Secret Window, Hotel Rwanda, Hero, Deep Impact, Fight Club, Abyss (uncut), The Commitments, Mr. Holland's Opus, Shine, About a Boy, Love Actually*, Crash*, Phonebooth, Awakenings*, The Sting, Kalifornia, 3 Kings, Boiler Room, The Swimming Pool, Little Voice, Brain Damage (and Prequel)*, Around the World in 80 Days (Original), Raise the Red Lantern