Dear You 11

Here I am writing to you for the first time ever from Nicosia, Cyprus. What do I have to say? Nothing much really. I’m just trying to get back into my beautiful routine; meaning: reading, writing, drinking (not much). So far I’m well into the number one and three parts, and I think I will start writing again soon too. But first of all I have to read again all the short stories I’ve rewritten recently in order to spot any mistakes and thus get my manuscript ready to ship to Greece for yet another rejection by a publisher. Hopefully I’ll be able to do that by Wednesday, by which time, if everything goes well and my muse comes calling back, I will start working on my new novel again.
Now -the other important issue- the weather, is much better than I expected. It’s not as hot for Cyprus standards (currently just 340 C) and the nights remain pleasantly cool.
As for the dilemma I’ve mentioned in my last post I’ve figured that already out since I’ve started reading Michael Connelly’s “The Overlook”.
How about my flights home? Well, they worked quite fine apart from a short delay at Dubai airport, where the authorities for some reason decided to close one of the airstrips and so all the planes had to take off and land at the other one. Dubai is one of the busiest airports in the world and I just wonder what have happened to make them close the strip.
Oh, I’ve almost forgot what happened to me onboard the Cyprus Airways flight. Well, it took me too many tries and a long time to convince the flight attendants that I am a… Cypriot. You see I boarded the plane carrying a big plastic bag full of books in English and because of that they’d never even dare imagine me being a Cypriot. I had to talk to them more than three times in Greek before getting them to finally address me in that language. Well, I guess that’s bound to happen in a country where no-one seems to read.
Ok people, that’s all for today.
Greetings from the land of the sun.

Dear You IV

This is just a short note to let you know that i've just finished the first of the many things that i've set out to do since coming to Chiang Mai; that is: rewriting a collection of my old short stories (33 in total). I can say that i feel quite happy about that, but i really do not know what to do next. I still have a lot of rewriting waiting for me, as well as research for a screenplay, and last but not least lots of translations and a new novel that's right now "cooking" in my head. Oh, well, i guess time will show me the way, as it always does.
As for life here, we do get our portion of heavy rainfall, but not as heavy as one would expect. The city is still peaceful and quiet and almost with no tourists.
That's all for today.

Dear You II

Dear You,
It looks like the rainy season has already arrived here in the north of Thailand. For more than a week we daily get at least one rain shower in Chiang Mai, while the skies are cloudy all the time. However, luckily, we did see a bit of the sun today, but it is a bit windy. If the wind grows any stronger that means that we’ll have rain by tonight.
As for the way of life here, it’s peaceful as ever; more peaceful than ever rather, since the tourist industry, at least in Chiang Mai, has taken a plunge. You don’t see too many “young and restless” people going around anymore, and a number of businesses are facing financial problems. More and more “For Rent” or “For Sale” signs appear by the day.
Of course the Greek restaurant, Zorba’s, managed to go out of business, even before the “crisis” started. “No good food and very expensive” is what people used to say about it. The closing down of that place is such a shame, since many other restaurants that specialize in foreign cuisine, have been doing well over the years.
Talking of food, I can say without any hesitation, that Chiang Mai is a “hungry man’s” paradise. There’s a huge number of Thai or foreign restaurants and fast food franchises here. For some, of course, the best option is to grab a plate of delicious freshly cooked meal at one of the many road food stalls. If you come to this city, you’ll never miss “mama’s cooking”, that’s for sure!
Well, I’m afraid I’ll have to sign off for now, since I’ve still got some work to (yep, boring stuff, like writing and translating), but I promise to write again as soon as possible.
Until then,
Be well and keep smiling