Just yesterday I awoke to a light dusting of snow here in my coastal village, and today the distant purple mountains donned snowy caps and rose majestically into the crisp blue sky, trailing billowing locks of snowy clouds.
Between thunderstorms, I saw a small iguana or lizard of some kind that came out to sun itself on the side of my neighbor’s garden wall. I’d never seen one here (or anywhere) before in the wild, so it was quite a treat getting to watch this little Spiderman inch slowly along on its impossibly tiny toes. My backyard is full of less exciting critters, mainly stray cats and snails. With all the rain, the snails seem to have taken up residence in my orange trees in the back yard, playing hide-and-seek with me behind the fruits, just waiting for me to pick them, shells and all—and to yelp with surprise at their unexpected sliminess! There were also snails on my plate at Christmas (yes, escargot is a thing here, only here snails are called τα σαλιγκάρια). And if you count all of the other animals that found their way onto my plate at my Cypriot friends’and colleagues homes over the holidays, then I’d have to add pigs, lambs, chickens, and pigeons (pigeons!)—a whole menagerie, or collection of wild animals—to the list of ones I’ve seen (er, eaten) this week. (Sorry for any vegetarians reading this! Cypriots do love their meats.) But more about the food later!
But how could I forget the coolest animal I saw this week! Spoiler alert: I did not see them on my plate. Instead, I saw them at the Akrotiri Salt Lake. Have you ever heard of a salt lake before? Salt lakes are quite special!
