A Matter of Choice

I've had a fantastic response to my plea for stories of pregnancy and birth in Cyprus, and it's been really interesting for me (and hopefully will be to other ex-pats facing the same situation now or later)  Today I'm sharing Sarah's story with you. Like many other ex-pats I've come across she has experienced giving birth in both the General hospital and a private clinic, once again I'm pleased to say that the General wins out! I'll hand you over to my questions and Sarah's answers.... Did you have your baby in a private clinic or in the general hospital?  I have 3 children, all of them born in Cyprus but my first was in the Napa Olympic Clinic (Private) as Paralimni general hospitals maternity ward wasnt open at the time, and it would have meant travelling to Larnaca for all appointments and the birth. Both my 2nd and 3rd children were born at the General hospital with all appointments and scans there too. Although I did pay for the 4...

Since I started my blog I've enjoyed reading many others. Like most people I follow those who I can relate to so since I found Mum Reinvented   I've been a big fan. As a fellow ex-pat Brit we can appreciate how annoying mosquito bites are and how rubbish BBC Entertainment is among other random conversations.  I was very excited when she kindly agreed to guest post for me and can totally agree with her subject. I'll go and be quiet now though as I'm supposed to be having a day off ....... Expat loneliness Something that nearly all expats are likely to feel in their new home country is lonely, regardless of whether they have emigrated alone or with immediate family. Wherever you move you will always be leaving behind friends and family, not to mention a life that despite perhaps you are keen to leave for whatever reason, will no doubt be very much different to the new life you will be entering into. A new country, new language, new culture, new job or possibly ad...

Even before emigrating I have always been interested in other peoples tales of travel and living an Ex-pat lifestyle, so I was very pleased when Cressida from The Book Analyst agreed to write a post about her ex-pat childhood. Out, Down Under, and Back Hi, I’m an ex-expat child – having been brought up in Brussels from aged 2 to 12, before we more or less settled ‘back’ in the UK. The year I turned twelve I went to three different secondary schools in three countries on three different continents in a year.   Actually for most of that year I managed not to be at school at all – sound good?  Not quite so good in reality. The plan was to leave Belgium, where we’d had three consecutive three year postings and return to Australia – as my father was a journalist for the ABC (the Australian version of the BBC).  We packed up the house, let the cat go live on a farm, said tearful farewells to my friends at the big international...

I have discovered that  Circle of Mom s are looking to find the Top 25 Ex-pat Mom blogs and I'd quite like to be included in the list :) I beg  smile sweetly and ask you nicely, my lovely readers to head on over to vote for me here , or to click the badge below (or in the side bar) Voting closes on the 6th June and you can vote once every 24 hours so feel free to get  clicking lots between now and then!

I'm joining in with Kate's Listography again this week, and I must admit I got a bit excited when I saw the topic - Top 5 Pet Hates  but I've been racking my brains for ages and have only come up with 3, I think moving country may have mellowed me out a bit. I asked AJ and even he struggled! 1. Lateness, this is without a doubt my biggest pet hate. If you care about what you are meeting me for, why would you be late???  I don't do late (unless it it something beyond my control, and even then I may have already planned for something to go wrong and can get round it) In fact I hate being late so much that I am usually early, something which would possibly be on my friends list of pet hates! 2. Empty promises, this ranks very close to lateness for me. I hate it when people say they are going to do something and then don't. Time and time again I have heard 'I'll call you / Let's have a group weekend away / We'll definitely come and stay with you / of...

I found a great quote today.... "The grass may be greener on the other side, but you still have to mow it" It's very true, many people move to Cyprus (and other places) thinking that life will be suddenly great, that they will leave all their worries behind and the sun alone will make everything perfect. It is also true that a living in Cyprus doesn't work out for lots of people, I think often for this very reason. I think often people arrive on what they expect to be a permanent holiday, I would imagine that even if you were lucky enough not to have to work and you had the funds to maintain a holiday lifestyle that you would soon tire of it (well maybe not that soon, but eventually!) We never expected to be living like that, we knew with AJ at work and me looking after Leo that it wasn't going to be an option, we have bills to pay, household chores to do and general daily living like anybody else with a mortgage and a 1 year old. We had a month when we...

Our 1st trip to Cyprus was in August 2007, we went on a property viewing trip, 3 days being driven around by a sales rep, It was very helpful as we spent most of the time learning about the different areas and what it was like to live there once we had convinced Kev (our rep) that we were not buying on this trip. By the time we left we had a much clearer idea of what we wanted, and a long list of questions had been answered. When we got home between the four of us we came up with a long list of what the property / properties would need for us to buy them..... for example.. Location to be not too touristy or full of ex-pats only Within walking distance to shop for essentials (Mum doesn't drive!) Near school / nursery (We were thinking ahead!) Near doctors / hopsital Resonably close to the coast Property to have air con and a pool - I've ALWAYS wanted my own pool so there was no way I could be in Cyprus without one! etc etc - there were more but I can't remember the...