One Awesome Dude

Feliz cumpleaños to Albion Winslow Land, junior, better known as Winz, who turns 15 today.

There is an amusing story connected with the occasion of his birth in Madrid on October 13, 1992: It was Tuesday, Tuesday the 13th.

So what, you say. At least it wasn't Friday the 13th.

Well, it was, sort of. In Spain, you see, those of a superstitious bent are worried about Tuesdays that fall on the 13th, not Fridays.

As it was, Winslow's mum was getting close to being very overdue. We had an appointment with her doctor the previous Friday, and he said it still wasn't quite time. We'd give it the weekend, and then induce labour if he hadn't been born already.

Problem was Monday was a national holiday -- the feast of Spain's patroness, La Virgen del Pilar. So Tuesday was the first opportunity to coax him out.

Naturally, the doctor asked if either of us were superstitious. Our immediate reply, almost in unison, was "no, just do it!"

I doubt there's much danger that Winz will read this, but if he does, I'm in trouble. But since I'm a gambler, I'll add something that will make it even worse if he does.

Okay. So we weren't superstitious. And he was born. And he was healthy. And everything was where it should be and was working.

And he was butt-ugly!

But as you can see, Tuesday the 13th turned out not to be bad luck after all.

He's one fine lookin' boy. And everything is still where it should be.

Happy Birthday, bubba,

Papá

Teeth and Teaching

It occurred to me in replying to a recent email from co-host Ed Pacht that I had never got round to announcing that I did not get the job in Warsaw. That was a great disappointment, but we must roll with punches.

As a result of that, and of other considerations of a more personal nature, I have pretty much decided to stay on in Nicosia for the duration of my career.

One of the reasons for that is that AFP is providing me with new opportunities for short-term travel. More of that below, but let me tell you first of some travel that is going to come out of my pocket.

A week from Sunday, I will fly to Varna, a resort on the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria. I'm not going for sun, sand and sea. I checked the weather forecast for today -- it was raining, and a low of 8 degrees centigrade was expected!

No, I'm going to get my teeth fixed. As tends to happen with people my age, things start falling apart. A bridge needs replacing, as do several crowns, along with heaven knows what other work. The cost of dental care in Cyprus is exorbitant, and I have found a Swiss-owned clinic in Varna, called Dentaprime, that will do the work for less than half the price '' flight and accommodation included.

Street scene in Varna

Hot on the heels of my "dental" holiday I will be heading to Pristina, Kosovo. That´s where AFP comes in. The agency recently launched the AFP Foundation, dedicated to journalism training in the Third World. I will be part of a team spending a month in Pristina working with the future staff of the nascent Kosovo Media Institute.

I will only be there the first two weeks, but that should give me all the taste of wintry weather I´m likely to want for the year, as there is a real prospect of snow there.

During the one weekend I hope to have to myself, I plan to visit the Visoki Decani Serbian Orthodox monastery in western Kosovo.





As it turns out, the prior of the monastery is the brother of a Serbian friend of mine here in Nicosia, and I hope to do a feature on him and his community while having a brief retreat. Sadly, as the result of the ethnic conflict in Kosovo, the monastery has become isolated, and is protected by Italian troops from the UN peacekeeping force. From what I understand, the only safe way in and out, at least for the monks, is in one of those armoured cars.

















But what a joy it must be to be able to worship in a church as beautiful as they have.

Personal announcement

Birth of our grandson

Yesterday, Oct. 3rd, at about 5:30 pm (EST, not Cyprus time, I say, since Albion's island home is the reason our time and date are so far ahead of the Americas), Mrs. Hart and I met our son in law in the lobby of a hospital; he led us to the room where our daughter Hannah had, only forty minutes earlier, given birth to Olafur Ivan Nelson Jr., five lbs, 12 oz. They are both doing very well.
-Grandad Hart

Korespondent w Warszawie

I hope I got the grammar right -- I only started studying Polish about 10 days ago.

But the message should be clear, even to those who know no Polish. AFP recently advertised an opening for an English-language correspondent in Warsaw, and I have applied for the job.

This morning, they published the list of candidates, and my name was the only one on it. In principle, this should mean that I will get the job, though they have been known to readvertise. And even if they do offer me the post, there is still the question of whether the financial package will be sufficient.

I am very excited about the prospect of moving to Warsaw. Our bureau covers not only Poland, but also the neighbouring Baltic republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. While much of the work would be "desking," there would also be the opportunity to get out and about and do some occasional feature stories.

Equally as important, I have come to the conclusion that, after seven years covering the Middle East, my mind and spirit are in need of a change. The endless stream of death and destruction, punctuated by empty talk of peace, has become soul-damaging.

There is, of course, some downside involved in moving. For one, I am very fond of Cyprus and quite content living here. There is also the matter of my teenage children, who are still in school and would remain here. But there are cheap flights available, so I should be able to visit them here, or they visit me in Warsaw, with the prospect of white Christmases an enticing one.

And there is the question of my vocation in Christian ministry, and particularly within the ACC.

I have not previously made any public announcement, but I am pleased to say that the commission on ministry of the Diocese of the UK accepted me as a postulant for Holy Orders. I am now struggling to determine whether I have the necessary resources -- spiritual, mental, physical and financial -- to meet the demanding conditions that have been set before me.

I must confess that I am not encouraged by my initial discernment, but I see no obstacle to doing in Warsaw anything that I might do in Nicosia. Indeed, there is perhaps an even greater harvest awaiting me there.

In the meantime, I shall carry on with The Continuum. Perhaps, in fact, this is the most important ministry I could possibly be doing: I am deeply gratified to have heard from so many people thanking me for creating the blog and commending me for its ministry of communication and reconciliation.

I bid your prayers for me, my family, the ACC and the blog in the days, weeks and months to come.