However, if you’re on the go and need a small water bottle, it will typically cost around €0.80, which is about $0.90. (For small purchases like this, the exchange rate doesn't cause the price in dollars to be much more than the price shown on the price tag in euros. However, for bigger purchases, like a month's rent or a used car, these differences can really add up if I don't pay attention to the exchange rate when budgeting my money.)
In Georgia, by contrast, I’ve seen water bottles of that size go for as little as 0.50 GEL ($0.19). This means that a dollar can go a long way in Georgia! Check out the photos to the right to see examples of the prices of various Cypriot and Georgian products at corner stores and vending machines. What would you be willing to pay for drinks and snacks like these?
There's nothing quite like the feeling of successfully preparing your own mouthwatering meal— especially when that meal features new ingredients. I felt like a "real" Cypriot this week when I cooked up a batch of kolokassi for myself. Kolokassi is a traditional root vegetable eaten in Cyprus and better known as "taro" in the United States. Never seen one? Check out the photograph at the right!
I took inspiration from the kolokassi dishes I had eaten at colleagues' homes over the holidays and decided to cook my own. However, as I soon discovered, preparing kolokassi is no easy feat. First, I needed to peel the kolokassi. This required inserting the tip of a knife into the rock-hard exterior and twisting it sideways until a walnut-sized chunk broke off. I repeated this step over and over until the whole kolokassi had been broken into pieces small enough to cook.
