This is my last email from North Cyprus; at least for this visit.  One never knows if we will return.  We certainly made many friends here.  You know you have made friends when you leave tears behind at good-bye.  We should arrive in Israel some time Monday and I’ll email when we have wifi access.  The seas are very calm, wind light, and the Israeli Navy within shouting distance if it should come to that.  But there are no pirates to worry about and that is a bigger relief than you can imagine.  Our time here has flown by much too fast.  In the last few days we’ve made even more friends.  Yesterday Sharman, Sophie and I revisited our Sipahi friend Nadia Yilidiz to bring copies of photos we’d taken our first visit and met her son and his friend.  And I have just gotten to know Angel who works at the Marina MiniMarket.  Such an interesting woman and we’re sailing away before I’ve gotten to know her.  Maybe one day I’ll read one of the books she will write…maybe even in Turkish if I worked at it but hopefully an English translation. 

   We said our good-byes to Heidi and Kalle at their home a few weeks ago.  Thursday at our final (for the time being) DEKS walk, I had to say good-bye to Denise. Rob and Julia, our first friends here in Cyprus came by today to say farewell. And Sharman, Sophie and I went for one last walk around the marina.  Too many good friends to leave. 

     Our friend Eve we will see again in Israel when she goes home. And we will make new friends.  We always make new friends.  It’s just getting harder to say good-bye when we leave.  That too is part of cruising.

So, next email from Israel.

Ru