The first villa in Protaras was definitely not the nicest we lived in in Cyprus but it had everything we needed and we were happy to finally be living in Protaras. The beach was closer and one of our favourite restaurants, Mojito was 5 minutes walk away. We were closer to Paralimni so the supermarkets were closer too.
It was in more of a tourist area so in the tourist season it was a lot busier and noisier than we were used to but not really bad. That did mean there was a lot more shops and restaurants open which as a plus point.
The money I had from selling the business ran out so we had to budget a bit more as we only had Hales wages coming in but we still had enough to manage ok. We had paid of all of debts we had taken over with us from the UK so luckily we didn’t need to send any more back to the UK which was nice. We were totally debt free for the first time in a lot of years which definitely lifted a lot of weight off our shoulders!
I was starting to get a bit bored so decided to look for a part time job, a bit difficult in a tourist area! I was told by somebody I knew that his girlfriend was setting up a shop doing car rentals, bus trips and boat trips and was looking for a part time helper. It was based in the shop not far from where we were living and even though I had no experience at all she agreed to give me a trial.
I took to the job quite quickly. I think with having had a business where I had to meet customers and tourists gave me a good friendly approachable manner. Wages were rubbish and I was only working a couple of nights each week, but at least I was doing something and I actually enjoyed the job.
During 2012 the guy who bought my pool cleaning business off me told me he was starting up a shop selling pool chemicals and accessories and offered me a part time job. I think it was because of the experience I had with pools so I would be able to help any customers who came in with problems.
Towards the end of 2012 we found out that the villa owner was not extending our rental period, so once again we had to look for a new place to rent! At first we found a not too bad villa back in Ayia Thekla where we had lived till we moved to Protaras, I wasn’t very keen as I had enjoyed living in Protaras and didn’t want to go back to Thekla. I kept scouring rental websites and eventually found a really nice 2 bed bungalow on the outskirts of Protaras, so me and Hales went to look round it and straight away agreed to rent it.
I think that will do for today, I will post photos etc of the bungalow in the next blog.
Rob
My Life and My MS 