Mr. Dick returns from abroad

From snorkeling among thousands of tropical fish to helping a goat give birth, the Dick family had quite the trip in Cyprus. 

Math Teacher Mr. Jonathan Dick spent 11 months in Cyprus with his wife and three daughters. They were there from Aug. 10, 2021, to July 5, 2022. 

Mr. Dick’s wife is a math professor at Bucknell University. He explained that she had the opportunity to go to Cyprus through the Fulbright Scholar Program. 

While there, Mr. Dick said he was considered a dependent because he did not have his work visa. He was only allowed to do volunteer work and could not be paid, he added.  

Mr. Dick and his family stayed in the capital city of Nicosia. They stayed in an apartment building, he added.  

Although the whole family went, they had to leave their pets at home. 

“I went because I wanted to be with my family; we didn’t take the dog or cat,” said Mr. Dick. 

He said he enjoyed talking to his neighbors and being close enough to bakeries and shops that they could walk to. However, he did enjoy coming back home and having space again, added Mr. Dick. 

 Mr. Dick said he did a lot of volunteer work while he was in Cyprus. Including volunteering at a sheep and goat dairy farm called Riverland. He added he milked the goats and sheep. 

When Mr. Dick and his family returned, they started raising their own sheep so they could make a specific type of cheese they ate in Cyprus. The cheese is called Halloumi, he said.  

“When you slice halloumi, it grills nicely without melting, and it was something we ate regularly,” Mr. Dick said. 

He also volunteered at a tree planting organization, as well as tutoring students all over the world daily, Mr. Dick added. Because of the time change, he does not tutor them anymore, he added. However, he said some of the kids have stayed in touch with him. 

Mr. Dick wanted to run a race while he was there just for fun, he added. He said that in the beginning, he was around third place and thought it was super easy; however, it did not end that way. 

 The race turned out to be the hardest race of his life, he added. He had to run up and down the Akamas Blossom Trail Run. He said it was in the Akamas National Park located in the northwest peninsula of Cyprus.  

Mr. Dick said his least favorite part was not having a job. He added that his other least favorite part was trying to figure out how to fill all his free time.  

 Mr. Dick said his favorite part of his experience was just being in Cyprus. He said he really enjoyed all of the new experiences like snorkeling and the beaches. He also enjoyed traveling, he added. 

Since flying was so much cheaper than driving, he and his family did a lot of traveling to places like Israel and London, he said.  

Israel was his favorite place they traveled because he said he had never been there before. He added it was really cheap to fly there, but everything else was so expensive, like food and drinks. 

His daughter Claire Dick, an eighth grader at Milton Middle School, said one of her favorite parts were also traveling and being able to experience all the different cultures. She added she really enjoyed snorkeling for the first time.  

“I had never snorkeled before, and I can remember the thrill of being in their world, when the vibrant tropical fish would just swim around me,” Claire said. 

The whole time he was there, Mr. Dick said he did Duolingo, an app that is used to learn and practice languages, every day to try and learn Greek. When he came back he was still not fluent, and his Greek was so bad that people did not want to talk to him in Greek, he said. They just talked to him in English because most people knew English, he added. 

An average day for him was filled with volunteer work, practicing Greek with Duolingo, two or three hours of tutoring, and sometimes helping his kids with homework, Mr. Dick said. 

Mr. Dick added he will definitely travel back to Cyprus, and he would recommend traveling there. He said it helped put some of the stresses of everyday life into perspective. Mr. Dick said he also loved how much time he was able to spend with his family. He got to watch his family get more bold, try new things and be flexible, he added. 

Claire said that she attended an international private English school because she wanted to be with people who also spoke English. There were kids from all over the world in her school she said. According to Claire, there were about 25 kids in seventh grade, and her class only consisted of, eight students. 

“I loved having such a small class, and I got to know those people very well. I made very close friends that I have kept in touch with, and I would say they are one of the best parts,” said Claire.  

Mr. Dick added that being away also helped him remember how much he loves being both a teacher and a coach here in Milton. 

“After eighteen years of being on the job, it was a needed jolt of energy to carry me forward,” said Mr. Dick.