€1.30 Inflight #82

FALCON INFLIGHT MAGAZINE

THE CLOUD

1/03 – 25/04 2012

INFLIGHT #82

25/04/13 The Cloud

Iasonas Paphitis

Andrea Ellina

Stephanos Jack

Andrew Stylianou

Artemis Loucaidou

Stephanos Marangos

Philip Karageorghis

Yasmine Amr

George Marangos

Journalists:

Lamees Shaban

Natalie Elia

Andrea Ellina

Sub-editors:

Hello Lovelies!

Behold the final issue of the Falcon magazine: “The Cloud”.

The inflight magazine made to unify Falcon and to put you

up in the clouds. ;)

Don’t fret though, because the yearbook is yet to come! :)

So, we’ve had a long and demanding year in order to pre-

sent you with “The Cloud”. However, as cliché as it sounds,

we couldn’t have made it without the following people: Our

awesome journalists for their enthusiastic contribution, creativity and punctuality, our responsi-

ble sub-editors who really helped take some weight off our shoulders by proof reading every

single sentence in The Cloud. (Apologies for forgetting to thank you formally in the previous

issue). Of course, the photographers have made The Cloud much more attractive than we

could have by providing us with their beautiful snaps, so thank you for that guys :) But of

course, for us to have received the best photographs from each event, we must thank the Head

Photographer (you know who you are) and thank you for continuing to work with us for the most

challenging finale for the Press Team; The year book. A big thank you to the Friday Newspaper

Club members for conscientiously coming up with various creative ideas for the paper.

We mustn’t forget to thank the teachers who helped The Cloud come to life: Ms. Ierides, Mrs.

Alexandrou and of course, our backbone, Ms. Georgiou!

Finally, a huge thank you to Andrea Ellina for spending her weekends printing most of the is-

sues and to YOU for buying and acknowledging all of the Press Team’s hard work.

Well that’s it for now, enjoy the rest of the school year, study hard for your exams and see you

all at the graduation ceremony! :)

Lots of love,

Joune & Helena xx

Andrea Alexandrou

Carolina Avraamidou

Seta Kendir

Rawan Magdi

Katie Kapodistria

Tim Ikramov

Cleopatra Pierides

Andrea Argyrou

Eleni Zinga

Photographers:

Andrea Alexandrou

Erina Zannetou

Artemis Loucaidou

Christina Michael

Thanks to Yasmine Amr for the cover design

Of the Issue 4

Presidential Letter 5

Glorious Falcon 6

The Pioneering Games 8

Falcon Flyers! 9

Primary Participates Too! 10

Primary Celebrate Carnival 11

Off to Munich! 12

Getting Ready For More EYP! 14

Euroschola 15

Opening up Falcon! 16

Books, Books and more Books! 17

When in Rome.. 18

Daring DOE 20

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

THE CLOUD PAGE 3

Romeo loves Juliet - OK? 21

Keeping up with the ECO team 22

A Charitable Update 23

Pet Quiz! 24

The Home-Carrying Pet 25

Just what is behind those school locker doors?

26

Weird or What? 27

Homework: Does it drive you 28

Malala Attempts Equality 29

A Chemical Analysis 30

The Secrets of Body Language 31

Best Excuses For… 32

Silent Suffering 33

Decipher the code and win a prize!

For those of you readers who are interested in a challenge, here is a code that can be deciphered by using this term’s issue of “The Cloud”. Think about your answer carefully and, if you think you have found the message, submit

your results to Ms. Georgiou in order to win a Prize!

101010 51116 16413 12511

The Cloud: Competition!

Courtesy of: Phillip Karageorghis

Photo of the issue: Parade Face of the issue: Angela Merkel & Nicos Anastasiades

Film of the issue: The Great Gatsby Animated film of the issue: Epic

Product of the issue: Tickets for.. Word of the issue: Crisis

Song of the issue:

Bastille—Pompeii

Book of the issue:

The Storyteller—Jodie Picoult

Tickets for: The 11

th Falcon School Talent

Show

&

The Falcon School’s drama

club “Romeo and Juliet – OK?”

THE CLOUD PAGE 5

Howdy everyone,

Hope you are all doing great with your life and studies! This is the last time I write to you in “The Cloud”. (The very last letter will be in the Yearbook so get ready and come to the graduation ceremony to collect it!)

During this term, a couple of things happened. Firstly and most importantly: the MOCKS. This is always a difficult period for students because stress levels reach their peak. I am sure that most of us received the marks that we wanted but for the ones that didn’t, there is always a second chance and it is never too late to start from the beginning. There is always room for improvement and remember “Never work hard; Work in-telligently.”

During the half-term, a team of students travelled to Rome and I know that you guys had a wonderful time, eating pasta and gelatos! Lucky you! School trips are always a good excuse to spend a few days with your friends and away from your parents. At the same time, by travelling you learn things that you will remember for the rest of your life. Congratulations also to the teachers for their patience in escorting the students.

During the Falcon School Open Day, a number of our students participated either by introducing the idea behind EYP and their experiences, or by welcoming new parents inside the classrooms. A very big thank you to Marcos Shukuroglou, Tim Ikramov and Panayiotis Souroulas, for contributing with their jazz music. You guys did a great job! :)

Even though we weren’t able to celebrate carnival the right way in school (because of the mocks) I hope that you did enjoy it outside school with your family and friends.

I would like also to congratulate three of our students who went to Munich for EYP accompanied by Mrs. Antoniades. These are Tim Ikramov, Eleana Demosthenous and Panayiotis Papakyprianou. You have to be proud of what you have achieved. They chose you because they knew how capable you are. Don’t stop EYP after this. EYP is a journey that you will cherish. Well done! :)

Moving on, two major events are just around the corner: The play “Romeo loves Juliet-OK?” and of course the Spring Fair.

This year’s 11th Talent Show, which was on the 20th of April, was full of singing and dancing acts. It’s nice to see new faces participating in such events every year because we remind everyone that the Falcon School is full of talented students indeed! Personally, I couldn’t wait for that night to come and experience the magic of our Falconers together. Thanks to our class reps for selling the tickets! They all did an amazing job, not only by selecting the best of the best, but also by helping me put this Talent Show in action. *Big hug and kiss* Thank you

Make sure you all go see this year’s Drama Club’s production, because it will undoubtedly be amazing! The students and teachers in the drama club have worked very hard constructing props, learning lines and fer-vently rehearsing!

And of course we have the Spring Fair. Even though we weren’t able to have our FSL13 BBQ at the begin-ning of the year, we are very thankful to the Parents and Guardian Association that gave us the green light to combine these two events together. Bring all your family and friends because it’s going to be AWESOME: FOOD, GAMES and SHOPPING. Come on...What more do you want?

Many many thanks to Ms. I for her support and guidance. Thanks to Ms. Georgiou for bearing with me and my late submission (concerning the newspaper), and lastly thanks to the Press Team and most importantly thanks to my loves (HELENA AND JOUNE). This year the amount of work you girls did is immeasurable. I am very proud of you and I wish you all the success in your lives. I love you to death! :)

Soooo, here we are now. It’s almost the end. Kind of unbelievable that it’s been almost a year since the very beginning. Thank you for voting for me, thank you for being by my side when I needed you and thanks for the love and support. I hope I didn’t let you down, and good luck to the next president.

Never ever stop dreaming because of the fear that it won’t happen. The thrill of a dream is the fantasy. Once it happens, it is no longer a fantasy, but reality.

YOURS FOREVER ~

EL PRESIDENTE

INFLIGHT #82 PAGE 6

Falcon Glory

When I heard the alarm clock ring on Thursday 28th February I woke up straight away. It was a big day for me and for some other students. We were going to The Grammar School’s Sports Day to compete with other private schools. The Track Team had been practising for weeks, every Friday, for this event and today we had to show everyone what we were working on the past three months.

On our way to Grammar School everyone was talking about what events they would be participating in. Mrs. Elena who came with us, encouraged us to try our best and reassured us that we were going to win and make our school proud. When she was talking there was silence on the bus; everyone was carefully listening to what she was saying, we locked it in our minds. Her words were very helpful and she gave us a lot of l support. Finally, a bus of enthusiastic and anxiety filled Falcon athletes arrived at the Grammar School.

We left our bags on the benches and we all went together to do our stretching. Suddenly, the voice of Grammar School’s headmaster was heard through the speakers asking as politely to go back to sit as the games were starting. We all took deep breaths and wished one another good luck.

Carolina Avraamidou

Stylianos Demosthenous: 1st - 300m Maria Codrou: 1st - Hurdles Stavri Tappaki: 1st - Hurdles

Carolina Avraamidou: 1st - 600m George Demetriades: 1

st - 150m

Constantinos Angkastiniotis: 3rd - High Jump Stephanie Georgiou: 1st- 150m

Maria Shipilli: 3rd- Hurdles

The day passed so beautifully as we were all together fighting to make our school proud. And we did. We have to congratulate:

As we had hoped, the final results were:

1st: Falcon School

2nd: Grammar School

3rd: English School

Well done to everyone for their excellent effort!

A big bravo to all our athletes for doing a great job!

THE CLOUD PAGE 7

INFLIGHT #82 PAGE 8

The Pioneering Pan-Nicosian and Cyprian Games

The Falcon School Representatives:

1) Marina McKinder - Pole vault - 1st at the Pan-Nicosian & Cyprian

2) Stylianos Demosthenous - 300m - 1st at the Pan-Nicosian & Cyprian

3) Maria Codrou - 300m - 8th at the Pan-Cyprian & 3rd at the Pan-Nicosian

4) Phanos Epiphaniou - 200m at the Pan-Nicosian

(qualified for the finals but could not participate due to his injury)

5) Harshit Hemrajani- 800m at the Pan-Nicosian

6) Katerina Evgeniou- Shot at the Pan-Nicosian

7) Andreas Kazamias - 200m at the Pan-Nicosian

8) Chrisostomos Petrou- High Jump at the Pan-Nicosian

As every year, the Falcon never turns down an opportunity to excel physically. Thanks to our

P.E teacher, Mrs. Elena Antoniadou who escorted the Senior Falcon students on 14th and

15th of March to GSP Stadium and then again on the 16th of April to the Pan-Cyprian games.

Marina Mckinder passes to the Pan-Hellenic track and field competition!

GOOD LUCK MARINA!

Falcon Flyers!

Well done to all students, parents and teachers

who participated!

PARTICIPANT PLACE & CATEGORY

Mikaela Michaelidou 3rd

- Female overall

Andrianos Souroullas 2nd

- Male 1-18

Maria Codrou 1st

- Female 1-18

Christina Mackinder 2nd

- Female 1-18

Andrea Argyrou (P6) 3rd

- Female 1-18

Mrs. Nada Panayiotou* 1st

- Women

Mrs. Anastasia Dieti** 2nd

- Women

* mother of Alex and Carlos Panayiotou

**mother of Andrea Argyrou

As every year, on the 25th of March, our school took part in the ‘Strovolos Run’. A route of

6km was run, (or walked), by 72 participants from our school, including: teachers, primary

and secondary students, and relatives winning 7 trophies! Mr. Loukianos, along with a

printed banner saying “Falcon Flyers participating since 1996” gathered everyone at

Acropolis Park at 16:00 for the run to start at 16:30.

Artemis Loucaidou

THE CLOUD PAGE 9

INFLIGHT #82 PAGE 10

Primary Participates Too!

The day was shining brightly as our Primary students from P5 and 6 got ready for the Falcon

School Interschool Sports Day! The Primary Falconers opened their arms to other girls and

boys from neighbouring primary schools for a fun day full of team building and different ac-

tivites. The children were split up into separate teams of boys and girls and each team had

one Falconer responsible for guiding them. Each team had a specific schedule so that they

were able to rotate activities and play all the sports. The sports games included basketball,

football, handball, badminton and tennis. And after all the sweat and play all this kids were

refreshed by cookies, fruit and drink from the Canteen. Not that any of the kids minded the

hot weather as they were too busy making new friends! Overall, the primary schools, along

with our own, were able to interact and play familiar sports as well as learn new skills, make

new friends and had a great day!

Andrea Alexandrou

THE CLOUD PAGE 11

It’s Carnival Time!

On Friday, the 1st March 2013, the Primary students came to school with either funky, scary or funny costumes to celebrate Carnival. Eve-ryone looked great!

As soon as we arrived at school, we unpacked, settled down and waited patiently until it was time for the “Carnival Parade”. There, each class got up and stood in front of the rest of the students and an-nounced what they were. Even a few the teachers were dressed up. For example, Madame Ioannou was dressed up as a hippy and Mrs Kirrane was dressed up as “Little Miss Sunshine”.

Now, speaking of Madame Ioannou, I’d like to tell you that most of the French students went to the kitchen and were taught how to make deli-cious, French pancakes. What fun! Also, while we were doing that, we would hold a coin in one hand and flip the pancake in the air and see how much luck they had. It was wonderful.

Even though there was a celebrational splendour, there were still les-sons on this day of fun and happiness but they weren’t that important!

Andrea Argyrou P6

Carnival at the Falcon School:

On Sunday the 10th of March, the Aglantzia Carnival Parade was held at 11 o’ clock in the morning. All the children were allowed to come dressed in their costumes to have lots of fun! The Falcon School par-ticipated too. We were number 35 and we held a beautiful Falcon School Banner made by the FSPGA.

The atmosphere was beautiful. We felt so excited and we could hear

laughing and see people in funny costumes! We were so excited that

people were going to come to see us walking and dancing in our cos-

tumes with huge smiles on our faces! It was a beautiful experience!

Next year we will design a beautiful cart and take our school drums

too!

Cleopatra Pierides P6

Aglantzia Carnival Parade:

THE CLOUD PAGE 12

Off to Munich!

The Falcon School is proud to have three of its very own students, Panayiotis

Papakyprianou, Tim Ikramov and Eleana Demosthenous, involved in

the International European Youth Parliament which took place in Munich, Germany

from 5-14th of April. We managed to get some insight on these delegates’ thoughts

before they set off on their exciting journey…

Panayiotis Papakyprianou So far? I'd say EYP has its fun moments dur-ing debating, and I've met some cool people at the sessions.

Tim Ikramov Interesting. Firstly, I got into the Nationals by a stroke of luck when someone from our team couldn't make it and so the runner up (me) was sent in. At the Nationals, I met people with whom I still maintain very close connec-tions and since then EYP has made me feel as if I'm part of something big.

Eleana Demosthenous EYP has been really fun for me, but I think that the upcoming trip to Munich will be the icing on the cake.

What are you most looking forward to during your session in Munich?

Panayiotis Papakyprianou Ah, Germany: land of beer and sausages. Friends of mine who come back from international sessions always tell me the parties were great.

Tim Ikramov Where to start? EYP is filled with so many possibili-ties. Obviously, I'm looking forward to parties and the Euroconcert but perhaps I'm most eager to meet, live and do all sorts of crazy stuff with my committee members for 10 days and actually get to know them.

Eleana Demosthenous I am going to be honest and say that even though I cannot wait for the intense debates what is on my mind is partying with the Germans, as they are really famous for having fun.

Yasmine Amr

How has your EYP experience been so far?

Which committee are you in?

Panayiotis Papakyprianou My committee for the Munich International Session is ITRE - the Committee for Industry, Research and En-ergy. I picked it because I like talking about Econom-ics.

Tim Ikramov Out of the six committees our school received I picked ENVI which is an environmental committee. The topic I will have to tackle is actually quite important for Cy-prus, as it deals with water policies.

Eleana Demosthenous My committee is SEDE, Security and Defense and my topic is about peacekeeping outside the EU boarders.

What do you find to be the biggest challenge?

Panayiotis Papakyprianou I've been told people at international sessions tend to be these people who pump themselves with ob-scene amounts of knowledge to the extent that they make you feel insignificant every time they talk. That may be a blow to my huge ego.

Tim Ikramov Besides staying awake? It's hard to say. It's diffi-cult to get in sync with your committee members and if that doesn't happen, the whole session is a challenge. If we do sync ,then the only challenge will be to get the whole General Assembly to vote for our resolution.

Eleana Demosthenous Getting lost in the city and having to communicate for directions in German. I can hardly do that in Cyprus.

A big thank you to Mrs. Antoniades for escorting our students to Munich

and well done to our former student Arriana Yiallourides for being a journalist at the session!

THE CLOUD PAGE 13

INFLIGHT #82 PAGE 14

Excited for EYP!

EYP has seen Falcon students' participation from its very beginning in Cyprus seven years ago. This

year being no different. Students from approximately thirty-four different European countries take part

in this national simulation which engages them in social, political and economic thinking and debating,

proving to be an essential tool in aiding the younger generation to become aware, and have ideas,

concerning current issues. So, how was our school so far involved with EYP? What exactly is the dif-

ference between the EYP Pre-Selections and the EYP National Session? Truthfully, I just figured it out

myself.

The EYP Pre-Selections involve a group of students representing their school to form their own

committee (not to mention resolution!). In our school, there were two rounds of selection to finally

choose the top six students who would form our committee. First, there was a round where a group

of students from the fourth and fifth forms gave speeches about refugee policies in Europe; a pre-

set topic, with plenty of time to formulate a speech. After being evaluated by specific teachers, a

smaller number of students were chosen, who would then have to survive an on-the-spot interview

at a later date. It was from this, that six students were chosen: Marios Santis, Sarah John,

Kyprianos Spyrou, Anastasia Mouskou, Nicholas Zingas and Fania Christodoulides.

So, the school's delegates were chosen, and the committee we were assigned to was ENVI -

The Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety. Additionally, a topic was provided to

each committee, ours being on environmental sustainability with regards to the economic crisis. On this

topic, a resolution was to be formed. For us, the main resolution writing had to be done on the morning

of a holiday; although 10:00 a.m was not terrible, some had difficulty dragging themselves out of bed.

However, with Ms. Savvidou's and Ms. Georgiou's assistance (and delicious cupcakes!) the resolution

was created, which will be debated and discussed on the 21st of April amongst other schools and com-

mittees from around the island.

The Pre-Selection Day on the 21st will take up the whole day, from approximately 8 a.m to 7 p.m, as

resolutions will be debated. Needless to say, formal attire and behaviour is an absolute necessity, and the

Falcon always succeeds in this field with flying colours. The EYP Pre-Selections consists of 26 schools,

of which 16 of the 'best' ones are chosen by specialised and professional staff, based on skill, content

and in most cases, impressive effort and enthusiasm. These schools are then chosen to go to the EYP

National Session, which will take place from the 29th of August to the 1st of September. If once there you

are spotted as an exceptional talent you represent not only your school, but Cyprus at an International

EYP Conference!

Hopefully, Falcon's delegation this year will stand out and carve themselves into memorable EYP history, like many in the past have done. A calm head (preferably brimming with knowledge), confidence and determination to shine bright this year will be needed by these six delegates who should not put anything past themselves; after all, they weren't cho-sen to represent The Falcon School for nothing!

Sarah John

THE CLOUD PAGE 15

Euroscola is a program organised by the European Parliament a number of times throughout

the year, bringing together over 500 young delegates from all of the E.U. member states to dis-

cuss the development and future of Europe.

Along with 24 other students from different schools across

Nicosia and Limassol, I recently represented Cyprus at the

prestigious Euroscola program which was held at the Euro-

pean Parliament in Strasbourg.

On arriving at the imposing building, all the students and

teachers were treated to breakfast, and shortly after shown

to the Hemicycle, where we were welcomed and students

from each delegation introduced their country and school.

Following each country’s presentation, the participants were given the chance to ask MEPs questions (in several lan-guages, luckily we had instant translations), which ranged from the financial crisis to their views on climate change and Global warming. These discussions were very interest-ing and many young people were able to truly show how passionate they were about the future of their country.

After lunch, everyone was invited to participate in the Euro-

Quiz, where each team was comprised of delegates of all

different nationalities. The questions that we had to answer

were in different languages. This helped everyone over-

come the language barrier and talk to other teenagers from

all over Europe.

Depending on each participant’s theme, we were split into six smaller Commissions, where we had several heated discussions and wrote a resolution. Ready for the great debate, we all returned to the Chamber for the plenary session.

At the end of each debate, all delegates voted, through an electronic voting system normally

used by actual MEPs, to determine whether the policies brought forward by the various

groups should be adopted. The anthem of the European Union was then played, signalling

the end of a truly unique experience.

We felt privileged to have been able to experience such an amazing event and

it has made us aware of the topical EU political issues and the future of the EU.

We thoroughly enjoyed the rest of our trip in Strasbourg and would definitely

recommend this programme to anyone who is interested in politics!

Euroschola! Rawan Magdi

THE CLOUD PAGE 16

On Friday the 22nd of February, our school welcomed parents and students interested in

joining our Falcon family. Teachers and students put in a lot of work to make this day

successful and provide guests with all the information they needed about the school

such as the lessons and the activities. The work of our students was on display which

included exemplary History and Geography projects, live Greek music, some entertain-

ing drama clips in the Literature room, try out experiments in the Science laboratories

and some admirable works of art.

Opening up Falcon

After an hour of looking around, the guests were shown to

the ballet room, where our headmasters, Mr.Balkwil and

Dr.Hadjivarnava, welcomed our guests. Panayiotis, Tim

and Marcos performed some music pieces on the saxo-

phone and the piano, relaxing the atmosphere and some

1st and 7th formers talked about their experiences at

school. The evening ended at the school’s cafeteria where

everyone enjoyed snacks and drinks, next to the lit up

school swimming pool!

Artemis Loucaidou

Books and Books!

This year, the Falcon School upheld one of its most popular traditions; the celebration of World Book Day. We did this by, once again, inviting the Academic and General Book-shop of Larnaca to display their collection at our school, allowing students to buy all sorts of books. Overall, the event was a huge success and many books were sold.

The stand was up for three days, and a large assortment of books was available for

sale. From action-packed spy novels to cookbooks, the stand had an amazing

amount of choices for readers. The whole event’s purpose was to encourage stu-

dents to read more books, which is becoming a larger issue since other forms of me-

dia have come to replace them.

I had the chance to ask some questions of the people from the

bookshop about the event. I asked about whether our school

had a large number of readers, and if so, what kind of books did

they read? “Yes, I would say that the Falcon School is actually

one of the best schools when it comes to reading,” replied one

of the women operating the store. “We go to a lot of schools all

over Cyprus and the Falcon School is one of the best.” Another

man behind the counter also added, “Yes, they are very good.

They mostly read fiction, but there is a good range of fiction gen-

res which students read.”

I also had the opportunity to ask about the competition which they

had done for a prize of vouchers from the bookstore. “The pri-

mary children had all written book reports on leaves and we at-

tached them all to a tree,” said a woman in charge of the store.

“We were going to pick a few at random, but as we were in the

process of moving the tree, several fell off and we decided that

those would be the winners.”

All in all, the whole event seems

like it was a great success, and

I’m sure that we are all looking

forward to seeing them again next

year.

Stephanos Jack

The Falcon also created and published its own family recipes cook-book in celebration of World Book Day where students, teachers and parents contributed much loved recipes.

THE CLOUD PAGE 17

INFLIGHT #82 P AGE 18 INFLIGHT #82 PAGE 18

Rome Sweet Rome

As I’m sure you already know, every year the Falcon School organises a school trip to a

European city. This year the secondary students embarked on a Roman adventure, alongside

Mrs. Rodami and Mr. Tziapouras, and guided by a member of the travel agency.

Even though we were tired after our morning flight, we kick started the trip with a three hour

tour of the center of Rome. On this tour we had the pleasure of tossing a coin in the iconic

Trevi fountain and we even visited the Pantheon, which nowadays is a Catholic church.

But this was just a small taste of the rich Roman history that we would experience on this

trip!

On the following day, we saw many more Roman ruins, including those surrounding

the Roman Forum. Even though it started as a marketplace, this ancient rectangu-

lar forum quickly became the center of Roman life. Later, we got to see the great

Circus Maximus, where the chariot races were held.

Stephanos Jack

“This magnificent

structure [the

Colosseum] didn’t fail

to blow us away.”

THE C LOUD P AGE 19 THE CLOUD PAGE 19

On the final day, we went to visit Pompeii and Naples. Naples isn’t as modern as Rome, but it provided us with a more authentic taste of the Italian culture than the bustling tourist center of the Italian capital. Pompeii was also brilliant. Since it was covered in volcanic ash for thousands of years, it is still perfectly preserved and really gives an insight on what ancient Roman life was like.

So how can you top all of that off? Well, with the Colosseum, of course. This magnificent

structure didn’t fail to blow us away. There was something about its grandeur that you don’t

see in modern buildings anymore. It was used for gladiator battles in ancient Rome and it

could host about fifty thousand people. In addition, we also got to see multiple Roman arches

and the palace of a Roman Emperor. The visit to Hadrian’s villa and the splendid Tivoli gar-

dens, on the following day, was also very enjoyable. After that, we went to the largest mall in

Rome, the Euroma Mall. While it may not seem large to any who have seen malls in Dubai, it

is still quite large compared to our humble Mall Of Cyprus.

Our Roman holiday exceeded our own expectations. We even got to see the cockpit on

the plane back! The enjoyable moments we all shared will be treasured for the years to

come. It was an amazing experience in one of the most famous cities in the world.

“It was an amazing

experience in one of

the most famous cities

in the world.”

INFLIGHT #82 PAGE 20

Silver Times in Akamas

‘THE THINGS’, ‘ANONYMOUS’, and ‘YOLOST’ had a great time, experiencing something new, meeting new people (... and animals), walking in the beautiful area of Akamas. Let’s see…

30/03/13, 05:30 - Wake Up, get ready. Your toothbrush and toothpaste is in the rucksack. Go.

30/03/13, 06:47 – (Sitting on the bus) Sleep? Yes? Maybe? No. Excitement Level: Too High.

30/03/13, 10:20 – Take a look at watch. Setting off for Checkpoint 1.

30/03/13, app. 17:00. – At last, Campsite. Another two days? Lol.

31/03/13, 06:32 –Waking up during the night for the18th time!

31/03/13, app. 11:00 – Some goats lying in the middle of the road. Hmm….

31/03/13, app. 18:00 – Set up the tent before it gets dark.

31/03/13, 21:04- Pot Noodles; Yumm …

01/04/13, 06:26 – Last Day. Get everything sorted, setting off early.

01/04/13, 13:12 – Walking by the sea. Last few hours. It wasn’t bad, not at all, was it?

01/04/13, app. 15:00 – Checkpoint 7. Last one of the whole expedition. Let’s rush to the finish line. (Singing)

01/04/13, app. 15:17 – 55-60 km covered. Done. Like. What? Heck yerrr.

01/04/13, app. 19:00 – Nicosia. At last, I’m gonna miss this. I will.

P.S. Think about what you’re going to do about your feet and put the alarm on- School tomorrow!

Well, these were some SILVER moments in Akamas.

Iasonas Paphitis

In over 140 countries around the world, -mostly- teenagers participate in the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award scheme, a.k.a. D.O.E. There are three different awards: Bronze, Silver, and Gold, amongst which Gold is the most challenging and most time-consuming. In order to com-plete the course of any award, participants are required to carry out different activities, such as volunteering services, physical activities, and development of their skills. However, the most ex-citing part of D.O.E. is the Qualifying Expedition, which can be simply rephrased as ‘The Big Hike’.Dozens of Falcon students completed the scheme: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. A group of them, consisting of three teams, went on their Silver Qualifying Expedition on the 30th Of March, in Akamas, Paphos, and all of them successfully (and thankfully) returned on the 1st of April.

THE CLOUD PAGE 21

ROMEO LOVES JULIET - OK?

Our school's drama club has been working hard over the last few months to put together the most anticipated play yet! Set in modern-day Italy, the story puts a contemporary twist to Shakespeare's most famous love story. "It is definitely something the school hasn't seen before, and we cannot wait to show everyone what we've been working so hard on," one enthusiastic actor said. As the year winds down, exams just around the corner and the summer holidays on the horizon, "Romeo Loves Juliet - OK?", set to be presented on the 25th April, will be a rewarding and enjoyable spectacle, both for the actors and the audience. Break a leg!

Katie Kapodistria

The Falcon School Eco Team visited ‘Cans for Kids’ once again, in an effort to enrich the pediatric section of Makarios Hospital and contribute in preserving the environ-ment clean.

In these rather hard times, any help from volunteers is much appreciated, considering that such activities support the only big pe-diatric hospital in our country.

Make an effort for our community!

This year the Eco community of our school has proudly sponsored the Donkey Sanctuary in Vouni once more, where abandoned donkeys from all over Cyprus are rescued.

As always our school has sponsored Hercules, our “adopted” donkey and two more donkeys providing them with food for one year.

Our remaining Sponsor money was

sent to Care for the Wild Interna-

tional.

By: Stefanos Marangos

By: George Marangos

Like every school year, our school has collected money for the

Christodoula March, which is held by the Anticancer Society

The Tale of Christodoula:

Christodoula is a tragic figure that lived in Cyprus during the war of 1974. She did not only have to face the consequences of war but was also unlucky enough to be diagnosed with cancer. In Famagusta, medical assistance was mostly provided for the wounded soldiers, so she decided to walk by herself to go to a hospital in Nicosia. Christodoula died on her way, under an or-ange tree. The Anticancer Society has been organizing for many years the event inspired by Christodoula, named Christodoula's March, as a reminder of her solitary path to death.

All the charity reps have been selling tick-ets for the Cyprus Kidney Association. This year is the 21st annual event and the money collected will be spent for people who have kidney failures. Dr. Alkis Pierides took the initiative to cre-

ate the Association in 1984. The Associa-

tion’s main goal is to improve the quality of

life of the Cypriot nephropathics.

We strongly encourage the stu-

dents of Falcon to be generous

once again in order to collect a

considerable large sum of

money, as we always did in

previous years.

INFLIGHT #82 PAGE 24

Can you love your pet too much?

Do you really

love your pet? Has your pet ever had

a profile on any social

networks? (Facebook

etc)

Do you give your

pet a bath, even if it

hates water?

Do you take your

pet to the salon for

professional

grooming?

Would you

care if your

pet died?

Is your pet closer to

you than your sib-

ling / other family

member?

Does your pet have

its own bulging

wardrobe?

Does your pet have

a comfy sleeping

arrangement?

Do you prefer animals

over people?

Do you have

loads of pets?

Do you hit your

pet when it’s

being naughty?

Right now, is your

pet’s food in stock? Do you usually take

them with you on

holidays abroad?

Do you spend

money on your

pet’s healthcare?

Would you kill for

your pet?

Is your pet al-

ways on your

mind?

Have you tried

teaching your pet

to speak?

Your irresistibly cute pet is be-

coming more and more like an

actual person in your life, and

you might just be taking obses-

sion to a whole new level. Give

the poor soul some space to

breathe; maybe you’ll find more

leisure activities yourself!

Good news, you love

your pet a lot but not

too much! You’ve got a

healthy relationship,

with just about the per-

fect levels of care and

affection. Keep it up!

Are you sure you’re up for

the challenges of being a

pet owner? Try and give

your pet some more atten-

tion, it may not speak, but

it has its needs! It’s not so

difficult, just put in some

effort and your life, as well

as your pet’s will be more

enjoyable.

Y

N

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y Y

Y

Y

Y Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

N

N

N

N

N

N

N

N

N

N

N

N

N

N

N

Rawan Magdi

THE CLOUD PAGE 25

Weird Pets: The Home-Carrying Pet

Dogs, cats and hamsters have long been the ultimate choices for pets. Some people even have giraffes and hippopotami as pets, but even though that might seem odd it is not as unusual as choosing a snail as a pet. Only a unique girl like Mikaela Michaelidou 7B could have chosen such an extraordinary pet.

What inspired you to get pet snails?

I always thought they were interesting, carrying their home around like a man in a caravan going around the world (garden), and I wanted to explore their world.

For how long have you kept them? Did you give them names?

I've kept snails since I was 6 years old and raised many generations of them. Instead of giving them names, I usually give them numbers which I write on their shells :p On some special occasions I even gave them names.

How do you care for them?

I keep them in an aquarium filled with soil and some vegetation. They eat everything!!! Once they even ate bits of my school papers, but it would have sounded strange to go up to a teacher and say ' Sorry miss, my snails ate my homework!’ But I do try my best to keep their diet limited to vegetables and bread.

What makes snails the ideal pets for you?

Besides being interesting, cute and unique as a pet, they are quiet, they don't need a bath, they don't need a walk, they don't need a litterbox and most importantly, they don't leave hair everywhere!

Would you advise other people to get snail pets?

Only if they are willing to take care of them and love them! Because joking aside, they do need to be taken care of.

How do people react when they find out that you have pet snails?

Reactions range from 'How cute!' to 'Ewwwww! That's disgusting!' to 'Let's cook them!'

Do you have plans for any more weird pets in the future?

Yes of course! But first I plan on getting some Giant African Snails which grow up to be the size of your hand!

Andrea Ellina

INFLIGHT #82 PAGE 26

Just what is behind those school locker doors?

Andrea Ellina

Have you ever been inside a school locker? Not all of the lockers in our school are the same size, but some are large enough for a person to fit into. Lockers though are clearly not used for sitting, but rather for storage. We all have a magic hat of our own, where one can pull out anything at anytime. Even though most of the female population that magic hat takes the form of a stylish bag, many students have various kinds of weird stuff in their locker.

Covering your locker with posters and photos is something commonly done nowadays. It is a sim-ple way to personalize your locker, which in a way is your own private space in school. But post-ers and books are not the only things that one can find in the locker of a secondary school stu-dent. Even though, most of the Falcon School students wouldn’t admit to having anything weird in their locker (It is kind of personal after all), throughout the years I have discovered that people keep in their lockers various curiosities ranging from mirrors and shoes to toilet paper, heart rate monitors and even hangers to hang their school uniform. Some cats also find, occasionally, a temporary place of residence in some of the abandoned lockers.

Lockers seem to have an affinity for curiosities, as there seem to be weird discoveries all around the world. Nobody would consider opening a locker as a lethal act, yet for a custodian in Massa-chusetts (US) it proved to be quite dangerous as what he discovered a ball python. This was only one of the many cases of animal invasions in school lockers. Another such case, took place in Jakarta, where many bats found refuge in a school locker at night.

As well as wildlife, there are some things though which definitely do not belong in a school locker.

Classmates- Even though as mentioned before we might fit in them, a small dark place is an un-pleasant place for a student to be.

Last week’s sandwich/snack - An unpleasant foul smell will gradually develop, which will attract many of our unwelcome insect friends.

Underwear- Even though it might be clean, trying to get your books and having your briefs fall out is something very embarrassing.

Trash- There is a huge difference between bins and lockers. One of them is that you willingly place your private property and your hands in your locker. Also, at the end of the year it will be easier to clean out if it is already clean.

The trickiest part of having a locker is not los-ing the key of the lock. Other than that, being able to have a personal space in school, no matter how small, is considered a privilege. For better or for worse though, when you hear noises coming from inside the locker, seek help.

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Weird or What?

Andrea Ellina

What can be described as weird? It is a word most commonly used as an insult, but rather surprisingly, according to the dictionary being weird means being ‘odd’, ‘fantastic’ or even ‘magical’. We always try to become one of the many in the crowd, yet throughout the years there are those who have the courage to introduce something ‘weird’ into their lives. Yet, you have to wonder sometimes, why do we condemn words such as ‘weird’ or ‘odd’, yet we embrace oth-ers such as ‘unique’, which have the same meaning? Is it the word itself, which is condemning, or is it the abuse of it? Whichever the case, the word ‘weird’ is twisted daily into many forms, in an attempt to create something more special. Following are some of the most recent oddities in the world.

Trompe-l’oeil

This phrase literally translates from French ‘deceives the eye’.

It is a kind of art, which creates optical illusions by causing

two-dimensional objects to undergo a three-dimensional meta-

morphosis in the eye of the viewer. Many artists like Kurt Wen-

ner and Edgar Müller create magnificent street art, which blurs

the border between reality and imagination. There is also an-

other type of trompe-l’oeil art, which deals with sculptures be-

ing deceitful of their real identity and material. Tom Eckert is

one such sculptor, who states that since he was a child he had

been ‘curious about and amused by mistaken impressions of

reality presented as part of [his] visual experience’. The follow-

ing picture shows one of his works made out completely out of

wood like all of his sculptures.

Learning foreign languages:

An elephant learns how to speak human!

Koshik, an elephant living in the Everland Zoo (South Korea)

has undertaken the task of learning human, specifically Ko-

rean. The elephant manages to imitate the human voice by

putting his trunk in his mouth. So far, his vocabulary consists

of the words “annyong” (hello), “aniya” (no), “anja” (sit

down), and “choah” (good).

Vamp-ing it up What if I were to tell you that vampires really do exist? Weird right?

Locals in the Serbian town Zarožje do believe so though. After the

old mill that was considered to be the residence of the local

vampire, Sava Savanovic, collapsed, the town council is-

sued a public health warning that he may be on the prowl.

The residents took all the well-known anti-vampire precau-

tions, including hanging garlic outside their doors and hiding

wooden sticks beneath their pillows. Quite curiously, in Sozopol

(Bulgaria), the skeleton of a man that had been stabbed through

the heart with an iron rod and had his teeth removed, had also

been discovered recently. This may not be proof of the existence

of vampires, but it may hint that the belief of their existence goes as

back as the 1300s. Right: Sava Savanovic the vampire, of Serbian folklore- Needless to

say he does not glow in sunlight

The weird picture:

Two year-old chimpanzee Do Do bottle feeds milk to

Aorn, a 60-day-old tiger cub, at the Samut Prakan

Crocodile Farm and Zoo on the outskirts of Bangkok.

INFLIGHT #82 PAGE 28

Homework: Does it drive you mad?

Abundance of homework assignments have been known to cause serious mental issues amongst students such as depression and even anorexia. Why are teachers in favour of

homework if it can potentially harm a student's health?

"The essay is due in TOMORROW" is probably the phrase with which every student's nightmares begin. Homework can be classified as perhaps the largest cause for stress in an average student, but as well as stress it has many other, more serious effects. Recent surveys have shown that almost 20% of high school students suffer from insomnia which is caused by excessive pressure from assignments, and an even larger percentage of teenagers suffer from serious mental conditions such as depression and anorexia. However, homework is designed to help teachers and students 'communicate' and at the end of the day, it's thanks to that extra 10 minutes you spent on your last Physics homework that got you a good grade in the exam. The question is: Is homework more harmful or helpful to us?

Firstly, homework definitely causes many students to stay up late. The psychological pressure of "I have to finish this essay, but I also have to get enough sleep" often rips students apart. Many have found that they were caught between getting enough sleep and not finishing their work, or finishing their work but not getting the required amount of sleep on a regular basis. Both situations cause a large amount of stress, but the latter also begins to have a direct effect on stu-dents' sleeping patterns i.e. as someone constantly gives up their sleeping time for homework, they gradually become Chronic Insomniacs as stress levels rise and their bodies, though sleep deprived, just don't want to fall asleep.

Another thing that too much stress and lack of sleep can lead to is depression, which is a serious psychological disor-der. Depression may cause poor eating habits and a student's efficiency in school will plummet, not only because the student is too tired but because he/she sees no reason to bother with school anymore.

Despite this, however, teachers will say that homework was never meant to turn kids into zombies and instead (believe it or not), is there to help us in our school career. First of all, our main aim is to get better at whatever subjects we do in school, but the teachers have to monitor our progress in order to make judgments on how to help us further. The only two ways they can do this are with tests and homework. Surely we prefer "essay due tomorrow" than "test to-morrow".

Another point is that if we didn't get homework, we would have had to spend much greater periods of time in class. Why? Because it is like a 'reboot' for all the material a student picked up in class that day. As we practice solving exer-cises at home, our brains slowly integrate the method, similar to learning how to ride a bike, so when it comes to study-ing for exams we don't require as much time to remember the topic as if we hadn't done the homework, and that defi-nitely saves a lot of stress! If we were to learn the material as well but without homework, our school days would have been much longer than 5 hours on average and our stress levels wouldn't be any lower either.

So then why do so many teenagers suffer from homework 'overload'? Two reasons: Some teachers really do go over-board and load students with unnecessary amounts of assignments, however not a very common case in Cyprus. The other reason is because students have a poor sense of time management. Naturally for teens, we don't pay very close attention to schedule planning and all of that adult business, so when we get a decent amount of homework, we often leave it until the last minute to do, which makes it seem like there's so much. Add to that extra curriculum activities and it feels like the world's about to end. Most teens that have suffered at the hands of homework were proven to have very poor time management skills; so overall, the lesson to be learned is that as we progress through school and the work-load gets larger, we have to begin to prioritise and organise our lives in such a way that we find time to relax and work, in order to get the most out of the two.

Tim Ikramov

Why Didn't You Study? A year has 365 days in order for you to study. After taking away 52 sundays, there are only 313 days left. There are 50 days in the sum-mer, in which it is way too hot to work, so there are only 263 days left. We sleep 8 hours a day. In a year, that counts up to 122 days, so now we are left with126 days. We spend 2 hours eating each day. 30 days are used in this way in the year. We spend 1 hour a day speaking to friends and family, which takes up 15 days in a year, and so we are left with 81 days. Exams and tests take up at least 35 days, hence we are left with 46 days. Taking off approximately 40 days of holidays, we're left with 6 days. Say, you are sick for a minimum of 3 days, you're left with 3 days of the year to study. Let's say you only go out for 2 days...You're left with 1 day. But that 1 day is your birthday. Courtesy of: Nefeli Kolovopoulos

Malala Attempts Equality

The entire population of the globe was shocked at, but also touched by the story of Malala Yousafzai; a Paki-stani Girl who was shot by the Tali-ban for going to school.

At a very young age she seemed to present a remarkable talent in poli-tics; so in 2009 at the age of 11 Malala wrote an anonymous blog pre-senting the harshness of her life un-der Taliban rule as well as encourag-ing girls to continue schooling.

Malala was awarded the “National Youth Prize” and the “Simone de Beauvoir Prize” as well as being the youngest nominee for a Nobel Prize.

A book called “I am Malala” will soon be published in a deal of £2 million, narrating her traumatic life in Pakistan.

Malala’s message in her book is: 'I hope this book will reach people around the world, so they real-ise how difficult it is for some children to get ac-

cess to education.'

This is the story of a brave girl who jeopardized her

life for the simple right of an education, something we

tend to take for granted sometimes.

THE CLOUD PAGE 29

Stephanos Marangos

On the 9th of October 2012, Malala

was shot in the head and neck, by Taliban members stating "The attack was a warning to all youngsters in the area that they would be targeted if they followed her example." They threatened to shoot her again if she survived.

After a long surgical operation Malala

managed to fully recover.

The Taliban banned schooling for girls, destroying the female

schools all over Pakistan, threat-ening to abduct or shoot girls

who opposed their instructions.

INFLIGHT #82 PAGE 30

A Chemical Analysis

ELEMENT: Girls

SYMBOL: Gi

DISCOVERER: Adam

ATOMIC MASS: Known to vary

OCCURRENCES: Plenty in all urban areas

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES:

1. Boils at nothing; freezes without known reason. 2. Melts if given special treatment. 3. Bitter if incorrectly used.

CHEMICAL PROPERTIES:

1. Has great affinity for gold, silver, and a range of precious stones. 2. Absorbs great quantities of expensive substances. 3. May explode spontaneously without prior warning and for no known reason. 4. Most powerful money reducing agent known to man.

TESTS:

1. Pure specimen turns rosy pink when discovered in the natural state. 2. Turns green when placed beside a bet-ter specimen.

HAZARDS:

1. Highly dangerous except in experi-

enced hands.

2. Illegal to possess more than one, al-

though several can be maintained as long

as specimens do not meet.

Rawan Magdi

And now, what they say, and what they really mean…The Truth

Revealed:

The same old thing. Nothing.

Nothing. Everything.

Everything. My PMS is acting up.

Nothing, really. It's just that you're such an asshole.

I don't want to talk about it. Go away, I'm still building up evidence against you.

We need to talk. I need to complain.

In answer to the question “What’s wrong?”

‘’It won’t take long, we’ll have fun!’’

said NO girl who ever went shopping.

THE CLOUD PAGE 31

The Secrets of Body Language

Body language? We all use it, without even noticing, It’s a form of non-verbal communication,

and studies show that more than 70% of our communication occurs without us having to say a

single word. So watch out you might be revealing your true emotions and deceiving your words

with a simple but subconscious eye movement, gesture or facial expression- that’s all it takes.

Here are a few commonly used expressions:

Eleni Zinga

Best Excuses For...

Late Homework

My internet was down.

My father was too busy to do my homework.

My pet threw up on my homework assignment.

I got stuck on level 9 of Angry Birds.

I played video games too long and sprained my thumb so I couldn’t hold a pen.

My sibling flushed my homework down the toi-let.

I didn’t have enough money to purchase an essay over the net.

I didn’t understand the assignment.

Our printer is out of ink.

Being Late

I'm not late. According to my watch I'm right on...Oops, my watch stopped ticking. I guess that I need to get a new battery for my watch.

I wouldn't be late if I lived in Dublin. I'd actually be two hours early.

My hamster died. I had to plan for his funeral.

My alarm clock went back to sleep. I didn’t want to wake it up.

I forgot to set my alarm clock.

I was abducted by aliens.

My mother said that I had to eat all my breakfast be-fore I could go to school. Do you have any idea how long it takes to eat three bowls of cereal, five slices of bacon, two eggs, and three slices of toast?

I was just about to enter the school when I noticed that I had a stain on my dress. My parents would kill me if I ever came to school with a stain.

I’m not late. Everyone else is early.

I thought it was the week-end.

No Homework

I threw it at someone who said that you weren't the best teacher ever.

I sold it on e-bay.

I was so proud of my hard work that when I kissed it, it got all drool-y and fell it apart.

"Oh, about that homework..." *suddenly collapse to the floor—you just fainted—and with any luck you'll be sent to the nurse.*

My homework died...

I threw—I mean—it fell out the window of my car on the way to school. It was a total accident.

Forgetting to get your boyfriend/ girlfriend a gift

Just tell them “You told me to surprise you…”

I thought you said it was the thought that counts

I was too busy thinking about you

Nothing I could find was good enough for you

I don’t want to start our relationship off with debt, there’s a crisis!

INFLIGHT #82 PAGE 32

Yasmine Amr

‘Excuses, excuses’ is what we are often told when we try to get out of a sticky situation. Al-

though, we all know that it is better to just simply tell the truth, we often get faced with difficult

scenarios, so here are a few excuses for the next time you get stuck in one of these situations…

Silent Suffering

It is with great sadness that I report that my colleague George Homer is currently battling a serious case of writer’s block and thus cannot write for you this term, so I have taken the reins and bring you a short story describing what is so dear to all our hearts: Exams -R.T

The loudest sound any human can hear is silence. It pierces your skull and burrows deep into your mind, clouding your thoughts and trying your patience. The truth of the matter is that si-lence is unnatural (there is always something making noise in nature, whether it’s birds singing or wind blowing, there is always something) and entrenched deep in our most primal instincts is the knowledge that an absence of sound is just as terrifying as an absence of light, a sort of darkness for the ears. But far worse than ordinary silence is pregnant silence: the very thought that people are thinking and planning all around you in this cavernous chamber is almost aggra-vating.

I looked down at my exam paper after just finishing it. It’s odd how the paper seems to change completely once all the spaces are filled in, even the texture of the paper is different. It is now time for the series of panic attacks I experience after finishing an exam: “Did I answer all the questions?” After a quick inspection I see that I have. “Did I make any stupid mistakes?” A half-hearted look at the first few answers (“I’ve just finished an exam, I’m too tired to look at it now,” I justify my laziness internally) proves that I haven’t. Finally, I come to the last, and most annoy-ing of the ephemeral internal crisis: “Why did I finish early? Most of the others are still writing, why aren’t I?” I waste about five minutes of exam-time pondering this.

“You have ten minutes left.” One of the invigilating teachers announces.

The teachers stand at the front of the room, walking down the aisles at an excruciatingly slow pace every so often. Their presence is frustrating to say the least, since I always feel as if they have it easy, strolling down the aisles, having hushed conversations with their colleagues and breaking the oppressive silence to remind us of how much time remains (and thus replacing the terror of silence with the more tangible and manageable terror of not being able to finish in time).

I am relieved that the ordeal is almost over, as if a great burden has been lifted from my shoul-ders (and placed onto those of the examiner). This relief seems to be shared by the other stu-dents, who have by now also finished. At this point everyone is of one mind: they want to leave. It’s almost as if the desire can be felt in the air itself, people are either fidgeting in their

seats or watching the clock very carefully, probably hoping that time would speed up just for them.

“Pens down everyone, leave your papers on your desks and you may go”.

Then comes the worst feeling of them all, my chest tightens as I think of it: That was only the first one.

Robert Teller

THE CLOUD PAGE 33