Halcyon Days...

There are days in winter when the sky is bright blue and there is a light wind blowing. The sun sends sparkles on buildings and cars and the open sea is as smooth as oil. We call these days Halcyon Days. I sit and marvel at the beauty of this island. You find beauty in the most unusual places, a dilapidated building in the old town overgrown with wild flowers reminding us of days gone by. The shiny new buses taking their passengers to their destination, the puddle of water left from the recent downpour. All has its beauty and this is just in Limassol. If you venture out into the nearby countryside and villages, there is another beauty awaiting. The old bridges and streams, the trees casting shadows on the moss grown ground below. The quaint village houses and the slow village life, the little church waiting for its worshippers to arrive and fill it up.

 There is an inner peace in all these places, a peace which calms you, taking you faraway. There is a deep feeling of nostalgia mingled with it. I am reminded of the summer days when I used to come to Cyprus on holiday, when all I saw was beauty, pure beauty. There was never anything to distract me from loving this place with all my heart. Over the years this feeling has been cast over with complaint and I fell into the trap of only seeing what was wrong with this island, but the warm feeling has come back. I may complain at times but this doesn't stop me from seeing what the island really is, a gem in the Mediterranean, an island which many in history longed to conquer. Now it is conquered by curious and eager tourists who come and fall in love with this island, most of the time anyway. 

If only islanders could see what tourists see. If only they could stop for a moment and look beyond their everyday lives. On Halcyon Days the island lights up as if a torch from the heavens sent a light so bright that everything shines. We Cypriots sometimes forget how lucky we are. With so much tragedy happening in the world, we have got it good. Let's stop for a moment, forget about all the wrongs and look at what a precious place we live in.

*In the myth of Alcyone, Halcyon Days are seven days in winter when storms never occur. It refers to calm, peaceful days.

Shame about the weather...

Well it's finally winter and I'm wearing my woolly jumper sipping a cup of hot chocolate. How ideal. It wasn't on Friday when the heavens opened and the island was put in utter chaos. Roads became blocked from the gallons of rain, since our drainage system is non-existent. There were power cuts in schools and offices from the lightning. It's typical really. Rain always seems to do this in Cyprus. The island is put on standstill because we are just never prepared for the worst. 

The driving in these conditions tells it's own story. I must have seen about six accidents in one day. Cypriots forget that if the road is slippery you must break not accelerate. Of course the weather was a big issue on the news. One elderly woman nearly drowned from all the water which rushed into her home. Valleys became rivers. It's a shame they forgot to close the dam resulting in all the water going into the sea.

We should be happy that it's raining, right? Not so. Instead of moaning about the heatwave we're complaining about the cold and wet weather, that we're constantly freezing and that we have to turn on the central heating. We were fed up with wearing sandals, now we are annoyed because we have to wear tights under our trousers in the early morning. 

At least it feels a bit more like Christmas and there is a possibility that we can light the fireplace on Christmas Day.You never know it might even snow in Limassol. What mayhem that would cause but what joy it would bring on some young faces, but not on the street cleaners when it turns into slosh. You see, we are never happy.In a couple of months the novelty of winter will have worn off and everyone will be hissing with complaints. Shame about the weather...

Rebels with a Cause...

There is a universal truth that the youth of today are angry and frustrated and try in different ways to express their anger and frustration. Like everywhere Cyprus is no exception. I see it every day when I am teaching. That restless youth that sits outside the frontistirion sending messages on their phone, the apathetic listener slouching and swinging on the chair only vaguely listening to what I'm saying. It's often difficult to engage them. Nothing can break that reverie. There's a lot of pressure on youth these days from all areas. Parents, teachers, peers. They get sucked down and try to find ways to escape. It is not surprising that the walls of our neighbourhoods are dotted with graffiti, often seen as vandalism although some of this graffiti is quite creative.

We live in a materialistic culture where an eight year old now has their own high tech phone and i pod. It's as if the parents are trying to fill the void of not really being there for their children. They buy them things to keep them quiet although we all know that isn't the answer. There is lack of communication, divorce rates are sky high and the victims are the kids. This has meant that society is brimming with resentful youngsters who feel betrayed, cheated even. They are not listened to. They have no voice.Their parents continue to spend money on them, buying them the latest PSP or Playlife T-shirt, squandering vast amounts of money on their education so that they get into the universities the parents want them to get into. They mould their young lives to suit their needs. This is causing a boomerang effect. There's a lot of disenchanted, disconnected and jobless youth out there and too many accountants doctors and lawyers. I suppose there's not much job variety on the market. Where in Cyprus could you be a publisher for instance? Your options are limited. Those who can, live abroad and find their dream jobs and those who can't just have to stick it out and work in Coopers.

 The Cyprus Problem doesn't help the situation. We are too small to be divided. What richness and diversity would this island have if we were united, Greek-Cypriots and Turkish-Cypriots. We could learn from eachother, open eachothers' eyes. The problem will not be solved in the years to come. It's the children who are born now who will solve it because they will have to. The new won't carry the burden of the old. They will refuse to do so and will embrace new beginnings. I will be old when I see Cyprus united.

At a bar the other night I sat around a table with some friends. There was a live rock band, strumming old and new rock songs on the guitar.The crowd was young, younger than me and my friends. Dressed casually they smoked and drank Carlsbergs huddled together in corners of the room, girls and boys. The singer sang songs which mattered, which touched the hearts of this youth, their hopes and fears, their anger. For a night they could be themselves, not restricted by teachers or parents.I sat listening and watching them. What would they become, I wondered? If only you could take each individual and tap into their potential, how amazing that would be, but that is far from reality. Youth deserves the best and sadly society is not giving them what they truly need and deserve.