Today, Rachel, Nikos, and I spent all day living the true Cypriot weekend lifestyle. All three other units in the building in which they live are occupied by the same family; A couple with two children live across from us and the lower two units are for the elders (who since I’ve been here have already brought up homemade meat pie and orange marmalade). We were heading to a monastery near Fikardou in the mountains called Machiaras which was a major site during the fight for Cypriot freedom from the British during the EOKA movement. A higher-up in that nationalist movement to unit Cyprus with Greece would come here and hide out as a monk, yet hold secret meetings in a cave in the area for the “Freedom Fighters”. At the end of his life the British got into a major battle with him at the top of the hill before they were forced to burn him out of the cave with a helicopter attack. Because he died in the protection of his country, there is now a massive statue honoring him that sits on the complex that still functions as a monk’s monastery to this day. This monastery is hid way up in the Troodos Mountains and is relatively near a town called Agros where the neighboring family brought us for lunch. We had chicken and lamb souvla (a little larger than souvlaki which is like a shish kabob) which is cooked rotisserie-style and also kleftiko lamb which is slow cooked in an outdoor oven. The meat literally just falls off the bone, and everyone else in the town seemed to be at the restaurant for the two hours we were feasting and having a good time. We moved on to a small café down the road for a coffee that lasted at least another hour, were brought to a local sweetshop where they make their famous rose water, and then welcomed to see a small chapel in the town.
This sort of all-day eating and socializing lifestyle is what Cypriots live for on the weekends. Many of them work multiple jobs as any type of work is seen as positive (white or blue collar). Therefore the free time they find on the weekends is enjoyed with the family and feasting (something I could get used to). Something else I found out about Cyprus is that their government is communist! Most people tend to have negative connotation with such a word, but in this scenario it is actually necessary in the revival of a divided nation. The party that runs the government currently is committed to standing up for its people that give them so much support. Cyprus remains a very wealthy nation, and the government is less about the distribution of wealth and more about supporting the state: Nationalism. There are high taxes all over Europe, but the taxes taken in by Cypriots are focused on the things that they find most important, like helping to fund the renovation of their city, and their leaders reach out to other nations for support, standing up for itself against the UN, and in peace talks (including the Turkish North).
Now we are working on outfitting their apartment with the paintings they recently bought. There is a local Cypriot artist that is quite good, but seems to have some psychological issues judging by the breadth of his work (a brightly colored flowery painting vs. four dark self portraits… Nonetheless, he sells them at an extremely cheap rate to the gallery for his talent level, and the paintings they got were an absolute steal. This has gotten me thinking about my room next year, and owning houses in the future. Though I don’t know how my room is laid out, I want to print out a massive old map and frame it as a centerpiece. I have big dreams for a small college room!
No comments:
Post a Comment