Thursday, August 27, 2009

Journey to Cyprus- 5 days to go...

Who thought it would be a countdown to home so quickly?? A month is long enough to no longer be a vacation. I've gotten used to the lifestyle here...not to mention that having people take care of you with home cooking, frappes & fruit, laundry, transportation & adventures for SO long is enough to spoil anyone...

I went parasailing above the Mediterranean Sea yesterday (but didn't tell Yiayia..)....it was such a peaceful rush...if such an oxy-moron exists.

The women in the village are trying to marry me off to a Cypriot so I can travel back & forth more often. My cousin informed me I'm just not going home. Nitsa wants to adopt me, & everyone else has offered homes & beds for the next visit.....

We did a trip to Ayia Napa, one to Lefkosia, & today I'm in Larnaka. I'm in need of a few more days at the beach so people believe I was here for a month. I can't even wrap my head around everything I have done & seen on this trip....

Life keeps moving on in the village & will continue to do so when we leave, but there are so many images, words & moments that will come back to New York.

Journey to Cyprus- 2 weeks in..

In the mountains there is plenty of water....& too many mountains to go up, down & around for hours...there are all sorts of wild flowers, blackberries (that havent grown much due to the lack of rain even there), pine cones galore, & everything else nature entails...including the lack of internet.

So forgive me if my memories seem scattered (& forgive the typos as well, I`m on a tiny computer!)..the days are so full & passing so quickly!

We spent the last week in the mountains. I took a few good long hikes to walk off all this delicious home cooking- Yiayia didn`t believe Cyprus had waterfalls so I needed photographic proof! We stayed with her friend from childhood, Nita, who is a sweet woman with lots of memories of Greek dances, a father who used to tease my grandmother & traditions that are beyond what you'd imagine. Her & her husband took us to visit some of the oldest churches in Cyprus. One dating back at least 500 years. Few are no longer left unlocked due to theft, but I was told not to worry- we stopped into the village Butches Shop across the street to get the church key!!! I found it comical...legs of lamb & a key about 6-inches long. The design work in the churches is unbelievable..especially knowing how long ago it was done. We also took a drive up, down & around all those mountains to visit Kykkos Monastery- which was founded by a Byzantine Emperor & is now one of the richest monastery's in the world. The entire alter is covered in GOLD, & outside the walls are covered in mossaics of the most beautiful color combinations. It really is a sight to see.

The hikes to the waterfalls were nice...the first I did alone- after taking a few wrong paths I found the correct one & made my way down. I learned that my favorite purple mountain flowers are prickly!! The second, Nita walked partway with me & I continued on my own. It was a bit tough but well worth it. It trickled all the way down so you were walking along & sometimes crossing the water.

I attempted a walk around the village before the mountains but was being called from across the way by the old Turkish men in the coffeeshop, so the village walks will need some re-routing! I was told if I was with someone who was obviously Cypriot they wouldn^t have said anything, but that wasn^t the case...& it was midday. Only tourists take walks in the midday sun! The Cypriot-Turkish mix here isn´t so much a spoken thing amongst the two..but something always feels a little off.

What else...we had RAIN in Pyla!!! It wasnt much, but is unheard of in the summer. After all the rain in New York who would think I would be SO happy to see more!! Yonas ((the 2 year old)) & I played in it.

We also have new baby chicks! They are yellow & fluffy & make the sweetest chirping noises....they were a day old when the arrived & have probably grown to twice the size while we were in the mountains.

Theo Naki took us to his trees recently as well!! Figs, pistactios, grapes, & funny shapped squash type things that I have been drawing on....all right from the trees. I had the most delicious fig Ive ever tasted...then I had one that was better.. & well...it went on. We all drove down in his charming two person truck that is the littlest thing....Yiayia & I sat on each others laps...

The 15th of August was quite a specktacle. The church was packed, inside & out. The bishop of Cyprus was there...! How he wore that hat & cothing in the heat I don't know. It is the day of the Virgin Mary...at the end of the service they carried the icon around the outside of the hurch & everyone walked underneath. The icon is always drapped with layers of lace, for you never see her face. Afterwards Yiayia & I took walk through the cemetary...we were looking for her sister but ended up saying hello from afar, as the hot heat of the sun & bumpy rocks didnt make for an easy route. Everyone was at Thea Maroulla's house after for lunch- so so so much food all cooked in the big stone oven outside.

The days are hot....hotter than what it is in Boston/New York (so Im told), but we're hanging in there. The mountains were refreshing- a ittle cooler, I even wore jeans & a sweater in the evening (it was exciting to be cold, but more thrilling to know that my jeans still fit the same way!!).

I finally did the 6.15am wakeup again this morning to go to the beach (I had been slacking..) with Yonas. I walked quite a ways & saw the old man I had gone swimming with the other mornings over a week ago. He kept asking my uncle when I would come again, & today he brought fresh figs off his tree for me in case I was there! Maria, Paraskeva, Myrianthi & Marina met me at the beach & now we´re back for a shower before doing some shopping in Larnaka.

In less than two weeks I will be back to my crazy life in New York & this will all feel like a dream....

In the meantime, I hope you are all well & dreaming of your own vacations......

Friday, August 21, 2009

Journey to Cyprus- Day 7?


Greetings again!!

Thank goodness for wonderful relatives!! Everyone has been so accomidating in the kindest of ways. From driving me ALL over the island- through the mountains (ot is so much cooler up there!) & the cities & the villages, to having us for dinner & coffee & fruit & sweets....

After visiting the cultural museum I didn't feel much desire to visit Turkey this time around. The workshop was incredible- the shops were all built around a garden, each for a seperate thing- woodworking, silver, pottery, weaving, & Lefkada lace- each room having someone in there crafting away. I saw the most beautiful traditional costumes, old looms, cacoon art, etc etc etc, Made our way around Nicosia- the old and new village. It keeps amazing me here...many villages have both the old & new. The culture stays alive, then the children build beautiful new homes close by.... There was a museum with old Byzantine icons..Downstairs there was a photo exhibit of all the old churches that have been destroyed on the Turkish occipied land. Upstairs were icons that had been torn from the churches & sold in the illegal art market. Some have been recovered, and are there on display, but the pain in the writings, in the stories & in the images from all of the Cypriots here...it is still so raw for them...

The girls are lovely. My third cousins (or I'm their 2nd aunt?? We've all lost track..)) Myrianthi, Marina & I have been working on gimp! Little had I known, gimp AND laughter would be the universal languages! Myrianthia has a birthday coming up tihs week as well. She's not doing a party the day of, as everyone here is on holiday, but she wanted me to join her & her family to celebrate for the day...so I'm touched! I wish I could communicate with them better, but we're making do.

I took a walk through the village, Pyla, with Yiayia the other day. We walked to the store that a cousin owns to pick up some odds & ends. On the way there she pointed out where her sisters & brothers used to live...the house ((that has now been DRASTICALLY remodelled)) that I stayed at during my last visit, where my 94-year old great uncle used to live, the road to the church & fig trees that I remember so well, and all sorts of tidbits from her memory.... There is a building behind my aunts house that her sister used to live in, then it was the school house for some time, then where the Turks had meetings. Now the door is locked & it is abandoned, but to think of it's life... She also showed me where her brother used to keep the cow, & where the hole in the ground used to be. My plan is to do the route again one day with the video camera.... On the way back from the store we were invited in to a Yiayia's house...they were all so thrilled to see us. They say I look like my grandmother. She has been so cute....this trip is a little harder for her than it used to be, but she's hanging in there & still doing & seeing what she can.

The mountains here have me in awe. I hadn't realized they existed like so!! They are just breathtaking...

My cousin Yota invited me to dinner last night with a friend of hers who speaks English. We went to this trendy, but quiet little restaraunt right on the ocean in Larnaka called Kudeta. After we walked along the Finigulas (palm trees). It was the perfect way to spend the Saturday night, & a wonderful break with some younger people! Today they took me to Lefkada- we walked around & had freshly made loukmades from the most charming little truck on the hill!!

Yiayia & I will spend a few days with her friends in the mountains soon. They collect antiques from all over the world..their home is like a museum! I am looking forward to the 15th of August as well..... it is a largely celebrated holiday here....


Tis all for now....I hope you are all well...

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Journey to Cyprus- Day 4


Cyprus is....well, not easily described in one word. I woke up this morning at 5.50am. Yiayia & I, every morning so far, wake to wonder aloud why the pigeons, chickens & roosters must have such loud meetings/arguments at such an hour. At 6.15 I'm in the truck, off to the beach with Theo (uncle) Yonas & Yota. We walk the length of the first beach for the first 30 minutes, & swim for the next 50. It's a morning ritual for them that I'm gladly taking part in. I return to visit the gotas (chickens!) & gather the first bunch of eggs. Ten this morning! They've been busy. I end up needing to shoo the wandering ones back into the coop....this morning they spared me the pecking at my toes though, so I can complain. Then for breakfast- a big bowl of just picked siga (figs), hallumi (cheese), toast, melon, cafe.....All before 9am..Never have my mornings been so full.

Yesterday Theo Naki, Thea Maroulla, Yiayia, Yoti & I went to Pafos(Paphos). It's on the other side of the island, about an hour & a half away (the island is small, after all... The town is filled with tourists. I believe I saw every mossaic there..& there were quite a few. The midday sun is HOT & HUMID. Everyone was dripping...it was slightly unbearable, but the things I saw......Naki was a good sport...he kept on going & wanted me to see EVERYTHING. All from the 3-5th century....I've never seem anything that even compares. & the design work! I think I have material for years to come!! The Tombs of the Kings are there as well...up & down stone stairs in the heat...but to think these people carved out such spaces in ground....rooms & rooms within rooms & passageways & colums...all below ground level for the kings & queens (though really just the rich). I took photos until my camera battrery died, then proceeded to scribble down colors, shapes & notes.

Walking through Pafos were the most beautiful plants...fresh licorice (who knew it was yellow...), rosemary, & some strange tree with black pod like things on them. Thea Maroulla took a large branch to this tree, knocking some down. They tasted like honey! People here are so resourceful.

I'm being spoiled by the food. I fill my plate & the Cypriot ladies shake their heads & put more food on it, asking why I eat so little...while I think I'm eating so much! Freshly grown vegetables, apples, oranges, grapes, figs, pomegranites,filter nuts & almonds....

My relatives have been wonderful..they are more than willing to take me ANYWHERE, & now that they understand how interested I am in the art, books, furnature, laces etc are coming out from everywhere. Every day is a history lesson that no amount of research would ever tell me.

I've decided against Turkey, as they don't recognize Cyprus, so travel directly between the two is impossible, & anything my older relatives feel comfortable with requires 8-day long tour groups all spoken in Greek. Luckily, there is more than enough on this island alone, so while it would have been incredible, beggars can't be choosers.

The old Cypriots are funny...they tell me to learn Greek but have no patience for translating, so it's been interesting. My 5 year old third cousin (or niece?? who knows anymore..)) helped me out quite a bit, then tried to confuse me telling me black was violet, & white was green. She has been glued to my side all day & is greatly amused by the language barrier!

Tomorrow I am headed to Nicosia & Larnaca. There is a cultural museum with old textiles, costumes from all over the island, pottery & so on. People certainly get around on this island. I feel like I've been here much longer than I have. The language barrier is difficult, though I'm getting breaks ((I spend my 50-,min swim with an older man that speaks English..he too is at the beach every morning...neither of us want to go in the water too deep over our heads, so we tread water back & forth & he tells me some history of Cyprus, as well as stories about anything & everything. Yesterday I didn't go- & today was greeted with- I don't know if you like them, but I picked figs for you yesterday & you weren't here!!)) Regardless, reading emails from all of you is such a pleasant reminder that I am not in any way inadequate for not speaking this language/learning it in 2-days, so please do keep them coming!!

Yiayia says hello to everyone. She's hanging in there!! I'm glad she was able to come back & see everyone....Family is family, no matter where you are.


Saturday, August 1, 2009

Cyprus Day-0

Hello All!!

I hope this post finds you well, as I welcome you aboard my journey to Cyprus! Yiayia & I will take off shortly...

& so I'm setting off for the hot, hot Cypriot sun..some Turkish adventures..& taking in bits of culture on a trip that was spoken of so often, yet always a lifetime away....


With some luck, photos will be posted so you, too can pretend you are elsewhere, if only for a moment... whether that be in the village in Pyla, basking in the sun at the Larnaca beaches, admiring the lace of Lefkada, or at the market in Istambul.. or laughing & eating with the many, many cousins, aunts & uncles...

I'll miss you all & will be wishing I had you with me...
Feel free to email!

All my love,
Stephanie