Cyprus - Ancestral Homeland
Old Map of Cyprus made in Amsterdam, 1653
Cyprus is the small Greek / Turkish island from which my father migrated in the late 40's, and my mother in the mid 50's. Up till now I have visited this ancestral homeland only a handful of times, but every time I do, it counts as a major milestone or watershed in my life. Over the last 50 years I have seen it transform from a sleepy rural, almost medieval backwater to, well, to what, it is hard to quantify. It has been split in 2 by a Turkish invasion and the Greek side has become part of the European Union.
My mother's village and surrounds, which were once alive with the buzz of peasant hand made agriculture and the pleasant stench of donkey shit, are now populated by expensive hotels, some of which I could hardly afford to buy a coffee in. The bray of donkeys is a distant memory. The nearby mythological grove of the "Waters of Afrodite", where the goddess bathed below a natural waterfall in a cave like grotto at the foot of the mountain, is now rather polluted and trampled by too many tourists. The bitterness of a country split in two by the machinations of greater powers seeps into every conversation.
My mother's village and surrounds, which were once alive with the buzz of peasant hand made agriculture and the pleasant stench of donkey shit, are now populated by expensive hotels, some of which I could hardly afford to buy a coffee in. The bray of donkeys is a distant memory. The nearby mythological grove of the "Waters of Afrodite", where the goddess bathed below a natural waterfall in a cave like grotto at the foot of the mountain, is now rather polluted and trampled by too many tourists. The bitterness of a country split in two by the machinations of greater powers seeps into every conversation.
Cyprus - 1966
Mu Auntie Dora and my 2 sisters
At nine years old I was about to find out what it really meant to have a Greek Cypriot heritage. This was not only an amazing but really challenging experience. I was a soft little suburban boy living in a flat on a 6 lane highway on Sydney's North Shore who had had repeatedly told "you're a wog mate!". Being from somewhere other was ingrained. Flicking a switch to turn on a light or flushing an indoor toilet was also an axiom of normal life. This all changed after arriving at my mother's village. Not only were we all welcomed like long lost family, but using kerosene lamps, filling water from the well as well as squatting over holes made us realize another world - a tougher harder world...
Cyprus - 1977
Papou and Yiayia with the donkeys
At the significant age of 21, I was a young man full of ideals and aspirations coloured by the heady optimism of the late 70's Australia - the hippy period. Even politicians were growing their hair long and taking off their clothes to swim in the waters of a new age.
I had dropped out of Uni where I had been studying Landscape Architecture for 2 and half years. I had dreams of becoming an artist. My parents offered me a trip to Cyprus and Europe in the hope that it would straighten me out and I would come to my senses...
I had dropped out of Uni where I had been studying Landscape Architecture for 2 and half years. I had dreams of becoming an artist. My parents offered me a trip to Cyprus and Europe in the hope that it would straighten me out and I would come to my senses...
Cyprus - 1989
Alky and Karol, Cyprus Honeymoon
Cyprus was the last leg of our European honeymoon. We had been to France and Spain as well on our 6 week tour, 2 of which where now to be spent in Cyprus before returning home to build our lives, our family, our careers. it had been a dozen years since I had been to the ancestral home, this once birth place of gods. I arrived with my young bride this time. Karol had been a visiter here on her own with 2 of our friends about 3 years previously. She had actually met my family and stayed with them at the time. Returning now as my wife put her in a new light for my relatives...
Cyprus - 2005
Remy and Alky, Agias Minas, Agammas
As a stage of life, this was a pivotal year for me in which I ended a twenty year career as a Film/TV art director / stylist and headed into uncharted territories in the world of IT and programming. At the insistance of my elder sister Linda, I was prodded to take an opportunity to return to Cyprus again and see my old and frail grandfather Theodosi who was now in a nursing home. My beautiful grandmother Chrissi had passed away a few years before, as had my own dear father, Theofilos. You get the idea. My parent's generation was nearing it's end and it was time to pay my respects.
I made a short 2 week journey with my younger son Remy (Remus Theofilos) and I was now excited to show him this little Mediterranean island and re trace roads I had once travelled as a boy, as a young man...
I made a short 2 week journey with my younger son Remy (Remus Theofilos) and I was now excited to show him this little Mediterranean island and re trace roads I had once travelled as a boy, as a young man...