Occupy the Buffer Zone

About 2 months ago a group of Greek and Turkish Cypriots gathered in the UN buffer zone dividing north and south Nicosia and set up a small protest camp, modelled on similar 'Occupy' movements in other cities around the world.  The protest and its related signage and graffiti makes for some interesting reading as you cross the buffer zone. The primary aim of the protest is to raise the profile of the Cyprus issue and to push for more concrete steps towards reunification.  Broader themes around capitalism and anti-globalisation are also present.  As the buffer zone sits between Greek and Turkish checkpoints and is therefore UN territory, any push to conclude the protest or move things on will need to come from the UN.  There seems to be no movement in this regard, so as with the other 'Occupy' protests in cities like London and New York, it will be interesting to see how long things continue with the protest in Cyprus.

I have to confess to being challenged by the protests.  Part of me in my middle age stupor reacts with a view that says these ideals are far removed from reality, and that protesting is a futile exercise, or that the agendas of the protesting groups are so mired with various politics that the impact and focus of any message is blurred.  But another part of me is stirred and inspired whenever people have the conviction to make a stand for something with passion, regardless of whether I agree with the views being put forward.  


I think it was Churchill who said something along the lines of: "when a man is young, if he is not of the left there is something wrong with his heart, but when a man is old, if he is not of the right there is something wrong with his head".  This quote has always challenged me as I ponder the inexorable drift towards conservatism that comes with ageing!


Hope you enjoy being challenged by some of these images. 

Καλό Χριστούγεννα (Happy Christmas)

Nativity scene outside our local video store

It's two days before Christmas and the weather has turned cold again.  Some fresh snow on the Troodos mountains today, and everyone is rugged up again after some warmer weather over the last week. Church bells are ringing across city this evening as people head home for the Christmas weekend.  Tonight we went out to the old town for dinner and a walk.  We've enjoyed the festive atmosphere in Nicosia at this time of year, and also the fact that the lead up to Christmas hasn't been too busy.  

Cypriots don't recognise St Nicholas as Santa Claus, but rather Saint Basil, or Agios Vasilis.  Interesting to hear how this translates for some of the kids....just think 'Santa Claus is coming to town', but replace 'Santa Claus' for 'Saint Basil', and you get the general idea!  The bigger holiday here is actually New Years Day.  


The city is full of lights and signs that say ΧΡΟΝΙΑ ΠΟΛΛΑ, which is a new year's greeting.  The kids have had their various Christmas concerts over the last few weeks.  Sam put in a solid performance as Joseph last week in his pre-school show, including his one line of 'we are hungry, will you let us in'.  Delivered with good timing and poise, and a significant step forward in his from his single line in a church nativity play last year which consisted of one word 'GOLD' (he was one of the wise men).  Small but no doubt significant steps in his thesbian career.....  

A homily and blessing for the gymnastics concert??

Last night Jessie had a gymnastics concert.  We were somewhat bemused to arrive on time, all kids and parents were ready, but the show didn't start.  10mins late, 20 mins late, half and hour, and still waiting......  We're getting used to things working on Cypriot time (siga siga, or slowly slowly), but this was a little out of the normal.  Various announcements were made in Greek (which we couldn't understand), and it wasn't until the arrival of an official delegation from the Greek Orthodox Church that we realised the reason for the delay.   The Patriarch was ushered to the front in full robes, staff and regalia, whereupon he delivered a fairly long winded homily in Greek which we can only assume was some sort of blessing for the gymnastics show (as one typically does).  Perhaps preaching about the benefits of exercise for children, or praying for no injuries during the cartwheels and somersaults???  This was then followed by various speeches from other members of the delegation before the show finally got underway.  Suffice to say it was a good show and worth the wait, and we're pleased to say injury free for all the participating children.  The Lord does indeed work in mysterious ways!


May the grace and peace of Jesus Christ be with you and your family this Christmas.  


Καλό Χριστούγεννα!   love Ross, Sarah, Jessie, Angus, Sam and Anna

The park near our house

Jessie and Gus' Christmas concert

Keep your eyes on the conductor Sam!

A visit from downunder

The two Sarah's

This afternoon we said farewell to Ross' brother Bruce, his wife Jenny and their children Sarah, Anna and Ben.  They've been here for the last 10 days, and made the long trek from Australia just to visit Cyprus. It's been lovely to spend time together with family, and especially nice for the kids to reconnect.  Lots of time relaxing together, studying the intricacies of curling and ski jumping on eurosport, and also visiting different parts of the island.  Bruce, Jenny and family also managed a short side trip to Cairo, visiting the pyramids and avoiding the current civil unrest in the city!  They're now on their way back to Australia via Abu Dhabi.

Last Saturday we spent the morning out in the UN buffer zone where Angus plays soccer each week.  This included a visit to the old Nicosia international airport, which is a haunting in it's emptiness and serves as a reminder of the frozen conflict in Cyprus since 1974.  Ben was particularly intrepid and managed to get to the controls of an old abandoned Trident aircraft that still sits on the tarmac.  Later that day we crossed the border and travelled to Kyrenia.  Lunch by the harbour and then a visit to the old fortress.  It's well set up and has a very realistic torture chamber, complete with lifelike figures in various states of duress.  Not sure if the kids would go for this, but they loved it.  

Ben dreaming of flight.......!

We also spent time in the old town of Nicosia (on both the Greek and Turkish side), and the kids in particular enjoyed checking out the shops and Christmas lights.  Interestingly at one of the main crossing points between the Greek and Turkish sides, the UN buffer zone is currently the site of one of the 'occupy' protests that have occurred in other cities around the world.  Perhaps a future blog on this one.

Christmas is almost upon us, and in true Greek style Nicosia is serving up a range of faux Christmas and snow nativity scenes on many street corners.  Lights around the city are a big hit for the kids, and the park beside our house has been set up as a Christmas fair for the last few weekends, complete with fake snow, donkey rides, and a large Christmas tree which lights up at night.  The fact that the tree is surrounded by large rings of barbed wire at the base somewhat dampens the effect of a warm Christmas spirit!  So our weekends and weekdays are now full of Christmas carols in Greek and church bells every morning.  The festive season Greek style!

A visit to the mosque in North Nicosia

The two Anna's

A walk through Kyrenia

Bruce and Jenny

Uncle Bruce teaching Anna the finer points of pig shooting

Ben, Sarah and Anna in Cairo

Baku

Downtown Baku

Last week I travelled to Azerbaijan for some business and government meetings.  Baku is the capital city, and is located on the Caspian Sea.  Baku is the centre of a very profitable oil industry, and it's quite remarkable to see the impacts of oil money in the city.  Wide boulevards and extravagant buildings dominate, along with the gaudy light shows on buildings and towers around the city at night that several Caucasus cities are famous for.  Oil is extracted from rigs in the Caspian Sea, piped to refineries in and around Baku and then sent along various pipelines across Georgia, Russia and Turkey to ports in the Black Sea and Mediterranean for further processing and shipment.  The presence of large scale oil reserves makes Azerbaijan a highly strategic location for several major powers

Pipelines from the Baku oilfields

Azerbaijan and Baku is spending up big as the country prepares to host next year's Eurovision song contest.  A dubious showcase some may argue, but the government is throwing serious money at the image they wish to project as hosts of the contest.  Major renovation and reconstruction is going on across the city, along with a well funded publicity campaign aimed at raising the profile of the country.  

Mud thatched house in refugee community

Azerbaijan is a country of extreme contrasts.  Compared with the relative wealth of Baku, many of the rural areas are very depressed, with minimal economic opportunities or investment.  Almost 1 million refugees (or Internally Displaced Persons - IDP's) remain in the country as a result of a war with neighbouring Armenia over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region sitting across both countries.  Technically Azerbaijan and Armenia are still at war, although the conflict has remained largely frozen for the last 15 years.  Corruption is also a huge problem in the country.  

Whilst in Azerbaijan I was fortunate to visit a range of development projects in rural parts of the country's west.  These projects focus mainly on the refugee communities, and are primarily aimed at economic development.  A number of these communities live in extremely poor and difficult conditions, and many families are now second generation refugees from the conflict.  A sobering contrast to the polished streets of Baku.

On Thursday last week, Baku was hit by howling winds and heavy snow. The city basically froze as the snow fell hard and blizzard conditions prevailed.  I saw more car accidents than I care to remember as the cars slid around on the icy streets.  Late that night I flew out to Tbilisi in Georgia on an old Russian Tupolev TU154.  Old Soviet aircraft, howling snowstorm, ex-military pilots......if you weren't a praying kind of person before the flight, you surely were by the end of it:)   Actually the flight was ok, despite being greeted by more heavy snow in Georgia.  


The essence of former Soviet life and architecture is still strongly evident all over the Caucasus.  The clip below captures this very well, and I think is a profound piece of work.  Hope you can watch it and enjoy.  

Soviet era apartment blocks on outskirts of Baku

Visiting a school project with disabled children

Ugg boots on the catwalk

We felt the early onset for winter this week, with the the first snow in Cyprus on the higher peaks of the Troodos Mountains.  The drop in temperatures has sent everyone scrambling for their warm gear, and we've been somewhat amused to see Europe and the Middle East continuing to embrace a fascination with Ugg boots.  Yes that's right, Australia's finest cultural export can now be seen on the catwalks of Milan, Paris, Beirut......and also the streets of Nicosia.  Mind you these are not just any old Ugg boots, rather they are done strictly Greek style, with fur and tassles galore, and even some embedded jewels.  No doubt there will be a high heeled version coming soon in Cyprus.


As it's become colder we've had to adjust activities accordingly, but it's been good to still get out when we can.  Today we headed up to a monastery about 30km from Nicosia in the foothills of the mountains for a picnic with some friends.  A beautiful clear day, cool air and a nice walk in the forests scratched the outdoor itch for all of us.

The kids are all well.  The main event this week was the purchase of a 'fighter fish' at home, which Jessie now dutifully cares for day and night. Anna does her best to touch the fish when she can, much to the fish's distress.  


Speaking of fish, we've just finished watching the movie/mini-series of Tim Winton's Cloudstreet.  We loved it, and felt very homesick for the clear air and light of Australia (and WA in particular).

Macheras Monastery

'Geocache' today

Kids and friends playing near our house a few weeks ago.
Weather has changed quickly!

Georgians playing cards in the park near our house

Barcelona + Bikes = BREATHE

 We counted down the months, weeks and then the days.  BARCELONA - weekend away - wedding anniversary & 40th birthday celebrations - live it up - no kids - just us.  First time away together in 11mths!  Finally, when the date of departure arrived, we had Anna with an ear infection, Jessie off school with a bad cold, and Angus sneezing incessantly.  Murphy's Law poked his unwanted head in but fortunately, was left to be ignored.  A quick trip to the doctors with Monica to put our minds at rest, a bit more cash in her pocket for extra medicine if needed AND WE WERE OFF!


Now this isn't going to be a weekend chronology blog.  One, because I'm tired and still recovering from the weekend and two, because I don't want to bore you.  Of course, it wasn't boring for US.  We had a lovely break away together.

A weekend in Spain certainly wasn't on the original thought list for ways to celebrate my 40th.  The decision was kind of made for us when Ryanair was selling tickets at 19 Euro return.  Time was at a premium with only 3 days to play with and this was a direct flight so we took it.  

With the travel money saved, we splurged on a quirky contemporary hotel called The Mirror and found ourselves in a land of white surrounded by soothing statues of men with wings lounging around.  Oh, and of course, every wall was a mirror (so there was no pretending I was there for my 21st!)

This giant paella had me planning dinner at 11am

Lets get on with it....


My 3 best? - not in order of priority:


1. Hiring a bike and enjoying the fantastic bike lanes right through the centre of the city.  Apparently, Barcelona rates in the top 3 of bike friendly cities in the world and I can definitely see why.  It was awesome.

2. Spending Hours at the Sagrada Familia.  I have to laugh when I think of my initial disappointment at looking at this incredible world heritage site and seeing cranes overhead with workmen and scaffolding etc... Oh, I thought, what a shame we had to come at a time when they're touching it up & cleaning it.  Minutes later, I am flabbergasted to hear that building began in the late 1800's and is expected to finish in about two decades from now!  Building this masterpiece is still in progress...wow.  The architect, Gaudi, who inspired much of the city's architecture, was a man of faith whose vision for the cathedral was to teach all people who saw it, literate or not, about God.  I loved his inspiration from nature and his attention to symbolic detail.

3. Eating Out, No Kids complaining about the meal, Conversing Uninterrupted and Remembering how good it is to just be together.  No elaboration required here other than a hearty encouragement to all those at a similar life stage to keep nurturing that marital relationship.  One day the kids will move out.


We returned home to find all the kids sleeping soundly on Sunday night.  Thank you to Monica who minded Anna, Cheryl upstairs who took care of Sam, and Lena and Hatice who respectively gave Angus and Jessie fantastic weekends with their friends.


Reflections on turning 40?  Another year older and looking forward to the 2nd half of life.  Realistically, this involves embracing some physical limitations along with a few greys and wrinkles, but that's nothing when I weigh it up against large doses of contentedness, thankfulness, and the sheer joy of being alive.  Mid-life here we come!

Downtown view from our balcony

Ross in small goods heaven.  I married a man who likes his meat.

And the dinner that night was....Paella.