…happened in Cyprus, of course. It’s been almost 2 years since we’ve arrived in this country. Who could imagine – another island in my life!
One month in Samoa taught me a lot about dengue virus and how to professionally fall in the ocean when making sad attempts to keep the balance on the surfboard.
One year in Great Britain taught me not only political science, some qualitative analysis skills, and a habit of living with cold humidity in my bones and guts, but also independence and self-reliance. That grumpy cloudy island was a bright sparkling glimpse, surprisingly.
While this blooming island now teaches me to apply some qualitative analysis skills for one of the most important roles in my life – a wife; to trust and rely on my man, to be a support and to let him take decisions. At the uni I was taught what the theory of diplomacy was about, but marriage has shown me its different sides in practice. Everything seemed to be in order.
Yet, something important was missing.
I was so irreconcilable during the first months in the southern country. I expected to lead an active life I was used to.
But an average Cypriot lunch break lasts 3 hours, their shops don’t operate on Wednesday evenings, their beauty salons are not open on Thursdays, and it may take up to three months for a customer support service to respond to your email…
Life in a lazy island demands enormous responsibility. Big cities allow you to hide from yourself on their fussy carousels which keep going round and round until you faint and die. But a pensioners’ island leaves you naked in a room with the strictest judge – yourself. Without a work permit and opportunity to see parents and friends; with bursting energy and desire to develop – the only possible way left is to build relations with the only person you spend time with 24/7 – yourself. Learn patience. Know thyself.
If I were Carrie Bradshaw, I would finish this test text with words: “And just like that she realized she did not need to keep searching, but to calm down. Her way was to create, and she’s always had a magic power by her side – love.
How long does it take to listen to and hear oneself? For her it took 10 months of crazily sweet mangos and fragrant guavas, sea water, pilates and weekly meditations, not to mention acute discussions and inner conversations, in order to understand what she was supposed to become. The temperature of that blissful winter was 40 degrees higher than the winters she was used to. It was the warmest in all senses.”
Well, thank God, I am Alisa, so I will finish this test text saying that all characters and situations in this blog are based on a true story, that constant change is the most natural state of our personalities though it brings enormous discomfort, while the natural condition of our brain is to doubt and look for answers.
Γνῶθι σεαυτόν. Know thyself, it’s the beginning of wisdom.
Meet me at Alfred, coffee shop, Limassol
Μάλλον Γλυκύς
Gin Garden, Limassol
Places:
Μάλλον Γλυκύς coffee shop – Saripolou Square, Limassol, in front of Pranayama pilates studio
Gin Garden bar – Themidos 1, Limassol
Meet me at Alfred cafe – Nikola Xiouta 3, Limassol
Pictures by Alina Sparrow
