What a month it’s been. It’s only now I think I’m beginning to get some understanding of Cyprus and the way things are done. It’s an alien life for me, having spent 54 years (almost) learning another way. Cyprus is a hard country to live in, physically, socially, culturally and personally, but for those who can see past its quirks, bitterness and betrayals to its charms, there is a real love of the place.
I came here, wanting to see Cyprus, but more than that, wanting to see my sister and to spend time with her. We hadn’t spent much time together since we were both in our early twenties. Over the past four weeks we have both been reminded of how warm and well meaning we can both be and how different we are from one another.
I have visited countless relatives and friends of Helen’s and know that she is in good hands when I return home. Her warmth, her honesty, her intelligence and her willingness to give rather than take has repaid her many times over with many hands, eyes and ears. All the same, it would be great to live closer, so we can use our complimentary skills to our mutual advantage.
I’m taking back to Australia a lot of things (relax Johnny, NOT items, memories…though there are just a few pairs of shoes squeezed into the hand luggage). I’m taking back some vivid impressions of palm fronds languidly stirring the air and blood-red bougainvillea bounding over the white-yellow stone of the local district. These seem to speak of life and beauty overcoming the harshness of life here. I’m taking back a memory of cousins, aunts and uncles, who until this trip were really no more than a confusion of names and two dimensional images. I’m taking back a near visceral feeling of the vastness of the deep blue sky and the clouds of lion-coloured dust that accompany any movement across the landscape. I’m taking back a real sense of confusion at the labyrinthine layout of streets and a love of the faded and crumbling neo colonial buildings that line them. I’m taking back some confirmation in my mind that I am very much an Australian, but that I am who I am because my roots grow deep and stretch across the globe to a little island dropped into the eastern part of the Mediterranean sea. I’m taking back an impression of a large and elegant house that once rang with the sounds of family and growing children, now fallen silent and shuttered. I’m taking back a vision of my sister, as a once foreign wife, who is at home now in both hemispheres of this earth and sadly, at least at this moment, not at “home” in either.
Helen, it’s been a lot of fun. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your hospitality. You haven’t let life kill the joy and love in your heart. See you in Melbourne in two months. We’ll continue the fun there. Very much love, Lily
