Funmurphys: the Blog

Cyprus

Mr. World Traveller Michael Totten recommends reading this article about a divided Cyprus while he works on his next installments. I typically heed such advice and as per usual, I'm happy I did.

I'm old enough to remember the summer morning when Turkey invaded Cyprus. I was eating breakfast before summer school and watching the whole thing on our TV in the kitchen. Paratroopers calmly landing, cutting their chutes, and forming up into their units shown live on TV. Years later my wife and I had a Greek tour guide -- Terry. Terry wasn't fond of America. He told the story of how he had been set up as a hotelier in Cyprus by the Germans as amends for their harming (tortured? killed?) his father during WWII. But in 1974 he lost everything when the Turks invaded Cyprus and the American armed forces did nothing.

My wife and I still say "Slowly, slowly" in imitation of Terry who really was a good guide because he looked out for all of us). He deliberately told us everything three times (not in succession) because as he told us on day 1, if I don't tell you three times, someone won't remember and then they'll say "you didn't tell me". Danged if some people didn't remember even after he told us everything three times.