Travel: Where is Cyprus Exactly?

- June 04, 2018

The strangest thing when you say you're going to Cyprus is.... "Oh you are going to Greece!" and alternatively "Oh! You are going to Greece?" The actual and technical answer to both questions is no.

Looking at a map (let's be honest. Google Maps), Cyprus is just north of Egypt and south of Turkey and west of Lebanon. It is considered a part of the Middle East. AKA the part of the world no parent wants their child to go to. SO, I didn't tell anyone where Cyprus is located until I got back. They said "Greece!" and I said "Yeah kinda" with a big smile and then evasively changed the subject like the good little girl that I am.

Although Greece "controls" the southern part (North is under Turkish rule) of the island and the main language is Greek, the feel of the people is quite distinctly Cypriot.

Acts 13:4-7: ... they sailed away to Cyʹprus.... When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paʹphos, they met up with a Jewish man named Bar-Jeʹsus....

During my stay I was based in Paphos/Pafos in southern Cyprus. Just to provide a little context it's important to note that Pafos is just over 800 miles from the Sahara Dessert. One day my travel/service partner and I were having trouble breathing while out in the ministry work (climbing stairs at every home we visited because the "low side" just meant we walked down the stairs from the street level). We later found out that there was sand storm that day. Sand comes from the Sahara dessert, makes breathing difficult and coats everything with a nice dusty film. I most likely had some in my lungs as well which probably should have horrified me, but I found it really exciting. So maybe I have a slight Egypt obsession, but that's a topic for another post.

I had the opportunity to go to the pioneer (full time minister) seminar the day before the English assembly (a full day of seminars for all JW in the English congregations in Cyprus). There were 500 in attendance including the 100 in Chinese and Tagalog who had the program translated for them. What a wonderful feast of spiritual food. And so much encouragement so that the wickedness around us and the trials we face don't discourage us. It's wonderful that we are so unified the program was the same as the English one I attended at home, but there were tweaks that applied to the locals in such a way that the same piece of information was exactly what pioneers (for the seminar) and publishers (for the assembly) needed to hear.

The night of the assembly we took the journey from Limassol to Pafos and it was like driving through the pages of history that I have read. Beautiful and ancient. I could imagine what the journey of those whose lives were recorded in the Bible may have seen as the walked along lands with similar topography. The Cypriot countryside is the color of sand but it is just their light soil and many rocks. But along the way trees heavy with oranges, lemons, grapefruits and pomegranates provide some color. On parts of the journey we were rather close to the shore. To look out at a body of water and see the edge where the water meets the sky never fails to take my breath away..

There were a few storms during my stay. In the middle of one night there was a lightning and thunder storm with torrential rain. It was intense to say the least. There are no high buildings or towers to give the impression there is something between you and the lightning. And yet once my heartbeat settled to the rhythm of the rain I fell back into a deep sleep. There is no sprinkling rain in Cyprus it seems. Torrential rain or sunshine.

The high points of the trip were definitely the spiritual activities, bonding with my travel partner (name withheld for security purposes..jk), the storms and the food.

I can see my luggage! It's on the top of the cart on the left.
Bright pink for high visability.

Watching some Cypriots make Cypriot baked goods

A living wall

The yummiest cup of espresso I have had in a long time.
Cost: .50

Banana trees we spotted while in the ministry.

Harbor

Over the edge of the Harbor

Pink Pelican who lives on the harbor. He stopped there when injured and never left.

A view looking toward the far side of the harbor.
Spot the green shirted creeper..

A view from the high point of Cyprus.
Spot the Russian millionaires yacht.

This picture cannot express the steepness of this street.

After a particularly intense storm the harbor was inundated with heeps of this seaweed

My Beautiful and light filled bedroom

Interesting fact about Cyprus:
You don't flush the toilet paper. You put it in the tiny trash can.
I'll just let that sink in while I move on to the next caption.