I was curious to know where my roots came from, so I came to Cyprus for a vacation in 1985. My father was born in Strovolos, Nicosia in 1939. He left his country before the war and twenty-five years had passed by that time. since he left. I was lucky, because my uncle Yannis, my father’s brother, who lived in Nicosia, was visiting England that year and I was able to come back with him for two weeks.

I remember arriving at Larnaca airport on August 20, 1985 at the age of 17. It had been a night flight and I remember thinking about how hot it was when I got off the plane. I was nervous and excited to meet my Aunt Lea and my cousin Marino, who was only about 6 or 7 years old at the time.

We arrived at his flat in Nicosia, which was small. My Aunt Lea was very hospitable and she had laid out a feast of food on the dining room table, but I wasn’t that hungry and only ate a little as it was midnight. All he had wanted was to go to sleep, but for them food came first.

Finally, they made me a bed in Marino’s room, where I was going to sleep. I didn’t care, as he had been excited just to be there. The only problem was the heat. It was the middle of August and without air conditioning I was beginning to suffocate. All her windows were wide open, but there was no breeze coming through. My uncle had told me that he was always this hot in August (around 100 degrees). He surprised me, as I had never been in a place as humid as this.

I slept for a few hours and woke up to the sound of bells on a Sunday morning. They told me it came from a nearby church. I was used to the Greek Orthodox Church, as my father loved it and we had regularly been to England. He always joined the Priests and sang Mass with them, so he had heard it many times before.

On my first morning, my aunt came out of the kitchen and put a feast of food back on the table. I wasn’t used to eating large amounts of food in the morning, but I ate more than I should have from what I remember. There was pita bread, sauces, eggs, salad, bread, Greek burgers called ‘cufftatoes’ in Greek, and more. I was full

Later that afternoon we visited my aunt’s sister’s house. We had Greek coffee and a syrup dessert, which I thought was delicious. Her bungalow had marble floors throughout and I remember how shiny they looked. After that, my uncle took me to his clothing store in Strovolos. My uncle was also a teacher at Nicosia College and was on leave for the summer holidays. My aunt was a dressmaker and she was very good at it. She made and designed many of her own clothes and sold them at her store.

As the days passed and the end of my two weeks in Cyprus approached, I went out for a walk in the shops of Strovolos and Nicosia. I remember seeing the line that cut the country in half.

They took me to Governors Beach in Limassol one night, where we ate meze and watched the sea come and go. At midnight, my uncle said that we would all go swimming. I thought this was weird, but I followed them anyway. We walk towards the sea. It was hot. At first I had a hard time getting in because there were stones at the bottom, but then all I felt was sand. I remember how much fun it had been and didn’t realize until later how much I had enjoyed it.

It was a wonderful experience to be in Cyprus for the first time as I had seen a different way of life and how my uncle and his family lived. I realized that he loved my father’s country so much that he would try to get him to come back for a visit as soon as possible.