Larnaca, and Cyprus as a whole, truly is a melting pot of European and Mediterranean cultural interactions. Anyone who knows me quickly understands I am a conversationalist. I can hang back and not say much, enjoy an evening in solitude surrounded by throngs of people going about their lives, but I also like to seek out deeper conversations with people. These conversations can be serious, absurd, exploration of ideas, sharing of world views, or an attempt to understand the wildly different life of another person. Larnaca has been my Mecca for conversation.

Thus far, as discussed in a previous post, I’ve spent time with Cypriots discussing life from the time of the war in 1974 to today. But I’ve had many many MANY conversations with non-Cypriots about their lives and what brought them to Larnaca.

I met three Scottish oil and natural gas pipeline workers at the ‘Meeting Pub’ along the beach. Initially, I just sat down with them to watch a couple of Rubgy matches. Over the next several days and weeks meeting up again, we covered topics about working for an international company living abroad, European versus American sports, the possibility of Scottish Independence, and even a three hour discussion on the best way to establish a pipeline from the polar caps of Mars and the engineering challenges to pipe water or ice to a permanent Martian colony. That last one caused quite the argument between two of the engineers over the pros and cons of positive pressure versus negative vacuum systems. I promise you, it was much more exciting than it sounds.

I also befriended an Athenian man who works at the ‘Meeting Pub’. I will save more about my friend Dimitris for a later blog post because his story is worth its own focus. The long and short of it is Dimitris (he likes to go by Jimmy) came to Larnaca to work and sends part of his money back home to his mother. As my friend Petros (the owner of the Bowler’s Pub) explained to me, Cypriots used to go to Greece for a better life, but nowadays, Greeks come to Cyprus since the 2008 economic crash. Also working at this pub is Anna, a 19-year-old Moldova woman who has lived in Larnaca since she was 7. She just came over with her mother and the rest of the family remains in Moldova. She told me about not speaking any English or Greek when she started school and the struggle it was early on. In addition to her Romanian native language she also speaks Bulgarian. John is the owner of the pub which he founded 33 years ago, but apparently has numerous business ventures all around the beach. You can catch him in their keeping an eye on things with his son who is there basically every night working. Occasionally you will see them play a quick game of billiards when there are few customers.

I met some Englishmen who lived in Cyprus for the past three years working remotely. They did not make much money by London standards, so they decided to come out to Cyprus to increase their ‘buying power’. Even Cyprus is slowing creeping up in expense, as these gentlemen just left Limassol for Larnaca to live cheaper. By most Cypriot standards, these men are living the upper-middle class life. Many other British islanders I’ve encountered did the same thing by retiring to Larnaca because their monthly pension takes quite good care of them compared to back home.

If you, dear reader, choose to join the PKAP excavations through your university, I desperately urge you to take the time to chat up others in the places you frequent. You’ll gain a whole new perspective on migration and economics we don’t often discuss in the United States.

Sorry, no picture for this post.

-Adam E.