Cafés in Cyprus

The Cypriots traditionally socialized in the small coffee shops or ‘kafenia’ of the villages and of the cities. This

was at first a privilege that only men could enjoy, since it wasn't 'proper' for a woman to be involved in

such social activities, so women were having their coffees in their yards or living rooms. These local

coffee houses where the centre of the social life of the villages and of the neighbourhoods of the big cities for everybody that went there since it was not usual not to go to the kafenia at least once a day. There people discussed local matters, gossiped and off course they

argued on hot political issues. 

Along with the traditional 'kafenia', in the 50s and 60s more and more confectionary shops opened up in the cities where people would go with their families and enjoy various sweets that they could not have at the coffee shops. The coffee shops served only a type of

Turkish coffee without spices (which is unique in Cyprus), Turkish delights, sweetened fruits (‘glika tou koutaliou’) and over time they also served some soft drinks. In the 50’s and 60’s the “kafenia” in the big villages were separated to left and right wing coffee shops which also acted as local gatherings of people with similar ideology, a phenomenon still present in

most villages.

Katerina Karatzia

In the 1970s, the traditional ‘kafenia’ and local confectionary shops evolved into the modern day cafés that we see throughout Europe. Now people could eat light snacks and sweets while at the same time enjoyed their coffees and drinks in the same shop. Even though at first you could only find Turkish coffees, instant coffees, hot chocolates and teas, nowadays a variety of coffee types are served in the cafés such as espressos and cappuccinos. Many international chains of coffee houses have established a sound presence in Cyprus and they are often chosen by the Cypriots as their desired hangout and they are a major part of Cypriot social life. The tastes of different age groups have caused many different types of cafés to exist, that vary from the traditional ‘kafenio’, which has developed somehow but survived ‘progress’, to modern day international franchises or local cafés in the cities.

Whatever the case, it is always good to enjoy a nice cup of coffee with pleasant company be it at a local ‘kafenio’ or a known international franchise.

Katerina Karatzia

Drought

Cyprus is experiencing a critical water shortage due to severe drought. Rainfall has been minimal since 2003 thus reservoir reserves have plunged dangerously low and desalination plants are unable to cope with growing demand. Official reports suggest that rainfall in Cyprus has fallen by about 20 percent over the past 35 years, a decline experts attribute to climate change.

Authorities had to make radical decisions which included cutting water supplies to district distribution networks by 30 percent. The cut in water supplies means households will have running water for eight hours every two days to refill deposits. Such measures have not been imposed since the 1970s and 1980s, when Cyprus was exclusively reliant on rainfall and underground water deposits for its needs.

Desalination, introduced in the 1990s staved off rationing, but rising demand and dwindling rainfall has put pressure on scant resources. Cyprus has two desalination plants running at full capacity, and a third came on stream in June. Even the increase of desalination plants hasn’t given the expected solution to the problem and thus experts are considering the introduction of giant drills that will search for water at 800 metres depth.

Maybe the most extreme and costly solution that has cost many disputes among the political parties in Cyprus is the transfer of water from Greece as an immediate solution to the grave situation Cyprus is facing. On 30 June the first shipping of water from Ocean Tankers was brought to ‘water’ the drained island. 8 million cubic metres of water are expected to be brought from Greece by November 15.

Cyprus is suffering one of the worst droughts on record. The unprecedented project of bringing water systematically from Greece will cost the government some 40 million euro. Cyprus’ hopes lay on the further construction of desalination plants and the hope that the search for ground water will finally provide the island with this precious resource that is the basis for the tourist industry, the agriculture and many other important economic sectors of the country. May we see a rainy day…

Antonis Rocopos

Shopping in Cyprus Shopping, shopping, and shopping. My favourite word of

the English language. It’s very small but yet exciting and very promising. I know what you are thinking… that the tiny little Nicosia is not exactly the next New York or the next Dubai. The truth is that we indeed do not have many shops in Cyprus and that the prices are a little bit high But shopping in Cyprus is extremely easy to do and very pleasing. All the shops are concentrated in only 3 roads which are very close to each other; Makariou Avenue, Ledras street and Onasogorou Street. There is no need to drive around town, all day long, in search for the perfect pair of high heel shoes as you can simply walk from one shop to another, try on all the available in the Cyprus shoe market, shoes and spend half the energy and time as you would have otherwise.

And if you are not very energetic, go shopping because shopping in Cyprus is a great excuse for having coffee in one of the numerous coffee shops. All the must-visit coffee shops are located -where else? - near the shops. So as you are looking for the killer outfit you can have a break and enjoy a creamy frappucchino at “Starbucks”, a steamy Cappuccino at “Costa’s”, one piece of the most delicious apple pie at “Le Café” or a yummy crepe at “Voila La mode”. Shopping and coffee go together in Cyprus making shopping an unforgettable experience.

In the shopping streets of Nicosia you will find fewer shops than in other countries but there is nothing that can not be found in our shops. One can buy tennis rackets and then a few meters down the road he can find a shop selling records and next to that there is a large clothing store.

So if you have any free time, do not hesitate and shop, shop, shop!!!

Marilia Paraschou

‘Home and abroad in Europe’ Comenius in Cyprus is also at the

English School for the period between 2008-2010. The English School has applied for a Comenius grunt and the program ‘Home and abroad in Europe’ was approved with 3 partner schools, a school from Germany, another one from Portugal and a third one from Poland. It will last 2 years and thus the activities will in a way be incorporated in the school’s yearly curriculum. The clever task that has been set by the organisers is to create a film without sound on Cyprus, produce the music on Germany’s film and finally produce the text for Portugal’s film. This will inevitably make the students involved to research on the countries concerned, thus through this entertaining task they can learn about other cultures, enhance their creativity and team-work and finally ‘be awarded with their European Identity’. ( continues)

Comenius comes as a strong tool to actively aid the European community and more specifically in our program, the Cypriot society to learn and accept. The granting of knowledge from this global program enhances the understanding among young people and even teachers for the diversity of cultures, languages and values in the EU. Since Cyprus is a new EU member, Comenius comes to provide a correct path for young people to familiarise and cooperate for the improvement and strengthening of this institution.

Adding to the main task of creating a film, the English School will strongly engage itself into Comenius’ purpose by creating a website, organising workshops for the fellow European students that will be visiting us, organising poster competitions for the ‘Home and abroad in Europe’ and even hosting students from other countries. Already, 25 English School Students have applied for the hosting and many more for a number of other activities that will help to make the workshop on the 3rd to 8th of November as well as the 2-year-program unforgettable. We are all looking forward to this exciting experience that the Comenius will provide to us, it’s our best chance to really get to know Europe and everything that it represents in a less theoretical and more practical way.

Antonis Rokopos

This interview is with Michael Berendes

(1)So, what drove you to take part in the Comenius project? We made a project for our school during our English lesson. After when the teacher had explained us what the

project was about were all very fascinated. So we all took part of it as quickly as we could!!!. (2)What was your reaction when they told you that you were coming to Cyprus? Were you excited? Yes I was really excited. I thought wow –very high temperatures while it is only 6-10C in Germany. Also I had

never visited Cyprus before so I was really looking forward to discover it. (3)Do you think that our schools enrolment in the Comenius project is satisfactory? Yes I think so. The English school is really passionate about it and I can see that many students took part this year

so this is helps the project very much. (4)What did you gain or learn from the webpage workshop? I learned more about Cyprus such as its history and more about its geographical importance. It helped me to meet

new people, from which many of them became really good friends of mine. (5)If you could describe the English School with three words those would be…. a) Impressing, b) Different c) Warm (6)What role does the Comenius project play in your school? Sorry but I don’t know because we haven’t got any visited yet. (7)What is your general picture of Cyprus? Here in Cyprus everything is brown, yellow and very dry but the weather is really nice. It’s different to Germany’s

weather, where it is cold and windy. (8)Something that you will never forget from Cyprus either this can be from the shopping or the

excursions? For me the most amazing thing that I really enjoyed was paintball. In Germany there aren’t any games alike so it

was the first time playing it. It was really extraordinary!! (9)Do you think Comenius is helping young European students to come closer? Yes I'm sure .I found many new friends and I think it is very interesting meeting pupils from other countries while

there is school. You can see how there is everyday life and I like it a lot. (10)Have you learned any Greek word?! Yes but I can’t tell you what! Christine Shahbenderian

Interview with Annalena Vocker

(1)So what drove you to take part in the Comenius project? I got interested in the theme, and I wanted to learn more about different cultures, how other people live in

their daily lives and also the family life. (2)What was your reaction when they told you that you were coming to Cyprus? Were you

excited? I was really excited and happy because I would have the chance to meet new people and encounter new

experiences. (3)Do you think our schools enrolment in the Comenius project is satisfactory? Yes I believe the schools enrolment in the Comenius project is pretty high. This is due to the fact that I

learned many songs from the workshops, learned the geographical position of Cyprus from the website and some of us learned how to dance Cypriot traditional dances which was really fun.

(4)What did you gain or learn from the workshops? I learned songs, dances and some Greek words. Also I met new people and made lots of friends which im

sure of we will talk after when I m gone to Germany. (5)I you could describe the English School with 3 words…. Exciting, warm and friendly. (6)What role does the Comenius project play in you school? Is it an important issue? Yes it does, but we need to accept more visits of students from other countries to make it even ore

important. (7)From Cyprus, what is your general picture? It is a very warm island with a very pretty nature and friendly people. (8)Something that you will never forget form Cyprus? The antique statues in the National Museum and that there are so many churches everywhere in the

island. (9)Do you think Comenius is helping young students in Europe to come closer? Yes, I believe that Comenius helps young students to come closer and it also ii creates a strong bond

between young people. (10)Have you learned any Greek words? Yes,Kalispera,kalimera,efxaristo and parakalo!! Christine Shahbenderian

Some statements from German pupils‘The pupils were friendlier than the Germans, they

are open and funny.’‘The teachers are funny. I was surprised to see

many young teachers.’‘The workshops were great .We had a very nice

time and we met a lot of people ,who did a lot of workto help us understand the Cyprus way of life.’

‘The pupils and the workshops were the most rewarding experience , because we learned a lot of interesting things about Cyprus.’

‘If I had to change it , I would have made the staying period longer.’

Some statements from the guest German pupils

‘It was amazing to stay in Cyprus. I've learned a lot of the other culture and the pupils are so friendly.’

‘The teachers were almost friendly, and I was always welcome to the lessons.’

‘The teachers seem very kind and very nice, and we also liked them a lot.’

‘It was great , it was a chance to meet many friendly people and to learn more about local culture.’

In the school programme , some of the lessons were difficult to understand in English.But most of them were interesting.

Some statements by Cypriot pupils‘It was the best thing I have ever experienced. I

had a very nice time.’‘The pupils were great . They were friendly and

nice.’‘The best thing were the workshops , because

they strengthened our relationships with the pupils.’

‘The excursions were educational, because we learned many things about Cyprus that we didn’t know.’

‘If I had the possibility to change something , I would make the staying time of the guests longer.’

‘I had a great time with my guest pupil and we became friends.’

‘The workshops were well organized and provided fun activities for the students.’

CHRISTMAS AT HOME!!!Every year the Christmas celebrations start with

decorating the Christmas tree at my house. The whole family helps in order to decorate the tree as best as we can. The Christmas decoration is followed by the decoration of the rest of the house. Each member of my family takes each year a different place of the house and decorates it as he likes. This year I had to decorate the living room and I did a basket filled with toys, bears and plastic cookies.My father did something that could

be done very quickly, he just bought this…On the other hand my sister bought a reindeer

and a snowman to welcome every guest that will enter our house during the Christmas holidays. She also bought this train to count the days till Christmas day and two little Santa clauses!!!

We also bake some homemade traditional sweets that my mother, my sister and I do. We also have fun doing them, as my sister and I, mess the kitchen up and my mother make us clean it up at the end. We bake melomakarona (cookies), kourambiedes (cookies with almonds) and Christmas cake which every year turns to be very nice.

During all of our decorations and the baking of the sweets we listen to traditional greek and English Christmas music and we always have lots of fun.

Pieris Pieras

We also bake some homemade traditional sweets that my mother, my sister and I do. We also have fun doing them, as my sister and I, mess the kitchen up and my mother make us clean it up at the end. We bake melomakarona (cookies), kourambiedes (cookies with almonds) and Christmas cake which every year turns to be very nice.

Cypriot food at its best!

ChRIsTMas SwEeTS