Cyprus-Forum.com

[halil]

Sevgul Uludag writing in Politis remembers growing up in Famagusta. She says that in 50 years time my son will be 70. He will remember the house he grew up, the places he visited, the beaches he walked along, the colour of the sky, he will have his own memories of this island and the things he loves. He has never seen Famagusta so he will never have any memories of my aunt's house there. He has never smelled the strong smell of the sea there, mixed with flowers, fresh and fruity like nowhere else. He has never visited that house and does not remember climbing up that green spiral staircase, the little pond full of goldfish, nor does have memories of walks along the beach, smelling coconut oil suntan lotion, the heat, walking for miles in the heat with our feet in the water staring at the tourists and the sea.

My aunt would wake up early in the morning to make breakfast, boiled eggs and home-made apricot jam, while my uncle did his exercises in the bath. We would then go by bike to the Palm Beach Hotel, then the Constantia and spent all morning at the beach. This beach with its white sand, and turquoise sea, the beach where i would practice speaking English to the tourists. I was 15 years old and dreaming aof a wonderful world, unbeknownst of what was about to happen to us all. The beach that hadn't yet been hit by the war, where i could dream a million dreams with a small red transistor radio to my ears learning all the words to the songs, my long hair flying, my tanned body and a purple bikini. My uncle and aunt settled in Famagusta long before i was born having first lived many years abroad but always dreaming of a house by the sea. They eventually came back, bought some land by the sea and built a two-story house. The doors, i remember, were painted a light green colour and the floors of some of the rooms were wooden. My uncle had a collection of seashells which i used to secretly touch when they weren't looking lest they scold me for fear that i would break them. All my life since i have been collecting seashells and people always wonder why. They don't realise that i'm trying to recreate the memories of my 15 year old self and life at the fabulour beach in this house in Famagusta.

The house is still there but a tree has grown through it. Snakes and mice live there now and Famagusta is a dream that exists only in our memories, because it is a ghost town. Famagusta will one day open up, but my uncle will not see it as he died years ago and nor will my aunt who is nearing 100. And neither will my son ever have memories of that house in Famagusta. In 50 years time there will be noone to remember all that went on in Famagusta. We will die with our memories of places and beaches, and shells and happiness, of what Cyprus used to be like many years ago. Future generations will have other memories of different places, different houses, different beaches they loved. Only geography will determine what we love or don't love. I am now the same age my aunt Fattush was when she made apricot jam in that house in Famagusta. The women of my family live very long, they are strong and remember very well all the smells, the recipes, the walks, the jokes they ever knew.

But it is all in their memories. None of it exists, because Cyprus has changed, Cyprus has been changed and will continue to change. In the same way Famagusta exists in her memory as it is in mine and as it is in everyone else who once lived there. But all these memories will die along with us and we will never have Famagusta as we remember it. Famagusta will exist one day, but not as we lived it. I will always have memory of Famagusta, the smell that i can find nowhere else, the white sand, the turquoise sea, my uncle's shells, the wooden floor, the starry nights and being 15 years old and listening to John Vickers on the radio in 1974. Because that was the last time i ever was in Famagusta.

[Nikitas]

We know who deprived us of Famagusta, who established :"new realities on the ground". As much as I respect Sevgul Uludag, the avoidance of naming names leaves me stone cold. But then I am not a big one on nostalgia even if I did grow up in Famagusta and have memories pretty much the same.

[cymart]

I have to agree with both postings because I respect their views equally,being involved with Famagusta.Sadly there is no sign that its plight will change in the near future:as Ghalanos stated recently,we will be the last people to return because the city has to be totally rebuilt from scratch now that mold has infiltrated the buildings,making them impossible to renovate for human habitation(recent Cyprus Mail article by Nathan Morley in connection with Alan Weismanns book The world without us.)