Cyprus Part Ena or Welcome Back

My plane landed at Larnaca and I was ready to jump out of my seat and feel the warm Cyprus winds on my face. As soon as they opened the airplane door, I was outside, smelling the fresh sea air and reveling in the 80-degree dry heat. I raced through the unchanged customs area (where they stamped my passport with the brand-spankin'-new EU stamp), hung around while they sorted out the bags, answered some questions from a guy from the tourist office, and then made my way through the enormous crowd of faces looking for their loved ones. How would I find Mitros, my family's landlord from over seven years ago? Would he look the same? Would he recognize me? Suddenly, I see a hand shoot up through the sea of faces. It's Mitros! He's way out in the distance, but he's there! I threw my arms around him in the most un-Cypriot of greetings and greeted him in Greek, "Kali spera" -- good evening. "You look different," said Mitros, who hasn't changed a bit. "I was expecting you in glasses."

We rode from Larnaca to Lefkosia, the capital city and my "home" in Cyprus, in under 30 minutes. I was reminded why Cypriot drivers terrify me to no end. Mitros was eager to hear the family's news, but more interested in filling me in on the current politics of the island. Somehow, I don't remember the Lambertides to have been so politically vocal, but it appears things have changed. Mitros, in true Cypriot fashion, predicted a "boomerang" on Israel for their attacks on Lebanon and, also fulfilling his Cypriot duties, paralleled the current Middle East situation to the Cyprus Problem. We chatted, joked, laughed, listened to the evening's news (Mitros translated) and wound up at 11 Fillipou Street in no time. And nothing had changed.

Ursula, Mitros's wife, met us on the steps. She gave me the three-kiss greeting (I knew I was back) and then insisted that we head out for dinner. Mitros and Ursula wanted me to enjoy a traditional Cyprus meal again and that meant a meze, a dinner made up of many little "tastes" of traditional cuisine. I showered quickly, we hopped back in the car, and raced to a taverna in the Old City. Sitting on the Venecian walls, dating back to the 14th century, I enjoyed all my favorite foods: a village (Greek) salad, olives, tahini, bread, tzatziki, sheftalia, souvlakia and, of course, Cyprus's own KEO Beer. I was home. We ended the night with sweet karpouzi (watermelon) which, for those of you who have never tasted a Cyprus watermelon before, is nothing like our American variety. Filled with fantastic flavors and ready to start a week of excitement and memories, Mitros and Ursula took me back home and put me to bed (to the strains of EuroNews, my favorite European TV news magazine from seven years ago, in the background.)

I was home.