You would think that the buffer zone divides not only two different groups of people but also the Occident and the Orient, just to be proven wrong by the beautiful mixture of cultures that found a home on Aphrodite’s island. The late economic migration and the conflicts in the neighbouring countries added to the Greek and Turkish Cypriots, the Filipinos, the Pakistani, the Russians, the Romanians and many more from Asia, Europe and Africa.
A walk on Ledra street, on a Sunday afternoon, will provide the newcomer’s eye with a surprising view. The Filipinos doing the shopping after the Sunday religious procession in shops where a big number of employees are Eastern Europeans, the Cypriots drinking, most probably, their second frappe, while the other many nations are just roaming the street in search for a relaxing afternoon.
The city centre is the best place where you find a range of traditional Greek Cypriot food and products and Eastern European and Asian. Everything at, literally, one step distance.
Though all this diversity comes with a challenge, as it is getting harder and harder for Cyprus to keep its customs and tradition as close as possible to what the great-grandparents left as a gift throughout the generations, and also to find a balance with all the new approaches to life invading the little island.
This new demographics can be either a blessing or curse. It all depends on the perspective. What would you choose, my dear island?