Tag: Cyprus

A Shoemaker Without Shoes, an IT Country Without IT

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In recent years, Cyprus has increasingly been promoting the idea of transforming the country into a haven for IT. I recently wrote about why it’s still far from being an IT Mecca, and today I’ll go into more detail about why this seemingly sound initiative continues to stall.

Many expat IT professionals dream of moving the country forward into the future and breaking its dependency on tourism. They understand that relying solely on tourism isn’t sustainable. The “Mediterranean laziness” mindset often leads to maximizing profits from tourists with minimal investment, but this approach can’t last forever. Most Cypriot hotels lag 20–30 years behind their continental counterparts in terms of room quality for the same star rating. While 5-star hotels are generally decent, their prices are comparable to the cost of a flight to the moon.

However, while Cypriots have at least some understanding of tourism (having relied on it for so long), their grasp of IT is far worse. Add to this the “laziness factor,” where government offices operate for just a few hours a day (and not all of them even then). Requests for refunds of overpaid taxes can take 7–8 years to process (I’m not exaggerating), and unemployment benefits will likely be issued only after you’ve starved to death—applications take a minimum of four months to process from the time you lose your job.

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Cyprus: Attitude Toward Wines

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Living in regions where winemaking traditions span not just centuries but millennia significantly changes one’s perspective on this product. I’ve never been a fan of alcohol in general, or wine in particular, so all the talk about blends, notes of bog moss with hints of caramel was just noise to me. I occasionally have a glass of wine, but very rarely—and I don’t always finish the glass. However, my wife loves wine and is always trying new varieties.

Since people in Cyprus have been drinking wine at least since the days of Ancient Greece, it’s hardly a novelty here. There are plenty of local wineries, and prices start at as little as €1.50–2 per bottle. Of course, experts might debate how good a €3–4 wine can be, but to me, it’s simple: you either like it, or you don’t.

For example, in the photo, there are two wines produced in Cyprus by the company KEO (owned by the local church, by the way). They cost around €3 per bottle. Their average ratings on the Vivino app are 3.5 (depending on the year). Both wines are considered “popular among users” of the app.

So, it’s perfectly reasonable to pour yourself a glass in the evening.

However, what has specifically changed in our family is our attitude toward wine as some kind of lofty, refined beverage. The two bottles in the photo, for instance, weren’t bought or opened to drink at all—they were simply used as part of a meat marinade. When wine is this inexpensive, why not use it for marinating meat? With a large family like ours, a single meal easily uses up an entire bottle.

In the past, I might have considered this sacrilegious (How could you waste such a product?!), but now it’s just normal.

As for Cyprus’s main wine attraction—that would be Commandaria. But I’ll write about it some other time.

Cyprus: The IT Mecca of the Mediterranean (Not Really)

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I decided to write about Cyprus and IT. Perhaps this post will upset some people, but I’m sharing my perspective as I see it.

I’ve been meaning to write about IT on our island for a while, but recently I found an additional reason to do so. Over the past few months, I’ve noticed an odd wave of posts in various communities, like: “Looking for a job in Cyprus, currently living in Sunny Podunkville, open to opportunities,” or “Vacationing in Cyprus, skilled and talented—if anyone has work to offer, let me know.”

Alright, I’m exaggerating a little, but overall, there has indeed been a noticeable increase in queries from people who don’t live in Cyprus but have clearly read or heard somewhere that Cyprus is now a fantastic place for the IT industry. I want to explain what it’s actually like, what the advantages are, and what the downsides are.

Let’s start with the fact that IT as an industry has never really existed on the island. I moved here in 2014, and back then, the IT sector was quite uniform. Thanks to offshore regulations and British law, many Forex companies had established a strong presence here, along with a few others connected to the financial sector.

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Lefkosia — The White City

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2016-09-16 14.50.54_cr

The capital of Cyprus is known to all Russian speakers as Nicosia. Similarly, it was called Nicosia in English for many years.

However, in recent years, this toponym (Nicosia) as the name of the capital of Cyprus has become less and less common. About five years ago, the name started to be replaced on all the signs on the island. According to rumors, this change was driven by some policy of the European Union, which aimed to replace the Latinized names of geographical locations in different countries with names closer in sound to their original pronunciation in the local language, rather than names imposed by colonial governments, for example.

The fact is, in Greek, the city is called Λευκωσία, which is pronounced Lefkosia, not Nicosia. Turkish Cypriots call it Lefkoşa in Turkish (pronounced Lefkosha). The name means “White City.” For example, Belarus in Greek has the same linguistic roots and is pronounced Lefkorossia, which literally means “White Russia.”

On road signs, all names are given in two languages—Greek and English. When I first moved to the island, the signs said Nicosia, but a few years ago, when the changes started being implemented, they initially showed dual names: Lefkosia (Nicosia), Lemesos (Limassol). Gradually, the older names were phased out everywhere.

Now, even many online maps show Lefkosia instead of Nicosia.

Interestingly, in official documents in English, the Greek Cypriots themselves can’t seem to decide how to write it—sometimes it’s Lefkosia, sometimes Nicosia. However, the postal service doesn’t mind how you address something—parcels and letters arrive in both “cities” just fine. 😉

What’s interesting is that there’s no such trend toward change in the Russian language. And even when Lefkosia finally becomes the standard in English, the city will most likely still be called Nicosia (Никосия) in Russian.

There are plenty of examples of this: we still call Beijing Pekin (Пекин) in Russian. And English speakers call Moscow Moscow, which is close but still sounds a bit different from Russian Moskva (Москва).

Winter in Cyprus

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Типичный конец ноября на Кипре
A Typical Late November in Cyprus

It’s been a while since we talked about Cyprus—it’s all been about books lately. Since the warm summer is coming to an end, let me tell you about winter in Cyprus.

Many people who don’t live in warm countries often think that it’s always warm here, though not necessarily hot. In part, they’re right: for instance, today is November 6th, and during the day, the temperature outside is +29°C (84°F), while at night, it drops to +16°C (61°F). That’s pretty decent August weather for places like Minsk.

Moreover, even in the winter months, the weather is much warmer than what residents of Minsk, Moscow, or Saint Petersburg are used to. Based on my observations, the average daytime temperature during winter months is between 13-20°C (55-68°F), while at night, it’s around 5-7°C (41-45°F). Sometimes it drops to 0°C (32°F) or even below, but this is quite rare.

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Maternity Care in Cyprus

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The idea of writing about pregnancy and childbirth in both Belarus and Cyprus came to me after a discussion on Facebook. I’ll try to explain the differences in approach, and everyone can draw their own conclusions.

I’ve had six pregnancies. I managed the first three and gave birth in Belarus. During my fourth pregnancy, we moved to Cyprus. Later, I went to Belarus for a “vacation,” where, at seven months, I gave birth to a stillborn baby. My fifth and sixth pregnancies were managed and delivered in Cyprus.

In Cyprus, healthcare is free for a narrow segment of the population. For everyone else, insurance is necessary. A new system is currently being introduced, but I’ll explain how things were back then.

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About school. Part 2

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Continuing my story about our school.

Starting from 10th grade, students begin to choose their subjects. The first selection isn’t that serious. The subjects are divided into blocks, and students must choose one from each block. There are mandatory subjects like Math, English, and others.

After 11th grade, the choice becomes much more serious and important. Students narrow their subjects down to three, though they are allowed to take up to four if they want an additional challenge. The results of these exams will be submitted to universities. Students select subjects based on the requirements of the universities and specializations they hope to apply for in two years.

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About school

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I’m often asked about my children’s school. I’ve written about their education a few times already, but I decided to gather everything in one place.

We moved to Cyprus from Minsk. There, my children finished 6th, 4th, and 1st grades. The eldest attended a gymnasium, while the younger ones went to the local primary school. It was an elementary school, from first to fourth grade. After that, they would have needed to transfer to another school or apply to a gymnasium. The school itself resembled a kindergarten in its layout (it was actually a former kindergarten building). This is important for understanding the kind of learning conditions the children had in Minsk. They were learning English as part of the curriculum. Tima didn’t study it at all (in the first grade). You could say their level of English was almost non-existent.

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General Health System: Bring on cheaper doctors!

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I’ve written about healthcare in Cyprus several times already. But now, everyone here is talking about a long-discussed government initiative that’s finally arriving at our doorstep. Its name is GHS (General Health System), or GESY (pronounced “yesi”).

And since I’m naturally inclined to dig into things, I decided to figure out what exactly this is and how it might affect me personally. I don’t claim to have all the answers, but I’ll explain what I know and understand..

The Idea

Overall, the concept behind it is good. The thing is, healthcare in Cyprus can be divided into two groups: public and private. Public healthcare is cheap, but there are few doctors, which leads to long waiting lists—sometimes months ahead. Private healthcare costs around 40-50 euros per visit, and there are almost no queues (except for very successful doctors who are in high demand, but even then, it’s usually just a matter of a few days at worst).

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22 signs that you are a Cypriot driver

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Let’s set aside the serious topics for now and talk about something even more serious—have you mastered driving in Cyprus or not?

You’ve probably become a full-fledged Cypriot driver if the following statements apply to you.

  1. You never use your indicator—unless you accidentally hit the lever.
  2. The “Stop” sign is just a variation of a “Yield” sign to you.
  3. You’re convinced the stop line at intersections is supposed to be behind your car.
  4. You’re convinced that you’ve done ‘everything possible’ to give way to the car on the main road if you pull out directly in front of it, blocking at least half of the lane, but most importantly — you STOPPED to let it pass (even though it’s now impossible for anyone to get through because of you).
  5. You never slow down or check for other vehicles when entering a main road.
  6. When turning right from a side road, you calmly pull out into the center, blocking the way for everyone coming from the right (remember — it’s LEFT-HAND driving, like in the UK). And those who had to stop because of you DON’T GET ANNOYED!
  7. You know for sure that a red traffic light means “you can go if you really need to.” Even if the police are nearby.
  8. You calmly drive through a red pedestrian light (not at an intersection, but specifically for pedestrian crossings) if the pedestrian has already crossed or there’s no one at all. Just like the previous situation — even if the police are nearby.
  9. You park your car in any available space, whether it’s a street corner, a sidewalk, the opposite lane, or two spaces at once — after all, your car just looks better taking up both spots.
  10. You feel entirely entitled to stop right in the middle of the road if you spot a friend driving toward you. Of course, you’ll chat through the open windows for a good 5-10 minutes. The cars behind you? Well, meeting a friend is far more important!
  11. Double solid line? What’s that? You can’t cross it? Oh, come on! See, even the police officer stopped to let me through!
  12. You’re sure that moving at 5 cm per second at an intersection doesn’t count as actual movement, and therefore allows you to turn even on a red light.
  13. You can comfortably block someone else’s car without leaving your phone number. And if someone blocks your car, you would never bother calling the large number displayed under their windshield.
  14. You never pay at a paid parking spot using a parking meter.
  15. You consider it normal to leave your car parked all day during summer with the windows open for ventilation. Sometimes, you even leave the keys in the ignition, just in case your car might block someone from exiting.
  16. If you need to get out of your car, you abruptly swing open the door without checking the mirrors to see if someone is coming from behind.
  17. In heavy rain on the highway, you turn on your hazard lights, drastically reduce your speed, or even stop completely by the side of the road.
  18. You don’t care about scratches and dents on your car. And if you happened to bump or scratch someone else’s car? Well, even less so!
  19. You have a perfect sense of timing and confidently maintain the necessary 0.1-second interval before honking at the car in front of you, signaling that the light turned green 0.1 seconds ago.
  20. You know that if you honk long enough at cars stuck in traffic or behind an obstacle, either the obstacle will magically vanish, or the cars in front will disappear into thin air.
  21. You always talk on the phone while driving. Always! Without it, the car just doesn’t run as smoothly.
  22. If you ever get the feeling that you might be doing something wrong (whether while driving or parking), simply turning on your hazard lights instantly absolves you of all responsibility.

I’m sure there’s more to add… I’ll keep working on it myself, or maybe I’ll update it with suggestions from the comments.