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[Svetlana]

The Mukhtar is the Mayor as has been said, full of self-importance, as has been said - but can be a useful ally. Best advice don't visit him alone - take a bottle of 'Cognyaki'

Lana

[CAROLINE]

WHEN I WAS OUT THERE LAST SUMMER,,THEY WERE ALL PICKING THE GRAPES AND MAKING MOONSHINE...I THINK I WILL GET ON ALL RIGHT ...UNTIL I START PLAYING ME ELVIS AND UB40..THATS WHEN MY TAX WILL GO UP...

[rotate]

We have the current village Muhktari as a neighbour on one side of our house and the previous Muhktari on the other, they are not related to each other.

Pleased to say that both of these Gentlemen and their families are the best neighbours we've had either in Cyprus or in other parts of the world where we have lived. They work hard to look after the interests of the village and are not above critiscism from members of the community at village meetings. When ever they see my wife or me they always ask if there are any problems and if we are happy living in the village.

Despite being married to a Cypriot from Famagusta who was nervous about living in a village, I did make a point of going to the village Kafeneon before buying the house to meet the Muhktari. As luck would have it I met both the current and former Muhktars and I was able to ask how they felt about having a foreigner moving into their village (theres not another ex-pat anywhere near the place), their answer was that I would be most welcome as I had bothered to ask for their opinion and would I like a cup of coffee!

A couple of years on and their welcome and that of the rest of the village has remained as warm and as friendly as it was in the begining.

Finally our Muhktar prefers the title of 'village community president'.
It always makes an impression on those that I meet when I say that our neighbours in Cyprus are the President and former President, leaving off the rest of their titles and allowing the listener to imagine what they will and thus hopefully increasing the value of our house by at least another 20K.

[CAROLINE]

THANKS ,
FOR THAT AM FEELING MUCH BETTER ABOUT LIVING NEXT DOOR TO HIM NOW.. LETS HOPE HE LIKES THE ENGLISH ... I AM SURE HE WILL.
I WILL HAVE TO LEARN SOME OF THE GREEK..THAT WILL IMPRESS HIM
I DONT THINK HIS ENGLISH IS VERY GOOD.....

[cannedmoose]

My dad has done the same as rotate, albeit my father-in-law who went with him already knew the mukhtaris in the village. If you treat the locals well, perhaps put a bit of your money into the local co-operative bank and try to integrate as much as possible, I don't think you'll have any problems. I've met some elderly people in Cyprus who were rabid supporters of EOKA during the 1950s and have received nothing but courtesy from them, so it's just proof that if you treat the Cypriots with respect and kindness, they will reciprocate. Since you're taking the step to live in the Cypriot environment rather than on some antiseptic development, you're already one step ahead.

[CAROLINE]

THANK YOU ... THATS NICE TO KNOW... A NEW BANK HAS JUST GONE UP IN THE VILLAGE ... MIGHT HAVE TO OPEN AN ACCOUNT WITH THEM... MAKES LIFE EASIER FOR ME HAVING A BANK CLOSE BY,,,

[cannedmoose]

And don't forget to take the mukhtaris a nice bottle of wine or zivania when you pop round to say hello...

[CAROLINE]

what ever he drinks,,, i will get for him. and try to be quite...when he has his sleep.....in the afternoon.....

[cannedmoose]

what ever he drinks,,, i will get for him. and try to be quite...when he has his sleep.....in the afternoon.....

The afternoon siesta is one of the great parts of being Cypriot, I'd recommend you adopt it, since you'll be staying up late during the summer you'll need it and it's really too damn hot during the middle of the day to do anything else, no other option than retreating to the aircon and sleeping while everything fries outside.

[CAROLINE]

it will take some getting used to...but sounds good to me ...nothing else to do... apart from going TEN PIN BOWLING or GREEN BOWLS