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[GreekIslandGirl]

Miltiades, please don't be side-tracked. Keep the local customs coming - your village being so close to mine, all memories resonate wonderfully.

[miltiades]

Miltiades, please don't be side-tracked. Keep the local customs coming - your village being so close to mine, all memories resonate wonderfully.

These early recollections are before the earthquake of 1953, I was 7 years old. Had not yet listened to a radio. Ice cream had not been "discovered" and sweets were home made Pandispani, and sugar on wet bread !!

I had a goat that I absolutely adored, Ttoppo was his name, a very lively and rather naughty goat, the stories I told my children about my Ttoppo, always broke loose always up to mischief, but a loving goat and very protective towards me.
Will carry on tomorrow....

[miltiades]

An annual highlight, attended by villagers from surrounding villages was the Polemi Panairi, lasted for 3 days and was an event not to be missed by young and old alike. My self and older brother would be given a few piastras from our parents and eagerly walk the short distance, 3 or more miles to Polemi. Wares in abundance, pastelli and boiled sweets everywhere.

Alas, I never got to spend my meagre piasters as my older by 7 years, gambler brother, still a gambler today, would wrestle me to the ground, once he lost his money on " pantazi", I think that is the correct name, and pinch my money.

The joy of seeing so many people, loads of children to play with, far exceeded the joys of having a mahalepi or a gazoza. Coke had not yet been introduced.

As the sun begun to retreat, that was the time we would head back to our village, our money spent, by my gambler brother, who insisted and made me promise not to tell our parents about his gambling antics .

[miltiades]

Dad was a highly principled with intractable views, very stubburn sort of man.
A tailor by trade struggling to feed his family and a very hard working man.

He was sent to prison by the Brits for being an active communist, he served 3 years and shared a cell with a fellow communist the well known Tefkros Anthias, the famous Cypriot poet.

Three times the English judge asked my father to renounce his communist ideology or face prison. Thee times my dad responded. I was, I'm I shall be. IMOUN IME KAI THA IME.

Swearing was not a part of his vocabulary and would come down ferociously on anyone daring to use foul language in his presence. An honest man, a well respected individual in spite of his communist affiliation.

He was a well read man , a challenging debater ...

[Nikitas]

Resi is a Paphos area tradition, and I heard that there were professional resi stirrers who made their living stirring the resi for 12 hours through the night before the wedding, is this true?

[miltiades]

Resi is a Paphos area tradition, and I heard that there were professional resi stirrers who made their living stirring the resi for 12 hours through the night before the wedding, is this true?

Every village had its "MAMMOU" and also had its Resi specialist.

Resi was first pounded by women mostly, in rhythmical motions, after it was washed it was placed in big Kazania, that is when the Resi specialist would come in stirring in monotonous motions.

No wedding would be complete without the traditional Resi, I loved it, still do and usually have it at the Limassol wine festival, or if in Stroumbi at the Dyonisons wine festival held annually in August.

[miltiades]

A simple life in a small village, children were normally put to bed rather early, no TV to keep them up so once the sun set, dinner had, it was time for bed. Men would gather in one of the two kafenios in the village, a game of tavli, spastra, a coffee and a chat is all they did. The women would congregate outside their houses in the neighbourhood talkning and telling each other stories.

1952 was my first and only one in the Stroumbi Dimotiko, only two classess held taught by the same teacher, no more than 15 children, mixed , all together.

Children generally liked the school, a meeting place for children, to study, learn their alphabet and indulge in a variety of kids games, pirilli, hosto, skatoulika, even lingri.

One memory that is vivid in my mind was the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth in June 1953.

A week or so before the children were asked to attend school for celebrations where treats would be given out and commemorative mugs.

I was too young to understand why the older children wanted nothing to do with the celebrations, on the day I along with other smaller children turned up at the school where we were given a variety of treats and a mug each.

Older children had gathered at the schoolyard, demonstrating againt the festivities going on in the classrooms, just could not understand why they would refuse cakes and treats.

I soon found out though on my way home...

[miltiades]

No sooner had us small children left the school when the bigger boys forced us to hand over our Coronation mugs, they collected 3 or 4 and smashed them to smitherins !!

My dad explained later that day as why the big boys objected so much to us attenting the celebrations. At barely 7 years old it was hard to take in.

My father had served in the British army during WW2 just as 30,000 other Cypriots did. He never had a grudge against the British, but he explained well the behaviour of the older boys.

September the 10th 1953 is a poignant date in my mind, but having covered the earthquake on numerous occasions previously I will not elaborate further, apart from saying that the British troops who arrived at the village shortly after the earthquake were magnificent, quickly put up tents, provided food and clothing and helped with injuries.

The earthquake begun my journey to Limassol and Varosia, my mothers family were in Ayios Loukas.

[Nikitas]

Reading Militiadis account it suddenly occurred to me that most readers would not know the isolation of the Paphos area back then. The other cities, Nicosia, Famagusta, Kyrenia, Larnaka and Limassol were fairly close to each other, the travel time being an hour and half at the most. Paphos was a whole day's driving away. Stroumbi must have seemed like the far West in those days in terms of isolation from the rest of the island.

[miltiades]

The journey from Stroumbi to Ktima would take about 2 hours by bus, the road was very narrow, steep and narrow at times and quite treacherous all those years ago. The local leoforio would leave early in the morning, making stops along the way to pick up passengers from other villages.

My only recollection before the earthquake was one only trip to Ktima, that was something else ! My father took me to visit some relations we had in the town, it looked a huge town in comparison to Stroumbi.

Never ventured outside Paphos until after the eathquake when a kindly English lady took the four of us, bothers and sister,in a Morris Minor, to the Limassol Childrens home. Horses with carts were widely used as taxis in Limassol. The town then ended where the Paidiki Stegi was. It is now a car park in Enaerios!!