Our Committee thanks everybody, all one hundred and seventy two, for the marvellous support you gave our Annual Function at Lemonokipos Restaurant on Saturday 12th October.
President
George Vassiliou spoke with great knowledge and memorable humour on the serious
subject of joining the European Union and its advantages to Cyprus and the
ex patriate population. From the comments received since the event, everyone
enjoyed the speech, the meal and the music. The raffle was successful, thanks
to your generosity and Tony Barron’s fantastic enthusiasm in obtaining so
many raffle prizes free, all of which are listed inside this newsletter. We
thank Father Gregoris and his family for working so hard to make the function
a success, Johnny Johns for his thoughtful choice of music and Petros Kalopetrides
of Santa Marina Complex for supplying some of the wine for the tables.
The
financial success of the evening means that we can now relax a little, as
we have enough funds to pay for the next four copies, as you will note from
the financial statement mentioned in this newsletter. We are now looking ahead
to next year’s function and would appreciate your ideas. We are already discussing
a speaker, venue and type of entertainment and hope to learn from the mistakes
we made planning our first venture. Next time we must group prizes together
to speed up the drawing of the raffle, perhaps have two identical buffet tables
to reduce the long queues for food, and exclude drinks from the price of the
ticket.
This
would mean individuals would buy their own drinks separately and hopefully
deter any loutish behaviour. In this issue we have articles from Gerry Barron
on “Snakes”, Jane Langford about her cats, Alison South on “Kalavasos Archaeology”,
plus other interesting snippets and contributions by the Village Committee
and Father Gregoris and, of course, Roger Langford’s Quiz.
To celebrate St Georges Day we are having a Village Fair, commencing
on Saturday 2nd November at 4 p.m. with a parade from the old St Georges Church
to the new St Georges Church carrying the old icon, with an evening service
at the new Church at 4.30 p.m. for one hour. 
This
is followed at 6.30 p.m. at the Youth Club, by a marionettes theatre show,
Cypriot dancing and traditional snacks, all free of charge. Then on Sunday
3rd November there will be a special service from 6.30 a.m. to 9 a.m. During
both days there will be stalls outside the Church selling goods and there
will be entertainment for the children.
The rebuilding of St Nicholas Church has been delayed as the Department of Antiquities is not happy with the site suggested and a different area nearby is being discussed.
We have received the following humorous comments from Roger Langford.
“Of Birds and Geese”
Whilst in England last month, we heard on Radio 4 (Today programme) that two bee-eaters had nested in the north of England and reared a family of four. The last time that happened was in 1995. It normally lives in Africa but breeds in and around the Mediterranean. This pair over-flew by about fifteen hundred miles.
We also spotted in a well-known English paper an article headed “Irish Goose flies into an Eskimo Freezer” reproduced below. “Six Irish light-bellied brent geese, fitted with £3000 electronic transmitters to chart their migration by satellite, are having a rough time of it. One of them was traced to an Eskimo hunter’s freezer.
The birds were fitted with transponders in Iceland last May by the Wildlife and Wetlands Trust, but bleeps from Arnthor stopped abruptly over Disko Island, off the west coast of Greenland, where hunting is illegal during spring migration but still take place.
Then Oscar died in Iceland ; his body was found on a small island there. Researchers think he may have fallen victim to a bird of prey.
Now the wildlife experts are mourning a third goose, Kerry, tracked to a precise site on remote Cornwallis Island. Unfortunately, the site was an Eskimo hunter’s kitchen freezer.
Kerry had completed an arduous 4500-mile journey, when the transponder signals showed he had come to rest.
A Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust senior research officer, Dr James Robinson, said yesterday : “We have Canadian colleagues in Resolute Bay on Cornwallis Island who have a small receiver which can pick up the birds signals… ‘They decided to see if they could find him. They looked in all the fjords and lakes where brent geese go, but had no success at all. Then, as they were walking back into town, their receiver started beeping more strongly. They tracked the beeps to a house, knocked on the door, and discovered that the guy who lived there had shot Kerry on another island called Bathurst Island.
Kerry was in the hunter’s freezer. He hadn’t been plucked and the transponder was still on him. The hunter was somewhat surprised. He didn’t know what the device on the goose’s back was.
The three remaining geese are still thought to be alive. Austin is on Ellesmere Island, Hugh was last heard of on Amund Ringnes Island, and Major Ruttledge is believed to be on Graham Island.
Dr Robinson said Kerry had been supported by about fifteen adopters. They will now be invited to switch to one of the birds whose goose has not already been cooked. “
IIt started in May, when a very battered Ginger Tom arrived and installed himself in our next door field. He had a twisted spine, broken tail, a poorly front paw and a face that was scratched, and with ears which were flattened. He was completely feral and had a degree in spitting – the dogs kept well clear! Under normal circumstances we would have taken him to the vet for a peaceful end, but you could not get near him, he would have gone for your throat.
And, so…..we started to feed him (very carefully) and within days he started to improve. His wounds began to heal and he looked reasonable. Then his girlfriend, Tinkerbell, arrived. A beautiful little cat, white with tabby splodges, but she was as wild as the Tom, but quite happy to join the “soup kitchen”.
The inevitable
happened and Tink produced three beautiful kittens – Rufus, white with ginger
and tabby splodges, Spot, white with a tabby spot, and Mr Magoo, so named
because he seemed to have weak eyes. Then along came Chequers, a beautiful
black and white cat, who was fat, well fed and loved but enjoyed the company
of the other cats - and the odd snack, of course.
The finale, hopefully, was a minute kitten found crying plaintively in the middle of a bush. We could not walk by. His name is Basil and he has completely wrecked the peaceful life of our two resident cats by continually trying to attack them, especially tails left innocently hanging over a chair. He is a bundle of energy and very endearing.
Sadly, we could not possibly keep all these waifs and strays and with the aid of traps managed to catch Magoo, Rufus and Spot, who have now gone to Paphiakos Animal Welfare Centre under our sponsorship. We are trying to get Tinkerbell before any more kittens appear. The Ginger Tom kindly left of his own volition, Chequers is still with us and, yes, you’ve guessed little Bas has permanent residency.
On a sad note, you may recall that in the Maroni Newsletter of May 2001 I related the story of the donkey “Dillon”, who we found wandering on the road outside Psematismenos and arranged for him to be collected by Patrick at the Vouni Donkey Sanctuary. We have recently heard that he has died.
At the Village Meeting, when our younger residents participated in
a friendly discussion with their learned elders, it was pointed out that everything
promised at the elections had been kept, such as the cleaning of the village.
The Committee is endeavouring to reduce the archaeological area in the village below 800 donums and is requesting extra monies from the Government and the E.C. to pay the compensation needed to re-site the pig farm. There are problems with the postal service as the authorities will only pay £80 per month for someone to deliver the letters. This is being resolved but everyone needs to be patient.
It
was noted that the English speaking residents were not supporting the local
shops and it was hoped in the future this would be done.
The Committee would like to receive suggestions on how this could be improved. Please contact Committee member, Mike Demetriou on 99-403780.
Balance at 1st February 2002 brought forward Advertisements for the year Donation from the Village Committee Donation from the Co-operative Bank Donation from the Church Committee Donations from Readers ( 33) Sale of Dinner Tickets (Annual Event) Proceeds of Raffle & Auction (Annual Event) less:- Cheque Book Printing Costs for April Printing Costs for June Printing Costs August Printing Costs October Stationery & Cartridges Lemonokipos Restaurant (Annual Event) Flowers (Annual Event) Balance at 20th August 2002 carried forward
One of the major archaeological sites in our area is the large Late Bronze Age (1500-1200 B.C.) town at Kalavasos “Ayios Dimitrios”, located just to the south of the Kalavasos-Tenta Neolithic village (with its giant yellow tent roof), and extending on both sides of the motorway. As the ancient name is unknown, it is called after the nearest locality named on maps, a ruined chapel of Saint Dimitrios. One of the largest Late Bronze Age sites in the island, it has provided much new evidence for impressive and well-planned architecture, metallurgical activities, international trade and rich tombs containing many fine objects. It is interesting that two such large and highly organised Bronze Age towns as Ayios Dimitrios and Maroni were located so close to each other (about 6 km apart). Ayios Dimitrios is in the Vasilikos River valley, south of Kalavasos, 3 km from the sea, and about 8 km from the Kalavasos copper mining area which probably provided the raw materials for the ancient copper trade. Some of the early excavators such as Cesnola and the British Museum may have briefly explored the site, but little is known for certain about their work. Ayios Dimitrios first became known to modern archaeology when it was rediscovered in 1978 by the archaeological survey team of the Vasilikos Valley Project (based at Brandeis University near Boston), directed by Ian Todd and myself. Excavation started as an emergency operation in 1979 during construction of the new Nicosia-Limassol road across the middle of the site, with a few archaeologists assisted by volunteers and soldiers trying to keep ahead of the bulldozers. Later work continued until 1998 to investigate various other parts of the large town.
The ancient town of about 11-12 hectares lies in gently sloping fields 100
metres west of the river. The excavations have revealed many quite large,
mostly domestic rectangular buildings, grouped around long straight streets
which were provided with good drains for the winter rains. 
There is evidence for copper-working activity in many areas. However, by far the most impressive structure in both the ancient town and the modern excavations is Building X, a square ashlar (finely cut stone) building with walls up to two metres thick, located at the north end of the longest street.
The building was surrounded by other ashlar buildings and industrial areas, with major installations for producing olive oil. Ancient visitors entered Building X through a wide doorway in the middle of the south facade, which led into a pebble-paved central courtyard, flanked by long corridors. By far the largest room on the ground floor was located in the west part of the building.
Its architecture was imposing, with ashlar walls and a row of six solid rectangular stone pillars down the middle. This grand hall was a storeroom where rows of huge ceramic jars (pithoi) of up to 2 metres high stood in rows (see on drawing previous page). Their arrangement in double rows is not actually very convenient for easy access to the contents (mostly olive oil as shown by some analyses), but certainly must have been an impressive display of wealth, with about 50 pithoi containing at least 33,000 litres of produce. The pithoi were smashed by the collapse of the roof (and probably an upper storey) when the building was burned down around 1200 B.C., but the broken sherds are gradually being restored into complete pithoi. Some intact pithoi have been found in pits sunk below the floor level, and these have been completely excavated (by the slimmer members of the team who can squeeze though the fairly narrow necks of the vessels).
In
addition to the monumental architecture and control of storage of produce,
Building X has other special features including several inscriptions in the
still undeciphered Cypro-Minoan script (see illustration). Although in general
few luxury objects remained in the building, there are some hints of very
high living standards. A deep shaft (perhaps once a well) contained a deposit
of what seemed to be rubbish from high-class dinners, including a great number
of imported Mycenaean bowls, animal bones including shoulder joints of sheep
and goat with game birds and fish, and many well preserved grains and fruit
pips. Several very rich tombs have been found, cave-like underground chambers
mostly under a small street which runs around Building X. The dead were buried
with funeral offerings including gold and silver jewellery, glass and faience
vessels, ivory boxes and duck-shaped vessels, and much fine Mycenaean and
Cypriot pottery. Several Mycenaean kraters, probably used to serve wine as
an important part of the burial ritual, include unusual examples such as one
whose painted scenes show a lady (a goddess?) in a shrine, another which shows
a procession of ladies, and an exceptionally large example with two chariots
on each side. The excavations at Ayios Dimitrios have provided much new information
for our understanding of Late Bronze Age society in Cyprus. Many articles
and one book about the results have been published, and more are planned.
The site is not yet open to the public, but will probably be opened in 2-3
years, and a guidebook is in preparation.
From our Foreign Correspondent
You will have seen advertisements for cheap flights from Cyprus Airways(not Cyprus Airlines as I called them last month), typically, flights from £130. These flights are nowhere near as attractive as at first sight. Firstly, they are almost impossible to book due to limited availability. Secondly, the price does not include £40 in taxes so they are barely cheaper than normal flights. Thirdly, they must be paid for when booking,and there are other snags so they are hardly worth bothering with. Travel agents are particularly fed up with the airlines over these promotional flights as they involve lots of phone calls and very few results; this has reached such a point that it is impossible to advise any more, or rather, my advice is:- go to your travel agent and make him/her phone around for you. All the airlines now have different conditions, so you need to know exactly what is available on any particular day and whether it fits your requirements.
The good news is that Cyprus Airways have brought back senior citizen fares
for those aged 63 and over. These are a saving as, for example, one can fly
to Crete for £59, which strikes me as a bargain. They are also available to
the UK. The rates are available for their winter season, which lasts amazingly
until 30 June! British Airways have abandoned senior citizen flights, but
most airlines still have them, though generally at 65 and over but, still
worth asking about.
I told a slight porky in my last letter, Cyplon flights with a stop do not allow proper stop-overs, one must take the next available connection. However the airlines themselves do permit stop-overs, but they will need to be booked with a different agent and will cost somewhat more, though not all that much and they are definitely worth it, if time is not of the essence.
Finally, joke of the month: A chap buys a Rottweiler puppy as a pet/guard dog, he takes it home and it grows and grows. After a month he notices that it is developing crossed-eyes, he takes it to the vet, who agrees and decides on a full examination. He looks at the ears, mouth, teeth etc. then picks the dog up. After a minute he says I'm afraid I'm going to have to put this dog down. "Oh no", says the owner "Why?". The vet replies, "Because he's bloody heavy." Boom Boom!
Wonderful Support Annual Social Event
Readers Comment and Letters “Of Birds and Geese”
“Parting with an old friend”by Jane Langford
Maroni Newsletter Financial Statement
Article on Snakes by Gerry Barron.
Favourite Recipe of the Month "Pickled Olives"
Late Bronze Age town at Kalavasos by Alison South
MORE AIR TRAVEL THE DEVIL IS IN DETAIL * Update*
Job application someone submitted at a McDonalds fast-food establishment AND THEY HIRED HIM!
Subject: How to tell that you've been in London too long...
Raffle Prize Donors and their gifts at our Annual Function 12/10/02
The
Blunt Nosed Viper. The Latin name for this snake is Vipera Lebetina. This
is the most venomous snake in Cyprus. It is a large viper with a sturdy head
and a blunted nose. Its body is chunky with its tail thinning in only a short
area, unlike other snakes where the body and tail taper evenly. It is whitish
grey, straw yellow, and rust brown in colour.
It lives in areas that are quiet and prefers dry riverbeds with small pools of water, where it waits for its prey. It feeds on birds, rats, mice and sometimes other snakes. If disturbed this snake will bite in defence with a very strong poison, which must be treated with an antidote. It is interesting that the Blunt Nosed Viper is the only snake in Cyprus that bears live young, whereas all the other snakes native to Cyprus lay eggs. This snake grows to one metre or more in length.
This
young Blunt Nosed Viper drowned in my neighbour’s swimming pool. Notice the
body shape, with the tail tapering quickly, its flattened nose and overall
chunky shape.
Even though this was a young snake it already has sizeable fangs.
1. You say "the City" and expect everyone to know which one.
2. You have never been to The Tower or Madame Tussauds but love Brighton
3. You can get into a four-hour argument about how to get from Shepherds Bush to Elephant & Castle at 3:30 on the Friday before a long weekend, but can't find Dorset on a map.
4. Hookers and the homeless are invisible.
5. You step over people who collapse on the Tube.
6. You believe that being able to swear at people in their own language makes you multilingual.
7. You've considered stabbing someone.
8. Your door has more than three locks.
9. You consider eye contact an act of overt aggression.
10. You call an 8' x 10' plot of patchy grass a garden.
11. You consider Essex the "countryside".
12. You think Hyde Park is "nature".
13. You're paying £1,200 a month for a studio the size of a walk-in wardrobe and you think it's a "bargain".
14. Shopping in suburban supermarkets and shopping malls gives you a severe attack of agoraphobia.
15. You pay more each month to park your car than most people in the UK pay in rent.
16. You pay £3 without blinking for a beer that cost the bar 28p.
17. You actually take fashion seriously.
18. You have 27 different take-away menus next to your telephone.
19. The UK west of Heathrow is still theoretical to you.
20. You're suspicious of strangers who are actually nice to you.
21. Your idea of personal space is no one actually physically standing on you.
22. £50 worth of groceries fit in one plastic bag.
23. You have a minimum of five "worst cab ride ever" stories.
24. You don't hear sirens anymore.
25. You've mentally blocked out all thoughts of the city's air/water quality and what it's doing to your insides.
26. You live in a building with a larger population than most towns.
27. Your cleaner is Portugese, your grocer is Somali, your butcher is halal, your deli man is Israeli, your landlord is Italian, your laundry guy is Philippino, your bartender is Australian, your favourite diner owner is Greek, the watch seller on your corner is Senegalese, your last cabbie was African, your newsagent is Indian and your local English chippie owner is Turkish.
28. You wouldn't want to live anywhere else until you get married.
29. You roll your eyes and say 'tsk” at the news that someone has thrown himself under a tube train.
30. Your day is ruined if you don't get a copy of Metro on the way to work.
1.5kg
fresh black or green olives
75g fine sea salt
1 litre water
125ml olive oil
NAME: Greg Bulmash
DESIRED POSITION: Reclining. HA! But seriously, whatever’s available. If I was in a position to be picky, I wouldn't be applying here in the first place.
DESIRED SALARY: 185,000 a year plus stock options and a Michael Ovitz style severance package. If that's not possible, make an offer and we can haggle.
EDUCATION: Yes.
LAST POSITION HELD: Target for middle management hostility.
SALARY: Less than I'm worth.
MOST NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENT: My incredible collection of stolen pens and post-it notes.
REASON FOR LEAVING: It sucked.
HOURS AVAILABLE TO WORK: Any.
PREFERRED HOURS: 1.30-3.30pm, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday.
DO YOU HAVE ANY SPECIAL SKILLS?: Yes, but they're better suited to a more intimate environment.
MAY WE CONTACT YOUR CURRENT EMPLOYER?: If I had one, would I be here?
DO YOU HAVE ANY PHYSICAL CONDITIONS THAT WOULD PROHIBIT YOU FROM LIFTING UP TO 50 LBS?: Of what?
DO YOU HAVE A CAR?: I think the more appropriate question here would be 'Do you have a car that runs?'
HAVE YOU RECEIVED ANY SPECIAL AWARDS OR RECOGNITIONS?: I may already be a winner of the Readers Digest Prize Draw.
DO YOU SMOKE?: Only when set on fire.
WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE DOING IN FIVE YEARS?: Living in the Bahamas with a fabulously wealthy supermodel who thinks I'm the best thing since sliced bread. Actually I'd like to be doing that now.
DO YOU CERTIFY THAT THE ABOVE IS TRUE AND COMPLETE TO THE BEST OF YOUR KNOWLEDGE?: No, but I dare you to prove otherwise.
SIGN HERE: Scorpio with Libra rising.
Theonitsa & Andreas Kkemitris, Maroni Butcher: £10 meat voucher
George of London, Khirokitia: Men’s Shampoo, Cut and Blow Dry
Oasis Restaurant, Khirokitia: Meal for 2 people
Happy Valley Restaurant, Skarinou Station: 2 bottles of sparkling wine
Diana’s Fish Restaurant, Zygi: Fish & Chips for 2
Aristocles Clothing Store, Zygi Crossroads: Voucher for £5
Michael Pharmacy, Zygi Crossroads: Voucher for £10
Kypros Bakery, Zygi Crossroads: 3 Vouchers for £5
Lakis Take Away, Zygi Crossroads: Voucher: Take Away or Eat In for 2 Voucher: Take Away or Eat In for 4
Chrysilla & Pete Leventis, Garden Centre, Maroni: 2 Vouchers for 2 cases of flowers, value £9 each
Andreas & Melani Restaurant, Governors Beach: Voucher 1 Nights accommodation for 2
Andreas Kouklos c/o Father Gregoris : 2 Boxes of Fruit
Sofroniou Restaurant, Governors Beach: Fish Meze for 2
Mimis Neocleous: Bottle of Vodka Mike Demetriou : Bottle of Whisky
Anthony Barron : Bottle of Brandy
Father Gregoris : 2 meals for 2 at Lemonokipos Restaurant, Maroni
David Bryant: Meal for 2 at Fiona’s, Khirokitia
Pentaschions Restaurant: Meal for 2
Santa Marina Complex: 2 x 2 Bottles of wine and 2 x 1 bottle of wine
Co-op Supermarket, Maroni: Voucher for £15
Co-op Hardware, Maroni: Voucher for £15
George Theodorou, Larnaca: Voucher for £20
Mappouras Tavern: Meal for 4
Neoclis Neocleous, Village Committee: Bottle of Whisky
Two identical twins were born in March, but had their birthdays in April. One was twenty years old, the other was twenty two. One emigrated but returned home to marry his mother five years later. Can you explain this.
PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A QUIZ THAT SHOULD BE OFFERED ORALLY.
Answer to poser in the August issue
23+8-7x15 = 360
* Attention: Over 60 or retired persons. *
A day out from 08:00 till 18:00 on the 9th November FREE of CHARGE.
The Co-op is having another trip out this year so all meet up at the bus park opposite the Village office around 08:00 for this trip to the East of the Island.
