Beginning the Program

Greetings from Nicosia, Cyprus!

Took off with Delta from Boston on time at 5:05 on Tuesday afternoon and arrived on time in Amsterdam around 6am local time. The plane was mostly empty - could stretch out and read and even sleep a bit. My connection gave me 8 hours at Schiphol Airport. Ugh.

The first thing I did at the airport (after changing Dollars to Euros) was find the chapel ("meditation center") and daven shacharit there. A good omen for my trip on religious tolerance: several Muslims and I were praying in there at the same time. Jews win (?) for the duration of our T'fillot. The Muslims win (?) for the number of prayer services per day. I was impressed that several of the worshipers at the airport sat on their prayer rugs to read from the Koran after they finished their prayers.

8 hours. Took several long walks in the airport with my carry-ons. Got some cologne. Some chocolate. Ate. Walked. Read. Dozed. Walked. Peed. 8 hours is a long time. Took a little photo essay of life at the airport. That's the first post on this blog. Just click on the photo to see the whole photo album.

Finally boarded a Cyprus Airways jet to Larnaca. Sat next to the former head of Airplane Maintenance for the Cyprus Airways. Why he was flying Economy with his wife, rather than comfortably in business class as a perk for his decades of good service? This could have been cause for worry if I wanted it to be, but I didn't. The flight attendant offered to let me inspect my kosher meal to make sure all the seals were tight. I declined the opportunity.

Sailed through passport control and customs, boarded my shuttle bus and from its destination to the University of Nicosia where my program is based this week and where I'm staying. My flat-mate here in the dormitory is called Faruk, deputy editor of an independent newspaper in Bosnia. Took a walk last night to pick up a little late dinner - bread and cheese from a local bakery and a local adapter for the electrical plug to my computer. Right around the corner from my dorm is a corner amusement park - a merry-go-round, a ride or two, and bumper cars (adorably spelled pumber cars). A fellow called Freeman and I agree that before we leave we fellows should take a turn in the bumper cars. That's how to best handle religious / ethnic conflict. Bumper cars. I'll propose it soon to the UN.

The founder / lead director of the program is Adam Seligman, professor or religion at BU. He's here with his wife and daughters, the younger of whom was my student at JCDS, where I teach. So even in Cyprus I'm Rav Yoel. It's through the school contact that Adam invited me to join the program.

The climate and terrain are familiar to me from Israel. A peach colored sunset in a sky hazy with heat. Dry, dry, dry. Hot, hot, hot. Terraced hills. Farms, industrial zones... The shops look like a mix of very hip and very simple. Even the housing stock looked familar. Again, to my eye, much like Israel. Here they don't drink tap water; it's all bottled. On my walk the other night I saw a water kiosk of sorts on the sidewalk: A vending machine that is a large tank of water. A person drove up in his car, took out one of those large bottles for water used on a water cooler like in an office, paid and filled up with fresh water from the tank.

What I've been busy reading is article after article in my source book. Essays related to the theme of the program, including the recent history of Cyprus in general and Nicosia in particular. The truly conflicted history between Turkish and Greek Cypriots is recent - goes to the 50's - the end of the British period (post-Ottoman). Violence and intolerance on both sides...

Thursday morning the group (we are about 27 fellows plus faculty) we had a wonderful tour of Old Nicosia, along the Green Line which separates The Republic of Cyprus from the TRNC - the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. (That country exists only in its own mind and that of Turkey. No other country recognizes it.) The latter is the half of the island occupied by Turkey since its invasion in 1974. The Turkish Cypriots who used to live south of the line all moved north and Greek Cypriots who lived north of the line all moved south. The UN and the respective militaries maintain the separation, which cuts right through the heart of the city of Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus.

Our tour explored issues of evolving identity (more Greek? more Turkish? more Cypriot?), the firmness of the separation and the possibilities for reconciliation and reunification. We looked at certain telling symbols - the colors in the respective flags, the architecture, and certain formal structures, like the education systems (totally separate) and the sewage systems (joined). Much of the discussion focused on the different narratives each side tells about itself and about the other. As usual, when one only knows one's own version of the story, there is little prospect for reconciliation. Apparently the respective populations are recently softening in their opposition to reunification and there is some hope that it will occur. But still there are official maps published by both sides that simply show the other half of the island as blank. Nothing there - no one to talk to - nothing to be done. If you're curious, here is a the Republic of Cyprus' official information page on "The Cyprus Problem" http://www.cyprus.gov.cy/portal/portal.nsf/All/4498EE7F41C09DFBC2256EBD004F3BCD?OpenDocument.

And here is the home page of the Cyprus Embassy in Washington, which also has relevant information http://www.cyprusembassy.net/home/

The situation is fascinating, troubling. The setting is beautiful and absurd at the same time.

I'm thinking about much of what I'm seeing in anticipation of our visit to Israel and focus on Yaffo next week. What for me here is removed from myself and 'merely' interesting to look at will suddenly become very personally significant in the Israel context.

Participating in the program are Jewish and Palestinian Israelis, Palestinians from the West Bank, Americans, Brits, some Bulgarians, Bosnians, a Kosovar, a Moroccan, a German, some Cypriots, an Indonesian, and a Ugandan. I think I've got that right. The faculty, too, are a diverse and very interesting bunch. Had a terrific conversation today w/a journalist who is on the program for this week. Among other things we talked about the challenges to journalists of negotiating the lines of being truth-tellers (by virtue of asking hard questions), advocates (by pursuing a particular line) and fuelers of conflict (by defining and exposing villains, or by giving partisans to conflict a greater voice than they might otherwise have, I suppose).

Breakfast and lunch were very tasty, served in the cafeteria here at the University. Meat is a big part of the diet in Cyprus, but they served fish, too, so that's fine by me. Am now on afternoon break. Will soon see a film about Cyprus - hope that, despite my jet lag (modest so far), I stay awake.