A few weeks ago, I was in the highlands of the Andes. It was an incredible experience. We were in the middle of nothing, and in the middle of everything. Wildlife, waterfalls, incredible architecture. Markets stocked with more exotic fruits and vegetables than I’d ever seen. In the span of a few hours we went from above the tree line, to a rainforest, to field of cactii. Yet with all of this life, there is treachery. The alpine environment is harsh, and doesn’t allow for many ways to make money. The village we visited was just wired with electricity this past May — just a few months before the iPhone 10 was released in the United States. In several of the small mountain villages we visited, there wasn’t an accessible road, no running water, no heating in the homes. Most of the people living there were illiterate. 

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My grandparents talk about the “old country” so positively… how beautiful it is, how peaceful the people are, how much less stress everyone is under.  

I always wondered why they would have left such a seemingly perfect place. I’ve never been to Cyprus, but my experiences in the Andes gave me some perspective on why a person might be prompted leave such a beautiful place. 

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Similar to the small villages in Peru, my Papou’s village didn’t have much. It was a farming village in the highlands of Cyprus. In Cyprus they made their own clothes; raised their own food; and most people didn’t have an education. My grandfather spent his years in Droushia during the Great Depression under British rule — an already suffering town was hurting more than usual.