This is my story, but it is also the story of dozens of people that ended up in Cyprus for all sorts of reasons, and then decided to stay.
Born in Sardinia a bit more than 30 years ago, my life was expected to fall into the definition of ordinary. Until I was 21 I lived a standard life on my island, before moving to Milan for studies.
From 2014 until 2019 I didn’t have a fixed place for more than one year. I lived in four different countries, always starting from scratch with the best intentions. But inevitably, due to destiny or my choices, I always came back to the origin.
I took part in many European and national volunteering and training projects, besides some short term jobs.
After moving without much logic, I was feeling exhausted and I did not know which direction to give to my life.
Among the places where I lived there was one where I felt I belonged.
In 2016 I took part in a volunteering project in the city of Limassol, Cyprus. When I got selected I realised I didn’t know almost anything about Cyprus.
I knew it was an island in the Mediterranean and that the weather was good most of the year, that was enough for me.
Little by little and not without difficulties, this place made me feel at peace. Here I lived life the way it should be lived, discovering places, getting to know people and cultures, having the opportunity to grow as a person.
At the end of the 6 months of volunteering I moved back home. But I was always dreaming of Cyprus: all the friends and the adventures we lived there, the amazing views, the simple life. This island bewitched me.
In 2019 I came back for the wedding of two dear friends.
Looking for a job was difficult in Spain, where I was living, and even more in Italy, as most of my generation knows well. This holiday in Cyprus was a breath of fresh air in a period of huge stress.
During the last night in Cyprus, at the dinner table, I said to my friends: “I will look for a job here and move back, you will see me in Cyprus in a month”.
Everyone laughed, but I was smiling.
Two months later I was landing in Larnaca with my life packed in a suitcase and a job waiting for me in Nicosia.
The second chapter of my life in Cyprus was about to start.
This island has something that cannot be explained. It may be the humanity that is lost in many other European countries, the siga siga way of life, the international environment, the sun, or maybe the halloumi pie.
Many others, like me, tried to leave, to find a job or build their life elsewhere, but then life brought them back to Cyprus, months or years later.
This island is not for everyone and it is not paradise on earth, but some of us don’t have a choice, we just love it.
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