crossing the border: turkish nicosia

crossing into the turkish occupied half of nicosia was a very bizarre experience for me.


on new years day, ben & i grabbed our passports and set out for old nicosia, where we could walk down ledra street to the place where you can cross the border on foot.  my anxiety about crossing this border was pretty crazy.. worried about all of the stories i'd read about how intense it is to cross over and how serious the hatred is between the two sides, etc.  i decided to suck it up because to be in cyprus, living in the only divided city left in the world and to not venture over would be a shame.


after we passed the end of the greek side, we found ourselves in a united nations buffer zone.  this is basically an area where no country has jurisdiction... empty space.  as you walk through, you see tall buildings that are completely devastated from the past war when the turks invaded the island.  in the past, this was an area where united nations officers were on guard with guns, patrolling the area.  photography was (technically still is) off limits, and anyone caught attempting was arrested.  thankfully, things have calmed down a lot since then.  if i had only known that ahead of time, i would have been fine.


currently, people are camping out in the buffer zone in an attempt to unite the two sides.  i'm not sure i know enough about it, but i don't really understand how they intend for this to work.  regardless, it's pretty cool.  there are tons of tents between buildings, people huddled around a fire in a garbage can, and reggae music playing as they just hang out, chat, and enjoy themselves.  to be honest, it kind of reminded me of something you'd see in the musical "rent."


i didn't take pictures of the people or the tents because i wasn't sure how they would respond to it, but all over the walls, on the tarps separating the street from the crumbling buildings are drawings, inspirational sayings, peace signs, names, etc.

i think overall, the buffer zone was my favorite part of the day... it was a really hippie-ish and just so... cool.  can't really come up with a more creative word.


after crossing through, the rest of the day was pretty strange.  the clouds rolled in and it started raining on & off.  not only was it new year's day, but it was also a sunday, so most of the shops and restaurants were closed, and there weren't really many people around.  we decided to take it for what is was and just wander around taking things in and making the best of what we were given.


as we got down towards the outskirts of the walled city (nicosia), there were more people out in an area kind of like a town square, for lack of a better way to explain it.  we were walking and checking out our surroundings, and i couldn't help but notice that people kept looking at me.  at first, i figured it was because ben & i stood out as tourists.  on second notice, though, i realized all of a sudden that i was the only woman in sight.  the only one.  as in there were NO other women.


i can't really describe the way it made me feel.  i've never felt like such a minority before; i was the odd one out.  here i am, in a foreign country, walking around a part of the city i've never been to, and realizing that there are only men out and about in the city.  talk about feeling out of place!


i've spent hours googling and trying to research why i could have possible been the only woman out that day, but i really can't come up with any answers.  are they not allowed out on sundays?  is it standard that they be inside on sundays cooking and cleaning?  was it just irony that at that point in time none were out?


i have a feeling this is a question i will never be able to answer, and yet never be able to fully put to rest.


any answers/ideas/thoughts are toootally welcome....


xox k