Hi everyone!
My name is Andreas Economou and I’m writing to you from Larnaca, Cyprus.
For those of you unfamiliar with Cyprus, it is the second largest island of the Meditterranean (after Sicily) and can be found in its east, under Turkey.
I’m here after recently watching an amazing film, “The Unbelievers”.
I am an atheist and hope to have many fruitful discussions with you all.
Bye for now.
Hi everyone! My name is Andreas Economou and I'm writing to you from Larnaca, Cyprus. For those of you unfamiliar with Cyprus, it is the second largest island of the Mediterranean (after Sicily) and can be found in its east, under Turkey. I'm here after recently watching an amazing film, "The Unbelievers". I am an atheist and hope to have many fruitful discussions with you all. Bye for now.Welcome, hope to hear from you. What's it like on Cyprus these days? It's nice to think of that paradise vacation spot of books, movies and documentaries, but is it still like it was a few decades back? Have you been touched by the refugee situation? What's the Mediterranean sea like these days?
Many thanks for your warm welcone. Unfortunately I don’t know your name.
Cyprus is in the midst of an economic crisis. The government is telling us we are getting out of it, but I can’t see that yet.
Unforntunately it’s nothing like it was a few decades ago; there is nothing that is left untouched. Still, it’s home and I wouldn’t change it for anyplace else.
The beaches remain very alluring and the weather is warm… Too warm and humid, actually, because it means I always have to postpone my writing for this time of the year. That will have to wait until autunm when my mind can think properly.
Have you ever been to Cyprus?
Sincerely,
Andreas
Welcome aboard, Andreas.
Have you ever been to Cyprus? Sincerely, AndreasNah, in my younger years I thought about it - as much as I would have loved to, the stars just never lined up right for that trip. Guess, no place has escaped the abuses of the past decades. :down: Looking forward to hearing some of your thoughts, Peter M (the citizenschallenge is a pen name of sorts.)
As nice a place as it is, however, Cyprus is a very religion-oriented place. Almost everything goes through the Greek Orthodox Church. Even if a new shop is about to operate, they will be obliged (by popular opinion, not law thankfully) to bring in a priest to perform a “blessing" ceremony, before it opens its doors. In fact, it is so religious, that I had to hide the fact I was an atheist for decades. Unfortunately, there is no tolerance for this kind of thinking.
As nice a place as it is, however, Cyprus is a very religion-oriented place. Almost everything goes through the Greek Orthodox Church. Even if a new shop is about to operate, they will be obliged (by popular opinion, not law thankfully) to bring in a priest to perform a “blessing" ceremony, before it opens its doors. In fact, it is so religious, that I had to hide the fact I was an atheist for decades. Unfortunately, there is no tolerance for this kind of thinking.Must be tough. Not just following the "rules, but also just dealing with a sea of people who you can't relate to (intellectually and spiritually). I'm a little bit in that boat, but I live on a piece of land that stretches out forever, practically. The southwest corner of Colorado. I have the freedom of spending most of my days far from crowds and only dealing with a few folks whom I pretty much know and I have much more time alone than most on this planet. Town is a half hour drive away, there I mingle. With over three and a half decades in this smallish regional community I do have a little sense of "roots" and knowing people through decades of life and family, but it's just a hint of what you must experience. I'm assuming you've grown up there and are part of the "fabric"... How many miles of roads do you have to drive, or walk, on when you want to "get away" ? How do you deal with your people… i mean with you thinking way differently than most of your folks? I curious does everyone take the religion real serious or is there a dose of humor, self-deprication, along with a tolerance for you and being/thinking different? Or are people over-sensitive, neurotic, hostile towards unconformity?
On a totally different note.
EconomouMind if I ask what the roots of that name is? How old is it? It looks so much like "economy" that I wonder if there's a relationship?
On a totally different note.Economou is a legitimate Greek name. Google it and you will see several examples of people named Economou. One is a physician-scientist who is vice chancellor of research at UCLA. The words economy and economics come from Greek. economy (n.) 1530s, "household management," from Latin oeconomia (source of French économie, Spanish economia, German Ökonomie, etc.), from Greek oikonomia "household management, thrift," from oikonomos "manager, steward," from oikos "house, abode, dwelling" (cognate with Latin vicus "district," vicinus "near;" Old English wic "dwelling, village;" see villa) + nomos "managing," from nemein "manage" (see numismatic). Meaning "frugality, judicious use of resources" is from 1660s. The sense of "wealth and resources of a country" (short for political economy) is from 1650s. LoisEconomouMind if I ask what the roots of that name is? How old is it? It looks so much like "economy" that I wonder if there's a relationship?
It’s nice to hear from you, Peter.
First things first, Cyprus does not have the vastness of Colorado, rather a tiny fraction of it. So it doesn’t take me as long to “get away".
My surname, believe it or not, means that I must have had a priest for an ancestor. That’s what they call a low level priest in Greek, but I don’t know how far back this individual grandparent goes.
My being open with my beliefs has not been that long so I haven’t had many reactions to it yet. But I do believe that they will not be supportive. Religious thinking is very ingrained here and people are sort of fanatical about it – and rather hostile if you go against their beliefs. My guess is that they do this because they feel their “afterlife" threatened.
So I prefer (for the time being) to go in a round-about way. I write. My recent book, “First Adam", talks about how humanity could have emerged – or alternatively, it tells the true story of Adam and Eve (true as concerns my perspective, anyway). Unfortunately it is not doing very well, in terms of sales.
On a totally different note.Economou is a legitimate Greek name. LoisI wasn't questioning it's legitimacy, was curious about it's roots. Thanks for that information.EconomouMind if I ask what the roots of that name is? How old is it? It looks so much like "economy" that I wonder if there's a relationship?
Hola. I’m the resident nomad. Prodigal son? Hobo? I don’t know. I wander away a lot. Sometimes for months at a time. shrugs
Anyway. Welcome aboard.