Miki's Tavern

It would have been rude not to, wouldn't it? Hot, hot day and a letter needed to be sent to the UK. The Post Office is across the square from Miki's and so a cold beer was the order of the day. Perhaps a little lunchtime snack, a snooze at home and then a swim to cool off. Whoever said retirement was boring.

Yesterday we met the Argaka Mukhtar, Spyros, whom I asked to witness a form for the International Pension Service. He arrived, complete with stamp (official stamps are all the rage here) and - without breaking stride - I was offering to create a new website for the village. A lot of time and money is being spent to improve the village, and the planting of new palm trees along the coast is just the first step. A super duper, all singing and dancing website, to promote the village and to be the focal point for enquiries and information will help. After all, we are now "villagers".

The deputy Mukhtar, Yannis, runs one of the local bars and Ann was chatting to him to see what voluntary work she could do to help some of the most needy people in Argaka. Running events at the bar, with a guaranteed percentage going into a pot to help the poorer villagers, will be challenging. Ann has agreed to run a bingo evening, and I shall run a quiz evening through the winter months when all the tourists have gone home. The "Fly Again" remains open during the winter whilst most of the other bars and restaurants close, and so is worthy of support. A "Pamper Evening" for the ladies is planned (which Ann ran at the High Beech Hotel when she was manager there) could be a tonic in those relatively chilly evenings.

It is a chilling fact that many Greek Cypriots, the elderly and the unemployed particularly, are suffering from the economic chaos on the island. The Troika's demands will bring even more widespread poverty, and it is acknowledged that unemployment in the public sector has not even started yet. Many of our Cypriot friends realise the worst is yet to come. Expats, those with pensions and other index-linked income from the UK (and other parts of the EU) are insulated from much of this, and - if we can - we will try to help.

Spending a lot of thinking time and some mind-mapping in preparation for my Retirement Guide to Cyprus, and every time I put my thinking hat on new topics spring to mind.