In Greek "thalassa" means the "sea". Think of words like thalassemia, thalassotherapy, thalassocracy...they all derive from the greek word thalassa - my second love after Alkis. In my teens I thought I was very unlucky! I was born in Nicosia - the capital city of Cyprus. I couldn't see the sea nor could I go for a walk on a deserted beach just after school. I had to wait for the school holidays to spend a few days by the sea.
But life is weird at times. I met my husband in Switzerland - a country which has only got lakes but when we finally decided to settle down in Cyprus, we had to move to Larnaca because of Alkis' job! I hated this place then. We only had one car then which Alkis would use to go to work. I was unemployed and living in a town which looked much stranger than Geneva. My only solace was the sea. I didn't know anyone in Larnaca then, so I'd often go to the beach and talk to the sea.
Finally, the sea won my heart. And later the people -called skaliotes - the people of Larnaca, like my best friend Stefania and many others. Right now, Nicosia, my hometown is more than 30,000 miles away while in actual fact it's only 50 miles away.
And here's one of my most favourite greek songs - Nasoun Thalassa (If You Were the Sea) by Natasa Theodoridou.
Twenty years later, I feel I belong to the sea.
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