Finding the Familiar

There’s a really cool bookshop here in Larnaca. It is filled from floor to ceiling with all kinds of genres, even in English. There’s so much in there I couldn’t stay long the first time I visited because my brain was overloading. I promised to return. 

When I did, I took a more leisurely look around. I was stunned to find this just lying out.

 I read this book back in the 80’s as a teenager and have never forgotten it. It is, to date, the most messed up book I have ever read in my life. To sum up, it’s about a couple of circus performers who decide to create their own freak show. The woman takes a bunch of psychedelics and gives birth to conjoined twins, a little person, an aquatic bird boy, and a kid with telekinesis. 

Then it gets weird. 

Almost as weird as finding this book, in English, while in Cyprus. When I saw it, I just pointed at it and said “YOU!” like the book personally owed me money. It’s only lived rent-free in my head for 40 years – no amount of money is getting it out of there at this point. I just marveled at the fact that something someone wrote decades ago may have never been a bestseller (to my knowledge) yet it is still in print after all this time and available to traumatize new people on the other side of the planet. 

Personal writing goals (not the traumatizing part). 

Anywho, my week in frozen central was up and, since the place was booked, it was time to move on. No host to take me to the next joint (I was starting to get spoiled) so that left me to lug all my crap to the nearest bus station … 

And then go looking for a cab because the bus was taking too long. I wasn’t thrilled at the thought of hiring one, but I was hungry and getting impatient. As with every encounter I’ve had with a Cypriot cabbie, we spent several minutes just trying to figure out where the new place was. Seriously, dude, all I have is the address. You should know this area better than I do. 

By syncing up our GPSs, we finally got to the new place. I already liked the location a lot more compared to the last place as it was closer to the beach and the supermarkets. It took me a while, though, to figure out how to enter the building. The host’s directions had me going through the carwash alley of the local bike rental place, getting wet while approaching the back of the building. Luckily for me the rest of the directions were easy to follow and I had no problem getting to the apartment despite being a bit early for check-in. 

It’s a decent place. A corner shower, huge bedroom, and an oven. I’m not a fan of the road noise at night as the bedroom faces a busy street. Then there are the pigeons. Those flying rats are everywhere; they perch in every crevice of the building as evidenced by the piles of crap all around it. They make me nervous every time I approach the building in case they want to let the crap fly.  They forced me to dry my laundry indoors and not on the shared balcony because they would startle me every time I went out there.  Their loud cooing has woken me up on more than one morning along with the noise of the buses racing by. 

Despite the issues, it’s cozy enough. I booked it for the remainder of my stay in Cyprus. I’m very grateful not to have to find another place in a week. Since my first three weeks in Demetris’ place, I’ve had week-long stays in 4 different places and I am wiped out. 

I’ll end this entry with another book I found in the store by one of the best-selling authors in the world. I know this because I’ve seen her books in every country I’ve visited. I’ll let you figure out which one it is.