{"id":205,"date":"2013-04-01T06:55:08","date_gmt":"2013-04-01T09:55:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peelbooks.com\/susanjoycejourneys\/?p=205"},"modified":"2013-04-01T06:55:08","modified_gmt":"2013-04-01T09:55:08","slug":"money-cyprus-and-beyond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peelbooks.com\/susanjoycejourneys\/2013\/04\/money-cyprus-and-beyond\/","title":{"rendered":"Money – Cyprus, and beyond?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I am not an economist, but I do know that in today’s world one cannot live without money<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

As I follow the Cyprus Banking story<\/strong><\/a> \u2014 Bail-in<\/a><\/em> , Bail-out <\/em><\/a>(also known as theft of customer’s funds<\/strong><\/em><\/a>) \u2014 front and center on news around the world, I flash back to when I lived in Cyprus<\/strong> from 1971 to July 1974, before the coup and the war.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I lived in Kyrenia<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, a northern coastal village where colorful fishing boats bobbed in the azure blue Mediterranean bay. Known as the jewel in the crown of the island of Cyprus<\/strong>, it seemed the perfect paradise<\/a> as I walked most days down the cobblestone roads to a local bakery, a market, the beach, or to meet friends for lunch in the old harbor.<\/p>\n

\"Image<\/a>
Kyrenia Harbour, Cyprus. Image from Wikimedia Commons. 2006-07-15. Released by owner into Public Domain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On 15 July 1974<\/strong> my life in paradise was shattered by a military coup d’\u00e9tat<\/a> to overthrow the sitting president, Archbishop Makarios. Stuck in Nicosia, near the airport, in the middle of the chaos with tanks firing around me<\/strong>, I sought shelter with friends in their apartment. A curfew was in place, so I couldn’t return to my home in Kyrenia until the curfew was lifted on the 17th for a few hours, so that people could shop for food and supplies. Escorted by a friend with the UN, I drove back to my home in Kyrenia.<\/p>\n

Banks were still closed.<\/strong> And in 1974, ATMs didn’t exist<\/strong> for people to rush to and form long queues to drain the machine dry. No way for anyone to take money out, until the government allowed the banks to reopen. I listened along with other shocked people as the radio reported that the Ministry of Finance announced that Cyprus’ banks would remain shut to give regulators time to guard against a run on deposits. Deposits? Surely they meant to say a run on withdrawals.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Long<\/a>
Bank run at a Bank of Cyprus branch in Nicosia, Thursday 28 March 2013, after 12-day closure of banks and withdrawal limits at ATMs. Photo courtesy of The Guardian at the linked story. \u00a92013 The Guardian News and Media Ltd, All Rights Reserved..<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When banks finally opened their doors for business on the 18th, I joined others in a long line<\/strong> outside the bank to get my money out<\/strong>. I drained my account knowing my paradise was coming to an end. I filled the car tank with gas, paid a neighbor to look after my cat, indefinitely, gave her money to purchase cat food for six months, and helped friends financially who didn’t get their cash out.<\/p>\n

On 20 July 1974<\/strong>, Turkey invaded<\/a><\/strong> and all hell broke loose as we dodged bullets and bombs to survive the war (avoiding becoming what is now called ‘collateral damage’ \u2014 in other words, dead<\/strong>.<\/em>)<\/p>\n

On 23 July<\/strong>, we were rescued and airlifted off the island<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Cyprus was an awakening for me<\/strong> on many levels. I lost everything I owned<\/strong>, escaped with the clothes on my back, and felt grateful to be alive. Others weren’t so lucky.<\/p>\n

Cyprus also taught me that doomsday can happen anywhere, at any time <\/strong>\u2014 a natural disaster, a financial disaster, the loss of a home. The important thing is to be aware and plan<\/strong>, so that your assets don’t all sit in one basket under one government.<\/strong><\/p>\n

No wonder the people of Cyprus are frustrated, furious. Governments no longer work for the people, they work for the banks.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am not an economist, but I do know that in today’s world one cannot live without money. As I follow the Cyprus Banking story \u2014 Bail-in , Bail-out (also known as theft of customer’s funds) \u2014 front and center on news around the world, I flash back to when I lived in Cyprus from … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Money – Cyprus, and beyond?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,13,27],"tags":[33,41,53,71],"class_list":["post-205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cyprus","category-history","category-war","tag-banks","tag-cyprus-invasion","tag-money","tag-war-2"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/peelbooks.com\/susanjoycejourneys\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/peelbooks.com\/susanjoycejourneys\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/peelbooks.com\/susanjoycejourneys\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peelbooks.com\/susanjoycejourneys\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peelbooks.com\/susanjoycejourneys\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/peelbooks.com\/susanjoycejourneys\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/peelbooks.com\/susanjoycejourneys\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peelbooks.com\/susanjoycejourneys\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peelbooks.com\/susanjoycejourneys\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}