(UPDATED: September 9, 2018. Added new images to the original post.)

I have never played the game of Monopoly from beginning to end until I came to Cyprus.   My brother tried to teach me when I was in elementary school, but I never found it very fun playing with a brother who was way too smart and much older than me.

Prof taught me on how to play on one of those app games, and I have been hooked ever since.

As I am learning the game, I am reminded of the real life economic issues in Cyprus.  The picture above shows a barbershop “La Finesse” that is open for business, but is flanked by two abandoned spaces. The front store glass windows are completely gone, leaving only a concrete floor and some stairs up to the second level.

I walked by this barbershop almost every other day to get to the massively large Starbucks on the corner of a major intersection.

We also walk by these beautiful homes with manicured lawns and real grass that sit across from flats which some have steel roller shutters like you would see in a storage warehouse.  The disparity is so drastic. It is so sad to see the effects of poor business decisions from the banks and government that affect so many people who call this place home.