Defective vision of a non specific type (blindness, short sighted etc)
This is an interesting example of the complexity of Greek grammar. In English, one who has the property of being short sighted is – in a nutshell – short sighted. A Cypriot male who is stravos (short sighted for example) has the property of stravara.
Possibly this is similar to Plato and his issue of horse and horse-ness.
Thus stravara is best viewed as the unchanging idea of blindness, an idea that is separate from the need to polish or even upgrade one’s glasses - and this eternal constant is a very Cypriot thing indeed.
Stravara (stravos-ness if you prefer) is reflected in virtually every aspect of Cypriot life from the astronomical prices charged to tourists (without success) for rabbit-hutch sized concrete shacks to the never-ending monetary gang rape of the tourist industry and even driving techniques that would make the average kamikaze draw back a pace in alarm if called upon to emulate them.
The future of both the property market and tourism is in doubt at this time, but not to most of those who are involved in it. They press on short-sightedly whilst debating the mystery of the fickle tourists so hyper-picky as to refuse to pay two Euros for an 80 cent tin of Coke and investors who no longer flock to the island of Aphrodite because they demand a profit rather than just the thrill of ownership.
Solution such as larger marinas for boats no one can afford any more, golf courses (in a drought) or advertising (usually in the wrong periodicals and misspelt at that) will be considered but cutting prices to be more competitive will be ignored.
After all, anyone who cannot see how good Cyprus really is must be blind.
* Kamikaze is a Japanese word, usually translated as divine wind, believed to be a gift from the gods. The name given to the storm, kamikaze, was later used during World War II as nationalist propaganda for suicide attacks by Japanese pilots. This use of kamikaze has come to be the common meaning of the word in English.
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