Siga Siga - The Cypriot Approach to Life

If you are planning to move to Cyprus or build a house on the island, you need to learn one phrase that you will hear here more often than “good morning”. It is “siga siga” (Greek: σιγά σιγά).

Literally translated, it means “slowly, slowly”. But in practice, it is something much deeper. It is a state of mind, a national philosophy and… the biggest nightmare for anyone who likes things to be done concretely and on time.

After 10 years of living here, I have a bittersweet relationship with this approach. On one hand, it lets you live longer, on the other - it can drive you mad.

⚡ Clash of civilisations: Task-doer vs. Cypriot

For someone arriving from Poland (or another Northern/Central European country), the first collision with Cypriot reality can be painful. In Poland, we are trained for speed. Everything is “needed yesterday”, we live in a rush, and efficiency is the key word.

Here? Here time flows differently. If you are a task-oriented person who likes to quickly tick off items from your to-do list, Cyprus will put your patience to an enormous test. What you would sort out in one day in Poland can take a week here. And nobody will see a problem with that - except you. More about the Cypriot mentality, you can find here.

For me, at the beginning it was very irritating. It is hard to switch from “action” mode to “waiting” mode, especially when you know that a given task objectively takes 15 minutes, but you wait for it for days.

🏗️ Siga siga on the building site - a glossary of terms

Building a house is a testing ground for siga siga. If you are commissioning finishing works, repairs or utility connections, you need to learn a new calendar.

From my experience, the conversion works like this:

• “Avrio” (Tomorrow) - means an indefinite future, definitely not tomorrow
• “This week” - realistically means “in a month”

This is not a joke. If a tradesman promises to come on Wednesday, it does not necessarily mean this coming Wednesday. Worse still - waiting for them at home is often pointless, because the phone might ring at the most unexpected moment, or not at all.

My advice: Do not plan works “just in time”. Always allow a large margin of error. If you need to move into the house by 1 September, tell the crew that you need to be there by 1 July. There is a chance they will make it by September.

⚔️ A double-edged sword - can you grow to like it?

After a decade of living here, have I become “siga siga” myself? It is complicated.

This approach is a double-edged sword. On one hand - life here is lighter. People are less stressed, they less often suffer from civilisation diseases linked to the rat race, they smile more often. Coffee in a cafe drunk without looking at the clock tastes better. If you are looking for peace and an escape from the rat race - this is paradise.

On the other hand - the same relaxedness becomes your enemy the moment you need to get something done. When a pipe is leaking, when a clerk has lost your application, or when you are waiting for a furniture delivery. Then the other party’s “lack of stress” causes double stress for you.

Is it worth it? In my opinion, yes, but on the condition that you accept the rules of the game. You will not change Cypriots. You can either fight windmills and lose your nerves, or take a deep breath and… wait. And at the offices? There, siga siga is a true art form.