Learning in later life
Far from supping their brandy sours ad infinitum, today’s retirees are using the extra time on their hands to learn a new skill
It seems that traditional senior pastimes such as bingo, bowls and forming orderly queues at the Post Office are going the way of blue rinses and boned corsets. It’s goodbye macram?, dominoes and darts, and hello, yoga, aqua aerobics and line dancing.
Many retirees in Cyprus, who are in full health, have the feeling that someone suddenly switched the lights on halfway through the party; one day they were vital, the next they had became a statistic, almost, but not quite, invisible. With time on their hands, it was time to learn a new skill. The women I spoke to felt they were defying the alleged constraints of age by spending their ‘twilight’ years on new study courses, supporting charities, trying out different hobbies or working the treadmill and exercise bike.
It is interesting to note that it is mostly women in their late forties and fifties who had taken up new interests, as men had invariably been able to maintain their out-of-work activities throughout their life, retirement just meaning they could devote more time to enjoying them. The women I met had found it difficult in the past to balance badminton, ballroom dancing, gourmet cooking or Pilates classes with the rigorous demands of a full-time career, a smooth running home and care of children.
Gillian Douglas
Diving in her 60s
Gillian and Douglas Mathews, a vibrant, happy couple with a combined age of 128, both still regularly go on diving holidays having learnt how to be proficient exponents of Scuba. “We were taught some years ago. Then, it was a really tough course, much more comprehensive than today’s teaching for proper certification. Believe me once you have dived into the murky waters off the south coast of England, diving in Cyprus is a sheer pleasure and one that we indulge on a regular basis. We both still love the experience – it’s the most beautiful feeling, so peaceful, like floating in space. Also you get to experience some marvellous sights that are hidden to others who are always land bound.
“We have now dived all over the world and don’t see ourselves stopping just because of a date on a birth certificate. Cydive is the diving centre we use here in Paphos, and they now boast of a lady who regularly dives with them at the age of 76.”
Lorna Firth
Realising dream of becoming a healer
It seems that at all stages of life we are both in love with, and at the same time, slightly terrified by the idea of unscheduled time. Lorna Firth is one fifty something who, having left a thriving retail business in the UK to retire here, agreed that if she had no structure to her days and had not made every effort to contribute in some way she would long ago have been committed to a mental home.
“I decided long before coming here I would do what I had always wanted, and that was to study and learn how to become a professionally-trained therapist. It took me three years of university level study and it was difficult, mainly because I was classed as a mature student and, in that regard, I was under pressure to prove not only to others, but also to myself, that I could do this. I passed my exams with flying colours, having studied harder than I ever did when I was 17.
“Never for a minute have I regretted learning in later life. Hard though it was, the experience has truly enriched my life and has now placed me on a path of continuous learning”.
Jill Valaoriti
Going through the scales with children young enough to be her grandchildren
Jill Valaoriti by day makes curtains for a living but come evening she can be found at home tinkling the ivories. “I came here from England fifteen years ago with my Cypriot husband and, only 18 months ago decided to learn how to play the piano.
“It’s something I have always wanted to do but as a child there was no spare cash for any private tuition. I found here in Paphos an excellent teacher – Eliza Piperidou – who runs a local music school and, with her patience and teaching skills, she has taught me how to play. Also, I thoroughly enjoy the experience.
“I now have my own piano and I cannot describe the sheer pleasure I get at the end of a busy day when I can sit down and play my music. It’s like aerobics for the brain, although not easy to begin with but, with determination and regular practice, you can do it. It’s also deeply relaxing – the children, my husband, and even the dog all enjoy my evening recitals. I see this whole experience as being my turn to do something just for myself and I love it.”
Angela Prodromou
Aerobics creating the will to carry on
Eat your heart out Jane Fonda. At least that’s what it should say on the T-shirt that graces the now highly-flexible body of Angela Prodromou, a sixty something who, when widowed ten years ago, returned from England an unhappy and deeply depressed woman.
“My life only turned around when my family suggested I take up exercise. Now I go to the Posidoneous Health centre every day and enjoy aerobics, yoga, step classes, body balance, Pilates – you name it I do it.” And this from someone who had previously never exercised. “I now feel marvellous, it has truly changed my life. I meet all sorts of people and, after exercising, it’s like I am renewed and if I miss a day, I then miss that wonderful ‘whole’ feeling.
“I am now fit, healthy and happy – not many people can say that at my age, and I owe it all to joining a health club.”
Jane Toulson
Speaking the language
A big complaint among locals of many of the expats that come to live here is their unwillingness to speak Greek. It is totally possible to live here and never utter a word. But there’s no excuse as far as Jane Toulson, 57, is concerned. She started Greek lessons 15 months ago. “I am a trained nurse and have always been able to communicate with my patients. Here, it’s no different, I need to know and understand what people are saying and I want to be able to respond – that’s why I started to learn Greek. It’s something I could never have done when I was working full time as it’s a language that needs a huge amount of study time, the grammar is difficult but I do enjoy the challenge.
“There’s no truer saying than ‘Its all Greek to me’, and never in a million years would I have thought I could do it, but now I am able to have reasonable conversations with people in the village and I enjoy the ability to communicate with them in their own language. This is something that I am doing for me, it’s so satisfying to be able to achieve some fluency in a foreign language even learning at this late stage of one’s life.”
Mary Cooper
Mary Cooper took up running at the age of fifty in an effort to thwart the negative effects of the menopause. “I couldn’t run away from the changes in my life so I decided to run through them. I’m now running full marathons and the anti depression pills were binned a long time ago. My husband, Alan, is my trainer and when I am planning to compete in a full marathon I will train with him five times a week, so I can build up to non-stop running of anything over 22km.
“Mind you, when I first pulled on a pair of running shoes I ran or should I say ‘staggered’ along the road for all of 45 seconds, and even that was sheer agony as I was so overweight and generally unfit, but after two months I could then run non-stop for half an hour. Plus the accumulated weight of years of sitting on my backside just dropped off and I got down to a weight that is now perfect for my size and bone structure.
“I just go out there and run, not to win, but always to finish. Running clears my head, it gives me not only physical, but also mental balance and, to be honest, I could not stop now, it’s my thing. I hope, God willing, I will still be competing in the Hon
g Kong marathon when I’m 90.”
These days it seems we have replaced the fear of death with the fear of ageing, and while some retirees, fearful of the march of time, may sink into the brandy sours or end up watching daytime television in the confines of their own ‘Villa Bubble’, learning a new skill late in life will guarantee a much happier and healthier retirement. After all, we may retire from work, but not from life.
