A refreshing story for the week: 14 year old Joshua Seear has been living in the TRNC since he was 5 years old. Josh joined us here at the North Cyprus Scene office last week, completely captivating us with his intelligence, intellect, raw talent and his maturity for someone so young is amazing. Josh submitted a wonderful article for our STUDENT VOICE page this week, reminding his fellow peers of all the wonderful things the TRNC has to offer young people. Congratulations Josh, you are a credit to your parents. :)

"I’d like to remind my fellow peers and students, that while Northern Cyprus is not a very large country, it still has a lot to offer teenagers and young adults. The most popular places seem to be local cinemas which host movies in both English and Turkish, they seem to be a very sociable place for teenagers to meet and watch all the latest movies.
King’s pin bowling alley: This offers entertainment for all ages from bowling, parties and the downstairs video arcade. In May 2017 they hosted the first “Geek Fest”. Lots of people of all ages attended with many dressing up as their favourite superhero characters.

Go-Karting: Whilst I haven’t done this yet, I’ve heard from friends that this is great fun, I’m looking forward to trying this in summer, the only one I know of is in lefkosa, but there may be more around.
Paintballing: This is fantastic fun, got to dress up in full combat gear, we had a little target practice first and then we were taken into the arena, separated into 2 teams and played a mode called ‘capture the flag’ where either team had to make it to the other team’s ‘base’ and take their flag and return it to their ‘base’ 3 times. Even though this is great fun, the paintballs can sting slightly at close range, but still a brilliant time. The one I went to is in Lapta but I’m sure there are lots of paintball centres around. party dresses for teens
Guzelyurt Motorcycle Festival: This is usually held in June with lots of bikers and motorcycle clubs turning up for a great day out, live music, lots of food, and everything associated with motorcycles, great fun for any age.
Lapethos Waterpark, Lapta: Haven’t been for a while, but this used to be a great place to go. There is a small pool with little slides and a toadstool waterfall for younger children. There is a large swimming pool for people who like to swim that is separate from the slide pools. There is a large long red slide which you ride in dinghy’s for either one or two people, this is my favourite slide. In a separate pool there are more slides of various speeds. Food and drink are available.
Uncle Sam’s: Uncle Sams’s is a fast food restaurant that teenagers usually like to hang out and get something to eat before having a long talk about everything they talk about, it is usually pretty busy and is considered an amazing place to eat and chill from hundreds of parents and kids.
Elexus hotel: This hotel is just off the coast and has a huge water park for teens, kids and parents alike to swim and have fun, but it’s also on the beach so people can go and enjoy having long walks on the beach and sunbathing and in general having a great time either in the hotel, the water park, or the connected beach.
Acapulco: Like the Elexus, the Acapulco is just off the coast and has more water parks and a hotel for guests to stay at, it has more slides than the Elexus and is an overall joy of a place to be.
But sometimes just walking around town is what some teenagers prefer, away from overcrowded places, just going around the streets, shopping, or just having a nice walk-and-talk without a care in the world. Which is ultimately one of the best things about the TRNC- that it’s safe enough to simply “hang out” without worrying about being a victim of some sort of crime. "