One Last Hurrah!

This was the last trip of the semester, and there’s no better place to end than in Ayia Napa – the biggest beach town in Cyprus! Friday - we first stopped in Larnaca and went to a few more sites, I mean I guess we hadn’t seen enough of the religious sites yet. We went to Hala Sulten Tekke, a small mosque – nothing special (I am now ruined after seeing Ayia Sophia and the Blue Mosque because nothing is even close to that impressive). Then we went to St. Lazarus Church. It was pretty with tons of gold and the tomb of St. Lazarus inside/under the church (right). Then we went to the Cultural Center of Famagusta and watched a propaganda film about the Turkish invasion of Famagusta and how they are holding it hostage now. But the lady who talked to us actually lived in Famagusta and was 16 when the Turks invaded; she was still very emotional about it.

And finally, we got to Ayia Napa! Our hotel (above) was awesome and had a huge pool. We got our room and laid by the pool for the rest of the day. Perfect! We had some delicious Mexican food for dinner (first time having it since I’ve been here!) and walked around the main square area. There were bars and clubs all over – that is what Ayia Napa is known for. They were all themed: BedRock Inn (Flinstone themed), Titanic, Castle Club, Pirate Bar, Ice Bar, Black & White Bar, etc. I was glad we took a nap before dinner though, we left “early” = 3 AM.

Saturday – we walked to Nissi Beach – the most famous beach in Cyprus! The water was unbelievably blue! But once you’re in the water it is as clear as bath water! Basically, what you always see on the paradise beach calendars that people put up in their little cubicles at work – that’s where we were! We lay out on the part of the beach that is on all of the post cards – a small sandbar/peninsula connecting the white sandy coast to a little island; it was perfect! It was also an interesting people watching place…yes, interesting. Lots of topless women, thongs, Speedos, and the British tourists who are all either white as snow or red as a tomato!

Then we took a bus to Cape Greco (or Cavo Gkreko) – sea caves in the Mediterranean! We got dropped off at a corner and had no idea where we were. We found a sign that said Cape Greco 2 km, but after that it was not marked anymore. So we wandered around the white coral rocks for a while dodging the lizards that were fast and camouflaged into the rocks and sand perfectly and we over a natural rock bridge trying to figure out where the sea caves were – this was probably the best part actually, being lost and just wandering around. We even named ourselves the Pita Chip Adventure Brigade…long story behind that. Anyways, we finally found a church that had some sea caves, not the most famous ones, but it would suffice for our cliff jumping needs! :) (Don’t worry mom, I did hit any rocks nor did I re-rupture my ear drums)

Sunday – we just walked around Ayia Napa for a bit and laid by the pool and back home to the ugliest part of Cyprus. Ayia Napa was great! The beaches were beautiful and it was so nice to get away before finals and packing this week…whoa, it’s almost over…We went to a nice place for dinner that some of our friends went to the night before and went back and sat on our balcony/veranda all night talking and enjoying the perfect weather that is Cyprus!

Too good to be true? Nope!

Thursday’s International Spring Festival at the amphitheater at University was just too good not to write about! We got there and there were people everywhere! Where have all of these people been the past 4 months? Anyways, there were booths set up representing different clubs/societies from students’ home countries who go to UNic (University of Nicosia), and all of them were giving away traditional food from their country!! Clearly, I was in heaven! I had Russian, Indian, Pakistani, Bulgarian, Serbian, Arabic, American, and Spanish food! (I may have missed a couple) Everything was delicious and so flavorful, well minus the American potato salad and macaroni.

Then there was a big show with traditional song and dance from all of the countries also! There was traditional singing and dancing from Greece/Cyprus and Bulgaria (above) – accompanied by the traditional outfits as well. There was also Russian rap, Pakistani dancing (right), Indian singing and martial arts, and a belly dancer from Romania. It was incredible! One of my favorite times in Cyprus this whole semester! :)

Games, Ghost Towns, and Birthdays

After getting back to my apartment, I dropped off my bags and went to class…literally. Thursday, we went to the bar down the street to watch the big Barcelona vs. Milan football game to see who would go to the championship. While we were just sitting there enjoying the game a guy from Serbia was standing in front of the TV. First, let me just tell you, he was wearing very tight gray elastic sweatpants which he pulled up into capris and had the quintessential man purse which he kept holding close to him for the duration of the game. Anyways, my friend Alli asked him to move a step to the side so she could see. He moved, then looked at/studied us and goes, “Where are you from? You are girls, why are you here?” If I didn’t have any inhibitions you all know what I would have said/done, but I just kept watching the game. Good job Marie. This just goes to show you how Cypriot (or maybe Serbian) men and women act. I don’t think I could last here more than 1 semester with that. On Saturday we celebrated Mifflin with all of the UW-Madison people here. So much fun!
Sunday we took a taxi to the old city, then walked through the North side of Cyprus to the bus station and went to Famagusta! Famagusta is on the eastern coast of Cyprus. It used to be the most popular tourist area in Cyprus with hotels and restaurants next to a small village in another Venetian walled-in city. But when the Turks invaded the North, this was one of the towns they took over and have not touched it since. So now, part of it is a ghost town! It has fences all around this one area with Turkish soldiers watching. Apparently a few UN people have been let inside the fences and they said it was clear that the Cypriots who lived there had to leave immediately. There were clothes in closets and food on the table; mostly likely they were given 5 minutes to leave their homes (with the promise of being able to return).

We walked through the old part of the city (above) which was very nice with lots of shops, restaurants, and old ruins (right). Then, beach time!! We got to this beautiful beach with nice sand and blue water (actually when we went in it was clear! No joke, there was not even a bluish or dark tint; it was like being in a freezing cold bath). We were walking on this beautiful beach and I looked behind us and there were hotels lining the beach…all in ruins and haven’t been touched since 1974! It was SO bizarre!! This island just keeps getting more interesting/strange. We also met some people who were studying at a university on the north side who were from Istanbul and Russia. I love meeting so many people from all over the world! :)

Side note: after we left I realized my legs were BURNT! Since I didn’t have any aloe, one of my friend’s friends (well 60 year old Cypriot woman) advised her to put yogurt on it. I figured it couldn’t hurt and, I mean, when in Rome…so I put Greek yogurt all over my legs. I smelt like yogurt/cottage cheese for a while, but it helped! So if you are ever in dire need of sunburn relief, you know what to do!

Tuesday we had a “field trip”/class in old town for my European Cultures class. It was the same place where we had our very first tour of old town. Our professor, Evi (probably my favorite Cypriot ever), told us about the “Cyprus Problem” (Greek/Turkish division in the country)…information which the Greek Cypriots fail to mention to us. Before the British colonized Cyprus, everybody lived together in harmony. But once they settled they decided to make it more nationalistic because there were both Christians and Muslims living here. So they got textbooks, etc. sent from Greece for the Christians and from Turkey for the Muslims. Since there is a lot of tension and resentment between Greeks and Turks, the Cypriots eventually developed these feelings. In the ’60 the Greek Cypriots killed thousands of Turkish Cypriots (but fail to mention this in textbooks/recognize it). So while the Greek Cypriots think the invasion in ’74 was a barbaric invasion of their country, the Turkish Cypriots think it was a way to make peace and save the Turkish Cypriots. Anyways, enough of the history lessons, after classes we went to our last meze to celebrate Natalie’s birthday. Man, I am going to miss those ridiculously large meals that never end!!

Wednesday – went over to our neighbor’s apartment to celebrate his birthday. Sammy and all of his friends are Nigerian and they made some spicy Nigerian food! Delicious! I also met a girl, Susan, who was ½ American and ½ Syrian. Her dad worked for Conoco (I think) so she has lived all over the world – she said she was never in 1 place for more than 2 years! So, we were talking and it turns out her dad is from Minnesota! Whoa! That never happens. But it gets better – turns out her dad is from Forrest Lake!! And she had some uncles from Chisago! I almost died! This world just keeps getting smaller, I love it! :)


Tonight we are going to the International Spring Festival held in the outdoor amphitheater at the University! And tomorrow = Larnaca and the infamous Ayia Napa!

oooo...so THIS is Cyrpus

Last Tuesday we took a trip to the US Embassy in Cyprus. After going through the most scrutinized security of my life, we finally were let in. We heard from people who did all sorts of jobs in the embassy - sounds pretty sweet! (Just to put you at easy mom, its all business, politics, administrative, etc. not my cup of tea). But its a pretty sweet gig, they get their home paid for, education for themselves and their children paid for, and holidays for both countries! We also found out that one of the guys we hung out with at karaoke the other night ("creeper guy") is actually a Special Agent for the Department of Secrete Services....whoa.

Thursday, after having an awesome night full of way too much guacamole and finally meeting our Nigerian neighbor, we hopped on yet another bus for our weekend trip to Limassol and Paphos (on the south/southwestern coast of Cyprus)! Looking out the window you can see random ancient ruins from over 2000 years ago! We saw one archeological site in particular that had five circular foundations of what used to be huts. I think Cyprus could be much more well-known and a huge history-geek tourist attraction if they cared (or were not so lazy) to unearth more of the history and advertise it. Anyways, we drove through Limassol and then went to the Limassol Fort and Castle. It was built in the 14th century on the site of an earlier Byzantine castle. It was here, according to tradition that Richard the Lionheart decided to claim Cyprus as a British possession, but today the castle houses the Medieval Museum. It was pretty boring from the outside (a small square “castle” built of plain limestone), but once we went in it was more interesting. We could walk through it and touch everything. In the museum part they had knight’s suits of armor, old jewelry, pottery, etc. on display in old jail cells. But, only parts of it had old relics, the rest looked like it was original and the knights had just left it – very cool! Outside of it was a huge wooden/concrete contraption where they used to make olive oil. It looked really confusing, and I couldn’t figure out how it worked, but it was still very interesting.

Then we went to the Kolossi Castle (above) built in 1200-1300 AD. It looked very similar to the Limassol castle (3-4 stories tall and small, square shape), but it had BEAUTIFUL flowers in around it. We went to the top and had a view of the fields/plantations around and a small village…much prettier than Makedonessita (where we live). It was in this castle where the knights perfected how to make the famous sweet wine of Cyprus – Commanderia.

We made our way up the side of a mountain/cliff to Kourion – an ancient city-kingdom. We went into the House of Eustolios, which used to be a private Roman villa built/renovated around 400 AD. It had huge mosaics on the floor. It was very well preserved – you can still clearly see the pictures, designs, and words. Next to this was an ancient Roman theater built in the 2nd century AD. This was also very well preserved, and we could sit/climb around on it. One of the guys with us was prodded to “testing the acoustics” and he did a whole song and dance to the Temptations for us – it was great!

Then we drove to a spot where we could overlook the Sea and Petra Tou Romiou (“The Rock of the Greek”): Birthplace of Aphrodite. It was here, at one of the small, black, mushroom-like rocks tha according to legend, Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty, rose from the waves. The Greek name, Petra Tou Romiou, is associated with Dighenis Akritas, who kept the raiding Saracens at bay by throwing this large rock into the sea destroying the enemy’s ships. Anyways, the water was unbelievable!! It was turquoise blue and crystal clear – gorgeous!

We had lunch by the harbor in Paphos watching all of the British tourists, then went to our last sight of the day – the House of Dionysos named after one of the mosaics depicting Dionysos, the God of Wine. This had spectacular 3rd- 5th century Roman mosaics – perfectly preserved after 16 centuries under the soil. Most of the mosaics were depicting Greek mythological figures and stories and were all decorated. It was awesome!

We drove back to Limassol (about 30-45 minutes away), checked into our hotel and went in search of food! The restaurant we ate at was fine, but the family that owned it was so nice!! We met the owner (who was born in Cyprus, but lived in London all his life), his son was our waiter, and his daughter was another waitress. We stayed for karaoke – the owner started it off by singing “New York, New York” for us, “the ladies from the USA.” He was an unbelievable singer! Sounded exactly like Frank Sinatra!! After we sang, our waiter (the son) sang, and then the daughter. Then they did a duet to “Love Shack.” They were all awesome singers (but nothing compares to dancing/watching Erik dancing to Love Shack at every Koch wedding!)

Saturday – BEACH!!! We were FINALLY able to see the water (yep on an island ½ the size of Connecticut and have yet to be by the water)! We laid on the sand, went swimming in the Mediterranean, and went kayaking! The water was so blue; it looked like it had food coloring in it. And I could see to the bottom no matter how far I went out! It was unbelievable! For dinner I went out with a new group of girls and we had Greek/Cypriot meze and wine – nummy!! It was so much fun; the perfect day!

Sunday – we didn’t have to leave until 11:45, so we got some more beach time in for a couple hours before going to Lefkara (above), a small village in the mountains famous for their handmade lace and silver. According to tradition, Leonardo da Vinci visited the village and bought an altar cloth which he donated to the Milan Duomo (Cathedral). The little village was so cute! It had little winding roads with lace/silver shops everywhere! And the little old Greek men and women shopkeepers sitting outside (and occasionally taking a nap). In a lot of the stores, the woman made the lace and the man (husband) made the silver. A small lace piece (smaller than a placemat) takes over 1 month to make! The shopkeepers were so nice and hospitable – I guess it is true what they say about Greeks/Cypriots, just not in Nicosia! I LOVED the little village!


This trip was EXACTLY what I thought Cyprus was going to be like…I have been about an hour away from it this whole time, dang! (After this it is official, I do NOT like Makedonssita or Nicosia! Everyone on our trip concurred) It had ancient ruins, little villages, cute harbors, beautiful water, and overly nice people – I loved it! I guess I’ll just have to go back before I leave! :)

Mid-terms, haha

Well, I probablly shouldn't laugh, my roommates actually had tests and papers due, so I acutally did some homework too. So productive! But, overall the week wasn't fairly eventful. My friend's mom, Shirley, came to visit, so we showed her around Cyprus and went out to meze again! On Friday we went to karaoke night and hung out with some of the people from the US Embassy! It was so much fun! And on Saturday Alkea took us out!

Sunday night, we were able to go to the bar by our flat and watch the men's gold medal hockey game! I FINALLY got to see the Olympics! It was killing me! But, the other people at the bar were driving me crazy! I usually try to have patience with people when they don't know much about sports, but this was ridiculous. One of the girls on our trip was from Canada, she came in and asked, "What quarter is it?" Then we said, "umm...its the 1st period!" Come on, you're from CANADA! She had no idea. Nor did she know the Canadian National Anthem! What?! I then listened to a girl talk about how hockey players always tear up the ice and how much it sucked when she used to figure skate (when she was like 9) because they couldn't do anything... I will spare you the numerous other stories that I have, but yes, I held my tounge and zoned in on the game. Good job Marie.

That's basically it. The rest of the week was nothing noteworthy. We are just finishing packing for our week-long trip to Italy and Greece!! Except, it is supposed to rain all week - from Sunday-Friday/Saturday :(  But I can't wait! Italy and Greece, here I come! :D

Greek Dance Lessons, Kyrenia, and Carnival!

Sorry, I'm falling behind with my posts; I blame my computer that keeps crashing!!! :(
Anyways, last Wednesday we went to Greek dance lessons!! It was 5 of my friends, me, a girl from Romania, a girl from Cyprus, and the Cypriot instructor. It was so much fun!! We learned 2 traditional Greek dances - I have no idea what they are called (and even if I did there is no way I could write it) so I will just give you a rough description: the first one everyone stands in a line with your arms on the next persons shoulders and you move forward, backward, and side to side while you make like a 4 with your legs periodically (sorry, it is very hard to explain). The second one you have a partner and move in a circle to a crazy 11 count, then you go in another circle but do what I like to call a Greek C-walk: right leg forward, then you go up on your toes while your left foot comes behind to the other side of your right leg (again, sorry for the horrible explanation). But it was a blast!! Who would have ever guessed that Marie Boo would ever go to dance lessons...and like it!?

Thursday my Cypriot friend, Alkea, came over and we taught her how to make cookies - peanut butter, oatmeal, chocolate chip cookies = Marie's heaven! She has NEVER made cookies before; Alkea loved them! Then we went and did a secrete valentines gift exchange with other people in our program, also so much fun! Then we played card games and knives (spoons, but all of the other silverware was dirty).

Friday, we had breakfast on our veranda in the nice warm sun! Followed by frappe's at the university on the patio - so good! Plus it was in the 70s so we were wearing capris and t-shirts! nevertheless, we got some very weird looks all day for our choice of summer clothes during the "winter." Then we took the bus to the old city again walked around the shops on Ledras street and had doner kebabs! We were just leaving to catch the bus back home when we saw these police men running and yelling at this man sweeping the street, followed by a bunch of camera men, weird....then we looked up the street and the entire street (Ledras street is a pedestrian street) was filled with all of these men in suits!? We figured it was someone important, so toward the end of the parade of suited, political-looking men we asked this woman who it was - the President of Lebanon!! Crazy!

     After being in shock/awe for a couple minutes we got on the bus to come back. Crazy Cypriot driving as per usual; our bus driver pulls into a gas station...gets out...and starts having a conversation with a man! After a couple minutes of this, he begins to fill up the bus with gas...with a bus load of people! What?! So we asked a woman next to us if that was normal, she said, "Yes, sort of. At least it's in the afternoon. They sometimes do this in the morning when we are all going to work, then everyone is late." Now, I am not a frequent rider on the metro transit or any bus service in a major city (St. Joe does not count), but I'm pretty sure this would not fly at ALL back home. Oh Cyprus!

Saturday = Kyrenia, a major port city in the North of Cyprus. Before 1974 it used to be a major spot for tourists, especially for British vacations, but since the invasion of the Turks, it is no longer popular. We went to Saint Hilarion Castle - it is what Snow White's castle is based off of! It was built in the 7th century AD! It was very impressive how well it was made (it is still in very good shape) and simply the fact that in 600 AD they could build a huge castle at the top of a mountain and into the side of the mountain. On our way to and from the castle we passed some Turkish army bases/training camps (Jake, I covertly took pictures of it for you...while they had guns!) and heard gun shots while we were in the castle; it was like we went back in time because it was originally built as a watch tower for approaching Arab raids on Cyprus.

    

     Then we winded our way down the mountain to the Bellapais Abbey. A gothic church built in the 1300s AD; it was pretty, but I feel like we have seen every church in Cyprus already.

   

     We then went to the city of Kyrenia. We had frappes right on the harbor with lots of boats and the beautiful blue Mediterranean Sea as our backdrop - BEAUTIFUL! We are actually on an island, who knew! Then we got a tour of the Kyrenia Castle which was built in the 1100s and has 3 distinct periods of architecture by the Ottomans, Venetians, and British. Inside the castle was a little museum with the remains of a shipwreck (pictured below on the left); the oldest shipwreck to ever be found in the Mediterranean, built in 300 BC! We saw a reconstruction of the actual ship, vases, and almonds! Yes, almonds that have been preserved at the bottom of the Mediterranean since 300 BC! Crazy. Long story short, I loved Kyrenia!

Sunday was CARNIVAL! We all got dressed up in costume and the university provided a bus for us to go to Limassol (a port city on the south coast of Cyprus). We got out of the bus...crazy! Carnival is a celebration before lent where they can eat and express themselves in costume before lent - our European Cultures professor explained that the costumes are a way for Cypriots to make fun of something or someone or dress up like someone you would like to be. (But Alkea said people dress up like anything, it doesn't need to have a meaning). Basically it is like a mix of Halloween and a family-friendly Mardi Gras. Everyone is in costume, music, food stands, and a big parade. People were dressed up like everything from hamburgers and fries to Toy Story characters to men dressed up women (very popular actually) to the mafia. And everyone LOVES silly string and confetti; they would spray silly string on police cars or they would walk right up to a random person and just spray them - my friend Alessandra did NOT like that. It was quite the experience.

Monday was Green Monday, no school! It is the first day of lent, and apparently they go out into fields and eat a big family meal with meat. We celebrated by going to our favorite bakery, Zorbas, and trying new desserts! :) We got back, made dinner (sautéed vegetables with rice and pasta) and watched movies...7 of us in 2 twin size beds :)


Tuesday was my roommate, Kaitlin's, 21st birthday! We made a big family dinner with Mexican rice and peppers, bean, fresh salsa, and fresh guacamole! Soooooooo good!

Other fun facts that I forgot to mention before: there are no homeless people in Cyprus. Apparently there was one man a couple years ago that was living out of his bus? Everyone was talking about it and saying how humiliating it was. It was all over the news, and the next day, he had a flat to live in. Very interesting, very different.

     The plumbing in Cyprus is poor, so you cannot throw anything in the toilet...very hard to get used to, and gross.
     Also, there are stray cats EVERYWHERE in Cyprus! It’s disgusting! The ancient tale goes that St. Helen brought them to Cyprus to eat the snakes that were on the island and now they are everywhere! My friends love cats and they think the stray cats are so cute so they feed them all the time...no comment.

Well, one more class tomorrow and then it's off to EGYPT!! :D

Fun Facts About Cyprus and Cypriots

Since I've been here for 2 1/2 weeks already, I have learned a lot of interesting things about this crazy island and the Cypriots and though you might like to hear about them! One of the first things to notice is that there are 2 flags of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus carved into the side of the mountain that faces the south. The flag of the TRNC says something in Turkish that translates to: "How fortunate is the person who can say I'm a Turk." And the the flag lights up and night!

Also, the Cypriots come off as fairly mean and rude. My European Cultures professor explained that the Cypriots are like this because they think that it is superficial to be nice to someone you do not know - this includes smiling at them, saying excuse me, etc. So they will never return a greeting or gesture because they think the person is being fake and pretending to know them. However, once you get to know a Cypriot, they (apparently) are the most hospitable and nice people you will ever meet! They will do everything from invite you to their home for dinner to take you places around the island to meeting all of their friends - crazy!

Cyprus is supposed to have 300 days of sun (they sure are wasting a lot of cloudy days on us these first couple of weeks) and thus it is also been in a severe drought for almost 10 years. Every building has a big water tank on the roof that gets filled up with water on days that they have running water (for our neighborhood it is Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday). We have water every day of the week, but we have to conserve it a lot more on days when there is no "running water" because it is only supplied by the tanks on the roof. So we have to do our laundry on certain days, take shorter showers, etc. on the other 4 days of the week.

Even though Cyprus is such a small island (about 1/2 the size of Connecticut), a relatively large part of the island is not lived or built. It also has variety of trees! Just walking down a road by our apartment you can see orange trees, lemon trees, olive trees, palm trees, and pine trees! It's crazy! Speaking of walking, we walk everywhere! And everyone looks at us weird, we thought it was just because we are Americans, but our professor told us that NOBODY walks in Cyprus - they all drive (on the wrong side of the road - I'm just starting to get used to looking to the right first)! She once told a boy to walk to class because it was a nice day at it was less than 1 km away, she said he looked at her like she was crazy and said, "Only immigrants walk!" So I guess we stand out even more now. It seems completely opposite than most of Europe in that sense, and is probably why they do not have many fresh markets.

Another thing is that Cypriots are always late. Island time applies all the time (except for class); everything is very slow paced. It is customary/expected that if you invite someone over for say dinner at 7:00, that they show up at 7:30 at the earliest! It is very rude to show up at 7:00 or even 7:10/7:15.

I think the craziest thing about Cyprus is their weddings! For a typical wedding, about 4,000 guests are invited! Even if you don't know someone well at all, you invite them. They do this usually to get more money since everyone gives money to the couple; they average about 90,000 euro (~$135,000) at their wedding!! The minimum amount you give the couple (if you hardly know them is 50 euro (~$75)! And the parents pay for everything, so everything the couple gets, they keep. We also learned about traditional Cypriot weddings from the 1930s that lasted 5-6 days, very interesting also, but I won't bore you with the history of it all.

Finally, we learned today about how Cypriots value their appearance of status. Even if they are poor and living with their parents, they will buy really nice, expensive cars and designer clothes to make it look like they either a) have money or b) don't value money, and are not afraid to spend it. It's all about how others perceive them. Weird.

Well, that's the major things about Cyprus that we have observed and learned about the past couple weeks. Very interesting place this is, but I still love it!

Classes, a Non-Existent Country, and Super Bowl Monday

As far as the title of my last post "Last day of freedom" yeah, that was a lie. I've had over a week of classes and still living the dream! Don't worry mom, I am actually going to class and my roommate and I had to give a 20 minute presentation in our history class on Thursday...but other than that, I love these classes! The first day, I really felt like I was a foreign exchange student. My first class was with all university students, so that was really interesting! First, I sat down a chair away from this girl and she just stared at me...then I looked around the room and everyone was sitting at their own table, oops! (I met her a couple days later; Alkea is half Cypriot and half American and is very nice!) Also, all of the students were very concerned about writing a 4-6 page research paper (which our professor had to explain, apparently that is an American thing). A guy goes, "Wait, 4 pages?! Does that include pictures??" and the professor replied, "Of course!" I'm liking this! I had to talk to my professor about missing so much class and he was very nice and helpful with everything; and he went to Ohio State for a couple years! Crazy! My European Cultures course is really interesting and we are learning a lot about Cypriots - I will explain more of this craziness later.

On Saturday, we woke up early (9AM is early for us here) and took a bus to the old walled in city into Freedom Square, down Ledra Street (which is their main street where all of the shops are), and ventured to the North! The North (The Turkish Republic of Cyprus) is, to most of the world, and non-existent country! Only Turkey recognizes it - the US doesn't, the UN doesn’t, none of the other countries in Europe or the Middle East; it doesn't exist! We had to walk through the UN buffer zone - which was lined with blue canvas covering all of the old homes/buildings that used to be occupied - and it was dead silent. Once we got to the border we had to fill out a separate piece of paper and have it stamped by the border control. They can't stamp your actual passport because if another country sees it, you might get into some trouble because it doesn't exist. As soon as we got through, it felt like we were in a completely different country! It looked and felt very depressed. Many of the buildings were run down and had not been occupied since the invasion in 1974. It is also very poor because when they invaded they brought the poor Turkish people into Cyprus, promising them a better life, but it is still very poor. Much of the animosity between the Greeks and Turks is because of this - the Turkish authority brought in the settlers and gave them the homes of Greek Cypriots who were forced to leave.

 
     Anyways, enough of the history, the streets were full of only men; we only saw a couple women and that was by the markets. We explored around the city for a while: got into a sketchy part of town, went to a mosque, and had my best meal yet under the wonderful Cyprus sun (chicken kebab, with rice, fries, and salad)! Then we went back to the South side and went to a fresh market - it was gorgeous and everyone was so friendly! By far, the best day yet!

     When we got back we were all exhausted, so we took naps in preparation for the late Cyprus night. In Cyprus, dinner is around 8-10ish, then people go to coffee or a bar until 12ish, and then to clubs from 1-3 or 4 AM. If you get there earlier than 12:30ish, nobody will be there! So when in Cyprus...

Sunday we went exploring more - there’s not much to do around our apartments, so we have to walk everywhere and find things to do. And Sunday night, well Monday morning, we went to the bar near our apartment and watched the Super Bowl! Very weird to have Super Bowl Monday and no Super Bowl food, and the commercials didn't get streamed through :( The game started at 1AM here, so we're out until 5AM! Yes, I know, crazy, but it was the Super Bowl! Should have been the Vikes.

Other than that, no much is new here since classes have started. Enjoying the lovely Mediterranean winter, and loving every minute of it! :)

Last Days of Freedom

Wednesday we had a cooking lesson on Traditional Cyprus Cuisine - it was amazing!! We had Cypriot/Greek meatballs (which are different than Italian meatballs, they are made with potato), ravioli stuffed with halloumi cheese, and fried halloumi in a warm pita....I was in heaven!! Halloumi cheese is a traditional Cypriot/Greek cheese and it is amazing! but the cook said it was about 500 calories/slice!! ahhhh, stay away from it Marie!! That night we were supposed to have a scavenger hunt through the city, but we were too cheap to pay for a taxi, so we went back, watched movies, and played scattergorries.

Thursday we went to the Cyprus archeological museum. We saw bowls and sculptures made in 7000 BC! The picture is of sculptures that they worshiped; it is depicting a woman giving birth. They would worship these sculptures because they didn't know how it happened; they just knew that was the only way to have children. The figure is on the back of all of the Cypriot Euros. We also saw the original sculptures of Aphrodite, because she is said to be born out of the waters and onto the beach of Cyprus! We ended the night at "hip-hop night" at a bar right by our house; it was interesting, but fun.

Friday we took a day trip to the Troodos Mountains. We first stopped in a little village - Omodos - with quaint cobblestone roads and little old men and women in the shops; I loved it here! We went in a shop and bought some postcards and the woman gave us some pretzel sticks, they tasted like cardboard, but she was adorable! We went into another store and sampled the famous commandaria wine of Cyprus, it was very sweet. We also found shop with all handmade lace - it was beautiful and very impressive!

We got back on the bus, winded our way up to the top of the mountain, only for it to be raining, windy, freezing, and foggy - we couldn't see anything! :( We went to another village Kakopetria, but we got there during siesta time, so nothing was open (in Cyprus most shops close from 2-4 pm for "siesta time").

Saturday we walked to The Coffee Beanery and had a Cypriot frappelatte, it was delicious! For dinner we went to Tavern Plaka and had meze - it is a traditional Cypriot meal where they bring you little plates of almost everything on the menu! This particular meze had 35 plates! It starts with cold appetizers, then warm appetizers, the main courses, and desserts. We tried everything - greek salad, humus, tabouli, olives, pasta, halloumi, spinach and feta, chicken, pork kebab, rabbit, potatoes, fries, fruit, etc. It was DELICIOUS! but very expensive! (Most things are fairly expensive here becasue of the exchange rate betweent the euro and the dollar and because it is an island, so everthing has to get shipped in.)

Today we went for a run and explored the city a little more, we found the Cyprus International Fair Grounds and a sports complex with tennis courts, track, and a soccer stadium - I finally felt like I fit in. We thought since we were so good and went for a run, that we deserved some pie a la mode....then more ice cream down the street!

Classes start tomorrow, so we are all trying to get back into school/thinking mode, we'll see how this goes...

Getting Oriented

We don't start classes until a week from today, so this whole week we have orientation presentations, which so far are fairly interesting!

Friday, we walked around our neighborhood (Makedonissa) with my neighbors, went to a local cafe where I had my first Greek salad = delicious!, and had my first Cypriot (found out that it is pronounced sip-re-ot) shopping experience. Pretty normal, except when you want to buy something and the directions to cook it is all in Greek....this could be problematic, especially since I can't cook in the first place. We got back and all of my roommates and made it!! That night we decided to taste what the local vineyards had to offer, and explore the night life. It was fun! The picture below is our group of girls - I love them!

Saturday, we got a tour of old city of Lefkosia - which is the walled in city of Nicosia. It is one of the oldest cities in the world! This picture is one of the 3 gates into the city. The Venetian wall and gates were first built in the 15th century. It was 70 ft tall and 150 ft deep around the entire city! But now that it is divided between the Turks and the Greeks it is almost like a ghost town (picture of the alley). Many of the houses have been uninhabited (especially close to the border) for over 30 years.

We were able to go right up to the border, what they call the "green line." There are barriers dividing the entire country from coast to coast. We would walk down the street or a small alley and all of a sudden there would be wall, so you'd have to turn around and go back. I could only take this one picture because the Turkish army couldn't see me there, if they see you take a picture of the border, they will take your camera away. The UN occupies and guards the buffer zone between the 2 sides. Our tour guide was explaining the different architecture from different time periods. On one side of an alley would be a house with a small, short door and small windows. They built these when the Turkish were invading so they could not get into their homes on horses. Later when the British ruled Lefkosia, the houses had big doors with glass and open balconies because they felt much safer. It was really interesting to see. We also were able to go into a couple churches – the picture is of one of the oldest churches that were not destroyed during the Turkish invasion, built in the 14th century. It was very gothic and very impressive!

Sunday night we had a huge buffet of traditional Cypriot food - salads, pasta, meat, etc. - it was delicious! Later this week we get a cooking lesson of other traditional Cypriot food, so we can starting making things on our own...instead of pb&j sandwiches and spaghetti.

Monday, we walked to a little bakery and tried some Cypriot pastries! I had a ham & cheese pastry thingy, a "cheese cocktail" pastry something, and a chocolate stuffed pastry! Delicious!! Oh and everyone here makes me feel like I am so underdressed. I knew they didn't wear sweatpants or typical Marie clothes, but everyone wears their designer clothes with stilettos, ick! And, my "nice" clothes are considered very casual, oh well, it's not like I blend in right now anyways!

Today, we had 2 lectures - the History of Cyprus and Geography of Cyprus; they were both interesting. Since Cyprus' first inhabitants (7400 B.C.) it has been (and continue to be) a huge geopolitical country and has been ruled by almost every empire during their dominate period of history - Egyptians, Romans, Byzantines, Alexander the Great, Venetians, France, Arab, Ottoman, and the British (there's probably a couple that I am missing). It is also the only country in the world that in order to change their constitution, they must get approval from Greece, Turkey, and Britain! For dinner we went out to Gyro Mania, and made some Cypriot sangria with lots of fruit - it was so good!

Also, we just booked flights and hostels to Egypt! There are 10 of us going (and a couple other groups from our program) from Feb 18-21. We are planning on seeing the pyramids, go on a camel ride, and who knows what else! I can't wait! :)