"Like the Wheel that Keeps Travelers Traveling On"

At the Louvre in Paris

Hangin' out in Salamis, Cyprus

 Today's post title comes from "Like the Wheel" by The Tallest Man on Earth. I started with Tallest Man on Earth lyrics for the Title of this blog, so it is only fitting that I end with his lyrics too since he's my favorite! As hard as it is to believe, this post concludes my study abroad adventure. Those three 

months certainly flew by! Having arrived back in the States on December 18^th after a 17-hour flight journey, I have had time to adjust and unpack. The flight home seemed rather long, and I almost missed the second one due to a short layover in Heathrow and because Heathrow is ginormous, but luckily I got to the gate one minute before it closed after running through the airport.  (Phew!) My suitcase was overweight at 27.5 kilos, but luckily I read on Cyprus Airways’ website that students in Cyprus are allowed up to 30, so I argued my case and didn’t have to pay a cent- Woot! Because I can’t sleep on planes, I watched four movies on the second flight to pass the time, and I was looking forward to seeing my twin sister Cassie and little brother Cameron waiting for me at the gate.  Cameron just got his license in November while I was away, so it was a strange concept to imagine him driving me home!

Cliff jumping in Agia Napa, Cyprus

  Anyways, let’s start wrapping up the tale of Courtney in Cyprus. First of all, a study abroad experience is unique to each individual. I’d like to say that I’ve changed a lot or learned something profound about myself or had some life changing realization, but I’m not sure I can claim any of those things. It’s funny because most people expect me to say something to that effect, but an experience of this caliber is hard to describe to anyone who wasn’t there. I’ve tried to convey my adventures using this blog, but I feel as if even my words cannot fully describe what it was like to travel to so many places in such a short amount of time! I think if I can claim anything, it is that I’ve strengthened my definition of what makes me: Courtney Amanda Haines. I will explain what I mean by this in a second.

The Pyramids of Giza

The Map of my Travels

            With Global Learning Semesters, I truly saw the ‘World in One Semester’ by traveling to 15 countries: Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Vatican City, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, France, Luxembourg, Austria, Belgium, and the Netherlands with GLS, and Egypt, London, and Ireland independently.  Highlights of

 course include seeing the Coliseum, the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Berlin Wall, the Pyramids of Giza, Big Ben, and the canals of Amsterdam, but my favorite moments were the ones that paralleled with a certain trait that defines who I am. For me, studying abroad proved to be the most rewarding when I put my already existing traits into the experiences rather than waiting to see how an experience would ‘change’ me.

Astronomical Clock

Vienna State Opera House

The Cliffs of Moher

Scuba Diving in Paphos

I have a fascination with intricate clocks, so the Astronomical Tower in Prague was a special treat. I love the joy found in a simple bike ride, so renting a bike to ride around the river in Strasbourg made my day. I enjoy attending theatre events, so my trip to see ‘Il Barbiere di Siviglia’ at 

The Vienna State Opera House was perfection. The Sound of Music is one of my favorite movies, so The Sound of Music tour in Salzburg was a magical experience with snow included! I am obsessed with nature, so experiencing the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland was my favorite experience of all time! A good hike makes me happy, so traversing the Troodos Mountains in Cyprus was a highlight. I am independent, so I was able to plan a visit to the Cyprus Handicraft Service on my own. I’m always looking for the next adventure, so scuba diving in Paphos, Cyprus on my 21^st Birthday was better than any birthday I would’ve had at home. I like cultural experiences, so I will never forget trying escargot in Paris, halloumi cheese in Cyprus, Belgian waffles in Belgium, and Grill Cheese and Trdelnik in Prague. Dancing is fun, so I attended a Greek/Cypriot dance lesson, researched the cultural tradition, and wrote a paper and did a presentation on Cypriot Dance for my cultures class. I am an extreme budgeter, so keeping track of my expenses abroad in an excel spreadsheet became an amusing daily activity. As I predicted, food was the largest expense.

The Expenses Chart....haha

Goodbye, Cyprus!

            And last but not least, I am determined, which is how I ended up studying abroad in Cyprus in the first place! For those of you who have been following my blog since the beginning, you’ll know that I started learning about Cyprus 8 years ago in 7^th grade, and after researching the country, it became a dream to visit Cyprus someday. 8 years ago, I never would’ve thought that I would travel to Cyprus before graduating college let alone study there for 3 months in addition to traveling the world! The fact that I have fulfilled this dream makes me excited and inspired to see where else my goals and dreams will take me! Only time will tell, I suppose. Where will I be 8 years from today?! Perhaps there’s another blog in store for my next big adventure.

            One thing I have realized by studying abroad is how big the United States is! Cyprus is the size of Maryland, and traveling so easily between countries in Europe made me think about what I’m missing with so many unvisited states! I hope there are many road trips in the future to find adventures right here in the good ol’ US of A.

            This is the first blog I have ever done, and I am proud that I kept it up to date rather frequently. With over 1,300 page views to date, I must of course thank all of you for reading and being interested in my travels!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

-Courtney <3

"All it Takes is a Little Faith, and a lot of Heart"

I'M IN CYPRUS!!! Can you believe it? My 7th grade self would never believe me if I told her she was going to be studying here. Today is only my third day here since I arrived late at night on Friday, but I'm loving every minute so far! This post might be a little long, but I promise it's worth the read!

My full closet...

Starting with the plane: For those of you that were wondering, my suitcase was 52 pounds but they let me slide without paying the fee for going over 51. I don't know how it weighed that much considering I hardly brought anything with me. Here's my full closet picture as proof:


My total journey from Newark to Nicosia was about 17 hours. The first flight with British Airways that left at 11pm wasn't bad, but I couldn't sleep at all. Also, they fed us 'breakfast' at 12:30am, but it was Indian Chicken... Why does anyone want that for breakfast? The flight from Heathrow to Larnaca, Cyprus was horrible; there was so much turbulence that I felt like I was on a roller coaster rather than a plane. Eating lunch while the tray keeps moving is pretty difficult. I was thankful when we finally landed in Larnaca, and I am happy to report that my luggage arrived too!


Global Learning Semesters had a Taxi waiting for me and Maggie to take us to Nicosia, the capital, where my apartment is, and it was about an hour till we arrived. I couldn't see much of Cyprus outside the cab window since it was 10pm, but what I could see was the stars. They looked so bright in the sky and I could see ones that are not visible in the US due to light pollution. Our cab driver was nice and spoke enough English to mumble through small talk. When I arrived at my apartment at 11pm, I was happy with the quaint setup that I will call home for the next three months. My roommates, Anya and Lauren, already chose to room together which left me with the open room all to myself. I unpacked my stuff, met my neighbors and roomates, and headed to bed by 2am.

My Apartment (Maro)

My Veranda

Saturday morning I woke naturally at 6:45 with the bright Mediterranean Sun shining through my curtains, which means I only had about 4 hours of sleep, but somehow I felt well rested. I went out onto my veranda and was amazed by my first glimpse of Cyprus in the daylight.

My first view of Cyprus in the daylight

Then I went to orientation where our program directors told us about our program and a general overview of Cyprus' history. I knew a lot of the history already from research I did in 7th grade as well as my pre-trip preparation. I met a lot of great people during orientation! Some people who want to go hiking, someone else who will travel to London with me, and some more people who might want to run the Aphrodite 5k that I discovered. I'll keep you posted on all of those events as they happen.

After orientation a bunch of people were tired and wanted to go back to their rooms to nap, but Jessica, Katie, Kristi and I decided to go for a walk and explore Nicosia. This was a great decision because we came across a beautiful view of the city from a church perched on a hill.

The Greek Orthodox church we discovered

Walk with a view :)

Afterwards Kristi and I stopped at the Supermarket to buy some groceries, which proved to be a difficult task since mostly everything is in Greek. (Some items have English on them, you just have to find it first!)  The milk didn't have English on it so trying to figure out which one was the closest to 2% was a guessing game. I think I got a good one though because it tastes good and fresh. And the pomegranate juice here is AMAZING! Kristi and I also decided to register for a free shoppers club card in order to save money with sales. Woot!

Trying to figure out what Milk to buy

Later that night GLS treated us all to dinner at a great Greek Restaurant. It was buffet style and my favorite thing I had was the spinach pie and of course the chocolate moose cake. After dinner I played Spades with some new people I just met, and I had a great time talking and bonding over a good card game.

On Sunday I woke naturally again at 6:45am with the sun shining through my window. I never wake like this so early, so the fact that I did so two days in a row was a little weird. I wondered if the jet lag was causing it, but then I developed a theory that the sun was waking me up since it's so bright. I still felt rested though, so I didn't mind. I was able to fall back asleep until I actually had to get up for the day.

We visited the Cyprus Museum where we followed Cyprus' history through artifacts. Cypriots were known to gather influences from the various countries that controlled the island at the time which is why Cyprus has a lot of Turkish, Greek, Egyptian, and British aspects. The island is known for copper mining and specialized in ceramics and statues. I've decided that the beauty of statues in a museum is not the piece itself, but in the imperfections of the pieces as created by time and weathering. My favorite display was the collection of Theatre masks and statues that were buried with those who performed in order to honor their life and participation in the arts.

 

One of the Theatre masks

The whole group outside the Museum

After the Museum we toured the Old City of Nicosia, which is the part of the city that existed during the 1974 invasion from Turkey. We got to walk along the Green Line, which is the buffer zone that divides Cyprus into the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and the Republic of Cyprus in the South (the Greek side). I assure you this relationship is safe for me to be here, it is just that the citizens of both sides cannot agree to form a mutual government that will satisfy the Greeks and the Turkish. Since 2003 there are spots along the border that allow people to pass freely from one side to the other, it just requires checking IDs. I could write a lot about their relationship and how this works, but I think I gave you a basic overview without confusing you. (I hope). It was really cool to see the Venetian walls that surrounded the Old City Nicosia that I read so much about, but it was really weird to feel the ominous presence of the Green Line. A lot of houses near the buffer zone have been abandoned since the 1974 invasion, but recently the Cypriot Government has been fixing these places up and giving them to couples with children in the hopes of rebuilding this area.

An abandoned house

 

A fixed up house

 After the tour, a group of friends and I went to a Greek Restaurant. We asked questions about the menu, and he decided to give us a special deal. The Meze there is usually 16.50 euros a person, but he said he'd give it to us for 10 euros each (about 13 dollars). We had learned about Meze and were really excited to try it, so we agreed! A Meze is a Greek special that is different for every Restaurant. The servers bring out whatever they feel like pretty much, and they keep bringing dishes. We had dips, warm pita bread, greek salad, stuffed grape leaves, greek meatballs, pork, sausage, chicken kabobs, lamb liver (yuck), grilled feta, sesame feta (my favorite thing out of them all!), french fries, greek pierogies, and I'm probably forgetting something! It was a crazy experience, and we were all stuffed. Everytime a new dish came out we asked "How many more are there?" and his response was "Don't worry, don't worry, just eat." Typical Greek hopitality. haha. I'm pretty sure we asked for the check before they were even done, but it had been maybe 40 minutes since our last dish was brought out, and we couldn't eat anymore anyways! 

That brings me to today. I woke up this morning at guess what time?....6:45am before my alarm. I'm definitely thinking the sun is going to keep me on schedule as long as I'm in Cyprus. haha. I kind of like the consistency though. Our first activity of the day was a presentation by an organization called Peace Players, which "uses the game of basketball to allow 11-15 year-old Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot boys and girls to play together, learn together and build positive relationships that overcome generations of mistrust and formidable physical barriers to interaction." I thought this concept was interesting and sounded very hopeful for a unification of Cyprus. I signed up to volunteer with Peace Players while I am here, so hopefully I can fit it in my schedule and be able to observe the Turkish and Greek Cypriot children and help with the unification effort. Click on this to visit their website to read more!  This idea is also what inspired Stars by the Weepies to be the title of today's post because I feel it reflects the mission of Peace Players.

Next we went to a Cyprus Traditional Cuisine class where the speaker introduced us to all sorts of Greek favorites, and he even fed us lunch. I got to try grilled halloumi cheese for the first time, which is a cheese made only in Cyprus. It has a smokey flavor and is thicker than most cheeses, but I didn't think it was the best cheese in the world or anything.

After some free time, we gathered as a group to go over the itinerary for our trip to Greece and Italy. I leave at 5:15am on Thursday already! Woot, so excited!

Then some new friends and I went bowling, where we talked to a local 70+ year old who was fascinated by us. His English was pretty good, and he wished us well with our studies. He goes there everyday at 5pm, so we'll probably return again at that time to continue our friendly conversation. Besides, I have to beat my score. (I got a 45.....)

Speaking of conversation: I have learned 3 Greek phrases so far and I use them all the time because they are so basic! haha.
Hello: γεια σας   (pronounced yeah-sauce)
Thank you:  ευχαριστώ  (pronounced ef-cah-wris-toh)
You're welcome:   παρακαλώ (pronounced pah-rah-cah-loh)

Anyways, I apologize for the really long post, but I hope you were interested in my first few days in Cyprus. To reward you for getting to the end of this post, I will leave you with a lovely picture I caught on the way back from bowling!

Is Cyprus really Atlantis?!

Till next time!
-Courtney <3

"Wave Goodbye, Wish Me Well..."

Hello again, Readers!

Please fasten your seat belts because the plane is about to depart! In less than 12 hours, I will be on a plane headed to Cyprus! With a total of two planes and a travel time of 14 hours and 45 minutes, I should arrive in Larnaca, Cyprus around 9pm on September 14th since Cyprus is 7 hours ahead of Bethlehem. From there I will take a taxi to Nicosia, the capital, where I am to find my apartment and meet my roommates Anya and Lauren. Let's hope this trip runs smoothly compared to my last international journey to Germany in High School. (My first flight was delayed two hours and my suitcase didn't make the transfer in time and therefore did not arrive in Germany when I did! It was delivered to my house a few days later.) Needless to say, I will be very pleased to see my suitcase greet me in Larnaca! I'm hoping I did not just jinx myself.....

Anyways, I'm super excited that departure day has finally come! I am all packed, ready to go, and looking forward to living/studying in Cyprus. I'm a little nervous, but mostly excited so the nerves hardly matter. For those of you that read my last post, I decided to give in to temptation and upgrade to an even bigger suitcase. My younger brother Cameron pointed out that the smaller one I was using weighed more empty, so it made sense to switch to the larger one that weighed less empty so that there will be more room to bring stuff back! I will not be surprised if my suitcase weighs more than the 51lbs limit though....I guess you'll have to check back to find out! haha.

In related news, yesterday I found out that I have been selected for Global Learning Semesters' Blog Scholarship, which means I have to send them a blog for their facebook page every ten days. I'm honored to be chosen and I can't wait to experience everything this program has to offer!

Well, I have to pack my computer away soon so I guess this post has to end somewhere. I could go on and on about how excited I am, but I think you get the point. I have requested that we stop at Cracker Barrel for my last meal before I go, and we're going to stop at Barnes and Nobles on the way so I can pick up a book to take with me that a friend recommended. I'm not sure what the Internet is like in Cyprus, so you'll just have to keep checking for updates! Today's post title is from Human by the Killers.

And if anyone would like to send letters here is my address:

Courtney Haines
c/o GLI Global Learning Institute
P.O. Box 27931
Engomi, Nicosia 2434
Cyprus


Thanks for reading everyone!

Till next time!
-Courtney <3