"Well I'm Going Home, Back to the Place Where I Belong"

Look at all those pins!

Alrighty, so my semester abroad is coming to an end seeing as I leave tomorrow for Larnaca’s Airport at 6:45am for my 10am flight. Since I'm heading home, the lyrics for today's post are from "Home" by Daughtry.  I can’t believe this semester is already over; it feels like I just started this blog and adventure yesterday! Since leaving the United States on September 13^th, I have traveled to 15 countries including: Cyprus, Greece, Italy, The Vatican, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, France, Luxembourg, Austria, Belgium, and the Netherlands with Global Learning Semesters, and Egypt, London, and Ireland independently. It has been a crazy semester of planning, trying different foods, meeting new people, traveling to so many countries, and having cool adventures. Looking at a map, it is bewildering to see how many places I managed to travel to over the course of my 3 months abroad.

            I have a few more Cyprus updates before I depart, so now it’s time for the updates!

Kyrenia Harbor

Kyrenia Mountains

 As a group we traveled to Northern Cyprus to visit Kyrenia, and I loved driving through the beautiful mountains. The weirdest part of the mountain range in the North is the section with the record breaking Turkish Flag painted on the mountain, which I have mentioned in previous posts. It’s a symbol 

to display Turkish pride, ownership, and to remind the Greeks who can see the flag from the South. I saw this flag everyday, and it’s a constant reminder of the Turkish Invasion of 1974 that divided the Island. Kyrenia is an adorable harbor town, and we visited St. Hilarion’s Castle, which was the best castle that I’ve been to in Cyprus in my opinion; it was pretty large and fun to explore.

            The other day I went for a run because it was 65 degrees and I needed a break from studying. I thought it was great weather to wear shorts and a t-shirt, but I got some funny looks because all the Cypriots were wearing scarves and coats. Their tolerance for cold is low since their summers are so warm I suppose, but I thought it was perfect weather. Haha. I guess I’ll have to get used to the cold again really soon. Traveling to Ireland and London was a helpful reminder since I had to wear layers there due to the cold weather. But actually, Cyprus has gotten pretty chilly in the early morning hours and at night, so it’s not always summertime here like most people think.

Group in the Troodos Mountains

Another trip we took was to the Troodos Mountains, which are so different to hike than the Appalachians back at home just based on the surroundings. I liked how different it was for a change, but I’m also looking forward to a good hike back home. Afterwards we visited the village Kakopetria, which is exactly the type of place you think of when you imagine an old village. 

Me and Anya on GLS Graduation Day :)

            After classes on Friday, December 14^th, there was a little Global Learning Semesters Graduation Ceremony where we got certificates and watched a video made by my roommate Lauren. We also went to dinner at the same place where we went during my first night in Cyprus. It was nice to look back at that first dinner and think how none of us knew each other back then, and to see how much we have come together as a group since that first night.

The Kiddos playin' B-Ball

Volunteering at PeacePlayers

            On Saturday I volunteered with PeacePlayers and got to keep score for 

the Junior Boys tournament. It was really exciting to observe the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot children playing basketball together. As I mentioned in a previous post, PeacePlayers "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." Volunteering with this organization was a really good way to end my time in Cyprus because seeing the children playing together makes you hope that The Cyprus Problem will one day find a solution that brings the island back together as one whole again.

Kristi and Me at the APOEL Football Game

 Later that day, we went to an APOEL Football game (aka Soccer). So much sport attending in one day, haha so unlike me! My friend Kristi likes sports a lot and wanted to go to a game, and I thought it would be fun to go too. The most interesting thing about the game was people watching the crowd. They chanted and sang in Greek during the entire game, and although I have no idea what they were saying, it was pretty cool to observe. The majority of the crowd was men and I swear we were the only ones in the stadium without cigarettes in our hands. I got tired of the smoke pretty quickly and they also didn’t have good food to eat either! What kind of sporting event doesn’t have good food?! Our team APOEL won the game 1-0, and I thought the game itself wasn’t that exciting considering they made some pretty obvious errors like missing the goal completely several times. I’m really glad we went though because Football is a large part of Cypriot culture.

            Yesterday we went to Meze one last time with a group of 17 to say goodbye to my roommate, Anya. (See my post entitled "All it Takes is a Little Faith, and a lot of Heart" from September 17^th to read about Meze). Both Anya and Lauren have left now, so it’s just me and I have the whole empty apartment to myself. It’s a little weird because it really means that it’s time for me to leave soon too.

Things I’m looking forward to back home:

1.    Seeing my family and friends

2.    Driving my car and being able to go wherever I want, whenever I want.

3.    Playing my Ukulele!

4.    Going back to work at ArtsQuest

5.    Starting another semester at Muhlenberg

6.    Rooming with Allie Wertheim again!

7.    Eating good ol’ American Food!!

8.   Hearing people speaking English

9.    Being able to flush toilet paper again

10. Being able to read all of the signs and menus

11. Not having to pay $5.30 for ONE load of laundry, and that’s was just washing.

12. Being able to use a dryer rather than air drying my clothes!

13. Using my cell phone that doesn’t require topping up

14. The fact that Non-smoking rules are strictly followed

Things I will miss after leaving Cyprus:

1.    Being an hour’s distance away from the mountains or the beach in any direction.

2.    Wearing shorts and t-shirts in December. (It actually did get chilly here towards the end though!)

3.    Grilled Halloumi cheese….yum

4.    Random trips to Zorba’s 24 hour Bakery

5.    Papaphilipou Ice Cream

6.    All of the people I have met here

7.    The beautiful blue Mediterranean Sea

8.   Being able to travel around Europe rather easily

 So, that's about it for the updates before I depart! It's already 1am here, and I have a few more goodbyes to say, so I'll wrap it up here. There will be one more  post when I  return home to complete my study abroad blog, so stay tuned for my final thoughts! 

Goodbye, Cyprus! It's been an adventure. :)

-Courtney <3

"Staring Down the Stars, Jealous of the Moon"

Hello there! I’ve been back in Cyprus for over a week now, and so much has happened that I’m excited to write about and share my experiences with you! This one is a little long, but I’m writing about a wonderful theatre experience and more, so that is to be expected from a Theatre major. ;) 

Upon returning from Greece and Italy, I had some house keeping to do: I went grocery shopping, cleaned the apartment with my roommates, and did my first load of laundry in Cyprus. It cost me $5.25 for the one load and I opted not to pay the same for the dryer by air-drying my clothes instead. It took almost 48 hours for me to decide they were dry, and my clothes felt a little stiff afterwards. I am already looking forward to having soft clothes right out of the dryer when I return to America!

Katie and I found time for a run through the city, but we got some stares because Cypriots don’t run along the streets like we do; they only run in the gym or at the Park. 

Larnaca Beach!

As a way to relax after so much traveling, we took a trip to Larnaca Beach, which is about an hour from my apartment by bus! I had a nice, relaxing day swimming in the Mediterranean Sea. I even got invited to play a type of Racket ball game with a Greek soldier from Crete named George. I learned that he is serving his mandatory 9 months of military service by living and working in the buffer zone between the North and South divisions of Cyprus. I tried to learn more about his situation, but his English wasn’t very good, so we just played Racket ball. (The rackets were very sturdy and made of wood, so I actually decided to purchase my own to bring home before departing the beach!)

Playing Racket ball game

McDonalds with one of my roomies, Lauren

For dinner we needed to grab something quick because we had to catch the bus back to Nicosia. Conveniently there was a McDonalds right across the street, and I have no shame in admitting we went there. Quite frankly after so many Gyros in Greece, and pasta and pizza in Italy, we all just wanted French Fries!! Besides, everyone needs to visit at least one McDonalds while traveling abroad just to say they did! Haha  : )

Monday, October 1^st was Cyprus Independence Day! Sadly there was nothing extraordinary for the holiday except for the fact that mostly everything was closed. I had a very special day, however, because I got to I spend it volunteering at the Skali Theatre! When I found out about the opportunity earlier that day, I spent an hour consulting 2 maps, google, and the bus schedule in order to figure out how to get there. I am happy to report that I successfully figured out the schedule and map on my own! (Success- woot!)

The bus stop left me in a weird part of town, and I am not afraid to admit I was the tourist girl carrying my map while walking.

Skali Theatre

When I arrived at the Skali Theatre I was rewarded with a beautiful, open air, rounded amphitheatre. I worked there, under the stars and moon, over the next four days, which is what inspired the title of today’s post to be from “Jealous of the Moon” by Nickel Creek. I put in over 24 volunteer hours, and my jobs were placing the props, handing out programs, stopping the entrance music, and cleaning the dishes after the show so we could place them for the next show. Since there was a dinner scene and a lot of drinking in the show, I had to wash 16 various drinking glasses, 4 dishes, 1 bowl, 4 sets of utensils, 2 knives, a serving dish, and two serving utensils. Basically I did a months’ worth of dishes in 4 days, but somebody had to do it, and I was happy to be helping out. 

The play was a premier called “A Slight Risk” written and directed by Paris Erotokritou, which was about a British couple living in the Northern part of Cyprus in 2004. It echoed the issues of the politics dividing Cyprus and of British people living on land that Greek Cypriots were forced to abandon in 1974 when the division occurred. Seeing this play was a great way to learn more about what Cyprus was like at the time I was studying it in 7^th grade in 2004! 

The set for "A Slight Risk"

My partner in crime was Nikos the stage manager, and he congratulated me on my first show in Cyprus. The cast of 6 actors (four from the UK, one from Greece, and one from Cyprus) were very welcoming and pleasant to interact with. Paris, the writer and director, was very thankful for my help and he considered me part of the cast. He even invited me to go to the opening night gathering after the show, and I had a great time. At the end of the run he gave me a copy of the play, in which he and the cast wrote me little notes.  

Here is a video circling the amphitheater so you can see the whole theatre!

Now for a few interesting stories about working at the theatre:

On my first day in Cyprus, we were told that when Greeks talk to each other it is sometimes hard to tell if they are arguing or just talking. During the dress rehearsal, a woman was pacing around the theatre yelling in Greek, and of course I had no idea what she was saying. Was she talking or arguing? I asked around and learned she was the lighting designer and there was a problem with the lights. I guess that’s why they worked on lights from 7-10:45pm instead of doing the dress rehearsal. After that they did two cue-cue runs starting at 11pm, and then the dress rehearsal started at 12:45am! Yup, you heard me right. They STARTED the dress rehearsal at 12:45am, and it ended at 2:15am. That’s a new record for me! (And it was a school night with a 9am….whoops. haha. But I had fun so I didn’t mind losing sleep.)

I set up the refreshment table for the actors and crew, featuring a Frappe station, a traditional cold coffee drink of Cyprus. I learned how to make a Frappe because the director requested coffee and I volunteered to make him one. I made one for myself too, and they are pretty good. (Of course I added so much milk and sugar that you could hardly taste the coffee, but that’s the way I like it!)

Me, Katie, Jessica, Kristi, and Maggie at the Theatre :)

4 of my GLS friends came to see the show and I got to sit with them. And apparently it’s common to pay for your program around here because everyone asked me in Greek how much they were when I was handing them out. When I said free, they seemed so surprised!

Last note about my theatre experience: As I mentioned previously in my post on Wednesday, September 19, 2012, the Turkish Cypriots display a Turkish flag on Kyrenia Mountain. Aside from being painted on, it also lights up at night! I had a great view of the World Record’s largest flag from Skali Theatre, and here’s a video so you can see how it lights up!

Classes started on October 2^nd, but I since I’ve only been to 3 out of 5 classes so far, I have nothing much to report except that all of my professors are really young and wear jeans to class. I am taking International Business, International Marketing, Intro to the European Union, European Cultures, and Photography.

Me and Katie in the garden

One day a group of us decided to walk to the city center, and we discovered a beautiful garden with colorful birds, pomegranate trees, a gazebo, and pretty flowers! It was nice to see such green grass for a change. You discover the greatest things while walking and exploring. And guess what? It actually RAINED in Cyprus! I haven’t seen rain for almost a month, so feeling the cold drops felt refreshing and I didn’t mind getting wet.  It rained for about 5 minutes and then again for 15 minutes.

The group: Ellie, Jessica, Maya, Me, Katie, and Kristi

Yesterday it actually thunderstormed for a majority of the morning through early evening; the lighting against the mountains was beautiful. It was a lazy day of hanging out and relaxing, which was really nice for a change. And I actually decided to submit an application for a summer internship already. Woot! 

I took a video of the lightning cause I liked it so much:

Then Maggie and I went to the 7^th Cyprus International Film Festival, which is held right at our University, 5 minutes from our apartments. I decided to buy the festival pass because it was the same price as seeing 5 films and I want to see a lot!

Maggie and Me at the film festival

The first film was from Greece entitled “Jerks”. It was in Greek with English subtitles about three friends who are planning to “leave Athens and move to Berlin to start a new life there. During the very last night, unpredictable facts reveal aspects of their characters which they kept hidden from each other all these years.” It was an excellent film and was great to see since it was filmed in Athens and I have just returned from there. 

The second film was from Indonesia entitled “Delisa”, which was a very touching story about the deadly earthquake and tsunami that occurred Sunday, 26 December 2004. It made me cry and was a beautiful film about hardship, innocence, religious values, and family relationships. 

I am looking forward to seeing more films at the festival because thorough foreign films and traveling with GLS I am learning so much about the world around me and soaking it all in!  I hope you enjoyed my post today as much as I enjoyed writing it. I wish everyone had an opportunity like this to experience so much culture and art in one week, and I am happy to be able to share it with you through this blog.

Till next time!

-Courtney <3

ps. On a side note, the blog that I am writing for GLS is more professional and shorter, so here’s a link to that if you want to see the writing I’m doing for them. 

"Mysterious as the Dark Side of the Moon"

This is going to be a quick blog post (I hope) because it's already almost midnight and I am leaving for Greece and Italy at 5:15am! I can't sleep yet so I figured I'd update instead of staring at the inside of my eyes.

Anyways, since my last post I've experienced a lot of culture and different aspects of Cyprus. Tuesday night was the beginning of a 6 day festival in Nicosia called Septemberfest, which is a celebration held at night right next to the Venetian Walls. It is filled with Entertainment, local food, gelato, and of course beer.....sound familiar? If Musikfest was the first thing that popped into your head then you're a Lehigh Valley reader and you're right! And if you're saying "What's Musikfest?" then just ignore my last comment and take my word for it. Septemberfest was on a much smaller scale seeing as there was one stage, but still it reminded me of home: only Greek and in Cyprus-haha. On this night of culture and food, my friends and I were listening to the Greek music and observing the locals dancing in the Greek style. Not long after, the circle expanded and we were welcomed into the large circle surrounding the dancing individual in the center. The person in the center kept changing every so often, and I watched as their dance style was all about careful foot placement and precise arm movements. It was really fun to watch and I wanted to try it. At one point the middle was empty, and my peers encouraged me to give it a try. I was worried about offending the locals since I wasn’t of Greek heritage and had no idea what I was doing, but I slowly approached the center and gestures of encouragement came my way from the Greek Cypriots; I felt welcomed. I danced in the center with a huge grin on my face because I felt a little silly but also excited; it was great to see everyone clapping their hands and having the locals smile back at me!  When I exited the center I got a round of applause, and I was glad I decided to ignore my fear of embarrassment and gave it a try. Later on in the night, another Greek dance broke out where there was a smaller circle of people holding hands inside a larger circle of the same. A bunch of GLS students and I decided to jump in on the fun once more, and we had a great time spinning around in circles, holding hands and kicking our feet alongside the local Greek Cypriots. Septemberfest was a night filled with culture and fun, and because I got to interact with so many Greek Cypriots and they were so welcoming, this was one of my favorite nights of my Journey to Cyprus thus far! I also got to try some Cypriot made nut bars (which were amazing!) and something called

Souzouko which was almond wrapped in a flour/honey mixture and looks like a candle since it's made like one around a wax string (it was chewy and weird). The best food there by far: NUTELLA GELATO!

Me dancing in the middle of the Greek circle

On Wednesday we had An Overview of the History of Cyprus class, and the professor filled in some gaps that I didn't know about and  gave us some fun facts. He informed us that it is illegal to park on the sidewalks and to drive while using a cell phone, yet Cypriots do them anyway because they'd rather pay the fine. I also learned that the giant Turkish flag display on the Kyrenia Mountains is the largest flag in the world and is in the Guinness Book of World Records for that. This flag is a message from the Turkish Cypriots to the Greek Cypriots that 'it is great to be Turkish'. The flag is made out of Limestone and needs to be repainted every so often to keep its' red and white color.

A picture I took of the Turkish Flag in the Mountain

  As I explain the situation between North Cyprus and South Cyprus, I'm sure you're confused because I can't explain it all in writing because it would take me a while. (Ask me about it in detail when I return!) For a brief overview, see my last post. My fellow GLS students and I were as curious as you are about the North. My post title for today is inspired by this curiosity with lyrics from "I'll Make a Man out of You" from Mulan. We have a trip scheduled to the North later in the semester, but we decided to head over there today and check it out. The process was pretty simple but rather strange. From South Nicosia (the Greek side where I live) we walked down Ledra st. and just kept walking until we reached the buffer zone. There is no indication that you have reached the buffer zone besides the signs indicating the passport control ahead. So we continued down the street and got to the Turkish checkpoint. The street is nicely organized on both sides and has a strange feeling but not a threatening presence. All we had to do was fill out a visa paper with our name, passport #, and nationality, and show them our passport in order to get by. We were told not to let them stamp our passports because they are technically not allowed to stamp since they are not recognized as a state by the rest of the world other than Turkey. If they did it would be illegal and make our passports invalid if anyone recognized it. To get around this, they stamped our separate paper visa instead.

Entering the Turkish Checkpoint, does it look scary to you? Not me

 Once we were in North Nicosia, we could tell we were on a less economically sound territory based on the look of it. The Turkish Republic of Cyprus cannot import or export goods since they are not recognized as a state, and thus they only import goods from Turkey or make their own.We did find some pretty nice parts of town like the one pictured below, and there were some great shops with low prices for obvious reasons.

A nice town square in North Nicosia

 After walking around a while we found the residential area of North Nicosia, and it was sad to see how most of the Turkish Cypriots are forced to live compared to the homes of the Greek Cypriots. It really makes you hope that the unification effort could be made into a reality so that the economy of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus would be better. I am hoping that other cities in the North are more fortunate than North Nicosia. On a positive note, the children in the North were very friendly and spoke all the English they knew to us. Two boys on bikes stopped and did tricks around us, one of them spoke very well. The two children pictured below were walking with their mothers, and the mothers saw our cameras and gestured for us to take pictures with them. They were all very kind even though neither of us could speak to one another. Another group of girls shouted: "hello, goodbye, please, thank you!" in our direction, and we think those are the only English words they knew and didn't even know what they meant. We all said "merhaba" in return (which means hello) and that's the only Turkish word we knew! It was sweet to see them all in such positive spirits even though their living situations are not the greatest. It was also nice to see that taking their picture meant the world to them, where as on the Greek side I feel like they feel violated from pictures.

run down houses of North Nicosia

Turkish children with me and my roommate, Anya

The group brave enough to visit the North

 Passing back into the South was as easy as going through. We showed the Greek Passport control our visas and passports and they stamped our visas. No biggie. Crossing to the other side wasn't scary or threatening as it is sometimes made to believe. The hardest thing about crossing to the North was seeing how close poverty is to the flourishing economy of the South. It was very weird to see such different atmospheres in the same capital city of Cyprus but from opposite perspectives of the Green Line Buffer Zone. I am looking forward to going back to the North and traveling outside of Nicosia to see more of the other side. I am fortunate to live in America, and I'm glad that Cyprus has at least gotten to the point where crossing the buffer zone is a possibility.

Sorry if I just depressed you, but that's the reality people. And even though the area was a little shocking, it was a great experience in understanding more about the world and myself. And I am looking forward to continuing my journey as I travel to Greece and Italy for the next few days. I'll be back in Cyprus soon, and classes start on October 2nd. Keep up with my travels! I hope you're enjoying my blogs.

Till next time!

-Courtney <3