"You Must Know Life to See Decay"

Hello again, readers! Thanks for keeping up with my posts. Tomorrow morning I will be leaving at 5:30am to travel to Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, and France! My journey will last from October 22^nd -November 7^th, and I can’t wait to travel to so many places! I’m not sure if I’ll have time to blog while I’m traveling, so my next update might be when I return. Stay tuned!

Also, I’d like to make a shout out: HAPPY 50^th BIRTHDAY, MOM! Sorry I can’t be there to celebrate. Love you!

 

Now I’d like to tell you about yesterday. I took charge of planning a trip to Famagusta and Salamis, which are ancient cities in Northern Cyprus. I’ve always wanted to visit Famagusta after researching it in 7^th grade, so I was happy to plan the trip!

Kyle, Kristi, Lauren, Danielle, Me, and Katie on the bus to Famagusta!

We left our comfortable home, Nicosia, and headed into Northern Cyprus via the Ledra St. crossing. Since Kyle and I figured out where the bus stop to Famagusta was the day before, we knew exactly where we were headed. Plans changed, as they often do, when a bus pulled up next to us and said it would take us to Famagusta. His price was higher than the bus we knew of, so we were about to walk away until he changed his price and we hopped on. An hour later we arrived in Famagusta, which is called Gazi-Mağusa in Turkish.

Kristi and Me outside the walls

It was so exciting to see the walls surrounding the old part of the city built by the French Lusignans and strengthened by the Venetians. 

 

Danielle, Me, Kyle, Kristi, Katie, and Lauren hanging out on the Salamis ruins

Gymnasium ruins at Salamis

From there we took a taxi to Salamis, an ancient city about 20 minutes from Famagusta. It was amazing to explore the ancient ruins! The ruins stretched across over 2 miles of land, and although we saw a large portion of them, we didn’t get to see everything. I wish we had more time at Salamis because we only had an hour. Our taxi driver agreed to take us to Salamis, wait an hour, and then drive us back to Famagusta at a decent rate, and since our Republic of Cyprus cell phones don’t work in the North, having transportation waiting to take us back to Famagusta after exploring the ruins for an hour was a good solution to the problem.   

Ancient Theatre

Navigating the ruins was probably my favorite part of the day. I got to see the gymnasium columns, roman baths, ancient theatre, fish market, and some other things I have yet to identify because the map was in Turkish. Haha. Exploring something so old makes you appreciate history and the importance of preserving what is left of the past.

posing at the Theatre :)

Photo ops were hard to resist! haha

 

Salamis ruins

 

Being ancient statues

Shadow art at Salamis

Yeah, we took the coolest pictures at Salamis. haha :)

Lala Mustafa Pasha mosque

When the hour was up, we headed back to discover what Famagusta had to offer. Within the walls we traveled through the city and visited Lala Mustafa Pasha Mosque that used to be St. Nicholas’ Church, St. George of the Latins, the Sea Gate, the ruins of St. Francis’ Church, and Othello’s Castle. My favorite was Othello’s Castle. The reason it’s called Othello’s Castle is because Shakespeare mentions a fortress/port in Cyprus in ‘Othello’ and it is believed to be this one in Famagusta!

Othello's Castle

Tower of Othello's Castle

Sign on Varosha fence

Abandoned, broken house within Varosha

Next we headed to the Ghost Town of Varosha, which is the abandoned, fenced in area of Famagusta previously owned by Greeks. It is now guarded by the Turkish military. This area has been empty since 1974 when the Greeks fled due to the Turkish invasion, and the Turkish military has left it that way as a bargaining tool for future negotiations. Peering beyond the fence, it was sad to see the grand hotels that used to be the most popular tourist places in Cyprus but are now beyond repair after being bombed and left to the elements since 1974. There are also several cranes in the skyline, halted mid-construction of new hotels. As I learned on this website, there is even a car dealership in the Ghost Town that still houses brand-new models from 1974! Everything beyond the fence is frozen in time and left exactly as it was in 1974, which leaves an eerie feeling in your heart and makes you feel the struggle between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots. My visit to the Ghost town is what inspired today's post title to be from "After the Storm" by Mumford and Sons

Bombed hotel with Ghost Town (Tower of Terror, much?)

We continued to walk around the outskirts of the fence, which brought us to Palm Beach. The hotels along the coast were in the fenced in area, and it was strange to swim in the Sea with the deteriorating city as a backdrop. Nevertheless, the beach was lovely and it was a great way to relax after such a busy day. One of the hotels along the beach reminded me of the Tower of Terror because the elevator shaft was bombed and open to the world.

Palm Beach

St. George of the Latins ruins

Knowing we wanted to catch the 5pm bus back to Nicosia, we left the beach and headed to the station. When we got there the owner was very rude and demonstrated that the next bus was coming at 6pm by waving a clock in our faces. Previously we were told that a bus was coming at 5pm, so we were annoyed that we left the beach early only to have to wait another hour for the bus to come!

Eventually we made it back to Nicosia and crossed the buffer zone into the South. When we arrived in the South, a group of peaceful protestors were parading down Ledra St chanting about anti-fascism.

Palm Beach

It was an exhausting day traveling through ancient ruins, traversing the city of Famagusta, peering into the Ghost Town, swimming at Palm Beach, riding buses, and observing protestors. The more time I spend in Cyprus, and the more I travel around the island on both sides, my understanding of the Cyprus Problem increases and I am left wondering if a solution will ever be found. Being exposed to the Ghost Town in the North and the protestors in the South makes me realize that the issue continues to span generations of Greek and Turkish Cypriots, but hopefully their issues can be resolved one day and maybe the Ghost Town will flourish once again. Only time will tell, of course, but for now I am thankful that Cyprus is in a ‘peaceful agreement state’ that allows free passage between the North and South so I am able to experience the island from the Turkish and Greek perspectives.

As I mentioned previously, I wanted to visit Famagusta since I had to research it in 7th grade. As part of the cross-curriculum research project, we had to write a poem about a city in our chosen country as if it would be printed in a travel brochure. I would like to share that poem with you even though it is not very good and some of it is inaccurate, as I have learned by traveling there.

Fantastic Famagusta

The Sea Gate

By Courtney Haines (2004)

Come to Famagusta, one and all!

Walk up to and touch the mighty wall.

Go to the beaches and surf the waves,

Or have an adventure in one of the caves.

You can visit the many historical towers.

Maybe stop and smell the flowers.

Take your time and stay up late.

Visit sites like The Sea Gate.

Time will fly, so make it last,

But don’t rush through things way too fast.

Eat a good dinner at the Lime Light;

You’ll be in heaven with your first bite.

In Famagusta there’s adventure galore,

And not even that, there’s so much more!

 

I decided to write a new poem to reflect the actual Famagusta I discovered from my visit.

 

 

Faded Famagusta

By Courtney Haines (2012)

So grand an image I used to be,

Where tourists flocked here to the sea.

Born to resist with walls so strong;

Beyond those walls, something went wrong. 

Despite towers and ruins to explore;

My spirit changed in 1974.

Depends who you ask, the South or the North,

To discover how the issue came forth.

The subsequent struggle made my beaches grow dim,

But luckily now, some tourists will swim.

Frozen in time is a city so still;

The desolate scene gives my bones a chill.

I hope one day that city will shine,

And the divided country will have no Green Line.

 I know I’m not a poet by any means, but I wanted to share those with you. As always, thanks for reading, and look forward to posts about traveling through Central Europe!

Till next time!

-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