"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

"Nightswimming Deserves a Quiet Night"

 Hello again, readers! I figured it’s time for a Cyprus update, so you’re going to hear about my Cypriot Dance lesson, my 21^st Birthday weekend, and of course Thanksgiving! Enjoy, and thanks for reading!

Cypriot Dancing

     For my European Cultures class I was assigned a research project and paper relating to a cultural aspect of Cyprus. Since I am a theatre major and love to dance, I thought it would be fun and interesting to research Traditional Cypriot dances! To jump-start my research, I looked up local dance studios in Nicosia that offered Cypriot dance lessons, and I was lucky enough to find Revolution Dance Studio. With them I arranged a private Traditional Cypriot/Greek Dance lesson for four friends and myself. Katie, Kyle, Kristi, and Jessica were just as eager to learn as I was!

Cypriot Dance Lesson

            Monika was our dance teacher, a 20-year-old Cypriot student studying dance and education. As she was teaching, she kept saying it was funny to see non-Greeks dancing in the traditional Greek style, but she was happy to teach us and was thrilled that I wanted to learn the dances for my culture project. During our one-hour lesson we learned 4 types of dances: Kalamatianos, Tsamikos, Tsifteteli and Syrtos. Tsamikos was my favorite because it was the most complicated and involved a lot of steps to learn. I’m really glad I decided to research traditional Cypriot dances for my culture project because I had a great time learning the dances with my friends!

21^st Birthday Weekend!

Kolossi Castle

Climbing Kolossi's walls!

                I was lucky enough that the planned GLS trip to Limassol and Paphos was during my Birthday weekend! During the trip I saw the Limassol Castle (which wasn’t anything special in my opinion), drove through the foothills of the Troodos Mountains (which were beautiful and I can’t wait to hike there later), and stopped at Kolossi Castle (the much cooler one). During the drive, our guide told us about the Carob bean which Cypriots ate in ancient times for good health and long life. They are still found on the island and people eat them today. An interesting fact: in ancient times 24 Carob bean seeds was equivalent to 1 karat of gold, so that’s how they measured weight back then. Claudia picked some Carob beans off a tree, and we all tried it. They tasted like naturally sweet chocolate! We also visited the Ancient City of Kourion where we saw roman baths with amazingly preserved mosaics! My favorite part was the ancient theatre, of course, and Katie, Kristi, Kyle, Jessica, and I practiced our Greek dancing on the stage!            

Aphrodite's rock

               On the way to Paphos we stopped at Aphrodite’s rock, the place where she was born out of sea foam. It was beautiful and I’d love to go back sometime to swim around the rock like the legend says to absorb some of Aphrodite’s beauty. We ate lunch in Paphos’ lovely harbor where I got swordfish at the Pelican Restaurant. I had to pick around some bones, but it was delicious, and the restaurant even had a pet pelican walking around that bit me when I pet him. Haha, I didn’t get hurt, don’t worry!

            We checked into our hotel, The Coral Beach Resort, and our room was huge; there were bathrobes and everything! Our terrace was beautiful and I was looking forward to spending my birthday there. After getting settled we watched the sunset on the beach, which was magnificent! Later that night we relaxed on the beach by the sound of the waves, and we even went night-swimming! (Which is what inspired today’s post title to be from "Nightswimming" by REM).  Surprisingly the water wasn’t that cold and we had a great time. 

This is how I spent my Birthday...in November!

            On Saturday we ate breakfast at the hotel and lounged by the beautiful hotel pool for a few hours and went swimming for a bit. The pool water was freezing and way colder than the sea from the previous night! 

 

Scuba diving adventure!

Then we headed to…….guess where?........PADI Cydive for SCUBA DIVING! For a decent price we were instructed how to use the gear, rented suits etc., and got to go scuba diving in the Mediterranean! Finding a wetsuit that fit was ridiculous. Apparently I have abnormally sized calves, haha. With all the gear on, it was so heavy, and we had to walk with the gear from the truck to the practice spot in the sea. I was glad when I entered the water and the water took away all the weight. After practicing safety steps, hand signals, and getting used to breathing it was time to dive! Breathing underwater was actually harder to get used to than I imagined. It was fun to use the skills and swim with flippers; scuba diving is definitely something I want to do again! I have an official certificate and everything. J

            For dinner we went to a Japanese Steakhouse to celebrate my birthday. I got tasty teriyaki chicken and pineapple. The cook’s tricks were different than the ones back home, and he even sang Gangnam style, haha! He was very entertaining, and we even got to participate! I got to try tossing the egg on the spatula: if one of us got 10 flips, our dinner was free. Danielle technically got 10, but the egg broke on 8 so it didn’t count. I only got one flip before mine fell off! I also had to catch flying rice bowls in order to ‘earn my rice’ and I got a free birthday tempura ice cream! It was such a great birthday dinner!

Commandaria Cypriot wine, my first drink

            When midnight rolled around, it was my 21^st Birthday! Since I’m 7 hours ahead of Cassie, I technically enjoyed 7 hours of being the older twin for the first time in my life! My first drink was Commandaria, a Cyprus specialty and the oldest named wine still produced in the world. Shakespeare apparently liked it and The Queen of England loved it. I didn’t care for it much because it was so sweet, but then again I don’t like alcohol in general. I finished my wine on the beach and it was such a relaxing night. The stars were so bright, and Kyle and I commandeered the peddle boat on the shore and took it for a few laps around the sea.

            On my actual Birthday it rained pretty much all day, and we left Paphos to return to Nicosia. On the way we stopped at Lefkara, a cute village town where they still produce lace and silver goods. When we got back to Nicosia, I studied for my International Marketing class midterm (see I do study here!) and we took a break to walk to Zorbas (the 24 hour bakery) to get a birthday treat. I had a great Birthday weekend full of beaches, sun, scuba diving, and lounging around in a bathrobe! Thanks GLS for planning this trip perfectly around my Birthday!

Thanksgiving

Potluck Thanksgiving

     When Thanksgiving rolled around, everyone on the program that I talked to felt a little homesick. How can you not on a holiday that is all about family, I ask? I went to class on Thanksgiving for the first time in my life, and I gave my presentation on Cypriot Dancing in European Cultures. The teacher enjoyed it, so I think I did a good job. Now all I have to do is write the corresponding paper for my final for that class due at the end of the semester…..

            For Thanksgiving GLS held a potluck style dinner where they provided Turkey and drinks and each room brought something to contribute. As a room, Anya, Lauren, and I brought mashed potatoes. Overall it ended up being a nice Thanksgiving, but I was still jealous that my family went to Hershey to celebrate back at home.

The Scuba Diving group :)

Anyways, that’s a good enough update for now, and I’m actually leaving in 40 minutes to catch the airport shuttle for my independent travel during our free week! I’m heading to London and Ireland, so stay tuned for posts about my travels!

Till next time!

-Courtney <3