Charming Cyprus
Wow. All I can say is, I absolutely love this country. It is absolutely beautiful in every aspect, even the ruins from their war with Turkey. Many people do not know about the Grecian/Turkish war in Cyprus; the Turkish invaded Cyprus almost 40 years ago and they built a wall in the city to divide the Greeks from the Turkish. The Turkish are living illegally on their side of the country. We are supposed to go visit next week and when we enter their side, we can’t get our passports stamped because if we do and we go to another country like Israel, they won’t let us in because it’d be incredibly shady. The Turkish side if very unsettling, there is no one to make sure the restaurants are actually serving you what they claim. Recently, a group of Russian tourists went to this part of the country and had vodka and in the vodka was ethanol, which is poisonous. It’s scary to think about, but we won’t be eating or drinking anything while visiting.
The Grecian Cypriot side is beautiful, in its own unique and charming way. We were fortunate enough to go downtown (old city) today and see the sights of old buildings and Greek Orthodox churches. We saw the brick wall that divides the country and we also saw the Greek campsite where the younger boys sit with machine guns so no one enters the no man’s land. No man’s land is where literally no one lives because that’s where the Turks invaded. The buildings are gorgeous but sadly, falling apart. Around the campsite is deserted apartments and houses because the Greeks didn’t feel safe living so close to the Turkish invaders.
The old city has a market and I’m pretty sure all of the girls wanted to shop instead of go and sight see, but seeing the buildings and learning about the culture was well worth it, we’ll have plenty of time to shop. They had beautiful handbags, unique clothes, unbelievable jewelry, it’s going to be a difficult task restraining myself from buying too much.
We went to a museum today which was beautiful. We went into the old city and had lunch at a cute cafe. I got chicken kabobs, a couple of girls got crepes with feta cheese & bell peppers. The food here is fantastic, it’s such a treat to have crepes as a normal option. I was stopped by a cute couple from England asking me how to get to the Turkish side. I told them I had no idea & apologized but asked where they were from in England and they said Sheffield, so shout out to my roommate & best friend Jodie :).
The culture is enticing and the buildings are so charming with their historical background. The Cypriot people have so much to offer and absolutely love when Americans come into their country. We had so much fun last night at a bar very close to our apartment. I absolutely adore the group I am with and I’m really looking forward to getting to know them better. Tomorrow continues our orientation and then classes start Monday.
Lindsey