Belly Dancing

This week has been pretty uneventful for the most part. I mostly have just been doing school, homework, and the average daily living stuff. There have been a couple highlights though.

On Tuesday a large group of locals and GLS students went to the local Syrian restaurant, where we enjoyed food, watched a belly dancer, and some participated in smoking hookah. I personally don't enjoy the idea of smoking hookah, but it adds to the environment where or not you participate none the less.

On Wednesday Carolyn and I attempted to make cookies in our futuristic looking oven. Unfortunately, it was a fail and didn't work. It seems to cook the top to fast and forget to cook the middle. Good thing we like cookie dough.

Lots of people left for Egypt yesterday, so it is just me holding down the fort right now. Meleana and I went to dinner tonight and are going to take a day trip tomorrow back to the Turkish side to explore a little more.

I have been debating a London trip to see my Grandma's family. But nothing has been set in stone yet. I don't really have a travel buddy so I'm being a little reluctant to book. I am hoping to visit Coral (Colin's Sister) in whales for a day if I go as well as visit Grandma's family in Nottingham if possible. I'll update on this later on whether or not I'm actually going to go.

The Turkish Side

You may not know this but Cyprus is the only divided capital left in the world. To go over to the Turkish side we had to show our passports. But, you have to make sure that they don't stamp them because the "Turkish Republic of Cyprus" is not recognized as their own state/country by any other country except themselves and Turkey.  Our first stop was Kyrenia, which is located on the Turkish side of the Island. It was beautiful. We explored a castle on the water and got to walk around the town just for a little bit. The castle had remains of the oldest shipwreck there. We also saw a mountain called  "Five Fingers" because it looks like a hand.

Turkish Flag/Turkish Republic Flag

The Castle

Mock Shipwreck

Items from of the shipwreck

On the Water

Five Finger mountain

Five Finger Mountain Again

Famagusta

Famagusta (Greek: Ammóchōstos) is a city on the east coast of Cyprus and is capital of the Famagusta District. It is located east of Nicosia, and possesses the deepest harbour of the island.

In antiquity, the town was known as Arsinoe, after Arsinoe II of Egypt, and was mentioned by that name by Strabo. In Greek it is called Ammochostos, meaning "hidden in sand". This name developed into Famagusta (originally Famagouste in French and Famagosta in Italian), used in Western European languages and the Turkish name, Mağusa. In fact, its Turkish name is Gazi-Mağusa. The old town has been nicknamed "The city of 365 churches" owing to a legend that at its peak, Famagusta boasted one church for each day of the year.

 

Larnaca, Cyprus

The Bus Schedule

Today Meleana (Pronounced May-Lay), Carolyn, and I decided to try and figure out the bus schedule and explore a different city in Cyprus. We went from home to downtown, and then from downtown to Larnaca. At Larnaca we then waited for an hour and a half for the next bus to take us to the sight we wanted to see. However, it never came.

We decided because our bus wasn't coming on the schedule we had to ask a local man at a shop by the bus stop. He called for us and they said that the bus was picking up at a different location.

So after the epic fail of not getting a bus we decided to go get some food at a restaurant called Paparazzi.

After food we decided to catch the bus back to Nicosia, but we had just missed it and had an hour to spare so we started walking down the beach.

While Walking down the beach I saw what looked like a castle so we decided to wonder in that direction.

It turned out to be The Castle of Larnaca. It only cost 1,70 euros to enter so decided to make the investment.

 

We got to see medieval tombstones

and cannons from medieval times.

We even walked up stairs to see the view from the top of the castle.

We got tons of great pictures from the castle.

After the castle we walked back to the bus stop.

We stopped by to say hello to the man at the store and he offered to take us to the Mosque that we came here to see, so we decided to let him. He was harmless.

 The First thing we saw at the Hala Sultan Tekke Mosque was a bunch of stray cats. I predict they were eating offerings, but I actually have no idea what they were eating as i know downing about the Muslim religion.

 We walked up to the door and a sign asked us to be respectful and take off our shoes. So we did. We also were sure to be respectful as possible and hope we didn't do anything wrong by accident.

 We witnessed two men praying.

 The "Pastor" talked to us for a bit and let us look around and take pictures.

 It was a very interesting experience, but I did feel a bit guilty for going as it felt sac religious. I do not believe in their religion, but it was nice to see the leader of the mosque be so kind and treat us with respect even though we were not from his background and I happy to know I can treat others with different beliefs with respect as well.

 We left the Mosque and saw flamingos! But, they were to far away for good pictures. Sorry blogging community, I tried.

After that we came back to catch the bus and headed home. When I got home I finished my Masters Program application and submitted it and now I'm so tired! I have such a full day ahead of me tomorrow too. We are headed to the Turkish side of Cyprus! Can't wait! I'll share about tomorrow soon!

Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day Everyone! I hope everyone has great plans for their day! I don't have any plans really, other than making sure that I finish the essay I'm working on to submit with my Masters Application and to make it to class on time.

I have really enjoyed my classes this week! In my European Cultures class we talked about Cypriot weddings just in time for valentines day of course. I thought American Weddings were at a grand scale, but not compared to Cypriot weddings. The average number of invited individuals in Cyprus is 3-4,000 people! They invite anyone they have met pretty much! It's Crazy! But, they also make an income of about 60-80,000 euros from their wedding as well. This money is generally used to buy or build a house to live in. In American culture if you get invited to a wedding you do not really feel obligated to go, but in Cypriot culture it is almost an obligation to go, if you don't then it is an insult and you would be considered stingy, which is one the worst things to be called in Cyprus.

In my Art History course we spent a class discussing Egyptian history of the Pharaoh's ruling and the writings in the tombs. It was all so very interesting, but I did find it strange that no mention was done of Moses. I felt all sides of theories should have been presented so each individual could decide for themselves what they thought was true. But all in all I was drawn in learning about their culture.

It actually made me sad that I decided not to go to Egypt due to the rockiness of it's safety at the moment. Even the teacher suggested not going at this point, which was unfortunate, but made me feel better about my decision.

Town Hall Building-Nicosia

Aside from attending classes I really haven't done much this week, because I have been working on my Masters Application, like I previously mentioned. However, yesterday Briel, Carolyn, and I did make it downtown to explore a bit and to do lunch with Alexis. However, one mistake we make was remembering that everything except some restaurants close early on Wednesdays, so after lunch we spent some time just enjoying a local coffee shop, like most Cypriots would do on their Wednesday off. That is really all I have been up to sense I last wrote. I'm still fighting a cold and trying to take it pretty easy. But, tomorrow I think we are going to venture out of Nicosia to another town to try and find the fourth most important mosque in the Muslim, because there is supposed to be a flock of flamingos right out side of it. It is one of their stops on their migration path and I haven't seen wild flamingos before. I actually don't know if I have seen a flamingo at all actually. That's all for now, I need to get to work!

Back to Reality

Today was the first day I stepped back out into the real world resembling what looks like a human being and participate as a member of society and I must say it felt great!

I'm still only at 60% and am in need of occasional naps, but it is an improvement. I actually accomplished a lot today.

I went to lunch, took a nap, did laundry, did dishes, went to my first meeting of a small bible study group, went to a birthday party, and played cards for a bit at a local pub.

This beats the last week of bed, pharmacy, bed, medicine, bed, bed, class, bed, bed. Things are looking up for me!

Good health here I come!!! Look out Cyprus I'm coming back full force!!!

*Cough Cough*

So unfortunately I never made it to the superbowl party at the local sports bar. Actually, I haven't made it anywhere really the last couple of days due to being sick with some sort of bug. I came home after coffee because I didn't feel well and as time has gone on I have seemed to only get worse.

Monday classes started but luckily I don't have any classes on Monday's so I stayed in bed and rested all day.

Tuesday I had three classes. I made it to the first one (European Cultures) and had to leave twice to find tissues because the amount I stashed in my pocket was not not suffice. I spent the whole class in a daze and felt extremely uncomfortable. After class in my sick state made my way to the local pharmacy to get medicine and vitamins and went home. I e-mailed our GLS counselor and told her I would not be able to make it to the remainder of my classes. So for the first time in history I missed the first day of classes. I feel so behind already and it is only the second day of school.

Today I woke up and still don't feel good. I don't have classes today so I have spent most of the day in bed and am hoping tomorrow morning will be a new day and I will fill in tip-top shape! There is no way I can possibly miss more classes and tomorrow my European Cultures class is going on a fieldtrip down town so I really need to get my act together. To show my dedication to getting better I have even drank a whole thing of orange juice and as most of you know I really really hate orange juice. Though don't be to proud because my nose is plugged so I really can't taste it anyway.

I'll update everyone on my classes...that is if I ever make it to them....cough sniffle cough.

It was an experience...

It's Sunday already!

FRIDAY after the Troodos trip Carolyn, Briel, and I went out to the local sports bar to hangout for a bit. While we are there a whole bunch of others showed up from the group and we met some locals from the area as well.

While there I played pool twice lost both times, played pong and lost, and then played darts and lost. The dart game was very close however, a loss is still a loss...

 SATURDAY Carolyn and I woke up early to explore with some other GLS members, but with confusion on the meeting spot we ended up not going. We walked back to the apartment and hung out for a bit then went downtown with Meleana for lunch.

We went to a local restaurant where the owner spoke little English. He took us back in the kitchen and told us the few things he had to order. We ended all just ordering the pork due to a language barrier issue. Unfortunately, after Carolyn and i tried 

 our meals Meleana realized there was a bug cooked on her pork. So at that point none of us could stomach finishing our meal. We paid for our food and then left to ease our pain with ice cream and starbucks.

We walked in the old city and found this man dressed as an Egyptian so we decided we needed to take our picture. While we were walking into the ice cream shop a small protest walked by which was a little scary, because people were marching and yelling in Greek and we weren't sure what was happening.

After ice cream we caught the bus back, where the bus driver awkwardly told us to be quiet. He apparently didn't like our conversation about France.

We then came and relaxed for a bit then got ready for dinner with a local named Alexis (surprisingly to avoid confusion Alexis is a boy). After dinner at his uncle's restaurant we went to a dance club for a bit which was nice because at this club people were nice about your personal space and didn't force themselves on you to dance. We didn't stay out to long and came home. Saturday was definitely its own experience.

TODAY has been a lazy catch up on sleep day to prepare for the Superbowl. It is airing tonight at 3AM. So we are going to the sports bar to keep up our American heritage and root on the teams. I am all about the 49ers. They won the world series and it would be so cool if they came home with a Superbowl win! I plan to do the usual, chat during the game, watch the instant replay to moments where people make noise and make sure to not miss the commericials. Yup, typical Superbowl for me I just happen to be in Cyprus to watch it-and it will be the middle of the night....I'll let you know what it goes.

Clubbin' & The Troodos Mountains

 It's Friday already! Time has gone by pretty fast! I best catch everyone up on what been going on over here.

WEDNESDAY was fun. We went to a presentation that took like ten minutes, then I went back and lounged for the day. However, that night we went to a whiteout party at a local club. It was pretty fun.

During the night I stuck to Briel and we danced the entire night. Unfortunately, the guys here are really pushy and persistent so we spent most of the night trying to get away from men trying to force us to grind with them. I personally had one guy that no matter how many times I tried to get away he would come over and find me. I said I was getting another drink to get away one time and he came over and asked if I got my drink-but I didn't want another drink so I told him no haven't made it to the front yet. Unfortunetly, he then asked what I wanted (like I said I didn't want anything it was my escape plan) so I told him water. He got me water and was there in my bubble once again.

After that we walked away to "use the bathroom" and five minutes after we got back he was there again. So right when he went for another drink I found a local GLS student and asked them to dance with me. The guy turned around and saw me dancing with someone else, and still tried grabbing my hand to pull me away and dance again.

Not twenty minutes after that I looked over and this same guy was about to get in a fight at the club. Briel and I took this as our time to go. As we were waiting outside for a cab this guy came out and tried to get me to come to the after party with him. So I kindly used another student. I told the guy that he and I were going home together and finally he got the picture and walked away.

After that we hopped in the cab and drove back (which the boys paid for-thank you boys) to the apartments and went to sleep.

 THURSDAY was pretty good too. We had a cooking class with great food. I took the afternoon easy and then did dinner with Briel, Alison, and Carolyn. A big group went to Sushi but you couldn't get me to eat sushi UNLESS you paid me.

TODAY everyone took a group trip to Troodos where there was actually snow on the Island. We spent two hours in the snow and two hours in a small town near by. Because ate lunch on the mountain we took the two hours in town to explore the area and take as many pictures as possible of the local things we saw. I added some of my favorites to share!

This is how all the water is heated on the island.