After sitting on planes for too long and having the strangest night’s sleep I’ve ever had in my life, we had our first full day abroad in Cyprus! Most of the day revolved around going on tours of Nicosia. We had dedicated sessions for the Old City and the New City. I think there was a lot more to learn from the Old City, so I would say that I enjoyed that tour more. Being able to walk through history and seeing the waves of influence wash over the town, especially the places of worship, was very interesting to me.

Learning about key years in the history of Cyprus helped contextualize the time periods. The tour guide did such a great job explaining the history, that now I can walk into any neighborhood in the Old City and be able to recognize the history of the buildings there. I can identify key influences and estimate when those influences would have been around compared to the lifetime of the building. In this way, each neighborhood tells a story that I very much enjoyed listening to.

Touring the University of Nicosia also gave me some insight as to the way that Cypriot education runs. First off, I thought their dorm hall was a 5-star hotel when we were walking up to it. It seems as though the University prioritizes the comfort of the students and ensures that students will have a good place to sleep and unwind after classes. Also, I was surprised at the number of students taking classes remotely. Something like half of the student body has been online this entire year, which seems crazy compared to Pitt. Comparing the student’s reaction to COVID tells us a lot about each society as a whole. Inside the lecture hall seemed very similar to other colleges I have been to and the facilities seemed very new. The University of Nicosia is definitely a lot nicer than I was expecting it to be. If had a very different style from Pitt but was also similar enough to where I didn’t feel like an outcast.

Going through the New City was not my favorite part of the day but still had interesting results. It was very cool to see what a developing European city looked like in comparison to Pittsburgh and other American cities. Eleftheria Square especially was very cool to see because it reminded me of a more urban version of Schenley Plaza.

Finally, the Cypriot food was very interesting. Especially with the dinner coming out in waves it had a very different feel than that of many American restaurants. The recipes were very unique as well. I am very much looking forward to more of this region’s food after the sample we were presented today.

All in all, today was a great intro to the rest of the trip and I am excited for what is to come!