Today we began with a company visit at Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM), a company that sends crews to manage ships while they transport cargo from place to place. We visited their training facility where they give instruction and certification for students to become colonels, captains, and more at sea on these ships. There were a variety of complex training systems that simulated a wide variety of situations on a ship, from the engine rooms to the bridge and steering, all the way to the kitchens (the galley). I found the simulations extremely interesting, and I enjoyed learning about the emergency training (such as when the CO2 is let off in the engine rooms to stop fires, and crew members have mere minutes to escape with their lives before suffocation). 

BSM specializes in the transportation aspect of the supply chain for the products that they transport, acting as a link between producer and consumer. However, in the case of the boats, they both own and rent boats from third parties (in which they are the consumer). Lastly, they act as the producer for a very unique resource: crew members. BSM turns ordinary civilians in Cyprus into trained and certified individuals that they provide to customers as crew on their ships. 

Afterwards, we got to visit Omodos Village, a smaller town with local shops and restaurants. I found the culture of the people amazing, for everyone seemed super outgoing and eager to talk to us. When shopping inside a local glass store, the owner struck up conversations and learned that we were from America. He then decided to show us around the shop, bringing us the kiln in the back where the students were firing their recent work. He even explained how some of his products were made, pulling out glass pieces in different stages of progress. His kindness and the quality of work lead me to purchase a small serving tray made out of a transformed glass bottle. This kind of interaction is rare in the U.S., where shops do not share their processes of creating their work to customers, much less taking them on tours to the back rooms. I loved interacting with a local who was kind enough to speak with tourists, and I feel as this is an experience that I will remember for a long time.