Today was our first official day, or evening at least, in Cyprus. The flight from Germany to Larnaca was approximately 4 hours, and when adding the journey from the airport into the city the final leg of travel took just over 5 hours, with us arriving around 5:45 local time. After quickly unpacking in our hotel rooms and showering, we were set for our first night out on the trip.
With the guidance of our helper and Cyprus native Christina, we were shown around some local areas in Limassol. We walked past a beautiful cathedral and eventually reached the boardwalk and marina area of the city. We took our first group photo in front of the water, and were then set off to find dinner and get ourselves accustomed to the Cypriot culture.
After adventuring around the marina, gawking at some of the grand yachts kept on the port, the group split up and a small group of us found a nice and somewhat inexpensive restaurant near the water. Being on our own for the first time, we were unsure of typical restaurant norms, which caused us a few problems. At first, we stood outside the restaurant for nearly twenty minutes expecting to be greeted by a host to seat us. This was not the case at this restaurant, as we were eventually told we were supposed to seat ourselves. The next issue we ran into was if we were supposed to call over the servers to get menus and order or not. Fortunately for us, the servers made their ways around to us. Overall, the entire experience was very eye-opening to how different European and Cypriot culture is to what we’re are used to in the states. The entire meal was very slow paced, as if the conversation and the experience was valued over the meal itself. We waited quite some time before even getting water, let alone the food. In America, especially in the northeast, we are so used to moving a million miles a minute, and often struggle to slow down and enjoy the present. Even after one meal in Cyprus, we realized how relaxing it was to have a nice conversation with some peers without worrying about what was happening next. One thing us Americans can really learn from this trip going forward is the importance of life outside of work.
