We made it to Cyprus today after a long two days of traveling it was very nice to get off the plane and start to see the city. We drove from Larnaca to Limassol today to get to where we are staying. The culture here is very different from what we are used to experiencing in America. We encountered this first when a group of us went out for dinner. To begin with, the language barrier was a little hard to overcome. We were also unsure of how the ordering process worked if we had to call for the waiter or if they were taking their time. What we found was that waiters were slow to come to the table to allow for casual conversation to continue.

Another major cultural difference we noted between the United States and Cyprus was when going out for dinner it was a very social event people took their time eating and ordering food. Friends would also stay an extended period of time after finishing eating to have a few drinks or just chat amongst themselves. This made for a very relaxed space in the returns that was very nice to have on a casual Sunday afternoon. Now I’m not sure if this is how all restaurants work throughout the week.

Another major difference we noted what the number of people that were just out for causal walks downtown. There was a lot of walking paths little parks and nice place to sit outside of restaurants, small coffee, and ice-cream shops. People were encouraged just to use the outside spaces of the restaurants to socialize even if the restaurant is closed. Even the parks around old Limassol had lots of kids running around during the later hours of the evening without a lot of parental supervision. This is very different from what you would see in the States.