Monday, May 8th

Γειά σου!

Today was our first full day in Cyprus and it began with a trip to the University of Nicosia in the Cyprian capitol. I was expecting UNIC to be an older and smaller university, but it was very modern and has about 18,000 students. We were given a short orientation about the program and a brief history of Cyprus to help us understand the country better. Before coming on this trip I was very unfamiliar with Cyprus, and I knew nothing about its history which is quite extensive. Cyprus had belonged to many different countries and empires throughout time and played an important role in Mediterranean history as its development dates back to the neolithic age. I also did not realize until today that the Turkish and Greek Cypriot communities are completely divided by a buffer zone called the green line. When Cyprus became independent in 1960 and the Turkish invaded the northern part of the island in 1974, it very much changed the structure of the island. It is pretty surprising to me how significant Turkey’s control of the northern side of the country is because they are completely unrecognized by all other governments. 

In the afternoon we were given a crash course in Greek language which was really interesting. We learned a lot of common phrases and now we can count off in Greek. I did not realize there was a Cypriot version of Greek that slightly differs from modern Greek. One thing I found very interesting was our teachers’ encouragement to try to speak Greek when we are out and about. In other countries like France, locals often seem annoyed or offended when foreigners attempt to speak to them in French. In many other countries, attempts to speak the native language is discouraged, but this seems very different in Cyprus. Everyone is very receptive to newcomers who try to speak Greek and they get very excited when people from other countries show interest in attempting and learning the language. I feel much more inclined to try out my Greek knowledge at stores or restaurants in Cyprus than I would in any other country.

Tα λέμε αύριο!