Today was another incredibly informative day! We woke up and had another fulfilling breakfast and got on the bus to start our day. We started by going to CMMI which stands for the Cyprus Marine and Maritime Institute and listened to multiple lectures about what they do there. They showed us videos and demonstrations of their work to restore and research the oceans around Cyprus and beyond. 

We were taught about their missions and how they got started which was only very recently in 2019 and what they have done ever since and what they are working towards. Their missions were focused on restoring the ocean and keeping it preserved and how to sustain their efforts for the future. We then learned about what they have done and what they are currently working on. We got lectures from their digitizing the seas, robotics, and research teams and I definitely learned a lot about their companies while noticing the similarities and differences from companies in the states. For example, a difference I noticed was that they had many creative plans and were very focused on specific goals for their corporation specifically. I thought the implementation of Maritime day where they would teach people about their work and teach of what they can do to help. This drastically helps with outreach and ways to get funding. I feel that most US companies will do many similar things since many companies are more similar in their competitors than this company and many companies are in Cyprus. Getting creative in the US with their outreach and PR would benefit companies greatly. 

Then we went and walked around the promenade in Larnaca and got lunch. We then went to the church of Lazurus where his sarcophagus was found. I was not sure what to expect, but we sure learned a ton and this was definitely one of my favorite things we’ve done so far. The inside of the church was gorgeous and our tour guide Demetra explained all about the church in so much detail which made it even more cool. We then got on the bus and headed to another church that was built in the sixth century! There was a crazy cool mosaic from its original build as well that had tiles that were 4 mm long! It was so incredibly detailed that it looks like a painting.

Then, we headed to Lefkara which is a town high in the mountains. The drive up was gorgeous and we got to see the whole country once we reached the top. Demetra was a wonderful tour guide around the town and we learned about the native industries, lace and silver. It’s all handmade and we talked to people who made both who explained it was a dying industry as everyone is going to school and it is tedious work with little return. It was sad to hear in a way as they had worked so hard for their culture. We then had some free time to do some shopping before we headed home. It was a long and tiring day but well worth it.