In Cyprus today, our group had another tour that we helped us learn some of the culture of the country. The first stop was Hala Sultan Tekke which is a mosque. It is a very important mosque in Cyprus because it was built beside the tomb of Umm Haram. She was the aunt and friend on the prophet. Visitor used to be able to see her tomb, but now it is blocked off from visitors but they can still see the prayer room. Another person who was buried at this church was the grandmother of the King of Jordan who had to flee Jordan due the the exile of the royal family.

Around 10 minutes away from the mosque was the St. Lazarus Church which is an important church to orthodox christians. It is believed that Lazarus, who was the one that Jesus rose from the dead which resulted in him being crucified, was buried. He fled the holy land due to Jesus’s followers being punished, and ended up in Kition, the ancient city of Larnaca, which he spent the rest of his days. The Byzantine emperor paid for the church to be built over the tomb. You can see three distinct styles of architecture on the church because it kept being expanded.

After our tours, we had free time and the group decided to go to the beach together. The Mediterranean Sea, but I noticed a lot of differences from the Atlantic Ocean I’m used to. It was a lot salter than the Jersey Shore. I could notice the salt on my skin after coming out of the water. Also, there was a lot of ships in the distance where I rarely see them at the beaches I usually go to. A fun thing that I did at the beach was swim the around quarter of a mile to the buoy. It was really difficult, but I’m proud of myself for doing it!