Today we got the chance to visit the University of Nicosia and listen to two lectures. Our first lecture was with Dr. Emilios Solomou and it was about the history of Cyprus. He gave a brief overview of all the different powers that were in control of Cyprus at different points in history. Due to its central location, it was a very sought after Country to have control over. He said that some people called it the “unsinkable aircraft carrier”. Something I found interesting is that with all the changes of power and the conflict that occurred between the North and South, he said it never had to do with religion. It was always about power and politics. The majority of the citizens were Orthodox Christian and this kept them unified. An example of just how many times Cyprus was conquered is that from 1191-1192 AD, Cyprus changed rulers 3 different times.
Dr. Solomou went into more detail about the British rule because they were the last ruler before Cyprus got their independence. They were actually in control of Cyprus for a few years, until 1914 when the Ottoman Empire took over and then again from 1925-1960. When the British came back, the people of Cyprus welcomed them, however Greece and Turkey believed that Cyprus should be independent. The actual citizens of Cyprus had no voice, but the other countries spoke for them and so Cyprus became independent. Another interesting thing he talked about was the creation of their flag. They decided it couldn’t have any red since that was on Turkey’s flag and there couldn’t be any blue since that was on Greece’s flag. They ended up choosing a mustard yellow. Dr. Solomou said it may be because that’s the color of Cyprus in the summer due to the lack of rain, or because they used to have a lot of copper on the island.
Our next lecture was a crash course on the Greek language. I really enjoyed this lecture because it was engaging and interactive. I loved trying to practice the pronunciation and actively learning with all of my friends. I am taking Spanish classes a Pitt, so something I found interesting was that in the Greek language, the order of the noun and adjective doesn’t matter. In Spanish, if you don’t use the correct order, what you are saying won’t make sense, so I like that in Greek you don’t have to be thinking about that. We also learned that Cypriot Greek is a certain Greek dialect that closely resembles Ancient Greek. A phrase I am particularly glad to have learned is “Poso Kani” which means “How much is it?” We always try and find local places to eat and shop so I think that this phrase will be helpful when trying to order.
Overall, I am very grateful we got to have these lectures because I feel much more informed!