After a very long few travel days, we finally made it to Cyprus at 2 am! The hotel is quite nice and comfortable and I got some much needed sleep, which helped power me through the first half of today. We learned some valuable info/basics of the country and some expectations, as well as a brief history, including stray cats! This point really stuck out to me and I love the story that St. Helen brought hundreds of cats to the island to help with an infestation of snakes. Whether that is true is neither here nor there, but super fun nonetheless. I also found it very fascinating that to this day, a monastery takes on the task of taking care of so many of them. After orientation, we got to learn about some traditional Cypriot cuisine, as well as view a demonstration and try the dishes. I did not realize how important of an ingredient that mint was to Cyprus, among other aromatic herbs and spices. I’m excited to explore the city later today, and cannot wait to see what the rest of this adventure has in store!