Finally, at the early hour of 4am local time, we made it to our hotel in the center of Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus. This relief could not have come fast enough following the nearly 1.5 days of travel time to get here. After a brief 5 hour sleep, we embarked on our first adventure out to the University of Nicosia. There, we first listened to introductory lectures about our time here in Cyprus. After that, we learned a great deal about the local cuisine on the island, with its Greek and other Mediterranean influences. Chefs prepared food and we ate a filling mezze style lunch, trying many delicious different dishes with my favorite being the grilled halloumi cheese. We then returned to the hotel and me and a smaller group of people went for a short walk into the old city center, which is inside of old Venetian-built walls. The city of Nicosia and the Cypriot culture is beautiful and I cannot wait for the next 2 weeks that we will spend here.