To start off the day bright and early, we made our way to the industrial district of Dali to visit the head offices and distribution center of Vasso Eliades Ltd. The company prides itself as one of the largest trading companies in all of Cyprus and places importance in sustainability and corporate social responsibility. The main facility that we visited was quite impressive, to say the least. The building was modern, having been built around a decade ago, and actually produces more electricity than it consumes, thanks to a combination of solar tubes and solar panels. Also fascinating was the large variety of products that were being distributed, from Nestle chocolate bars to fancy watches and jewelry.

Following a delicious lunch at Gefsikleous 62, we headed back to the University of Nicosia to learn about the history of Cyprus and the Greek language that is spoken across the island. Our lecture on history was taught by Dr. Emilios Solomou, a professor at the university. His lecture style varied from that of professors I have experienced at Pitt. For one, he was very detailed in his explanations and loved to show and explain pictures of various sites. While he was continuing to tell us about Cyprus, he did not engage with the audience often and would move on to the next topic at a rapid pace, which I was definitely unaccustomed to. I was particularly fascinated by the more recent history of the country when they fought for independence from the United Kingdom in the mid-20th century. Before the Turkish Invasion of 1974 that split the island into 2, it was interesting how the Turkish Muslims and the Greek Christians respected each other and their cultures. At the start of the existence of Cyprus, they implemented a system for political representation in that the president was to be Greek and the vice president was to be Turkish, in accordance with population counts on the island. This reminded me of how in the United States, different states have different amounts of House Representatives based on their population. I have thoroughly enjoyed my limited time in this beautiful Cypriot weather so far, and cannot wait to continue our adventures tomorrow in the hills!