Pulling up to Vassos Eliades in the bus and seeing the huge space that they have instantly caught my attention. At first I was wondering how in the world they fill up a space that big. Little did I know, a couple of minutes later I was able to see exactly how they not only filled up the space to fill up the space, but utilized every square meter of the warehouse to carry out their goals. After the tour of the warehouse which included a look into a meeting room, some office spaces, and the main storage center, I was left feeling impressed. I was extremely fond of how the team at Vassos Eliades utilized all of the space that the warehouse provided them with in a useful way. By this I mean how everywhere I looked, there was something or someone who was vital to the success to the company. From the beautiful open layout of cubicles for its employees, to its careful layout of the meeting room, the artifacts of the distribution center clearly communicated the goals of the company. One of the goals that also impressed me was their goal of being environmentally friendly. Throughout listening to many of the employees at Vassos Eliades, we learned that they run completely on green energy. This is achieved through various different methods, such as using the sun for energy, takin advantage of advanced technologies, and really keeping that goal in mind whilst doing anything and everything. One thing that caught my eye whilst on the visit was the machines that the workers use to transport pallets from one place to another. These machines looked easily conductible, and seemed like a great tool. I always thought that they had to move pallets with big fork lifts, however this machine in particular, to which they have at least 20 of, was small, minimal, and effective. I was really pleased with how this visit went as for the first time I got to see what a distribution center, a major part of the supply chain, looked like and functioned.

While listening to Dr. Solomou’s history lecture at UNIC, I noticed that it was quite similar to those that I have experienced at Pitt. Specifically, comparing Dr. Solomou’s lecture to a lecture made by one of my Pitt Business professors and his class, it was clear to me that they were fairly similar. Both of the professors spoke at an easy-to-understand pace, used slides as a reference, spoke in a clear voice, and were experts on their respective topics. The only difference between the two lectures would be that the one here in Cyprus was not as interactive as many of the ones I have experienced at Pitt. When I say this I mean there were not as many questions asked by the professor to us, the students, as well as the professor was not as mobile. Despite these minor differences between the two lecture styles, they were also similar in the fact that I learned new information. For example, I learned today the castle in Famagusta, specifically the tower, was mentioned in Shakespeare’s Otehllo. Another interesting thing I learned was that when the Turkish invaded Cyprus, they took actions that were as extreme as bombing. I did not know that they had went to such extreme measures, such as using bombs. Lastly, and on another note, I really enjoyed the food that we had today, which was completely different from the typical Meze. I got the salmon with rice, pictured to the left, and it was absolutely delicious. Overall, I loved getting to learn more about the history of Cyprus, and it was very clear to me that Dr. Solomou was very fond of his job, and the history of his beloved country.