hello world To finish out our trip we entered the world of digitalization to discuss machine learning, data analytics, blockchain, and crypto. Our first lecturer was Dr. Trihinas, a professor at UNIC. I found his lecture incredibly informative, and there were three main ideas that I took away. In the beginning of his presentation he…

While today’s site visit was different from what we entered the trip expecting, it turned out to be incredibly interesting and valuable. We visited the G.A.P. Vassilopoulos Group which is a thriving company that operates in an impressively diverse number of services. While they started their business with shipping and port management, their business model…

Nestled amongst the Troodos Mountains lies the quaint and stunning town of Kakopetria. The environment is tranquil and inviting, and the winding roads, sleeping cats, and thriving agriculture adds to the serene feeling of the village. Throughout the walkways you find (and smell) a diverse set of citrus trees, herbs, and other plants, and the…

We spent most of today at the University of Nicosia where we had the opportunity to act as students and were given lectures on the history of Cyprus as well as the Greek language. As a part of the historical presentation, we discussed the period of time from 1878 to 1960 in which the British…

While the general goal of today was to relocate from Limassol to the capital city Nicosia, we naturally did much more than just that. In the morning we set out west where we followed the coastline until we arrived at Aphrodite’s Rock–the birthplace of the Greek God (or for the Romans, Venus’ Rock). It is…

While not universally recognized as their own country, the “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus” (“TRNC”) has occupied over a third of Cyprus since 1974. Previous to the division, the Greek and Turkish Cypriots coexisted throughout the country–but today we saw the post-invasion reality of war, displacement, loss, and much more. We began to build our…

Today was a fascinating day of site visits. Our first stop was Vassiliko cement works where we discussed the making of cement as well as the production of the intermediate product, clinker. The overall process is rather lengthy and has high energy demands meaning the reduction of this energy use is a priority for improving…

Our group started the day at the BSM Maritime Training Center in Limassol. Through a brief presentation with our guide–a former Chief Engineer and current Training Instructor–and our exploration of the training facilities, we were able to learn about the process to become an eligible seafarer. Their facility is equipped with several rooms for simulation-based…

We spent today deepening our understanding of Cypriot culture through the guided and informed exploration of Limassol and the surrounding area. Our first archaeological adventure was of the ruins of Kourion, a once lively city upon a hill. There we discussed the difference between Greek and Roman architecture and learned that while Greeks tended to…