Today, we leave one of the most beautiful places I have had the pleasure of traveling to. The last few days I have been mentally preparing for this final day, trying to make every single moment count. However, as I have learned, it is impossible to make the time stop, or even slow down. I…

Today, we visited Bernard Schulte Shipmanagement Training Center (or BSM). Unlike the other ship management companies we have visited, BSM was more of a school specifically for this industry. Through the tour of the building, I observed that simulators are extremely valuable in teaching. BSM used simulations for almost everything, from the management of gas…

Today we visited Vassiliko Cement Works and had an interactive tour of the premises. In the company’s presentation, they discusave 310 factories in 33 countries, and their facility in Cyrpus is their largest in Europe. I learned from this presentation that concrete is the second most consumed material in the world, the first being water….

Today, we visited Medochemie and Columbia Shipmanagement Company. A large and important part of the supply chain that Medochemie performs is quality assurance. The company’s goal is to produce affordable and quality medicine for everyone and has 630 product combinations, 13 manufacturing plants, and operations in 106 countries. This is an extremely important component of…

Today, we visited UNIC for the last time. Our schedule was packed with lectures on blockchain and crypto technologies, data forecasting, and machine learning. UNIC offered the first degree program in blockchain technology, and are advisers to the EU Commission and the Central Bank of Europe on the subject. I learned that my perception of…

Today was one of my favorite days so far. First on the agenda is a site visit to Aphrodite’s Rock in Paphos on the western coast of the island. On the bus, Demetra summarized the ancient myths of the goddess of beauty. We learned that she was believed to be born out of seafoam at…

Today, being the start of the weekend, we did a full day of site visits. First, Demitra showed us around the Kolossi Castle in Limassol. (You can see our fearless leader guiding us into the rich history of Cyprus in the picture.) It is a relatively small castle compared to others around the world and…

Today was our first of a few days visiting the ports of Cyprus, and we visited the Limassol Commercial Port. This specific port houses a few different companies, and was commercialized in 2016. First, we talked with DP World, a shipping logistics company founded in Dubai. As an Industrial Engineering student, supply chain logistics and…

Today, we visited Wargaming, an online video game company, headquartered in Nicosia. While they have many types of people working there, it is primarily developers and tech-focused jobs. I first noticed how “tech” and “silicon valley” looked. They had a cafe on the first floor, and then there was an entire gym, a sauna, and…

For our fifth day in Cyprus, we first went to the Cyprus Marine & Maritime Institute (CMMI). One of the first things I noticed was a large quote by Barack Obama on the wall, which read “We are reminded that, in the fleeting time we have on this Earth, what matters is not wealth, or…

Today, our agenda included a site visit to Famagusta in the northern” occupied” area and the beach in Protaras on the eastern coast. Again, we had Demitria as our guide for the day. Today, we learned a great deal about the complicated history of the relationship between Greeks and Turks, especially in Cyprus. We knew…

Waking up at 6:30 am is hard, but when you’re in Cyprus and eager to explore the island and learn about the culture, it is not that bad. After a filling breakfast at the cafe next door and my first taste of halloumi (which was better than I expected), the group was off to the…

We finally made it to Cyprus! Going through customs was a breeze, so hopefully that good start carries on the rest of the trip. As we took a step out of the Larnaca Airport, we felt a nice refreshing breeze, and looked up to find cloudy skies. “A terrible day in Cyprus”, someone joked. A…

Our travels began on Saturday with a flight to Washington out of Pittsburgh. This is also the start of my Duolingo Greek journey. So far, I am about one lesson in, and have learned that the main differences are the pronunciation of letters, not so much completely different words such as Spanish or French (at…

Hi everyone, my name is Julia Fitzgerald! I am super excited for Cyprus as I am trying to travel as much as possible after not being able to for a few years because of Covid. I am a student at the Swanson School of Engineering and am planning on majoring in Industrial Engineering. I am…