Cyprus: The Land of Cats - Days 1-2

    My tour to Greece was not an independent trip, it was a required archaeological class. They call them "study tours". Usually, they take students to Egypt or Israel, but because of the war, they decided to do the trip to Cyprus and Greece. I had no qualms with this. To help with funding, they do these study tours through the Adventist Hope Channel. My professor is asked to come as a tour guide, and us students get to tag a long with everyone else and our professor sprinkles in a little homework to make it official.

So, before visiting the mainland, we were scheduled to begin our tour on the island country of Cyprus. Our tour would follow the path of Paul on his first missionary journey (skipping a few parts) and would focus on his ministry. Cyprus is a small island south of Turkey and west of Lebanon. You may remember it as the place where the apostle Barnabas was from, or where Paul struck Bar-Jesus blind. We would spend four days here. 

   We had two flights, which connected in Athens. In Athens, me and my classmate Karis would meet up with our professor, his wife, and four other archaeology students, including my close friend Stella. 

   At this point, I had gotten pretty used to traveling alone, but I must admit that being able to call my professor and ask him how to find our gate when I got lost in the Athens airport was such a great feeling. A great weight of responsibility was lifted off my shoulders when I realized that I could enjoy Greece with out worrying about finding cheap train tickets, navigating new cities, or trying to find a decent place to spend the night. 

I was shocked when we landed in Athens because it looked just like New Mexico. Dry and brown.

Ah, finally, a language I could read. Just kidding. I could read it, but I don't understand modern Greek. 

   After trying to navigate the Athenian airport we were reunited with our crew and we headed to Cyprus. The plane ride to Cyprus was incredible. And I will explain why in just a moment. But first let me say that I was required to keep a journal while I was traveling. I would like to share my entries here, because they capture the overwhelming emotions I felt in the moment. Here is what I said about flying over Greece: 

   Then, we landed in Cyprus. Apparently there are more cats in Cyprus then there are people. This became apparent very quickly, as the first thing I saw upon exiting the airport was a bunch of kittens. I almost lost my mind. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. We got our rental car, and headed to our hotel in the beach town Larnaka.

(Side Note: These tours are done through Adventist Hope Channel, and they are open to the public. My professors, my fellow students, and I came a day early to settle in. So the group we would be with the rest of the trip was not there yet and we also were not yet on Hope Channel's dime... more on that later). 

   After settling in, we walked along the waterfront to find a place to eat. I had seen the Mediterranean a couple times in Italy, but not like this. Here, it was crystal azure marine, warm, and inviting. The December winds didn't claw at my back like they had in Rome, and no anxiety of what would happen in the morning gnawed at my stomach like it had in Naples. My spirit was so delighted, and I had this feeling that I would love Greece and Cyprus more than any other place I had visited so far. 

   The next morning, we woke up to a world of opportunities. Since the tour hadn't officially started yet,  my professor and his wife took the opportunity to go visit a family friend and left us "kids" to do whatever we pleased... at a beach resort town in the middle of the Mediterranean sea, mind you. We couldn't have been more thrilled and we endeavored to make the most of the one free day we would have.

We found a Sea Cucumber looking thingy

Visited an Ottoman fort

Bought Milkshakes

And new Sunglasses

 
   And then my professor called to tell us they were on their way back. It was time for us to meet up with rest of the tour group at our official hotel. Up until this point, us students thought we were living it up, but when we got to our new hotel, we realized how wrong we had been. This place was a five store resort, with a giant pool and access to the beach. We were even more thrilled now, and we took further advantage of our new digs and swam the entire afternoon until dinner. 

   It's a good thing we did, because we didn't have any free time for the next two weeks. That night, we met the other members of the tour and ate a traditional Cypriot dinner with them. They were shocked to find out that students were going to be joining the tour, but they were all kind. We also met our tour coordinator: Erin. Erin was from Chicago but she had been living in Greece for the past couple of decades and she was honestly one of the coolest women I have ever meant. During my short time knowing her, she made a huge impression on me and I can't wait to tell you guys more about her!

   Perhaps you cannot see it, but as I am writing this post and looking back at the post from Berlin I can see a different type of joy exuding from these photos and from my words. Maybe I am imagining it, but its only because I know how happy I was in Greece and how relieved too. Not only did I not have to worry about my own travel plans, but the people in charge were people I trusted. There would be no chaos, no loud bus rides, or confusing travel plans. In more ways then one, it felt like summer had finally come.