Day 4: Castle-Rock Climbing, Hanging with the Locals

Day 4 Tuesday 03-06-07
3:30 a.m. EST
How beautiful is Cyprus now that we see it for the first time in daylight! Absolutely stunning! Istanbul was beautiful in the sense of the magnificent manmade structures, while North Cyprus combines that with the glorious natural creations around us. Our plan for the entire day was to stay around the city of Girne, where we're staying, and to get to know some people and the area. We left Anadol Hotel and headed down a few short blocks to the coast. The Mediterranean Sea is as clear blue as I could've imagined. As we strolled the encompassing boardwalk, the sea water would occasionally smash again the rock wall and the salty cool mist of the ocean would sprinkle on our sun-burnt faces. We decided to walk to the castle nearby and as we went, the girls in our group were able to interact with three local girls of the group's average age. A strong girlish bond was formed and they decided to accompany us to Kyrenia Castle. The castle was built in the 12th century and sits right on the coast. We can vaguely see Turkey on the horizon, and are just a 30-minute boat ride from Israel and Lebanon and an hour flight from Baghdad. We were able to stroll around the castle to view the area from the tower, go down to the castle dungeon or just sit on a high wall and breathe in a peaceful moment of our surrounding 4-day home. Some of us boys decided to embark on rock climbing excursions all over the castle instead of using the traditional staircase. As we left Kyrenia Castle, we said goodbye to the girls, with plans to meet them later, and ate lunch on the patio along the water of the harbor. All day after lunch was spent chatting with locals at internet cafes and on the streets, forming relationships and making plans for later that evening.
 
12:00 p.m. EST
Dinner time now for us here as the sun sets on Cyprus, but rests high in the sky back home. The chilly air of the spring begins to stream itself along the streets of Girne. Dinner tonight wasn't going to be as a team, but broken up in separate groups and with those locals we had met earlier. Most of the girls and our trip leader met with those three girls from earlier. A few ate dinner in a sandwich shop with two Palestinians. A few more guys ate in the same shop with other locals, while my group of four hung out with a guy we met at the internet cafe and his four friends. We also ate at the sandwich shop. The conversation began with small talk about why we're here, what we study in school, our plans for after graduation, etc. To my surprise there wasn't a serious language barrier problem. We all seemed to steadily understand one another. They were all students at a university. One guy kept me and one of the girls on the team occupied by teaching us how to strike a match on just the tabletop and also taught us various Turkish words and phrases, while the main guy from the internet cafe continued chatting with the other two team members. We decided to stroll outside because of the noise and also had to say goodbye to our friend who taught us Turkish. We made our way to a cafe right next to where we had lunch and drank hot chocolate and cappuccino under the clear night sky. While we were learning as much as we could about the religious customs of their beliefs, we also continued to make more progressive small talk. One guy mentioned how he wanted to visit America and asked us to pack him in our suitcase. I was able to relate with the local girl in the group because she is learning graphics design and her dad is a journalist in Turkey, a profession I'm hoping to enter after I graduate. She and her luggage-pleading boyfriend invited us to their college campus tomorrow to attend their lectures and help with her designs on the computer, or she said I could teach. I told them we were planning on visiting different campuses, but was unsure if it was one of theirs or not. We parted ways with the other two members of our team and the internet cafe local, and were accompanied back to the hotel by the welcoming students. I was able to exchange e-mails with my two new friends, and I told them I hope to see them again soon. The humbling thing I'm reminded of is how different people can be and yet just about exactly the same. Here we are students from the U.S. halfway around the world forming relationships with local students on levels so familiar to our own way of living. Not a lot of money, boring classes, away from families. Cheap college students seems to be a universal language. We're teaching and learning a lot about the lives of our new friends and locals on this cultural exchange trip. I thought we were supposed to be out of school on Spring Break? … only kidding. What an amazing day!