The aftermath of Spring Break...

I apologise for my laziness in updating this blog… I have been rather busy, but still I don’t have a very good excuse.

Anyhow, as many of you know, I went on Spring break about 2 weeks ago. Since most travel in the area was banned, tickets to Egypt were outrageous and I’m not interested in the Gulf States, I ended up going to Cyprus with some friends. Cyrpus is an island in the Mediterranean and it is in the EU (al-hamdulallah!). The best part is that it is only an hour flight from here. A trip there was just what we needed. It was amazing to get out of this oppressive environment, wear a tank top, laugh loudly in public, eat amazing Greek food, smile, drink European Fanta and real wine, walk around late at night without having to worry, not have to deal with creepy cab drivers, lay on the beach and swim in the Mediterranean. It was extremely relaxing, to say the least… and exactly what I wanted.

Larnaca

The waterfront in Larnaca

Felix on the beach in Larnaca

My friend and I mostly stayed in Larnaca, but one day we made a day trip to the capital, Nicosia. Here, it is important to note that Cyprus is split. Turkey controls one side and Greece has a lot of influence and pretty much controls the “Cypriot” side. Nicosia is very interesting because it is divided; and is the only divided capital left in the world. At some points you will be walking down a street on the Cypriot side of Nicosia and you just can’t go any further because you have reached the border. It was really interesting standing on the Cypriot side and seeing the Turkish flag just ahead of you. There is an actual wall separating the two sides, complete with barbed wire on top and below it, UN buffer zone between the two sides and a passport checkpoint before you enter the Turkish occupied side. My friend and I couldn’t figure out where the checkpoint was, so we stopped a woman on the street to ask for help. She was Slovenian and worked at a restaurant there and was very kind... not to mention overjoyed because I spoke Russian with her. She said she goes to the Turkish side to buy cigarettes because they are cheaper and she offered to drive us through. After that, she was walked with us for awhile and told us about that part of town, where the markets were, etc. She bid us farewell and my friend and I just wandered around for a bit, taking it all in. The feel of the occupied side is completely different than the Cypriot side. All of the signs are in Turkish, the prices are in Turkish lira, and it looks much different… it had a completely different atmosphere. We were there on a Sunday so it was kind of dead anyhow, but in general, it looked very poor, run-down and decrepit (with the exception of a couple of nice squares complete with Ataturk statues… :P ). It was really interesting, though, and made me wonder if Turkey is actually like that and how much money Istanbul puts into that side of Nicosia. I can’t describe how surreal it was walking through a UN buffer zone with an actual wall and barbed wire in sight with “no photography allowed” signs. It was also surreal to think about the division of the capital and the politics of it all… it is difficult to describe, but it was kind of a mind-blowing experience for me. The cool thing is that over the weekend, the Cypriot and Turkish officials made some kind of agreement and they knocked part of the wall down the day after we were there to make a new checkpoint. It isn't as epic as the entire wall coming down (which is what I though actually happened) but it is still a good sign that they've even reach an agreement on anything.

Downtown Nicosia

Downtown Nicosia

Turkish occupied side of Nicosia

Turkish occupied side of Nicosia

Another interesting point about Cyprus in general is the amount of immigrants there. There are tons of Russians, first of all. TONS. We met and hung out with some British kids who lived and studied art in Larnaca and they referred to Cyprus as “Cyprussia.” I thought I was seeing things when I looked across the street from our hotel with in 10 minutes of arriving and saw a sign in Russian. But, a lot of the signs in business and hotels in Larnaca are also in Russian, and there are many Russians working in the stores, markets, etc. There are also a lot of Southeast Asian immigrants. Sri Lankans, especially. I really noticed this in Nicosia when I saw more immigrants than Cypriots. There were a ton of Thai people, Sri Lankans, Cambodians, Nepalese, and so on. Regardless of opinions on immigration and such, I found it interesting that Cyprus is so diverse...especially since it seems like kind of a random country to me. The countryside was absolutely amazing as well. The bus ride from Larnaca to Nicosia was wonderful… nice mountains, lots of green, olive and Cyprus trees and cute clusters of villas all around. I definitely plan on going back someday when I have more time to see more of the island (especially the baths of Aphrodite). It was a great trip and I finally got my first taste of the Mediterranean climate, lifestyle and attitude. I really loved it and can imagine living somewhere like that. And no, I didn’t get sunburned TOO badly, either… ;)

In all honesty, coming back to Amman was quite depressing. Oh how I miss the West sometimes! It is really difficult to be relaxed here and the realities of daily life in an Arab country are sometimes very intense to deal with. Since break, there has just been a deluge of tests, papers, quizzes and projects in school, but it is all going well. We have a trip to Wadi Rum tomorrow and Saturday which includes a 3 hour camel ride and camping in the desert. I am so excited. Maybe I’ll stop being such a slacker and update this when I return, instead of waiting for 2 weeks after the fact. Haha, yeah right…

On a more random note, something I have noticed when dealing with my professors, is that people outside of America- students and scholars- really place a lot of emphasis on knowing hard facts. It seems like only ideas and concepts are stressed in America, but not necessarily facts in addition to this. Maybe it is just here. Any thoughts on this? Please share.

I also need to say that I –hate- how Arabs suck their teeth when you say something stupid or wrong, or if something bad happens. It is just normal part of non-verbal communication here, but for the life of me, I can’t get used to it. Everytime someone does it I feel that one vein in my head getting closer and closer to popping and I just want to slap them across the face with a raw T-bone steak or something.

Anyhow, I hope everyone is well. I will make an effort to update this sooner. I miss you all a lot. T-minus one month and a half…J