I have settled into Cyprus quite nicely.  The program provides an apartment that is less than a five-minute walk from campus.  There is a grocery store and a great 24-hour bakery right down the street so the location couldn’t be better.  The apartment has a nice balcony to enjoy the weather on and I have three roommates who are all from Texas and we have all been getting along very well.  We are only a fifteen-minute bus ride from the old city area of Nicosia and have visited several times.  There are lots of nice shops, good food, and historical sites.

In Nicosia, there is a point where you can cross the border and enter the Turkish side of the island on foot.  I have been able to practice speaking some Turkish when ordering food and I look forward to exploring more and continuing to practice the language.  On the Greek side of the island, the language barrier has not been very difficult to navigate because most of the people speak English as a second language.  They begin learning English early on in school so most people speak fluently except some people in the older generation.  I have picked up on a few Greek phrases for greetings and thanking people and hope by the end of the trip I can learn a bit more.