Spring Break

I do believe it is time to catch up. Last time I blogged was right before I left for Spring break in mid March. I know it has been way too long but in my defense, school became very time consuming with the arrival of midterms and right after, finals. Either way, during my ten-day break in March I flew to Larnaca, Cyprus for the first part and to Beirut, Lebanon for the second part. I travelled to Cyprus with approximately 15 other students from the program and our time there was spent relaxing on the beach during the day and checking out the nightlife during the night. An almost none-existent night life must I add, since we were there during their “off” season. We were very unproductive in terms of being tourists but very productive in terms of being on vacation. My favorite part of this trip was taking a day trip to the sea caves about 20 minutes from town. Katy Culhane and Matt Bell being two brave souls among the eight of us were my partners in hiking down into the caves and going out for a swim in the beautiful blue water. Despite all of our relaxing, we did however make time for a trip to the Turkish side of Cyprus. We could not believe the distinct difference between the two sides. The Turkish Republic of Cyprus is the only divided capitol in the world and its history is one of colonialism on the Turkish side and one of resistance on the Greek side. Overall, I could not have asked for a more relaxing yet culturally educational experience in Cyprus.

             Now for Beirut, probably my favorite visited city in the Middle East. When the six of us arrived in this city, relaxing time was over because we walked into a full schedule. We miraculously met a guy named Atif that told us what time we would be waking up each day that week. He drove us around the must-see places in Beirut while explaining bits and pieces of history here and there. With him we saw the sea-side, the mountainside, some breath-taking caverns, went to a wine tasting way too close to the Syrian border, saw a catholic shrine of Santa Maria, had a coffee break outside of a Druze controlled grotto and toured a castle along the coast. That was way more than we could have asked to see in five days. A highlight of the week was touring the American University of Beirut (AUB). To say the least, if Lebanon wasn’t so politically unstable, I would probably have transferred right after the tour. The university campus is beautiful and even though they speak more French than Arabic in Beirut, I was instantly hooked on all the beauty this city had to offer. From mountains covered full of snow, to an enticing beach and a breathtaking night view of the city, Beirut left us wanting to return.