ESA Trip to Salamis and Famagusta
This past Saturday my 3 roommates and I went on a trip to the Turkish side of Cyprus with the European study abroad students. They plan bus trips pretty often and always invite us to go along with them. We are some of the only Americans that go on their trips, but we always have a great time because they are a lot of fun! We had to drive across the border again, which is a pain because the
y have to check everyone's passport at the border. It is kind of ridiculous, because everyone just puts their passport into one big bag and then one person shows the guards at the border. The guards didn't even have to see me at all! They are really quite a nuissance and everyone around the world is hoping that the Turks stop occupying Northern Cyprus. Anyway, our bus continued on to Salamis ancient ruins, which is located right next to the sea and is very beautiful. The ruins date back to the 11th century B.C. and were inhabbited by many different groups of people since then. A lot of the building had fallen down, but we could see some different rooms that 
the ancient people had built in the town. They had a gymnasium, baths, and pools, and a sweating room for the people of the town. We 
had a tour guide that took us to each room to explain its significance. We also saw the theatre which could seat 15000 people. During every night of the week, each family had to send a member to go to the theatre, where they would be educated about current situations and news. They also used the theatre as a way to calculate the population, since a member of every family was required to be present! After touring the
ruins, we all received a bagged lunch, so we went to a park to eat. We were supposed to go on a tour of Famagusta after this, but it was a beautiful day and everyone wanted to go to the beach instead. The sun wa shining, but the water was not so warm. We all decided to go swimming anyway, so we changed into our bathing suits and jumped in! Some other people went swimming with us too, but a lot of people that come from warm countries thought that we were crazy! We played games on the beach until the sun went down. Finally, we decided to do our little tour of Famagusta. Famagusta is now a ghost town, without hardly any people. In 1974, the Turks forced everyone who lived there out of their houses by a certain date. Since then, no one has lived there and the buildings are just falling apart. This is very sad, because 35 years ago Famagusta was one of the most 
beautiful places to go on the island and brought in tourists from all over. Now Cyprus can not benefit from tourism there since the Turks occupy the land. I have put up some pictures of the old hotels that are now just falling down. We also went to see a Mosque, which used to be a Catholic cathedral before the invasion. Since Northern Cyprus is now a Muslim country, every 2 hours the prayer "music" comes on loudspeakers all over the town. I think it is very eerie but I guess that is just part of the culture! Unfortunately the Turkish people continue to occupy the Northern part of Cyprus, which keeps them from joining the E.U. Anyway! After that we came back to our apartment and of course cooked pasta like we always do, becaue it is cheap. W
e were all tire
d so we just stayed in and watched Pearl Harbor for the night. Then on Sunday we slept in of course! My friend and I sent running around the neighborhood in Nicosia. It is beautiful weather to run in...usually sunny and 65 degrees. After that, I cooked us some sloppy joes! haha. So much for working out. One of our friends was here from Finland and she had never eaten a sloppy joe of course, but she tried it and loved it! We were very happy : ) Today our friends parents got here from the United States to visit for the week so we are going to go out to eat with them and get the traditional Cyprus Meze that we love. I probably won't be writing in my blog for a while since we are leaving on Wednesday for Ireland and Paris! I promise I will have a lot to write about that though!
y have to check everyone's passport at the border. It is kind of ridiculous, because everyone just puts their passport into one big bag and then one person shows the guards at the border. The guards didn't even have to see me at all! They are really quite a nuissance and everyone around the world is hoping that the Turks stop occupying Northern Cyprus. Anyway, our bus continued on to Salamis ancient ruins, which is located right next to the sea and is very beautiful. The ruins date back to the 11th century B.C. and were inhabbited by many different groups of people since then. A lot of the building had fallen down, but we could see some different rooms that 
the ancient people had built in the town. They had a gymnasium, baths, and pools, and a sweating room for the people of the town. We 
had a tour guide that took us to each room to explain its significance. We also saw the theatre which could seat 15000 people. During every night of the week, each family had to send a member to go to the theatre, where they would be educated about current situations and news. They also used the theatre as a way to calculate the population, since a member of every family was required to be present! After touring the
ruins, we all received a bagged lunch, so we went to a park to eat. We were supposed to go on a tour of Famagusta after this, but it was a beautiful day and everyone wanted to go to the beach instead. The sun wa shining, but the water was not so warm. We all decided to go swimming anyway, so we changed into our bathing suits and jumped in! Some other people went swimming with us too, but a lot of people that come from warm countries thought that we were crazy! We played games on the beach until the sun went down. Finally, we decided to do our little tour of Famagusta. Famagusta is now a ghost town, without hardly any people. In 1974, the Turks forced everyone who lived there out of their houses by a certain date. Since then, no one has lived there and the buildings are just falling apart. This is very sad, because 35 years ago Famagusta was one of the most 
beautiful places to go on the island and brought in tourists from all over. Now Cyprus can not benefit from tourism there since the Turks occupy the land. I have put up some pictures of the old hotels that are now just falling down. We also went to see a Mosque, which used to be a Catholic cathedral before the invasion. Since Northern Cyprus is now a Muslim country, every 2 hours the prayer "music" comes on loudspeakers all over the town. I think it is very eerie but I guess that is just part of the culture! Unfortunately the Turkish people continue to occupy the Northern part of Cyprus, which keeps them from joining the E.U. Anyway! After that we came back to our apartment and of course cooked pasta like we always do, becaue it is cheap. W
e were all tire
d so we just stayed in and watched Pearl Harbor for the night. Then on Sunday we slept in of course! My friend and I sent running around the neighborhood in Nicosia. It is beautiful weather to run in...usually sunny and 65 degrees. After that, I cooked us some sloppy joes! haha. So much for working out. One of our friends was here from Finland and she had never eaten a sloppy joe of course, but she tried it and loved it! We were very happy : ) Today our friends parents got here from the United States to visit for the week so we are going to go out to eat with them and get the traditional Cyprus Meze that we love. I probably won't be writing in my blog for a while since we are leaving on Wednesday for Ireland and Paris! I promise I will have a lot to write about that though!
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