Peace Players, Super Market, Cooking Class

I haven't been on in a couple days, they have us on a busy schedule. Monday we lost power on our block for several hours in the evening which really sucked. Since we are still learning our way around and it was dinnertime, there wasn't much to do except wait it out. Tuesday was more low key. We watched a presentation given by a nonprofit organization called "Peace Players." They are a group started in the US which brings teamwork/cooperation/communication between areas in conflict. One thing that I have learned through all our presentations is how serious and somewhat hostile the issue of the occupied half of Cyprus is. The Turks ollegally occupy northern Cyprus and have since Turkey invaded maybe 40 years ago. There is a lot of tension between the two sides and the memory of the invasion is engraved in the grandparents of Cypriots. The north is an unrecognised state, so it has been made clear to only go there in groups because once across the "green line" you are no longer protected by the UN, embassies, international laws, etc. The chance of any sort of uprising or war is around 0% because most of the Turkish Cypriots want to be united with the rest of the country again, since Turkey is only acting in its own favor, not for the Turkish Cypriots. Anyway, the Peace Players was started by two college basketball players who wanted to bring communities toether through basketball. It is a really awesome organization and for me personally, it reminds me of Daniel. So, not only for myself, but also to keep a part of Daniel here with me, I'm planning on volunteering.

These are pictures of that super store I had mentioned before. It really is humungous! One thing I've found interesting is that there is so much influence from the US here. Like these t shirts with Mickey Mouse on them. Many of the brands, characters, iems, music, celebrtities, etc are American. It really shows how big of an impact/influence the United States has on the rest of the world.

Instead of escalators, they have moving ramps..why? Because that way we can bring carts up to the second floor! These are actually pretty sweet and I can picuture kids loving to play on them.

The biggest difference in the store (besides everything being in Greek) is the market-feel. Everything looks, smells, and tastes fresh and has the feeling of a marketplace.

Yep, that's octopus al right! For some reason when I saw this, I thought of Chelsea and Ashley-they would think this is so gross and I can picture Ashley going "Eww!!" haha

We also went to a cooking class/show at the university. We all got packets of typical Cypriot dishes and got to watch them cook and them sample the foods. Everything was deliscious! Also, I am so glad I tried some gyros back home because they seriously are Cypriots' hamburgers or pizza. I have had so many gyros so far and at different places and with different styles. An interesting fact is that they don't use lettuce here-instead they put parsely (heaping loads of it) and cabbage on sandwiches.

I'm not sure how this picture got down here, but it is of the many olives and nuts one can purchase at the grocery store.