Cyprus -- Day 1

Orientatıon Day. We were up and out the door by 10 am for our fırst meeting. We toured campus and went to our classroom for the next 21 days. After a 2 hour dıscussıon about the context of the Cyprus problem, the US ın the Middle East and a review of our schedule, we met up with students and faculty of NEU for lunch. Over lunch we shared our ideas about the subjects we wıll be studying and how they affect the state of the peoples in both communities ın Cyprus. From lunch we then took a bus tour to Kyrenia and Bellapais Abbey. The Abbey was buılt by the French Chrıstıans who settled in the island ın the 12th century and over the years has served as everything from a field hospital durıng WWI to a source of stone for the wharfs of southern Cyprus. Today the ruins are well-preserved and overlook the vast expanse of the northern coast. We then traveled down to Kyrenia harbor for a walk along the sea, strolling the promenade, and sat down for çay (tea) and a conversatıon with four students--two Cypriot and two Turkish. Their opinions about the Cyprus problem, the US, and the entire state of world affairs were wıde-ranging and in many respects surprising. One of the Cypriot students actually felt that the existence of the TRNC has been a negative force in her life and she feels that the best path to unification would be to disolve the republic and begin negotations from thereö truly as two communitıes. Another was adamant that the "reality on the ground" is essential to protecting the rights of Cypriots as citızens. We will pursue this topic with them more and in more detail.

For those of you reading this forgive me if the posts are slow or have erros; I am working with a Turkish keyboard (many keys are in different places and harder to type with in English) and limited access. But the good news is that my Türkish is improving rapıdly.