After arriving last night, I’ve settled in a bit. The program coordinators took a long time to move the group around yesterday, and I was tired and feeling a bit off. I’m more refreshed today. I am living in one of the university housing options, the (slightly) worse one. All the accommodations are pretty nice, mine just has less decoration included in the room.

Today we went to the nearby mall and got groceries, and I continued exploring. About half the students arrived yesterday and the other half are getting here today, so it’s a free day for those of us here already. We are in the Engomi neighborhood of Nicosia, which is the capital of Cyprus. Engomi is pretty small and suburban (about 18,000 people) and is kind of dominated by the university. Everything is very close.

The weirdest thing so far is toilet paper. The pipes aren’t great here, so we have to throw toilet paper in the trash can. It’s looking like a wet wipes semester.

After continuing to explore, I noticed a few interesting things. My route pretty much took me through the designated walkable areas of “UNIC City”. There are a TON of stray cats here, but they seem pretty skittish. I will be trying to see if I can get them to like me. The balcony off of my room is pretty enclosed by my building, but it’s possible that cats will be able to climb up, so I’ll see what I can do with that. There are also quite a few empty lots and abandoned buildings in the area. It doesn’t feel super dumpy, but it’s definitely a different feel compared to Fort Collins or Golden. The streets are pretty tight, so when cars are street parked, they’re pulled up onto the curb. This makes a lot of sense to me, and I kinda think we should start parking on the curb.

I just bought an international phone plan, so I will be easier to contact. IMessage, Snapchat, or WhatsApp are what really work with my data only plan, but I think this was the right call.

I don’t exactly feel like fully unpacking yet, but I’m going to meet for dinner in a bit, and we have more formal orientation tomorrow!