Sharif, Matt, Me, Nadia, Chris (in the background), and Tanya.Today we began our work on the Public Conversations Project; a type of conflict mediation that Stacey and Gerald have taken part in here in Cyprus. We started in small groups with one person representing each side of a conflict and one facilitator. I facilitated a conversation regarding capital punishment. It was an interesting model to illustrate the idea of public conversation (presenting personal experiences with the goal of humanizing both views on a conflict) but it felt a little forced doing it with people who lack a passionate stance on the issue. More to follow tomorrow.
We got in to a more modern day discussion of politics in Cyprus during our afternoon class and began to analyze the Annan Plan (a plan for resolution in Cyprus released by Kofi Annan in 2002 and placed before both communities for a vote in 2004- passed by the Turkish Cypriot community, but not by their Greek Cypriot counterparts).
After the travel agency power outage and some wavering opinions, we changed our weekend plans once again. Instead of trying to piece together a bigger trip on short notice, we have decided to break in to groups and travel back to the harbor town of Kyrenia. I’m excited since it has been my favorite location so far, but still bummed about missing Aaron in Israel. We have been able to locate a van ride for only 6 lira (about $4.50) which will leave us some money to have a nice dinner or do another activity that we might not have splurged on otherwise.
We got in to a more modern day discussion of politics in Cyprus during our afternoon class and began to analyze the Annan Plan (a plan for resolution in Cyprus released by Kofi Annan in 2002 and placed before both communities for a vote in 2004- passed by the Turkish Cypriot community, but not by their Greek Cypriot counterparts).
After the travel agency power outage and some wavering opinions, we changed our weekend plans once again. Instead of trying to piece together a bigger trip on short notice, we have decided to break in to groups and travel back to the harbor town of Kyrenia. I’m excited since it has been my favorite location so far, but still bummed about missing Aaron in Israel. We have been able to locate a van ride for only 6 lira (about $4.50) which will leave us some money to have a nice dinner or do another activity that we might not have splurged on otherwise.
Yum! BBQ lamb and chicken plus dolmas, pilav and bread.
Raki
After another trip to the Beach Club, we headed over to our friend Sharif’s apartment for a traditional Turkish BBQ. The food was amazing and of course was complimented by Raki (Turkish version of ouzo or zivania which I mentioned before). Black licorice is probably my least favorite flavor of all time, but of course I respectfully took part. It was a great night for realizing how people connect regardless of language and culture.
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