7/23 - A New Tattoo

Niko, my favorite Cypriot tattoo artist.

This morning we continued our practice with the public conversations model. I facilitated a discussion about right to privacy and government surveillance. Although this topic inspired a little more passionate response than Thursday’s, it still left me curious about what it would be like to witness or take part in such a discussion with highly polarized participants.
Ahmet’s class was short and served as a quick review for the exam (which I don’t have to take) on Wednesday. We also learned that he had arranged a farewell dinner for us at one of his favorite restaurants in the old castle with EMU and the International Student Center picking up the tab.
Jordan and I went to the library for a little while- until they turned off the air conditioning and we got the hint that it was closing time. The temperature has definitely risen this week and I think it hit its peak just as we took the long walk back to our dorms.

Umut's daughter, Ozum.

Umut picked us up around 5pm with his daughter Ozum and took us to a well known local tattoo artist. Nadia (I know you thought it was me) had decided a week or so earlier to commemorate her trip with some new artwork. We arrived at Niko’s Tattoo Shop and began to look through some samples of the artist’s work. She decided she liked his style and they began to research her desired subject: a dove holding an olive branch. She chose a great design, agreed on a fair price, and of course confirmed the sterility of the equipment/needle.

In the mean time, Jordan and I made conversation with a young British woman who was selling a litter of bulldog puppies (one of which went to Niko) and about 25 minutes later she was finished. The final product came out great as you can see.

Cappuccino

With a couple hours to spend, we shopped around the main drag on our way back to Cappuccino where we met Matt, John, Frankie, Courtney, and Tanya for a re-creation of our first dinner in Famagusta. Then we stopped for a few to enjoy hookah and took a leisurely walk back to the Namik Kemal.

Jordan and Courtney smoking shisha (Turkish hookah).