During my short two weeks studying abroad in England, we went to many brilliant restaurants as a class as well as having the opportunity to explore on our own. I have always been someone who loves to bond over a good meal which is why I loved to try new things on this trip. We mostly ate out every meal because we were staying in a hotel room without a refrigerator and were traveling to different cities some days.
When I was younger, I lived in Switzerland for two years. Being in another country in such formative years really transformed my own identity and desires in life. I grew to appreciate European culture more and more. It had been a while since I spent a long time in Europe until this study abroad in Cyprus. Being immersed in the European lifestyle once more really reinforced that I want to live abroad. The culture surrounding meals that emphasizes quality time and bonding over great food really resonates with how I want to live.
One of my all-time favorite ways to experience a new culture is through food, so you can bet that I ate a lot of Cyprian meals. I always made an effort to go to local restaurants for meals rather than chains. A lot of Cyprian cuisine is determined by the resources available on the island. Despite being an island, Cyprian cuisine does not include a lot of seafood. The water surrounding Cyprus has a lot of invasive species that diminish the fish population. We still went to a fish tavern and despite hating seafood I made it a goal to try everything they served. I even ate a fisheye!
To start most of my days I would wake up on time (except for one day) yet still rush to get ready. Although I always wanted to go out for breakfast, our days started too early and I never had enough time, so I ate the hotel breakfast. Next, we would board the bus and head off to our adventures. We never really got enough sleep so we would take epic bus naps that really hit the spot. We usually had business meetings earlier in the day and cultural events later in the afternoon. We visited ports, pharmaceutical companies, concrete companies, and more ports.