It’s been a week since I arrived in Cyprus, and I still have 337 days left to explore this country and embrace this new life, I still have plenty of time ahead of me. I tell myself I have plenty of time, just as I did when I spent a year in Wales, before suddenly realizing I had only 10 days left.
In just one week, I’ve already met quite a few people; students, volunteers like me, employees, and everyday locals. They say there are several phases when you move to a new country-discovery, melancholy, joy, and eventually routine. I feel like I’ve experienced all of them at once. The first few days were anything but easy, and every night at around 10 p.m., my brain simply shut down.
As a fairly introverted person both socially and personally, I tend to meet people in my own way, that is, slowly. I love sharing, learning, and getting to know new people, but I prefer to do so slowly and at a steady place. Nevertheless, in Nicosia, connections with people seem to happen quickly. If you know one person, you’ll meet 10 more within a week, especially if that person is very sociable and makes friends just with just a smile and a few words.
I have already had a little taste of the city and its atmosphere here through a delicious dish called Bouyiourdi (which I struggle to pronounce to the waiter), the street cats -each one as adorable as the next-, and a game of backgammon at Café Hoi Polloi, the rules of which I still don’t understand. What struck me most upon arriving was the pace of life. Everything feels a little slower, a little calmer. I don’t think I’ll be rushing around like I did in Paris.
I have started my volunteer work with Hope For Children, an independent humanitarian organization that advocates for children’s rights in the European Union and offers a wide range of programs to improve children’s lives. I joined this team because I would like to become a project assistant in the near future. Additionally, my master’s thesis focused on the scope of the Palermo Protocol and its revisions, with a particular emphasis on two South Asian countries the victims most affected, namely women and children. Although I’m still getting used to how things work, I find this experience both practical and interesting. The team has welcomed me very warmly, which has put me at ease right from the start. For now, I’m getting my bearings, observing, and trying to understand the different projects and their cycles so that I can be helpful as soon as possible.
I’ve noticed that Italian is the most widely spoken language besides Greek and Turkish, which is convenient; since I don’t speak either of those languages. I’ve set myself the goal of learning the Greek alphabet by the end of April. Learning and adapting are all part of the experience of moving abroad. For me, leaving home is part of my journey towards maturity and self-discovery, even though we can never truly know ourselves.
Moving forward, my main goals are to adapt, build my confidence, and get more involved in the NGO’s projects. At the same time I want to take things slowly; to read, to walk in nature or along the beaches of Paphos, accompanied by music and my Greek dictionary.