With Heart

We presented to Andreas and his wife on Friday at 9:00 am at the University of Nicosia. We were so excited to share our ideas with them, because we had such a strong desire to help them in every way possible. One product of our project was two promotional videos about the Artisan Homes. One of the videos featured the relaxing aspects of the resort. We choreographed the video with the music of Andreas’s close friend and famous musician whose music he shared with us earlier in our trip (about the circle of life). I could see the emotion on Andreas and Zoe’s faces as the video started playing to his friend’s beautiful music and it moved me, too.

At the end of the presentation, Andreas’s wife Zoe told us she could tell we did not only pour our brains and creativity into this project. We poured our hearts into it.

That afternoon, Eric and I went to Andri’s home. She is one of the students from the University of Nicosia who worked on the Famagusta Eco City project with my roommates. She was kind enough to lead us in a yoga practice in her living room. At the end of the practice, she said something in Greek that sounded beautiful, so I asked her what she said. The English translation was: peace, peace, perfect peace.

After yoga, Dana and Kristen came to Andri’s house for a traditional Cypriot lunch, all cooked by Andri’s mother. We ate ravioli, meat soaked in wine, grape leaves, stuffed onions, salad, and wine. We then had coffee and dessert. We all laughed when, after dessert, her brother asked, “Do you guys want ice cream?” I’ve mentioned that Cypriots are known for their hospitality. Their generosity is unmatched anywhere else I have ever seen. Andri had only met me the evening before, and her mother had never met any of us. Yet, here we were, doing yoga in her living room and eating a meal her mother spent hours preparing that morning. Cypriot kindness is astounding.

That evening, we had a closing banquet with our professors, the VCU students, the University of Nicosia students, and our clients. This meant another meze feast. Endless plates of more delicious food.

Both sets of students talked about how they were shocked at how great the experience was. We all felt like working with students from a different country was an invaluable experience. Everyone always talks about how different we all are. But really, we are all the same. We may live in different countries, we may not look the same, we may have different customs. But we are all human beings trying to make it in this world. Trying to live, learn, love, fight for what we believe in, and do the best we can under our circumstances.

When it was time to say goodbye, I had a heavy feeling in my heart, like I had known everyone for years and it was now time to part ways.