Agia Napa - Friday

Friday morning the GLS students loaded onto the bus for Agia Napa - the party central of Cyprus.
Before we got there, we stopped at three places, Hala Sultan Tekke, St. Lazarus Church, and a museum about Famagusta. I do not have any pictures to show because not only is my little digital camera (not my NIkon) dead, but I have run out of room on my computer to upload photographs! So, until I buy an external hard drive, photographs will not be going up :(
If you have not heard of Famagusta, you should really read up on it. Brief history, in 1974 Famagusta was taken over by the Turkish. No one has entered since, besides a few who risk their lives to attempt to bring back family pictures from their homes. It is a ghost town, literally. The presentation at the museum was also very saddening. Our speaker lost everything from her home. She cannot return there, no one can. The tears in her eyes made me realize just how lucky we are in the states. She had to begin a new life and she is never able to revisit her childhood memories. You should all read up on Famagusta.

Once we arrived at Agai Napa, the fun began... We were at Agai Napa by midafternoon, and everyone either hit the beach or the amazing swimming pool. This place was a resort! I have photographs but I can't download them because on my lack of memory space on my computer. We hit the pool, then the beach, then back to the pool. The pool really attracted us because of its bridge. It seems lame, but swinging back and forth on the "monkey bars" under the bridge was quite amusing. That night, we ate dinner and decided to venture into the night life...

Now, the group I hang out with is not exactly the party-hardy kind of people. The square of Agai Napa was nothing like I ever imagined it would be like. I honestly can't even put into words what it was like, but I will try. Picture about a half-a-mile strip of street, cobblestone. Picture clubs upon clubs, side by side closer than houses in San Fransisco. Now add to the streets about 300 people over the maximum capacity, drunken, half clothed, and running around talking/yelling at the top of their lungs. Now multiply that by a few hundred, and that is Agia Napa square. We walked down this "street" and everywhere we turned it was "come here-come there-are you going to this club tonight? that club? free drinks! buy one get one free! hey, i'll buy you a drink if you come here. free shots at this club! how about a bottle of champagne?" I cannot even count on my fingers and toes how many guys asked to buy me a drink. For goodness sake- I don't drink! We were hoping to go to a simple club just to dance and stuff, but that's not how they do it in Agia Napa. They party hard, all day into the night into the morning. Clubbing doesn't exist in Agia Napa - drinking does. In the end, I did go into one "club" that night called The Castle. It is supposively the most prestigious night club there is in Agia Napa, and you need special tickets to get in - which the people I was with somehow acquired. The Castle wasn't that great though. From what I could see in the darkness and strobe lights, it was pretty. The inside looked like a castle (imagine that!) and parts of the floor were made of class so you could see little scenes (such as a prisoner in a cell) through the floor. Overall, it was nice but not fantastic. In conclusion to that night, Agia Napa clubbing was just too much for me. The majority of the GLS students enjoyed themselves and were out until 4am or later, but that's just not who I am. I'm truly glad they had a blast and I don't mean to make Agia Napa sound like a bad place, because it's not. I'm just glad that I experienced it - so that now I never have to again.