Physics is over! The program just ended yesterday and I’m
currently on a flight out of Nicosia and to Naples. Yesterday we took our last
exam, which was extremely hard, and submitted our last lab reports! The last
couples of days were pretty stressful since we were finishing up our final lab
reports and trying to cram in as much information as possible. It was also
incredibly bittersweet and filled with goodbyes and lots of hugs. A couple days
ago we had our farewell dinner with everyone, including Global Semesters and
the program coordinators. It’s so sad to think about how we’ve all split from
Nicosia, but most people are traveling around Europe afterwards and we’re all
trying to make plans to meet up.
For our last dinner in Nicosia my roommates and I pooled together our remaining meal vouchers and got as much food as possible from the bakery and from KFC.
I’m really happy to be done with physics but there are
several things from this summer that I’m going to miss. I’m going to miss Cow,
the dog that lived next door to us, and all of the stray cats on the island.
Cyprus is almost overrun with stray cats, and it’s really easy to get attached
to all the neighborhood cats. I’m also really going to miss daily gyros and
fries, late night runs to the bakery, and most importantly the milkshakes from
Pieto’s.
The absolute best part of this summer were my two best
friends and roommates. I’m so lucky to have spent the last couple of weeks with
two of the most amazing people in the world. My roommates are so incredible,
they made studying physics nonstop almost entertaining and are the only two
people who could make me laugh when I wanted to throw my notebook across the
room. This program really provided me the opportunity to create some a
significant and meaningful friendship that I will cherish forever. In a program
that’s this intensive and small it’s hard to not make life long friends. We all
go to the same classes, eat meals together every day, live in the same
apartment buildings, and study together. When you’re in close proximity with
the same couple of people every single day they all become really special and
so it was a little heartbreaking to have to say goodbye. 
Would I recommend this program? Before going on a physics
intensive program I would advise that you really assess what you want out of
your study abroad experience. If you are looking for a fun study abroad
experience to get a couple credits, and to relax I would definitely NOT
recommend this program. The physics program has a reputation for being an easy
way to get the physics series completed, but in reality it’s pretty difficult.
Most of our time and energy was devoted to school since there was an insane
amount of material to learn and understand in just a couple of weeks. I WOULD
recommend this program if you’re looking for a practical way to get through the
physics series, but you really have to keep in mind that this program isn’t
really about “being abroad” and more about studying. It’s a really practical
way to get through Physics but definitely not the easiest. Overall I really
loved my time in Cyprus. I shared it with the most amazing people, had French
fries for almost every meal, got to visit so many beautiful beach towns, and
learned so much about an island I would have otherwise never visited on my own.
I’m so excited to go back to UCLA and reunite with everyone, even though I’ll
probably wait a year before having another gyro. 
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