Between catching flights and sightseeing around the city is the storyline that matters the most. It starts with simple hello and turns into meaningful narrative. Our storyline started in Cyprus in a small village with lots of Bougainvilleas. Throughout the week we got to visit every little corner of this small village , learn the history and meet the locals. As much as the beautiful scenery of cliffs overlooking the ocean and extremely delicious food fascinated me , what touched me the most was the people: small restaurant owners giving away shirts, grape orchard workers generously filling our hands with bunch of grapes and friendships that we got to form with people from more than 7 different countries.
It was not just the sessions that taught me valuable lessons but it was equally enlightening to hear the stories from other participants and speakers. Among 23 of us were the psychologists helping out domestic violence victims, world champions , mental health advocates and aspiring doctors. Despite our different cultural backgrounds, interests and aspirations, at the end of the day all of us were ordinary human beings who enjoyed swimming in the pool, asking for an excessive amount of orange juice and watching the sky full of stars. Along with the sense of belonging I could also feel the pride. During Georgian cultural week I got to see how much other participants enjoyed learning about our history, culture and folklore. When I was performing Georgian song surrounded by other people , I could feel that I had a purpose, purpose of bringing small piece of Georgia into an international arena.
On july 4th , I entered Cyprus having no idea how this adventure would turn out. Today I am writing my narrative with a bittersweet feeling. Thank you to Bitisi and Acpelia Cyprus for bringing the world under one roof.I will be forever grateful for the friendships,stories and memories that I made in Cyprus.
The end of the narrative.
BITISI 