Valentina is in the UK as a result of a grant from the Comenius European Lifelong Learning Programme which gives a wider understanding to future teachers of European education systems and helps them improve their knowledge of foreign languages as well as their teaching skills.
She is also here as a cultural ambassador for Cyprus, sharing aspects of her country’s culture, values and traditions while learning how those aspects differ in the UK.
The programme allows participants to learn about the culture of other countries with the aim of building “a more tolerant, inclusive and flexible European society”.
Valentina tells us that Cyprus (Kypros in Greek) has 952,100 inhabitants and its capital is Nicosia.
Official languages are Greek and Turkish, although English is widely spoken.
Its currency is the Euro – Cyrpus took over the presidency of the Council of the European Union from July to December 2012.
In 2017, Pafos is going to be the European Capital of Culture – so even more reason to visit, quite apart from the sunshine and the beautiful beaches.