Week 9: Abby Goes to Peru!

Hello all!

I don’t have much to share about this week. It was a bit of an emotional week for me and I would like to keep most of it in my private journal for myself. I will say though, I was feeling quite homesick. This is the second time I’ve been homesick during my time here in Peru. Of course, I’ve missed my family and friends, but it has only been homesickness once. I am grateful that I have been able to be so strong and that I have held myself together so well emotionally. I have been away for almost twice as long as my record time being away from my family (five weeks), so I am impressed.

I also spent a lot of time this week doing a lot of personal reflection. About who I have become, who I am, and who I am becoming. I have been thinking about my goals that I set before coming here and when I realized that I’m not quite doing as well with them as I had planned I naturally was a bit hard on myself for it. I am always striving to better myself and I get disappointed in myself easily when I don’t pursue this goal as actively as I think I should.

Another thing that has been bothering me is what I want my future to be. I think about this periodically and sometimes, like this week, I get kind of anxious about it. I am a girl with a plan, and when I don’t have a plan, I feel slightly lost. The issue is that I have a lot of passions and I want to pursue all of them, but there isn’t really a way to do this, at least not at any one time in my life. One thing that calms me when I get anxious about my future is that I have developed a way of thinking in that my life is a book. I have many chapters, and while I may not be able to pursue everything in one chapter, I may be able to dedicate certain chapters to certain areas in which I am passionate about. The biggest thing that always gets me is music. Music is my main passion in life. I can easily spend hours at the piano, playing and singing, and it will seem like I just sat down. If it is my main passion in life, shouldn´t I be pursuing it? I wish I thought of this sooner because maybe I would have studied music education, but it is too late to turn back now. So my solution for now is to add a minor to my degree. At least, that is the idea I am toying with. I will need to do some serious thinking about it.

With all of this personality confusion, I have been polling my friends to see what they imagine me doing. I told them to pick from all of the possible careers in the whole world. I don’t know why I didn’t think to get others’ opinions in the past when I’ve struggled with what to make of my future. It was really an interesting survey. I was given responses of both careers I’ve considered and also ones that had never crossed my mind. I got responses from psychiatrist or music teacher to youth group leader or flight attendant. I appreciated everyone’s input greatly. My favorite was suggested by one of my closest friends in Peru. And that was youth ministry. She reasoned that I would have the potential to use my love for children, music, Jesus, ministry, advice-giving, and administrative and organizational tasks. She was so right! It sounds great! I have always seen ministry in my future, but never like this, so I liked having my eyes opened to another possibility.

Anyways, there’s a little emotional check-in for you! I hope you’ve enjoyed the glimpse into my crazy brain. That’s all for now.

Hugs to everyone back home!

-Abby

Weeks 7 & 8: Abby Goes to Peru!

Hola!

So I’m still playing catch-up with my digital entries, but I am proud to say that I have been doing a pretty darn good job keeping a journal. I’ve never consistently kept a journal or anything of the sort (I think my record before Peru was 4 days), so it has definitely been a struggle, especially with both my journal and a blog, but I am very proud of how good I have been doing with my journal, considering my lack of experience. Anyways, I’m going to give you a couple updates here about what has been happening since my time in the mountains!

So between trips (the way I measure time here), not much happened. That’s been a common theme this whole term. While there are definitely activities to do in Lima, we never end up doing much other than hanging out with friends and going to school. School is honestly such a low part of my trip. Don’t get me wrong, I’m one to enjoy school, but the education system in Peru is definitely in need of reform. My friends and I joke that the “L” word (logic) isn’t used in this country nearly as much as we are used to. Whether that be the education system, transportation system, or many of the other things on our list of complaints, there just isn’t much logic. We have found ourselves confused time and time again as to why certain things are the way that they are. Usually this is because things are much more complicated than they should be. I really do love this country, though, and I am enjoying my time here so much. I wouldn’t change anything about my trip.

Besides school, we have been keeping busy with various social events. We met up with our program director one day for lunch, which was lots of fun. I enjoyed my first hamburger in Peru. Our program director has kind of been our stand-in mom for us. We know that any time we have any issue we can go to her and she will gladly listen. During our first couple weeks here in Peru we spent a lot of time with her and had great bonding experiences with her and her husband. So naturally, after over a month we missed them greatly. Other things that have kept us busy have been various parties, nights full of dancing, times hanging out will new (and not-so-new) friends, and having countless adventures.

Adventure. That is our Huacachina trip in one word. A very common trip for tourists is traveling to an area called Ica. It is to the south of Lima by about four hours, and generally lumped into this place are the cities of Pisco, Paracas, and Huacachina. We arrived in Pisco by bus and spent that evening and the next day in Paracas. Paracas is in the coastal desert region and is home to large tourism, fishing, and oil industries. Paracas is best known for Las Islas Ballestas, which are islands just off the coast, accessible by boat. However, they are a national reserve, so you can’t actually go onto the islands. They are for looking by boat. What is there to look at? Penguins, seagulls, and sea lions! I know, not too exciting for someone who comes from oregon and has seen the penguins at the zoo (same type), goes to the beach often, and has visited the Sea Lion Caves. But it was still a cool experience to have! My favorite part was the sea lions. They are a lot bigger up close! Not too close though, no worries. I was also excited to see pelicans for the first time! Like Nigel from Finding Nemo, which is one of my favorite movies ever. So of course I was pretty excited about this. We also went on a tour of a bunch of different beaches in the national reserve. They were all different, which was cool. When we got back into Paracas I got to experience my first sandstorm! Like a legitimate sandstorm. Everyone had closed up their shops and restaurants and there were no vehicles on the roads.

Once we eventually came across a taxi, we smashed the five of us (six including the driver) into the taxi and drove inland for about an hour to Huacachina, which was our ultimate destination. Huacachina is a city located smack dab in the middle of a bunch of sand dunes. Why? Well, because oases are cool. The oasis in Huacachina is the center of the town and is honestly probably the only reason Huacachina exists. I was definitely surprised by the scenery. Especially in the towering dunes. I legitimately felt as if I was in Aladdin. I had a hard time believing they were real because I was so surprised. I suppose because I have never seen anything like it in real life. Not even close. These dunes were the source of a lot of thrill and adventure the next day. We went on a dune buggy and sand boarding tour that day. Imagine a ten person Jeep flying over sand dunes like a roller coaster, but not on a track. That’s exactly how it was. While several of the passengers weren’t big fans of the ride, me adrenaline-loving self loved it! I suppose I was a little nervous, but the fun and adrenaline definitely won. I attempted sandboarding down a dune once and was not so successful, which is understandable, considering I have never done any type of sport that involves a board. I ended up with a very large amount of powdery sand caked all over my body and decided to stick to sledding down the dunes on my board. Apparently the safest way to go down the humongous dunes is on your stomach, head first. Scary! But so fun and worth it once you got over the difficulty of getting yourself to go for it. I will never forget the final dune we went down. The bottom was unbelievably far. So far that because of the slight curvature of the dune I couldn’t see the bottom. But down I went anyways and it was a blast!

And that was our Huacachina trip. 🙂

Best,

Abby

Week 6: Abby Goes to Peru!

I like to call this post: Asthma, Anxiety, and the Andes

Hello world!

Sorry I’ve been so quiet lately. We have been gearing up for midterms and are in midterm week now. I have not forgotten about you though! I have decided that I would write this post about my trip during week 6 to the Andes Mountains. I wrote in my journal about it this trip (27 pages, to be exact), so even though it took me awhile to write electronically, I have a documentation of the weekend that I am passing on to you now!

So the weekend began as soon as we could possibly leave. I had class until 8:40pm that Thursday and right after class ended I rushed home as fast as I possibly could. I got home and had 20 minutes before we had to leave for the bus station. And in those 20 minutes I changed my clothes, emptied my school bag, put my clothes that I had already laid out the night before into it, took my trashes out, recorded and uploaded a three minute speech for my public speaking class, and ate dinner. It was crazy! Our roommate called us a secure taxi (it isn’t very safe to take a street taxi at night, especially without a male), and we were off! We made it to the bus station, picked up our pre-paid tickets, and boarded the bus. Eight hours later, I woke up in the city of Huaraz, which is in the Andes. I remember putting my winter coat on in the middle of the night and still being very cold when I woke up the next morning. Which is understandable, considering we were surrounded by mountains. We found a hostel, ate breakfast, and then embarked on a journey to find a tour. We decided on a three day trek called Santa Cruz. Included was transportation to the National Park, donkeys to carry our bags and the included camping gear, two donkey drivers, a tour guide, a cook, and all of our meals, all for 220 soles, or about 69 USD! I was a bit nervous because I had no idea what to expect, but it ended up being incredible.

We spent the next three days in the mountains. Not any mountains though… The ANDES Mountains! It still blows my mind that this is my life and that I am so blessed to do these incredible things. So why did I subtitle this post Asthma, Anxiety, and the Andes? Well, my dear friends, that is because I had some asthma issues while up in the Andes. Which occasionally resulted in a bit of anxiety issues. I have known for almost two years that I have exercise-induced anxiety. This basically means that when I exert my lungs, they become inflamed and this can progress into an asthma attack. I had never had an anxiety attack before. That is, not until I decided to trek through the Andes mountains at extremely high altitudes (the highest point we climbed to was over 15,000 feet). Luckily I didn´t have a full asthma attack. All three incidents when I began to have an anxiety attack, I was able to recognize and stop it. This also meant recognizing and stoping anxiety attacks, because every time my asthma started to get bad, my anxiety would start to rise. It´s kind of scary not being able to breathe, so this is understandable, I think. Also, I had never had an anxiety attack before, so diving headfirst into this scary unknown was terrifying. Not to mention that each time I happened to be way behind everyone else and wouldn´t be able to get help if I were to have a serious episode. Luckily, I was able to recognize and stop these simultaneous asthma and anxiety attacks all three times. I am so grateful for this and for my tendency to pay good attention to my body and the signs it gives me.

I struggled with frustration about my weak lungs the whole trip and was trying to understand why God would give me lungs that aren´t strong enough to support me and all of the things I want to know. In my pondering and in my time trekking all alone through the mountains, I did learn a few things, with the answer to this question being one of them. It was as I was standing in the valley alone (aside from the wild horses and llamas), looking back at the towering mountain peak that I had just climbed over. I realized that if I had strong lungs and that if I had been able to keep up with my group, I probably wouldnt be able to appreciate the moment quite like I was right then. I am grateful for my weak lungs because they require me to stop more often and enjoy the moment, something that many of us forget to do in our hectic lives.

I am so blessed to be able to have had this opportunity to spend a few days in the Andes Mountains. I learned so much about myself and was able to accomplish so much while also rejuvinating my mind. To this day it is still my favorite trip I´ve been on thus far, and I imagine that it will continue to be one of my favorites for the rest of my life.

With care,

Abby

 

Week 5: Abby Goes to Peru!

Hello!

This past week has been crazy busy for me! Apparently quiz week is a thing here. I’m used to my classes not lining up very much back home. Usually some classes have two midterms, some have one and two tests, some have weekly quizzes, and assignments and quizzes generally seem to be spread out enough that I’m not completely swamped. However, here it’s not the same here. I don’t know if it is Peru in general or just USIL. There is a set finals week, but also a set midterms week. In addition, it seems as though there are unofficial quiz weeks as well. I think there is a general course schedule that most, if not all, professors follow. I don’t like this as much because it is stressful to have a lot of things scheduled for one day. For example, last Thursday I had a speech, two quizzes, six workbook pages, and an online quiz. It was a lot for one day and I was pretty stressed. But as per usual, my worrying was completely unnecessary. I ended up doing great on all of those things and my day went smoothly. My classes are all going well. They are boring because they are too easy, but I enjoy spending time with the people in my classes.

The same day that I had all of my quizzes and such I happened to wander back into the music room. I hadn’t heard from my professor about when we would be rehearsing, so I was starting to get nervous. I happened to drop by at the perfect time because I found out that I had rehearsal right then! It was a great first rehearsal. It turns out there aren’t enough musicians to form a full band, so we are going to be an a cappella group! I am excited because I was planning on trying to form an a cappella group anyways! There are four voices and one drummer. We chose our music and I am very happy with our selections. My solo is Like I’m Gonna Lose You by Meghan Trainor. It is my favorite song right now and I was very happy that the rest of the group approved it for our set list. There are two guys and two girls in our group. The guys don’t speak any English and they are also very quiet, so I didn’t really get to know them. The other girl and I bonded a lot though. We have very similar tastes in music and I think our voices sound really good together. We spent a pretty good amount of time “jamming” before rehearsal officially started. By jamming I mean that we picked a song that we both know and like and we sang together and made up harmonies and such. It was a blast! By the end of rehearsal I was on cloud nine. I am SO happy to be doing music again. I go through phases of not making time for music and being very addicted to music. Lately I have been in the addicted to music phase. Between this music class, playing my host family’s piano, and playing/singing along with my housemate’s guitar, I have found that most of my day is spent either thinking about music, listening to it, or making it. I love it.

I’m going to skip over the other happenings of the week. I think I covered the most important ones. Instead, I have a few things to share that I’ve noticed and jotted down here and there. One big thing I’ve noticed is the difference in the interactions between students and professors at the university. It is almost like being in high school again, but maybe worse. Often times the students call the professor “teacher” and I’ve heard a lot of students complain about homework and beg for less. It is so odd for me because I am used to using formal names with most of my professors and doing the work the professor assigns. A similarity I’ve noticed was when I went to get my ID card. Some of the students in line in front of me looked at their pictures and started giggling in embarrassment. It made me smile because I have had the same experience and I thought it was amusing to see it in another country. After thinking about it, I suppose it is probably a universal reaction, but in the moment it took me a little by surprise because I wasn’t expecting it.

And finally, an interesting piece of general cultural information that I learned this week. I asked a friend what parents’ expectations for their children are. He told me that the primary goal is to go to university. Side note – kids start university at 16 or 17 years old, I was astonished by that because I can’t imagine starting college at 16. Anyways, university is only an option for families who have money. Economic status greatly affects the type of life your family will have. If a family doesn’t have money their child doesn’t get to go to university and they must begin working immediately. The next step is marriage. It is very important to Peruvian parents that their children get married. However, waiting until after college is preferred here too. The children generally live with their parents until they get married, with the exception of their time away at university.

That’s all I have for you this week. I am leaving for a long weekend trip to the mountain tonight, so I will have plenty to write about next week.

Chao!
Abby

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Here is a picture of some of my music friends before our first performance.

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This is a picture of the main academic building on the newer of the two campuses.

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Here’s a bonus picture. This was taken in the southernmost district of Lima, called Chorillos on the top of one of Lima’s many dirt mountains.

Weeks 3 & 4: Abby Goes to Peru!

¡Buenos días familia y amigos!

Well, it has been interesting trying to survive without much internet connection the past week or so. Peru has terrible wifi, no matter where you go. The connection is never strong and there is certainly no reliability. To make it worse, there are thirteen other people living in my house to share the wifi with and thousands of other students at school to share the wifi with there. Then there’s the fact that a lot of students don’t have their own computers, so it is difficult finding an available desktop computer on campus. Anyways, I’m sorry that it has taken me so long to post again, now you know why.

Besides wifi issues and a few other minor things that I am struggling to adjust to, everything is going great! I am enjoying my classes and enjoying getting to know my housemates better, especially Liz, the girl from Brazil. I enjoy spending time with her because I like her personality but also because I HAVE TO speak Spanish with her. She doesn’t know much English and I know zero Portuguese, so Spanish is really the only way. This is helping me become more comfortable speaking the language.

The food is still very delicious. I prefer the days that our cook comes. She cooks for us most days and it is always delicious. I have been trying food in restaurants as well. I have long school days Tuesday and Thursday (11am-9pm) and it is not ideal to go home on my break, so I end up eating at school. There are a bunch of restaurants near campus. I am enjoying trying new places and dishes. Melissa and I have decided that from now on when we go to restaurants we’re going to start ordering dishes that we have no idea what they are. I don’t usually eat out often back home, maybe once a week, so I don’t really like eating out so much. There are healthy options at most restaurants, so it is mostly a money issue. However, I have to remind myself of the currency exchange. When I worry about spending nine soles on lunch I have to remember that I’m really only spending $2.75 and put that into perspective of how much I might spend on a meal in the states.

I am still really missing clean air. The entire trip to and from school is hardly bearable. I feel like I’m breathing in nothing but carbon emissions. I can feel the heaviness and thickness of the air with every breath. Even though it is cool out because it is winter, it doesn’t feel cool like it would back home. There isn’t that crispness. The air isn’t as bad away from the main roads, but I still feel like I haven’t smelled fresh air since I stepped into PDX almost a month ago. I went on a run at the park by my house yesterday and even just being amongst the trees and the grass it seemed fresher. Not fresh, but fresher.

This week we learned not to swallow ocean water. Melissa spent five days in the hospital this past week, likely from e. coli in the ocean. I can’t imagine how awful it must’ve been to be in a hospital bed for five days, not being allowed to eat and not being able to go to classes or go sightseeing. We went to visit her twice, which I think she enjoyed. She requested that I sing to her one of the days. I don’t usually sing on the spot, but when your friend is in a hospital bed you’ll do just about anything to help.

Speaking of singing, I auditioned for a music ensemble at school last week. And I got in!!! I am SO excited! It is a pop cover band, so we will be learning songs that are popular in the states. American music is VERY popular here. I was surprised to learn that. Anyways, this group will be performing around Lima in the evenings and finish up with a concert in December with lights and a stage and everything! I am also excited to be sharing music abroad again. My goal is to sing in every country I travel to. I have also enjoyed singing with one of the other students living with me who has a guitar (and is very talented at playing it). There is also a piano here, which I am very happy about. I played it yesterday for an hour or two and my host family requested that I play every night. It was a nice way to relax and enjoy the afternoon.

It is sunny today, for the third day in a row actually, which is very abnormal for a Lima winter. I am loving it though! Anyways, I’m going to sign out and go enjoy this sunshine while it lasts.

I hope everything is well back at home! Love and miss you all!

Ciao,

Abby

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This is the music room at school where I will be rehearsing with my band.

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This is the park next to my house.

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This is an upside down picture of me and Liz. (I can’t figure out how to rotate pictures, sorry!)

Week 1 & 2: Abby Goes to Peru!

Hello, hello, hello! Greetings from Peru!

My time here so far has been absolutely incredible! I have met so many wonderful from countless countries. I have explored some parts of Lima and taken a trip to a nearby city. I have tasted food that have opened my eyes to the wonders of Peruvian cuisine and have tasted things that haven’t been my favorite. I have been learning more Spanish, learning how to interpret English accents from all over the world, and have been teaching others English. I have had days where I never want to leave and I have had days where I miss a lot of things about home. I have made new friends and acquaintances and have also met people that I don’t particularly like. I have began to form a bond with my host family and the other students living here with me. This has all been so truly incredible for me to experience.

Throughout my time here I have been noting down thoughts that I have along the way, both about the things I miss and the things I am curious about. I have not made a list of things I have enjoyed because that list would probably be a novel. Here are some of the things I’ve jotted down so far:

I miss breathing clean air. I don’t think there are any environmental regulations here. I wonder how bad the toxins in the air are for our lungs and our skin. I wonder if Peruvians who live in cities have higher chances of lung disease.

Why do so many of the billboards, commercials, and other advertisements I see have white people in them? I was expecting to see people from here in advertisements here. I later found out that the most likely reason is that companies are targeting to the types of people who can afford their product. A majority of the white people here are more wealthy than the rest.

I miss the sun! Lima is covered in clouds most of the time during the winter season (the current season) and parts of the rest of the year as well. We took a two day trip to a city called Lunahuana and were able to soak up some sun in that time. Lunahuana is south and a bit more inland from the coast, so there were no clouds. Apparently there is sun there every day of the year! As we drove back under the blanket of clouds on our way home, we all felt a wave of depression hit us. We didn’t know when the next time we would see sun was. Besides our trip to Lunahuana we have seen 3 partial days of sun in the 16 days that we’ve been here. That’s a big change coming from Oregon’s unusually warm summer.

Also related to the weather, I miss being warm. Not only is it winter and almost always cloudy, Peruvian windows don’t have seals at all. That means we spend a lot of time bundled up in warm clothes and wishing for sun and warmth.

I’ll let you in one one other cultural difference. Peruvian social interactions are very different. I miss hugs. A lot. I come from a family and a friend group that hugs a lot, so coming to Peru where hugs aren’t very common was a bit saddening at times. Peruvians greet each other with a kiss on the cheek. For some reason that seems less affectionate than a hand shake or hug. Anyways, I am so glad to have become closer with those living with me, as some of us have started hugging each other. Thank goodness! Another interesting thing about social interactions is that when you walk around town you’re not really supposed to smile or say hi or make eye contact with others except for the group you are with. Especially the first two. This was also weird with coming from a friendly culture. It’s not that Peruvians are unfriendly, it’s just not necessarily the safest idea to be friendly with someone you don’t know. I have met so many friendly Peruvians so far and enjoy their company very much.

Anyways, that is all I will share for today. I’ll check bak in in a few days if I have time. My best to you all!

Ciao,

Abby

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A panorama view of the river and the beautiful blue skies at Lunahuana.

 

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The gray Lima skies on one of our beach days.

Arrival: Abby Goes to Peru!

¡Hola!

Sorry it has taken me so long to add another entry, we have had activities planned almost all day every day, and then the wifi went out! My site director has been taking us to all kinds of cool places since we arrived and has also been recommending yummy foods, but more about that later!

Upon arrival at the airport, I was way excited, but also very tired. I can’t really ever sleep much if I’m not laying down and since my flight was an overnighter I was running on just a couple hours of sleep by time I landed. Customs was a little scary and stressful. I had no idea where to go or what I needed to do. It worked out fine and I was able to get through with a visa for most of my time here. I have to go get an extension though, which is rather inconvenient. I was so glad to see my bag once I got through customs. It wouldn’t have been a big deal if it was delayed because I was a smart packer, but it was reassuring to have a familiar sight. I walked out to the pick-up area and what greeted by my site director, Patricia, and another student names Jessica. It was so reassuring to see Patricia and to know that I was in the right place.

We traveled to my residence first, and boy oh boy was it an interesting trip! First of all, in Peru seatbelts are not worn except in the front seats. Some cars don’t have them at all! I’ve also discovered that about 80-90% of the traffic laws in the US don’t exist in Peru. Either that, or they simply aren’t enforced, which is odd because I see more police on a daily basis than I would over a few days in the states. I thought other cars were going to collide with ours multiple times, but miraculously we made it without a scratch. I am still surprised that I have not seen a single traffic accident.

When we arrived at my homestay Patricia walked me to the door and introduced me to my host mom, Nancy. She hardly speaks any English at all, which made me feel a bit nervous because I am only at an intermediate level. So far it has been fine. I then met my host dad Tito, who speaks a decent amount of English, which made me feel a lot better. He prefers to speak Spanish with the students though so that we learn the language. He slows down a lot and enunciates well when he speaks to us, which is very helpful. I also met Nancy and Tito’s daughter named Melissa. I didn’t end up meeting their son Benjamin until the next day. Their other daughter lives in Dubai, so I didn’t get to meet her. They also have a yorkie named Ruby. I was so excited to see a dog! They are a very sweet family and seem to genuinely care about our wellbeing.

I was the second student to arrive at the Patiño’s house. I met Shannon shortly after arriving. I was so happy to hear English and to have a buddy to get me through my first day. The two of us spent almost three hours sitting at the kitchen table and getting to know each other. It was so fun to learn about her and to find things that we have in common. Oh, and here’s a fun coincidence: we have the exact same birthday, year and everything! The next student, Melissa, arrived the next day. She is a surfer and is from Connecticut. Shannon is from Maryland but goes to school in Boston. Jessica is from Portland, Maine. It has been so fun learning about the culture of the east coast while also learning about the culture of Peru.

I will post again in the next couple of days to catch you all up on my first week in Lima. It has been wonderful so far and I am loving every minute of it!

¡Ciao!

-Abby

 

Sorry my pictures are upside down and sideways, I’m working on fixing that!

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From left to right: Me, Shannon, Jessica, and Melissa

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The view of a street in my neighborhood.

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My bedroom.

 

 

 

Pre-Departure: Abby Goes to Peru!

Hi everyone!

It’s time! Here marks the beginning of my study abroad trip to Peru! I can’t believe it! I am sitting in the Dallas Fort Worth International airport right now awaiting my international flight to Lima and it still doesn’t seem real. As I told my grandma last night, I don’t think it will hit me until I get there.

I’m not entirely sure what to expect. Granted, I have researched for hours in preparation. But no amount of research is comparable to experiencing something in real life. I think that my host culture will be surprising. Peruvian culture is much different than American culture, so there will be a lot of adjusting to do. I am expecting culture shock and I have brought information about what to do when that sets in. I think that once I get past it, I will more easily dive in and try my best to live like a local.

 

I am both very excited and very nervous to spend four and a half months abroad. I have been planning this trip for months and months (six maybe?) and now it’s real life. Wow. I’m excited to learn the language, material from my classes, street smarts, how to live in a big city and how to do so independently, but I am most excited to learn about myself. For all of you who love psychology, you could say I’m still in Erik Erikson’s “identity vs. confusion” stage, which essentially means that I am still trying to answer the question, “who am I?” Hopefully this trip will continue to point me in the right direction. I am also looking forward to seeing many parts of the country and tasting all of their yummy cuisine.

As for the nerves, I’m past airport security, so those have definitely decreased. One of the things I have learned so far on this trip is that airport security makes me feel a little anxious. I also got a crash course on the best way to board an airplane, how to not hit people with my bags, and I learned that backing up to an open overhead bin once yours is full is next to impossible. As for the nerves pertaining to being in a new country, I have a lot of them. The first is homesickness. I’ve never been away from my family for more than five weeks, so four and a half months will be a challenge. I grew up in the country and have been on public transit less than five times in my life, so I am nervous about getting around a city as huge as Lima, which is home to about nine million people. Not being fluent in Spanish is another concern, as I have only taken through the 100-level sequence at WOU. However, I seem to acquire it naturally and retain it fairly well, so I’ve got that on my side. The last big thing that I am nervous about is breaking out of my bubble. I have a bit of anxiety when it comes to social situations, so this is hopefully going to be a time of growth for me. I have been mentally preparing for months to go completely alone to a country where I know nobody and only know a fraction of the language, so hopefully my personal pep-talks will get through to my stubborn self and I will make friends, talk to people often, learn lots of social skills (and Spanish), and it will all be fabulous.

I think that despite all of my worries, I will find that I am well prepared. I have done countless hours of research and have had plenty of time to prepare. I was raised to be smart, cautious, and independent. I am a natural problem solver and have learned how to be very resourceful. I have my faith, which helps me to be positive and see the bright side of all situations. I have God by my side every step of the way to guide and protect me. I am grateful for all of these things and because of them I am prepared.

Finally, I am so thankful to everyone who has helped make this trip possible: WOU staff, CISabroad staff, my CISabroad advisor Brian, who has put up with my multitude of questions, my family, and so many others who have been my emotional support, listened to me talk on and on about my trip, and given me advice and warm wishes. I am so blessed to have each and every one of you in my life.

Until next time,

Abby

 

Here are some photos to represent what I am expecting:

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Intro: Abby Goes to Peru!

Here's a a sideways photo of my face!

Here’s a a sideways photo of my face!

Hello all!

My name is Abby and I will be spending fall semester in Lima, Peru. For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to study abroad in Australia. I had dreams of seeing the Great Barrier Reef, seeing koalas and kangaroos, spending time on the beach, and swimming and scuba diving in the ocean. While I still wish to do these things some day, my more immediate plans changed when I transferred to WOU this past school year. I switched majors from pre-dental to education in the process of transferring, and somewhere along the way I rekindled my love for the Spanish language and decided to also pursue a Spanish Bilingual endorsement. I have always heard that immersion is the best way to learn a language, so I started looking at programs in countries whose main language is Spanish. I knew I wanted to travel for a full semester, so that narrowed my choices a little bit. I then started looking into the courses offered at the universities so that I could stay on track to graduate, and the best option for me turned out to be Peru. I’ve heard great things about the country and did quite a bit of research about it, and made my decision. By the beginning of April I had been accepted into my program, had created a Pinterest board with dozens of pins, and I was very dedicated to my Spanish courses. Here I am, almost four months later, about to finally embark on this big, crazy, exciting, once in a lifetime journey!

I have the highest hopes for all that I will learn and accomplish during my time abroad, and I can hardly wait for it all to begin.

-Abby