When I was in middle school, I became very interested in the world outside of Small Town, U.S.A. I loved learning about different cultures, languages, and seeing pictures of different countries. I had heard stories of people studying abroad in college and immediately started dreaming of the day I would get to study abroad.
When I finally graduated high school, I went to Snow College and got involved with the international program there. I began teaching English as a second language and fell in love with the position. I remember one day I was sitting in my how to teach ESL class, when my professor found out I had never been outside of the United States. I began telling her all about my desire to travel and she said, “We’re going to get you out of this country.” That next January, I traveled to Chile with the TESL program and taught English for three weeks. By this point I had also began studying Spanish and became very interested in the culture. When I graduated Snow College, I knew my TESL certification was going to take me to some cool places.
I transferred to Southern Utah University the next Fall. I was accepted into the best (non-negotiable) organization on campus, International Student Ambassadors (ISA). I met some pretty cool people through this program that shared similar passions for traveling the globe. That following March, I went to Costa Rica with a group of friends I met through ISA and was able to check another country off my list. When we got back I started to do some research into the study abroad programs the Office of Learning Abroad offered and was shocked at the number of programs. I was even more surprised at how the programs were actually affordable. Usually the biggest turn off for students is the price. If you are reading this right now and are interested in studying abroad and currently go to SUU, GO TO THE STUDY ABROAD OFFICE.
I had decided to go to Spain and began planning it out, when my Spanish professor came up to me after class and told me about a program that she was trying to launch for the Spring in Peru. The program had my name written all over it. Flash forward 3 months later, I was packing my bags to leave my family, friends, job, and university to actually live out a dream I had been dreaming about forever.
As my parents dropped me off at the airport at 5 AM, I had so many emotions running through my head. I was so excited, nervous, and a little scared. I boarded my first flight and was able to upgrade my seat to first class for $30 dollars. Couldn’t pass up that sort of luxury. ;) Once I landed in L.A. I had about a 3-hour layover. As we took off from L.A. I looked out the window and wished home a good 4 months. I landed in Lima at midnight and wasn’t able to pass through security until 2 AM. Therefore, I had roam around the airport for about 2 hours in the middle of the night. Once I finally got through I had to wait till 4 AM before boarding. I bought some snacks at a little tienda at the gate (this comes up later) and waited.
I finally landed in Cusco at 6 AM where I was greeted by my host dad. I was so relieved to have finally arrived after a grueling 21 hours. The taxi dropped us off at a gas station and we walked up the street a little where I was met with a staircase that looked as if it never ended. Thankfully I live in the first door on the massive staircase and my host family lives one door up. I was so happy to find out that I have my own apartment and not have to feel like I was ever intruding or bothering their family. Right now I have the whole space to myself, but there are 3 empty beds which are going to be filled by three girls in February.
That first day all I wanted to do was sleep but I knew that if I did I probably wouldn’t wake up. I met the whole family shortly after at breakfast and then we went and walked around Cusco for a few hours. My family is really into this massive market that is held every Saturday that sells second hand EVERYTHING! You name it, this market has it. Many of the things are from the U.S.. After lunch I was finally able to sleep for a couple hours and then take a shower. I quickly learned that in the afternoon the chances of you getting hot water is very slim. Also, due to there not being any centralized heating in Cusco, my room is pretty cold. (To give you a little perspective, I usually sleep in sweats and hoodie under 4 blankets.) Therefore, getting out of the shower is like stepping into an icebox. After going through my first phase of culture shock, I have now come up with my own solution:
1. Shower in the morning.
2. Stack your clothes in the bathroom with upper body clothing on top and lower on bottom.
3. Turn the shower on at least 5 minutes before and close the bathroom door.
4. Once the bathroom is steamy it is okay to enter.
5. Quickly jump under the stream of water. (DON’T STEP OUT OF THE STREAM UNTIL YOU’RE READY TO GET OUT!)
6. Once you are satisfied with your shower, shake out your hair (similar to a dog). You don’t want any water dripping down you after the water is off.
7. Grab your towel and hold it outside the stream of water.
8. Turn off the water and immediately begin rapidly drying your upper half and then wrap the towel around yourself.
9. Quickly jump out of the shower and frantically put on your upper body clothing (hopefully you followed step 2).
10. At this point dry your lower half and then put your lower body clothing on.
11. Once you are fully dressed you can open up the door.
Monday was my first day of class and the start of my internship at Proyecto Peru! Every day I have Spanish class for 2 hours with one other student and a teacher. It’s very personal and almost like a private tutor. Most of the time we just sit and chat about various things. Immediately after my class, I go to my internship.
Proyecto Peru is a school in Cusco that offers Spanish classes (this is where I’m also taking my classes), Quechua (Andean language), volunteer programs, and English classes. I’m currently working with the English director with the ESL program at the school. So far it has been great! I love the staff I get to work with. Majority of them are in their 20s and seem like super chill people to hang out with. (Thank god, because I don’t know how I would have made friends otherwise).
This past week I was checking my bank account when I noticed a weird charge on my account for $13 at some weird store in New York. Last I checked I was in Peru not in New York. (Remember that little store I bought some snacks from in the Lima airport?). In the 7 years I have had my credit card, my credit card information was stolen for the first time. Conveniently while I was in a foreign country. That’s been a process to deal with. I had to pull a bunch of money out of the ATM in order to last about a month without my card. This was pretty hard to judge meaning I had only been in the country for less than 4 days and wasn’t even sure how much a bottle of water cost. High hopes the new card gets to me fast!
This past weekend we went on a staff retreat to Huryo which is 5 hours from Cusco located in the jungle. We all piled into a 15-passenger van and began our journey. The road was super windy and at one point we were stopped in traffic for about 20 minutes because a truck carrying fruit had went around a curve too fast and had flipped over on its side.
Throughout the journey the views were amazing! At the highest point we reached 13,000 feet before descending back down. When we got close, we had to ask a local for directions because we couldn’t find it and it was super dark. We had to go down this tiny dirt road with trees and bushes overgrown on both sides. We finally reached our place at the end of the road. It was super nice! It was an open lodge. (meaning it wasn’t fully enclosed, there wasn’t an exterior wall in the main area of the place). The first night we played cards, talked about goals for the new year, and listened to people play the guitar around a campfire. That night we had to sleep under mosquito nets which was definitely a first for me.
The next day we got up for breakfast and then piled into the back of a very old bus and drove up to the top of a mountain. When we got to the top there were people who had been harvesting pineapples and so there was a giant pile of pineapples in the path. We walked out to a view of the area and took a group photo. Then we all decided we would walk down instead of riding the bus. I think most of us were under the impression that the bus would be waiting for us once we got to town, but it was not. We had all split up into different groups and none of us really knew how to get back to where we were staying. We ended up going down a dirt road for a while before we realized we had gone the wrong direction. When we finally got back we were all exhausted. The rest of the day was pretty relaxed. We all played volleyball and cards later that night.
The next morning, the owner showed us how they make coffee in the area from the very beginning to the package it’s sold in. It was super cool! After we went for a swim in the natural pool at the lodge, where I was stung by a bee for the first time in my life (When in the Jungle!). After lunch we packed up our things and headed back to Cusco. I was so happy this staff retreat was planned when it was. I had only worked with the staff for one week, so I barely knew them. It was a perfect way to bond with them and begin to feel a part of the team.
Overall, my impression of Cusco has been great! The local people are very nice and are used to many tourists visiting the area. Thankfully because of the amount of tourism, I’m not noticed as much. I definitely stick out as the Gringo walking around town, but thankfully I’m not the only Gringo walking around.
If you read all the way till the end of this, you’re a true homie. I had a lot more to say but I think we’ll save it for another post!
Tengas un buen dia!
Alex
Me too!
I’m a true Homie!