Three months alone in a foreign country is a long time. It can be intimidating and overwhelming, especially when you go into it alone. When I first got to my placement in Cusco, Peru, I didn’t know what to do with myself. I was incredibly lost, and lonely. For the first two weeks I wondered if I had made the right choice by coming here.
At the beginning of my time here, I was living with a Peruvian family. They were incredibly welcoming, and tolerant of my lack of Spanish, but the language barrier was still difficult to overcome. There were some other students living there, which meant I wasn’t alone, but when they left, the house started to feel incredibly empty and lonely. As helpful as the family and other students were when it came to helping me get acclimated to the city, it was still a big adjustment to have to make. I didn’t know what to do with myself most of the time and I kept finding myself wondering if it would get better, or if I should just give up and go home.
After two weeks, I moved into an apartment with two German girls I had met briefly at school. Moving to the apartment was another difficult adjustment, but it was a lot easier than getting adjusted to a new city. The girls I live with were incredibly friendly and welcoming and being around them has made me feel a lot less alone here. It’s still hard not to have my friends from home here with me, but with the new friends I’ve made here, it has become a lot easier.
After giving myself some time to adjust to the city, and making some new friends I finally realized how lucky I am to be here. My improved Spanish has made talking to locals seem a lot less intimidating, and the knowing more about the city has made me a lot more comfortable getting around. Cusco is a really amazing city with a lot to offer, from delicious food, to beautiful views at every turn. There is a really incredible culture here, that the plethora of tourists seem to enhance instead of diminish. Everyday I get to wake up in this incredible city and go to work with some of the most amazing kids. Afterwards I get to spend time hanging out with all the incredible new friends I have made here. I know that the rest of my time here won’t be without problems, but I also know that I will be able to get through all of them. Despite a rocky beginning, I am incredibly excited to be able to spend the next two months in this amazing place, and leaving it is going to be incredibly difficult. I know, without a doubt, that I mad the right choice by coming here to Cusco. It is an experience I will remember for the rest of my life.
-Liv