August 17th, 2009 by Rachel | Country: Peru | 1 Comment »
Waking up every morning to bright sunshine, strolling on the decaying sidewalk in hot turquoise boots, learning how to say “how are you” in Spanish, living through the hell of strikes, and admiring the scintillating landscapes of Peru are the reminiscences of my time of my life, which occurred only a few weeks ago on my first trip to South America. I can never close my journal without writing a conclusion of my trip. I just needed some time to digest my thoughts.
When I first came home and stepped into the shower, I was overwhelmed by the amount of water gushing on my back. I was so used to the feeling of little water pouring on my body because, in order to have hot water in Peru, I had to turn on very little water. When I crashed into bed, I felt as if I was sleeping on a giant fluffy pillow. I never realized how soft my bed was because I slept on a harder mattress in Peru. I’ve been getting compliments from so many people about how much weight I have lost thanks to Peruvian’s eating style. So far, I am managing to stick with Peruvian’s style of eating, which is not eating a five-course meal twice a day like the French. As always, every time I come home from an overseas trip, I always live through a reverse culture shock.
The advantage of the reverse culture shock is that some of the changes of the lifestyle from foreign countries that I have brought with me to the States stay with me forever because they improve the quality of my life. For instance, in France, people rewear their clothes until they smell unlike the Americans who wear their clothes once before putting them in the washer. My mother always tease me about why I have so little laundry! Why do I need to put my clothes in the laundry if they’re not smelly? It’s a great way to conserve water and of course to save money on water bills! Therefore, in Peru, I’ve learned the best style of eating daily, and because it has created such a positive outcome, I plan to keep it up 
.
As for my experience with Spanish, I was truly amazed by how fast I could learn a new language by simply living in the country where its language is spoken. As of now, I can have basic conversation in the future, present, and past tenses. I personally feel that there are many other forms of grammar that I need to learn, such as conditional and subjunctive. However, I will get there at some point in my life as I would very much like to plan a trip to Argentina with Greenheart Travel and attend a language school there too!
Before I close up my journal of my trip to Peru, I would like to post a never-seen-before photo that everyone should see. The woman in the middle is my darling host mother and the girl on the right side is Jana, a student from Slovakia.
In four days, I will be heading off for another adventure – A three-and-a-half month trip to Europe! I will be heading to Israel first, then to Greece, and then to France, and at last, Germany! I will certainly be keeping you all updated!
1 Comment
Jill Robinson
August 18, 2009 at 12:50 pm
You make some great points about embracing the cultural differences and taking advantage of your experiences abroad once you return home. I’m sure the full-pressured shower water was a nice luxury to come back to though.
Best wishes on your future travels!