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Navigating Public Transportation in Peru
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With extreme informality, crowds, and countless unwritten rules, Lima’s public transportation system can be overwhelming for newcomers—and even for Limeños. Here’s what I’ve learned over the semester. Why the chaos? The majority of public transport vehicles in Lima operate informally despite sporting the patterned paint of one parent company. Because the law for vehicle standards…
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Studying in Lima as a Peruvian-American
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Alex, a fellow IFSA Peru participant, is the daughter of Peruvian immigrants to the United States who spent several years in Lima as a young child. She chose study in Peru to fully assume her Peruvian identity and get to know her family’s origins. Two months in, she shared her reflections. Growing up Peruvian in…
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A STEM Student Finds Perspective and Support in New Zealand
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Studying in New Zealand at University of Otago has helped me focus on my major—exercise sports science—and realize my studies are part of the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) umbrella. Since I have been here, I have had time to focus on the science portion of my degree and discover all the amazing support…
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Abroad in New Zealand as a Gay Student
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When I left the United States to study abroad in New Zealand, many questions ran through my head: Will I make friends? Will I get along with my flatmates? Will the courses be difficult? But I was most anxious about my sexuality. Will I be able to express myself freely? Will I feel safe walking alone?…
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How To Find a British Boyfriend
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First a disclaimer: This is my own experience of dating and falling in love in London, as a straight, white, monogamous, cis gender gal from America. I cannot speak for other identities, nor do I pretend to have a comprehensive grasp of the scene. I can say London is a hugely diverse city, bursting with…
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How to Pack for Summer Study Abroad in London
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Ever since I started college, I’ve dreamed of studying abroad. With just a couple of semesters left, it was now or never. When I applied and got accepted into the London School of Economics for a summer program, I was overwhelmed with excitement. I had four months to prepare for an experience I would forever…
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An Outsider’s Inside View of History in Scotland
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When I arrived in Scotland, I saw blue and white (the colors of Scotland) stickers reading “Yes” everywhere—on cars, street signs, windows, even my neighbor’s toaster. Windows were hung with “Yes” flags, which also littered a street I walked by to get to class each morning. I had never seen a single word carry so…
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The Highs and Lows of Oxford University’s Tutorial System
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Let’s start with some background information about the Oxford academic system, which follows a trimester calendar with eight-week terms. Students attend tutorials, not classes. Instead of fixed syllabi and a professor and classmates for each class, Oxford students have weekly and biweekly individual sessions with one tutor. Tutors can hold tutorials with two or three…
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Exploring My Mexican Identity in Mexico
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I am the child of immigrants and a first-generation student. My parents moved to the United States from México before I was born. They wanted me to live where I would have opportunities they didn’t have growing up, to get a better education and live a better life. My mother believed in my future, so she…
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Exploring African-American Identity in London
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During spring semester of my junior year, I travelled beyond American borders for the first time in my life, to London. Living in London both challenged and deepened my understanding of my identity as a black American. In the classroom, black students were still very underrepresented at King’s College, but London itself is one of…