Story Location: Peru
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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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Mañanas Con Gumer
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Living in Lima, Peru for the fall of 2019, I stayed with a host family – la familia Saco-Vertiz – in the district of Miraflores. Living in the apartment were Maritza (my madre anfitriona), her brother Miguel, her adult son Alejandro, and Gumer, their cocinera, who felt much more like another member of the family. Huevos Revueltos In the…
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Hombres Outnumbered: Men Studying Abroad with IFSA
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It’s a common and generally true perception: more women than men study abroad. Based on available statistics using legal sex data, IFSA’s enrollment for the Fall and Academic Year 2019 programs included twice as many female students as male. Current Spring 2020 enrollment currently sits even more unbalanced. On the Fall 2019 IFSA Peru program, there are…
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Living Gluten Free in Peru
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For the past couple of months, Sophie has been adapting her gluten- and dairy- free lifestyle to Peru; one of the most food-focused countries in the world. Sophie has celiac disease and is lactose intolerance. In Lima there is increasing awareness of dietary restrictions and a growing market for gluten- and dairy-free products. However, it still hasn’t reached the…
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How and Why to Laugh and Embarrass Yourself Abroad
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“Será que puedo botar más comida…” “Como, Chris??” my friend exclaimed with her voice climbing octaves in disbelief, cutting me off as I tried to ask for seconds of the food she and her family had cooked up with much love and craft for me to try. I had succeeded not in asking for more food…
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Self Discovery Through an Autoimmune Disease Abroad
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It started the day before Christmas Eve, while still at home: a strange pain in my arm and hand that I’d never experienced before. From the tip of my right pinky finger, down the side of my hand into my wrist and elbow, I felt these uncomfortable sensations best described as electrical shocks combined with…
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Best Affordable Weekend Trips from Lima
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Although staying in Lima, going to classes, getting to know the city, and spending time with your friends who live here can be super fun and important, you’ll probably also want to use your time here to explore other parts of Peru. Unfortunately, trips outside of Lima can often be expensive, time consuming, or logistically…
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Studying Abroad with my Family Abroad
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Experiences Living with my Japanese Peruvian Family in Lima For a long time, Peru was somewhere I was curious about. I’d heard mentions of it from my dad, though he didn’t like to talk much about his years living there before moving to the US.I’m half Japanese Peruvian. My dad was born in Lima, Peru;…
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Pyramids, Plazas, and Plant Materials: Experiences Volunteering at the Huaca Pucllana
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This semester, I decided to volunteer at the Huaca Pucllana, a pre-Inca archaeological site in Miraflores. The word “huaca” is a Quechua word meaning “sacred.” While working at the huaca, I’ve spent time with graduate students from other universities in Lima, in large part the University of San Marcos (the most prestigious public university in…
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