Highlights: Choosing a highlight is very difficult because everything contributed to the overall amazing experience. The highlight for studying abroad would be how much my spanish improved. I chose this program to be around Spanish as much as possible, and though it was a little intimidating at first I know it helped me learn Spanish so much faster and really helped me to gain confidence and independence. All of my classes were in Spanish and the campus was beautiful; I feel proud to have studied at La Catolica.
A highlight of the overall experience would be the ISA excursions to so many incredible places throughout the country. From the Amazon jungle to Machu Picchu to sandboarding on huge sand dunes, there is no shortage of priceless moments. And, of course, I couldn't have wished for a better group of people to experience it all with!
Morning: Normally I would wake up around 8am and begin class around 9am. Classes in Lima were less frequent but longer in duration. I had class Monday through Thursday and each was 2-3 hours long. For breakfast I ate fresh bread rolls with jelly or ham and cream cheese. Avocado, fresh fruit and tea were also common breakfast foods. The bus stop was about 2 blocks from my house and serviced many buses going to many different places.
What I rode to school is called a combi, which is actually a 12 passenger van modified with school-bus seats inside. They are painted with a route number and street names to indicate their route as well as a "cobrador" who is in charge of the van door and collecting passenger fare. After about a 15minute ride I would yell “Catolica baja!” to the cobrador letting them know to stop and let me off at my university - Pontifica Universidad Catolica del Peru - because there are no automatic stops. I would then show my student ID to the guards at one of the two gates to enter campus.
Afternoon: All my classes were in the mornings so I had afternoons open. After class I would visit the ISA office right on campus to see if any other ISA students or Peruvian friends that attended La Catolica (nickname for our university) were there. We would go to lunch together at one of the cafeterias on campus where there was always a variety of plates to choose from, and it always seemed to be a large portion of food for a very cheap price.
There was also a shopping center a few blocks from campus that we would walk to for fun or pick up items we needed. ISA was very good about informing us of cultural events or activities going on around Lima as well as how to get there. If my friends were busy or I wanted a more calm afternoon I would take the combi back home and eat a lunch prepared by my host-grandma who cooked our meals. We would chat and watch TV - and home-made meals are definitely the best!
Evening: Most evenings I would eat with my host family around 8 or 9pm. We would talk a lot which really helped improve my spanish. Then, if I didn't have an ISA planned event such as salsa lessons or visiting a historical landmark, we would often organize activities as a group to explore a new area of Lima.
Also, very popular on Thursday-Saturday nights was going out to discotecas and dancing the night away until the early hours of the morning. Sometimes we would even go out for breakfast before going home. To get around we would usually meet at a location central to our houses then take taxis together. At the beginning of my trip there we had a lot more group activities planned by ISA, but as time passed and we made friends with Peruvians there were less ISA activities and we were going out with friends just as we would at home.