Customized study abroad experience in Lima, Peru!

EdOdyssey's approach to the "study abroad" experience is unique, as it strived to immerse us in Peruvian culture, traditions, and language, rather than dumping students into apartment buildings with a brief orientation session. We were placed with host families throughout Lima. My host family helped me to do simple things like: navigate the city, learn how to take the bus, etc. They also taught me about Peruvian customs, traditions, jokes, etc. EdOdyssey did a great job with host family selection!

EdOdyssey also worked to make sure that we we became familiar with various parts of Peruvian history and geography by taking us on trips/excursions to different parts of the country (a 4/5 day trip to Iquitos, 3-4 day trip to Ica, etc.).

Their orientation for us was simple, hands off, but valuable. They taught us about the main districts of Lima, safety, language, transportation. They also brought us to museums and archeological sites. These were important to learn about Lima as a visitor (ie- how to safely travel, etc.), but also as a citizen of the world (what happened during the 80s/90s? Who were Sendero Luminoso? What happened under Fujimori? etc.). While there were a variety of different tours, they were not overwhelming. We still had plenty of time to go out and discover the city on our own terms.

**One quick note: I went to Lima January 2017-August 2017. While there has been some changes since to EdOdyssey's staff, there is one thing that I want to warn about: our site leader was a bit unorganized. She was almost always 1-1.5 hours late, and often times had not fully prepared us/herself for the trip (not sending a reminder about what types of things to pack, not knowing that the restaurant that she had planned to bring us to would be closed at that time of the day, etc.). I have been in touch since with their directors and understand that there have been some staff changes, so this may no longer be a problem.

Overall: this is a great program. The above complaint aside, staff members are very kind, and really do want to help you learn about what it means to be a Peruvian. They aim to give a snapshot into daily life, culture, and customs. If you're interested in getting a genuine culture immersion, go with EdOdyssey!!

I could not have had a more amazing experience in Peru through EdOdyssey! My name is Jake Leary, and before starting Harvard this fall, I took a gap year. One of my goals for this year was to go outside of my comfort zone and travel internationally for the first time. EdOdyssey was the perfect group for my gap year. They were helpful with every step of planning my trip (about a half semester) and assisting with all of my activities, homestay family, volunteer opportunities, and acclimating to Lima during my time in Peru. Trekking through the Amazon rainforest with Patty was one of my favorite experiences of my trip, along with the amazing pics of the all the wildlife! I loved waking up every morning and talking with my host family over breakfast all in Spanish- it was the perfect daily practice that I needed to improve my Spanish! Whenever I had any questions or problems, Luciana, Patty, and Rey were always there to help me. One experience that had a strong impact on me was participating in volunteer work in Pamplona, an undeveloped community where I was able to help build stairs out of concrete. Seeing the difference in the community in real time was incredible. During my excursion to Peru, I was able to witness and learn about different cultural aspects of Peru, and my favorite was probably the food! For my trip, I was able to combine taking Spanish classes, participating in activities, volunteer work, and traveling within Peru. If you are thinking about taking a gap year, do it and travel the world if you can, especially Lima!

I am so glad that I decided of all the places in the world to study in Lima, Perú. The trips were amazing and eye-opening, always finding the niches in every place that weren't so discovered by travelers and foreigners, all thanks to the staff at EdOdyssey, who have lived there their whole lives. For example, in El Carmen, Chincha, we went to the house of the famed Ballumbrosio family to learn about Afro-Peruvian music and dancing, a mix between the West African culture that came to Peru during the period of slavery and the criollo music in Latin America. It was such a warming and genuine experience, learning how to dance and listen and watch them play the cajón and all the other instruments passed down through the generations. I loved it when we were on a trip, seeing all the sights and going where one "must" go as a tourist, but also would make stops like these to just -be- in a certain community for a few hours and spend time with the people there. I can't imagine that would have been possible without EdOdyssey. Aside from incredible traveling experience, I always felt the the team at EdOdyssey was ready to help me if I ever needed anything, big or small. I think it was great to feel like you were part of a little community of students studying abroad and the staff there, while you're trying to find your place in a culture that is not at all your own. There were many challenges dispersed along the way, but it was all worth it because I know that I have grown up a lot since I first got there in July. Now I am studying abroad somewhere else, and I have this set of tools I picked up in Peru to deal with whatever life throws at me, and more importantly, I feel more ready than ever to conquer whatever challenge, and explore whatever place. Thank you EdOdyssey for giving me essential tips about how to live in Lima, constant support, and for showing me around such an inspiring country! I'll never forget it.

Completing a study abroad program in Peru has been one of the most transformative and meaningful experiences of my life. Having a program like EdOdyssey to provide orientation to the region, Spanish language classes, homestay families, excursions around Peru and supportive staff to guide us along our journeys and experiences in Peru made a huge difference and allowed us to understand Peru in a significant way and get to know many people who are local to Lima and other places in Peru. All of the staff know the country very well and are great to work with and have as leaders. They helped us pick classes at the university and helped us to create our personal projects to better immerse us in Lima and focus on a topic of interest for us to further investigate. I have so many positive memories of Peru and I feel as though EdOdyssey helped me to take full advantage of the opportunities I had while living in Lima.