Leave the Comfort to Know what it´s Worth
This is my first post from abroad, and I´m typing it in conditions very different than I ever could have imagined in a million years. Also, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Sam LaFell and I´m currently a Junior at NC State University in Raleigh, North Carolina. I am majoring in Public Relations, within the Communication department, as well as Spanish Language.
About 3 years ago I had this thought cross my mind that while I was in college, I wanted to have some sort of experience in another country. I didn´t know what that would entail completely, but I knew I had to do it. Once I began my freshman year of college about 2 years ago, I began looking for the perfect place and program for studying abroad. Long story short, I stumbled upon a school called Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Quito, Ecuador. I did some research and decided this was the school I would attend, all those 17 short months ago.
Since then, I´ve been preparing aimlessly for a semester abroad. How will I pay for such an endeavor? What will my family think? Will I have to handle a long-term relationship while I´m gone? What if I don´t like it 2 weeks in and want to go home? I was so scared, but I knew the only way to address this fear was to dive in head first and see what happened. Miracurously, and incredibly quick, those 17 months passed me by and it was August 2nd, 2016, and I´m about to board a plane for the first time and leave the country for almost 5 months.
Now this plane ride wasn´t going to be to Ecuador, no, instead it would be to Lima, Peru. The reason for this being I met someone named Taylor Hatfield in January 2016 who also happened to be going to USFQ as well. She mentioned something about leaving early to visit Peru, and I told her that sounded like an amazing idea! Of course, I decided to follow through with her stroke of genius, and then there I was beside her in a plane to Peru.
Now that wasn´t long ago at all. But it seems as if days in this new country are simultaneously 17 days and 17 minutes. So much is packed into these 24 hours that I could never imagine doing in one day, but it makes the time go by so much quicker.
The first two and a half days were spent in Lima, Peru which is the capital. As any other capital city may be, it was large and bustling and loud. A lot of fantastic people at the hostels, as well as two fantastic locals that took it upon themselves to give us the ultimate experience in their city. I remember this was a place that anyone could be overwhelmed in, but I was still on the adrenaline rush from the visit, I couldn´t help but love every terrifying second of it. New people, new places, new food, new currency, this is not something I have ever experienced before. It was a lot to take in, but absolutely worth every second.
There were a few times when I was at a loss for words. Trying to describe the landscape would be impossible and I just had to take it in. I will always remember the time I had in Lima even if it wasn´t my favorite city of all time!
The next stop was Huacachina, Ica, Peru. Huacachina is known as a desert oasis, which who wouldn´t want to go see that? This required a 6 hour bus ride from Lima, but nothing we couldn´t handle as travelers! We arrived in Huacachina after a taxi ride from the main city about 10 minutes away and we saw something we did not expect at all.
You may notice that huge sand dune in the background of the picture? That was just the beginning of a lot of pictures, of course. Neither Taylor nor I had seen that much sand in one place in our lives and it was completely unbelievable. It just seemed so surreal, and felt like possibly we were imaging the desert.
We also met up with a friend of ours named Eilidh, from Scotland. We had met Eilidh a few days earlier in Lima, and she had left Lima for Ica about 12 hours before we did. Eilidh was quite the specimen because she doesn´t speak any Spanish and is an 18 year-old traveling alone in Latin America, which threw Taylor and I off needless to say. Even with a decent hold on Spanish, Taylor and I have been thrown around a little bit!
Later that next day, the group of us decided to go to Ica to do some wine tasting, which was an incredible experience. We had a cab driver that sang to us and took us around the best places to drink the wine, and let me say, it was amazing! Peru has some incredibly interesting fermenting processes as well as drinks.
After the wine tasting came the most amazing part of the trip to that point, sandboarding in Huacachina. After returning from wine tasting, we hopped in a buggy and headed out into the desert. This was an incredible experience, except for maybe the 10 pounds of sand I ended up bringing to the hostel with me! We were able to slide down hills like we were snowboarding, but obviously without the snow.
I am beyond excited each day by what this country has to offer! This trip has presented its fair share of difficulties with sickness and fatigue, but ultimately Taylor and I have overcome. The food was an interesting transition, but we are growing more comfortable with it day-by-day. At this moment, I am sitting in an internet café typing this post which is a new experience as well for myself.
I thank everyone who has made this trip possible. If you contributed monetarily, or with words of encouragement, or prayers, I am forever in debt to you! This trip has involved difficulties, but we have overcome, and we have grown. I urge anyone looking to travel abroad to do it without hesitation. You are never so aware as to what you have once you leave it all behind and live out of your backpack for 2 weeks.
More posts to come… Sam
