10 countries
a handful of boat rides
and 53 flights later
my year abroad is over.
Here's where I went in the last leg of travelling.
Lima
Buenos Aires
Montevideo
Rio de Janeiro
Salamanca
Paris
Some things from being back home:
1. Toilet paper can now go in the toilet.
2. At a breakfast buffet filled with appetizing pastries, I chose the plain bagel.
3. Why are people wearing shorts?
4. People are speaking English, enough said.
5. I'm going to have to get used to the weird stares again from saying "hello" to a stranger.
6. The advertisements on TV are so hard to follow, it's exhausting.
7. I have to drive to get places.
Things you have to remember if you want to survive being abroad in Latin America:
1. There's no Pandora radio or Hulu.
2. For whatever reason many youtube videos aren't allowed in the country you're in.
3. You have to hoard toilet paper from the rare restrooms that have it so it can last you until the next time you're that lucky.
4. Hot water's a luxury
so is a dryer, a dishwasher machine, Target, peanut butter, and sour cream
5. Watching movies--since they're cheap on the streets and easy to find online in Spanish
6. Late lunches are common, and in my Peruvian home, it was often at 3:30pm
7. If you're invited to "drink tea of coffee", it never means JUST to "drink tea or coffee" but rather accompanied by lunch leftovers, dessert, breads, or bakery food.
8. "Un ratito" which is the diminutive of "un rato", meaning a bit (referring to time)... but surprisingly, the diminutive usually means you'll be waiting A LOT longer than the normal "rato"
9. You're not a local, so stop trying to eat the street food and drink the tap water
That's all I can think of for now... and well, I believe this is my last post.
Take care and thanks for reading, I really appreciate it, because describing my time abroad when someone asks "how was your year abroad?" is impossible... so if you ask and I say "it was fine, thank you very much for asking" I'm probably being sarcastic and wondering how you could really even get a glimpse of what this year has been for me in just a simple answer.
I just woke up from 12hrs of jet-lag recuperation sleep, excuse my rude-ness :P
Ivana
