Archive for the ‘Peru’ Category

August 30th, 2010 - 8:11 am § in Around Town, Culture, Peru, Tips & Resources, Volunteer

Signing Off: Reverse Culture Shock and Lessons Learned from a Year Abroad

Last week I stepped onto U.S. soil for the first time in a year, and I admit that I’m experiencing a classic case of reverse culture shock. For the first few days I felt a pang of worry before drinking tap water, and was reluctant to throw toilet paper into the bowl. I wondered at [...][...]

August 20th, 2010 - 11:24 am § in Culture, Day in the Life, Peru, Volunteer

Hasta Luego

I’m a firm believer that tomorrow will always be the best day of my life. And considering that I am leaving Peru in two days, I have been preparing myself by making sure to look forward to the things at home. I will see some of my closest friends in the world, I will be able [...][...]

August 13th, 2010 - 5:00 pm § in Country, Culture, Day in the Life, Peru, Tips & Resources, Volunteer

The Things I Have Learned

Although it’s tough to determine just how much I have learned during my three months in Peru, there are certain aspects of life that are a little more clear to me. Without further delay, I will impart some of the knowledge that I have gleaned from my experience. Yuppie travel gear. Nearly every mi[...]

August 9th, 2010 - 7:57 am § in Around Town, Op Ed, Peru, Volunteer

The Well-Planned Life or The Summoned Self?

I recently read in the New York Times an article that helped articulate the confusion I’ve been feeling lately regarding “the next step” once my job in Peru is over. The op-ed piece by David Brooks is entitled The Summoned Self, and outlines two ways of thinking about life. The first is the We[...]

August 6th, 2010 - 8:00 pm § in Around Town, Culture, Day in the Life, Good Ideas, Peru, Tips & Resources, Volunteer

Day in the Life: Hiking The Colca Canyon

Last week, a couple of us headed down to Arequipa to hike the Colca Canyon. After riding in a bus for nine hours with a broken bathroom and a broken window, we arrived at 7:00 in the morning absolutely frozen. Our luck continued when we found out that there were no buses back to Cusco. Figuring [...[...]

August 3rd, 2010 - 4:00 pm § in Bolivia, Chile, Peru, Tips & Resources

Part I: Traveling Peru, Lonely Planet Style

Traveling South America can be overwhelming because you have to be ready for anything. Flexibility is key. Prepare yourself for broken down buses with no heat, no means of communication, shady bargain prices, and cross your fingers for relatively smooth, low hassle travel. I flew one-way from Santia[...]

August 2nd, 2010 - 11:02 am § in Around Town, Culture, Day in the Life, Peru, Volunteer

Conversations with Cab Drivers

During evening rush hour, the experience of traffic in Cusco harkens back to my days of commutes in Los Angeles: tempers flare, the cacophony of ear-piercing car horns pollutes everyone’s sanity, and drivers use dubious maneuvers to inch their ways forward or around the gridlock. As distraction fr[...]

July 31st, 2010 - 9:00 am § in Bolivia, Chile, Peru

“The More You Know the Less You Understand”

The Chinese philosopher Lao Tse once said,  “The more you know the less you understand.” It’s sort of a beautiful yet annoying paradigm. This philosophy has never rung more true in my life than over the last week. I am on vacation from volunteering in Santiago right now, traveling[...]

July 30th, 2010 - 6:00 pm § in Around Town, Country, Culture, Day in the Life, Peru, Volunteer

Day in the Life: Fuegos Artificiales

Most people enjoy fireworks. Not only are they a great example of light traveling faster than sound but they also symbolize fiestas. However, the fuegos artificiales in Cusco are a little different. Rather than being used to signify the beginning of a party, they are instead used to disrupt sleeping[...]

July 26th, 2010 - 10:15 am § in In the Field, Peru, Tips & Resources

Transferring Your Organization to New Hands

The two new Program Managers (PMs) of GirlSportWorks arrive in just a handful of days, and we will have two weeks of orientation before we pass on the program from our management to theirs. Preparation for their arrival, however, has already been in progress for a number of weeks. Below are a few ti[...]





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