Accidentally missing my original flight, only 24 hours prior, did give me the opportunity to spend unexpected time with my friends Alberto and Emily, my two primary sources of Spanish practice over 2021-22 academic year. I look forward to showing off my improved language skills after they get back from their fall internship in Columbia.
As I sit here in the middle of the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, I cannot wait to board my upcoming flight to Lima, Peru. I am excited, though not necessarily prepared. The previous week of final exams, research papers and moving out of my apartment offered little opportunity to ready myself mentally for what I will be experiencing over the next 3 months. The good news is that I am used to “winging it” at this point of my academic and professional career.
While I have taken my fair share of formal Spanish classes, the bulk of my learning has come from studying in Spain and living 2 years in Ecuador. Still, I would consider myself very much in the middle of the learning process. I hope to feel comfortable navigating my way from Lima to Cusco, where I will be staying with a host family for the next month. I hope that when I leave, I will be more prepared for the field portion of the Global Partnership Experience that I will be spending in Lima.
It is that professional vocabulary that I wish to acquire over the next couple of weeks. Greater confidence and some new words regarding construction would be particularly helpful, as I will be working with Habitat for Humanity and researching low-income housing for the majority of the summer.
Six hours of classes each day sounds exhausting right now, but I know that I will become addicted once we get going. Latin American is fascinating to me, a part of the world that I would love to live and work in again. I do not understand much, but I am ready to for that to change. Listo.