Travel Writing in Peru: Archives

SARA ROSENBLUM writes: About two months ago I was walking through the halls of my school in Chicago and noticed a small flier on the wall. It was for a study abroad program in Peru. Today I am sitting at the airport in Houston waiting to get the on plane to Lima, Peru. I am so excited to get there and experience a new culture.

SARA ROSENBLUM writes: I woke up to the roaring voice of a possibly intoxicated Aussie yelling through the hallways of the hotel. While this did aggravate me the smell of the salty, humid ocean air always puts me in a good mood. Even through the walls of my small Peruvian hotel room the humidity seeps through and poofs my hair.

After class Elio, one of my teachers, took our class on a tour around the area in which we are staying. The closer and closer we got to the ocean the more and more excited I got. The view of the ocean and the mountains in the ocean were stunning. I was constantly stopping to take deep, exhilarating breaths of fresh ocean air, thanking heaven I was out of the -5 degree weather in Chicago. Gazing through the viewfinder of my camera onto the meeting of the coastline and ocean was the perfect way to end the afternoon.

SARA ROSENBLUM writes: As I walked through the market, I noticed large piles of goods. There were numerous tall stacks of alpaca hats, thousands of alpaca sweaters in millions of different styles, endless piles of silver and wooden rings and countless t-shirts reading PERU across them.

In the United States, we over-indulge in everything. It shows in our closets, pockets, and bodies. At the Indian market there is a large quantity of items, however there is not a feeling of need for possessions. In fact, it seems as though the Peruvians make more of an effort to sell goods to us for a smaller profit, while in the United States, people try less to sell more expensive products for a larger profit. In the United States, people are constantly at the mall and in stores but never making purchases. At the Indian market, there was not a massive amount of people there. However, all of the people there were buying numerous things. There are so many differences between the shopping areas in the US and at the Indian market in Lima, but the one question everyone is wondering is "Where's my money..."

SARA ROSENBLUM writes: I am standing overlooking the coast. There is a tall pine looking tree in my line of sight. I focus on it and watch it sway slowly from side to side and around and around. I feel the wind tossing my hair in the same way. I close my eyes and breath in deeply. I can still see the tree through my eyes, I feel it swaying, I feel myself swaying. I breath in deeply again and taste the ocean air. The combination of the salty and humid atmosphere warms my throat, lungs, and soul. I open my eyes and once again see the tree. I continue to sway and breath the warm air. I feel the wind along my bare arms as it whistles past my ears. I am lost in the tree and watching it dance with the wind as my hair follows the beat. I close my eyes again and feel the wind on my face. I feel the tree playing with the wind and I play along. I toss my head back and let the wind flow through my hair once again. As the wind flows through the branches it flows through me.

SARA ROSENBLUM writes: As I sit with three friends to my left and one to my right, I truly realize how beautiful our planet is. I find myself constantly getting lost in the waves. The sound the waves make while crashing against the millions of rocks that create the sore line is like a sweet lullaby being whispered into my ears. I watch a stork sore just slightly above the water. It dives into the ocean and reappears with a fish, lunch. This makes me think about the circle of life.

So often we make decisions and feel we must stick to our original plans. Like the fish that so quickly became the stork’s meal, life is short. Unexpected things happen all the time with no notice and forewarning. For this reason I have completely come to the understanding and conclusion that we do not always have to stick to our original plan. Sometimes it is scary to close a door on something we have committed so much time to and even scarier to contemplate opening a new door and starting something new. However, there are so many things in this world to see and do it is not fare to not explore all opportunities. Take advantage of this day because you never know when you are going to become that fish: lunch.