We didn’t just visit the center today but did tai chi. Which I can honestly say I am really bad at. It requires a lot of coordination. But even though I didn’t do everything the instructor did I still felt like I had done a real work out afterwards. In fact most times I have to sit down early because I get too tired. Whenever I do a lot of movement with my knees they tend to hurt a lot, but I think because of the less strenuous exercise my knees didn’t hurt. I loved this because it made me feel like I could really work out. Most exercise I hear about is about pushing yourself until you can’t do more, but with tai chi you don’t need to do that. The workout is still fulfilling even if you aren’t hurting yourself.

We had another acupuncture lesson. During today’s lesson Dr. Flatt’s knee was popped back into place. This was done by Dr. Li during the lesson. When she had gone to the doctors in the U.S. To try and fix her knee, none of the doctors even attempted to touch her knee. They just said to come back in 6 weeks if there was still pain. This is hilarious because western medicine is supposed to be this great thing, when they can’t even fix a knee that was out of place. But within two appointments with Dr. Li her knee was back in place and had a tremendous decrease in pain. I think that is just amazing.

We went back to the spa and Dr. Flatt got to try some massage moves on Victor. It’s really interesting to watch this happen because you don’t see the effort being put into your own massage. You also don’t really understand the techniques in the massage until the technician explains them. It’s a pattern that is followed during the massage. You only move on to the next moves after opening qi and warming the back up. The scraper can’t be used until a certain point either. Which I believe is different than most western massages, which can go in any order really. As far as I know the body does not have to be warmed up to continue on with certain parts of the massage. They explained more about the release of dampness, which can cause all sorts of diseases. They also explained the reason for releasing black blood which can build up in the body. This is bad blood that has no use and must be physically released by puncturing the skin. Also they explained the sugar tea that is given at the end of the massage which helps to increase blood volume so that you don’t pass out after a massage.

Today we went to the spa… Not the fun happy calming spa, but a different evil one. Don’t get me wrong the massage felt amazing, but afterwards not so much. So in traditional Chinese massages to help you become healthy they put pressure on the different meridian points and massage in specific ways. Then they use this scraper thing that is supposed to release the “dampness” that is in your body. And it feels like the back of a comb being pressed and dragged into your back. Fun right? Then for me they did suction cups and dragged them on my skin. Which again was not that fun, but did feel nice. This whole experience left my back bruised, see photo, but I think it made me feel better in the long run. It’s also supposed to be a lot better for you than our normal massages. Most people go to a massage to relax and not feel any pain, but if you don’t feel pain then how do you know you’re fixing the problem? No pain, no gain as they say. Even with the differences and pain involved I do think that this form of massage is better in the long run. Clearing the blocked qi and releasing dampness could be very beneficial.

We met Dr. Li today, who is a traditional Chinese medicine doctor. He explained a little about acupuncture and how it can be used to fix almost any problem in your body. He also did to practices on Hadeel and Dr. Flatt. It was really interesting because for Dr. Flatt she felt almost instant relief from her knee pain when the needles were removed. Whereas for Hadeel the relief wasn’t as great. This difference in acupuncture between traditional and what is mainly used in the U.S. Is depth of the needles. For traditional medicine the needles go however deep is needed until they hit a meridian point. For the majority of acupuncture in the U.S. The needles are only placed superficially. This does not allow the problem to be fixed, which could be why acupuncture is so ineffective in the U.S.

We visited the tai chi center for the first time today. It was really cool to see that this form of exercise was given a high regard. From studies I did on qi gong I know that the benefits can be tremendous if someone practices this exercise everyday. I am glad to see more people in the U.S. Practicing tai chi, which is a branch off of qi gong. Hopefully this practice increases the amount of students attending. This exercise can help improve the overall health and well being of the individuals practicing it. It was quite exciting to see the students who had been practicing this all their lives.

Visiting this amazing paragon garden was breathtaking. It was very cool hiking to the top of the pagoda and seeing the city from so far away. We didn’t really learn much about the gardens other than that they were a very nice place to visit. Walking around we got to see a lot of how the city grew. You could see where it started and how they were always expanding in size.

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Last one!

As I explained before, this comes as a slight delay. With all the craziness of traveling and re-adjusting to reality, I found myself consumed in just being home. I actually find my postponed blogging to be of benefit, because it gave me more time to reflect. At this point, I have been home long enough to totally re-integrate. In fact, it didn’t take me long. Only being gone for a month has its benefits, one of them being a shortened recovery time. The major differences that I noticed were as follows:

I understood what people were saying! I got so used to not comprehending the conversations as I passed them on the street, but the moment we got on the airplane headed back to the United States, English was everywhere! At first it was almost annoying, hearing everyones private discourse, which was surprising! But eventually it was comforting.

Next, the food… this was probably the most disappointing thing about coming home. Not so much the variety, but the quality! I missed the freshness, the abundance of fruit, the organic and free range meat! It is much easier to notice the difference in processed food when you are spoiled for over a month. I also found it almost offensive coming back and being rushed through a meal! I got used to sitting at length when we would go out to eat, and hardly ever having a waiter come and bother you. The simple difference of having to ask for a check versus them handing it to you after a mere half hour was notable.

Lastly, the pace of everyday life. I grew up in the country, so living in a city was interesting.  I appreciate the calm streets, green scenery, and wildlife at very turn. In Barcelona, there was a constant buzz of noise at all hours of the day, the city never went dark, and many people stayed up until the early morning! The only animals I saw were pigeons, seagulls, and dogs on leashes. I was definitely happy to drive home from the airport and see mountains, valleys, forests, and rivers.

Needless to say, there was a roller coaster of emotions as a result of coming home. I do believe it when they say that returning can actually be more difficult that arriving! This entire experience has opened my eyes to joys and pitfalls of so many types of travel. Whether it be for business, school, vacation, asylum, immigration, etc. No matter what, there are adjustments that must be made, and I was lucky enough to have had immense support and guidance throughout my entire journey. I will forever look back and deem this trip as totally necessary and worth it.

Adios..

Hola!

I am regretfully writing this much later than anticipated. Due to a series of unanticipated events called “life”, I was unable to keep up with my photo blogging as much as I had wanted.

Nevertheless! I am ready to finish my story. I ended my study abroad experience with absolutely no regrets. I saw amazing things, made incredible friends, and fell in love with a city that once seemed so far away, and is now so close to my heart. My last week of schooling was slightly less exciting as before, because I was busy with studying and writing my final paper. I went out to dinner a few times with friends, and spent a relaxing day on the beach by myself! The day of my finals was a whirlwind of anticipation, excitement, joy, and curiosity. I say curiosity because leading up to this day, I received some interesting red flags. My boyfriend, whom I had been texting quite regularly, informed me that he was going on a camping trip with friends and wouldn’t have service for a few days. But what was odd, was that he stopped texting me right around the time that my parents were supposed to get on the plane to come visit me in Spain….as it turns out, it was no coincidence. My boyfriend surprised me that afternoon, and flew over 5,000 miles with my parents to join us on our extended European vacation!!!! As I walked into the hotel lobby and saw him standing there, I couldn’t believe my eyes!!! I felt like a little kid, glancing over at my parents for reassurance that this was real life! They already had phones and cameras pointing at me to catch my reaction, and even though there were several other people in the room, I didn’t care. I also was able to see my former foreign exchange student from Denmark! My 5th week in Barcelona was about to prove how spontaneous and lovely life can be.

I instantly realized what an awesome experience it would be to show them around the city. None of them had ever been to Barcelona before, and it was even my boyfriends first time out of the country!!! I was honored with the duty of being their tour guide for the next five days, and put all that I had learned about the city in the past month to the test. I taught them how to use the metro, how to avoid the tourist traps on Las Ramblas, how to find amazing food, and how to see the city for its beauty, warmth, and comfort as I had. Because I had known about my parents coming, I purposely waited to do many of the tourist sight-seeing with them. We went to Barceloneta Beach, saw the statue of Columbus, went to Park Guell, saw many more of Gaudi’s buildings included the famous Sagrada Familia Cathedral, and we of course had our fair share of Paella! In fact, the reason I chose Barcelona to begin with, was because of my uncle. He backpacked through europe when he was not too much older than myself, and Spain was by far his favorite country. Barcelona in particular. So for their second night we went out for Paella (his favorite dish) on what would have been his 71st birthday.

Leaving Spain was much harder than I had thought. I had been there long enough to feel comfortable and to create a routine, so letting go was tough. I thought maybe having my parents there (and now my boyfriend) would make things easier, but there was no way they could understand the connection I felt. I promised myself then that no matter what, one day I would return.

Our two and a half week trip continued on. We visited Paris next, where the real turn of events took place. As we stood in the city’s largest building, overlooking the Eiffel tower as it glittered, my boyfriend took my hands and got on one knee….he proposed to me on our four and a half year anniversary in the city of love!!!! I was living a real life fairy tale, and all I could do was be thankful. My whole life changed from that day on, and with the support from our family and friends, we are very excited to start the next chapter of our lives. However, our excitement is pre-mature because we (along with the guidance of our parents) have decided to have a long engagement. We would both like to finish school and get stable jobs before taking such a big step.

After France we went to Munich, Germany, Austria, and then ended in Denmark with Mia (my foreign exchange student) and her family. We ended the trip with lots of laughs, good company, and a lifetime of memories to treasure forever. I will never forget the lessons I learned, or how I felt stepping off the plane when I had first arrived. I came, I saw, I conquered!

See you soon Barcelona <3

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¡Buenos días familia y amigos!

Well, it has been interesting trying to survive without much internet connection the past week or so. Peru has terrible wifi, no matter where you go. The connection is never strong and there is certainly no reliability. To make it worse, there are thirteen other people living in my house to share the wifi with and thousands of other students at school to share the wifi with there. Then there’s the fact that a lot of students don’t have their own computers, so it is difficult finding an available desktop computer on campus. Anyways, I’m sorry that it has taken me so long to post again, now you know why.

Besides wifi issues and a few other minor things that I am struggling to adjust to, everything is going great! I am enjoying my classes and enjoying getting to know my housemates better, especially Liz, the girl from Brazil. I enjoy spending time with her because I like her personality but also because I HAVE TO speak Spanish with her. She doesn’t know much English and I know zero Portuguese, so Spanish is really the only way. This is helping me become more comfortable speaking the language.

The food is still very delicious. I prefer the days that our cook comes. She cooks for us most days and it is always delicious. I have been trying food in restaurants as well. I have long school days Tuesday and Thursday (11am-9pm) and it is not ideal to go home on my break, so I end up eating at school. There are a bunch of restaurants near campus. I am enjoying trying new places and dishes. Melissa and I have decided that from now on when we go to restaurants we’re going to start ordering dishes that we have no idea what they are. I don’t usually eat out often back home, maybe once a week, so I don’t really like eating out so much. There are healthy options at most restaurants, so it is mostly a money issue. However, I have to remind myself of the currency exchange. When I worry about spending nine soles on lunch I have to remember that I’m really only spending $2.75 and put that into perspective of how much I might spend on a meal in the states.

I am still really missing clean air. The entire trip to and from school is hardly bearable. I feel like I’m breathing in nothing but carbon emissions. I can feel the heaviness and thickness of the air with every breath. Even though it is cool out because it is winter, it doesn’t feel cool like it would back home. There isn’t that crispness. The air isn’t as bad away from the main roads, but I still feel like I haven’t smelled fresh air since I stepped into PDX almost a month ago. I went on a run at the park by my house yesterday and even just being amongst the trees and the grass it seemed fresher. Not fresh, but fresher.

This week we learned not to swallow ocean water. Melissa spent five days in the hospital this past week, likely from e. coli in the ocean. I can’t imagine how awful it must’ve been to be in a hospital bed for five days, not being allowed to eat and not being able to go to classes or go sightseeing. We went to visit her twice, which I think she enjoyed. She requested that I sing to her one of the days. I don’t usually sing on the spot, but when your friend is in a hospital bed you’ll do just about anything to help.

Speaking of singing, I auditioned for a music ensemble at school last week. And I got in!!! I am SO excited! It is a pop cover band, so we will be learning songs that are popular in the states. American music is VERY popular here. I was surprised to learn that. Anyways, this group will be performing around Lima in the evenings and finish up with a concert in December with lights and a stage and everything! I am also excited to be sharing music abroad again. My goal is to sing in every country I travel to. I have also enjoyed singing with one of the other students living with me who has a guitar (and is very talented at playing it). There is also a piano here, which I am very happy about. I played it yesterday for an hour or two and my host family requested that I play every night. It was a nice way to relax and enjoy the afternoon.

It is sunny today, for the third day in a row actually, which is very abnormal for a Lima winter. I am loving it though! Anyways, I’m going to sign out and go enjoy this sunshine while it lasts.

I hope everything is well back at home! Love and miss you all!

Ciao,

Abby

This is the music room at school where I will be rehearsing with my band.

This is the park next to my house.

This is an upside down picture of me and Liz. (I can’t figure out how to rotate pictures, sorry!)