Adjusting to life in Lima

May 23, 2017

I’m staying in an apartment only 3 minutes from the school with a young woman named Anita La Rosa. I was a little overwhelmed at first with attempting to communicate with her as she does speak very little English but fortunately she’s been really patient with me and we’ve started having great conversations. The apartment was not what I expected at all. It has an incredible view of Miraflores and is very modern looking. There is no stovetop, oven or dishwasher so we must wash dishes by hand. Something I noticed as well is that all the trash cans are very tiny. She encourages me to throw away any food I have to dispose of in a small plastic bag next to the sink and everything else goes in the regular trash.

Ever since I started having deeper conversations with Anita and we started showing each other videos and pictures of the things and people we love, I always look forward to our meals. I’ve been shocked by how thoughtful and respectful she is. I haven’t felt this taken care of in years, even by own mom who has to work a lot and doesn’t really have the capacity to do even little things like clean my toothbrush holder in the bathroom without saying anything, which Anita did yesterday.

I immediately fell in love with my room. It’s mainly white with a small area for a desk and my closet and door a bright lime green. I have so much space in my closet and the room, more than I do in my new apartment, which I’m really grateful for. We often keep the windows open because it does get very humid inside and there are no fans or air conditioning, which is fine.

I’ve found that in just the short time I’ve been here, I’ve already become close with so many people on this trip, simply because we’re forced to spend so much time together. But it’s also because we’re all helping each other out a lot as we’re assimilating and going on adventures together to explore this beautiful new place. I got lucky to have my two closest friends (who I just met last week) on the trip end up staying with Anita’s mom 3 minutes away, so sometimes we go over and all have dinner together. We all have gone out for dinner in various groups together during the week. We’re already taking pictures together, of each other, and doing little things to help each other as I feel we all understand the struggle of adjusting here, especially with every little time to ourselves.

Written By

Shaina Richards

I transferred to Northeastern last fall with my associate's degree in journalism. I changed my major to Communications at NU but I still have a passion for storytelling and can't wait to document my own adventure with all its challenges and surprises. My biggest goal for this trip is, of course, to be able to develop my understanding of the Spanish language so that I can successfully engage in conversation while I'm there and continue to do so when I return. As both a student and as a waitress, I get to meet so many people from different cultures that are so interesting to me. This opportunity to immerse myself in another culture is unlike anything I've done in my life, and I want to taste, hear and see as much as I can, even if it's out of my comfort zone.