Category: 2024 Tufts Civic Semester Peru

by Micaela

BOOO! Happy Halloween! With Halloween coming THIS Thursday, I could not be more excited. Every year, Halloween is a time where I unleash my creativity to come up with and make my costumes, I spend time with my friends, and I eat an absurd amount of candy. What’s not to love?!?

This year in Urubamba, I am planning to dress up as a mermaid, but my costume is still in progress (I have not begun). For me, Halloween feels different this year. Halloween is the same holiday it has always been, but now I have new friends and a new family here to spend it with. I’ve realized that holidays are not at all about the day or the celebration, but about the people you get to spend them with. I could not feel luckier to have the privilege to spend this holiday with my amazing host family and friends.

It is interesting to see how the anticipation to go out, dress up, and have fun with family and friends extends all the way from the United States to Peru. I was pleasantly surprised to learn about the excitement for Halloween here in Peru, especially among younger kids. My niece (6) can’t wait for us to work on her costume and take her out on Halloween night! Beyond learning that Halloween is also celebrated here, I have also learned that this is a time of 3 back-to-back holidays. First, is Halloween on the 31st. Then, Dia de los Santos on the 1st. Lastly, Dia de los Muertos on the 2nd. Here, these three days of celebration are a time to appreciate life, death, and family.

I’m anxious for the days of celebration to begin, and can’t wait to learn more about Peruvian culture and the differences and similarities with the United States. My host family mentioned many traditions on Dia de los Santos, which I am excited to experience. Some questions that I am currently thinking about are: How is death seen differently in different cultures? Is it common for kids to “Trick or Treat” in Peru? How has globalization impacted the celebration of these holidays in Peru? What are common costumes that people wear in Urubamba? Do most people create their own costumes or buy them? I can’t wait for Thursday to come where I can learn more about these questions and experience my first ever Halloween in another country!

Originally posted here.

by LG

The weekend before I left for orientation at Tufts, my best friend drove down to Connecticut from Vermont to pay me a visit. Previously, Laurel and I saw each other every day for hours at a time. At that point, it had been about three months since I had last been in the same room as her, and we were on the precipice of nearly four more. On Monday morning as she loaded up the Subaru to head back up north, we stood looking at each other with tears streaming down our cheeks. “When I see you next, everything’s going to be different,” I told her. It’s a tad dramatic, but it’s rung true.

Since I said goodbye to Laurel, I’ve integrated myself into a group of people I can only describe as my Tufts University-assigned best friends. While I’d like to think our paths would cross in any universe, I’m endlessly grateful to Tisch College for guiding them together in this one. We’re all from different parts of the world, are interested in different things, and have different stories, but we all share the desire to adventure and understand a way of life different from our own. This community has taught me to love, trust, and breathe more deeply. From the very beginning, there’s been so much love in this house of strangers.

Continue reading “Growth and Gratitude”

by Natalie

It’s crazy to think that I’ve already been in Peru for over a month! This weekend we move in with our host families and I’m very excited. So far, we’ve done a lot already. We’ve been taking Spanish classes, a Latin American Civilization class, and of course our Pathways class. We’ve explored Urubamba, Cusco, and Paru Paru. We’ve gone on hikes and adventures, had bonfires, eaten delicious Peruvian food, spoken to locals in the Plaza and main market, shared group bus rides and movie nights, had fun family dinners, seen the Milky Way in the night sky, and so much more. I can’t even begin to express how happy I am to be in Peru, especially with this group.

Continue reading “A Little Update”