Category: 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”

by Ella, Civic Semester Participant

There’s a certain feeling, a certain ache that comes with Change. It hits at milestones: one week before, knowing that this is the last Monday that your life will exist the way it stands in front of you today. The moment you realize that you only have two more weekend days to sit with the version of yourself that exists on this warm Saturday afternoon. 24 hours before the Change, realizing you will only lay your head on this pillow once more, praying you dream of the exact day that you had—maybe you can extend this reality for eight hours more. The final wave hits you as you watch the landscape change beneath you from the sunlit plane window.

Six months ago, I would’ve told you that this feeling is dreadful, terrifying, sad. I would’ve asked you how it’s possible to leave so much of myself, so much of what I know to be true, just to spend my time rebuilding exactly what I have now. Friendships, comfort, love.

Continue reading “The feeling before Change”

by Teagan, Civic Semester Participant

A few weeks ago, I celebrated my first birthday away from my family in all 19 years of my life. However, even thousands of miles from home, I had felt as loved as ever—loved by my cohort, loved by my host family, loved through the texts and calls by my family and friends at home, loved by the new place I called home.

On November 10th, my alarm went off at 7:15 am, and on the rare occasion, I didn’t hit the snooze button. I felt wide awake with nervous excitement as the breeze floated into my room. I walked down the balcony to the kitchen where all my nerves immediately melted away. My two little brothers cried “¡Feliz cumpleaños!”, and my host parents embraced me in a hug.

After my day with Zhiyi at our volunteer placement, I walked home—happy but also a little tired after spending hours with little kids and reading “Franklin” at least four times. At the door, my 6-year-old brother Gabriel urgently stopped me from looking out the window to our yard where my family was blowing up gold balloons for the party with my cohort. It was such a surprise and lovely gesture.

Continue reading “19 Candles”

by Iris, Civic Semester participant

One of the first activities we did over Zoom (before we met in person) was to go around and say our favorite artists or songs. As soon as we met up on campus we made a shared playlist where we added anything and everything we were into. Since then, there has rarely been a moment without a carefully curated soundtrack.

“peru! 🦙💓🏔” is over six hours long, with 110 songs switching randomly from indie folk to high-energy Spanish pop to billboard top ten to French ballads. I love it, and it has ruined my Spotify Wrapped.

There are too many moments with music to write about them all (I finished this entire yak only to realize that I had forgotten Ligia teaching us to dance in her living room, karaoke, and having our very own at-home discoteca!), but here are some of my favorites.

Continue reading “Musings on Music”