Previous Recipients - Dana Arakawa (cont.)

It is not because I am such a wonderful or generous person, but because I receive so much from them in return, more than I could ever give. Their love and affection when I call, just like on the first day I arrived. Renewed appreciation for my life and the things I am fortunate to have, after seeing their immense gratitude to receive things I can easily afford to give away. Greater perspective on what it means to struggle in life and how resilient one can be in the face of poverty and prostitution. Awareness that friendship and companionship sustains people, and that you can make a difference in unexpected ways. I received all of these gifts from the girls at Virgin Natividad through the generosity of the InterExchange Foundation, which allowed me to have this amazing experience volunteering in Peru. For that, I am eternally grateful.

I could write a book about how being in Peru for two months expanded my international understanding and awareness of the world outside the bubble that I had been living in. Peru is a wonderful and rich place, full of natural resources, spectacular and diverse tourist attractions, delicious food, and wonderfully warm and loving people. It is also very complicated and harsh; in two months I witnessed many manifestations of chronic environmental, economic, social, and political problems. However, through my conversations with my host family, taxi drivers, teachers at the Spanish school, and local friends, I have an impression about what it’s like to really live in Peru. I’m sure that it’s an incomplete picture, but it’s one that broadened my outlook on what it means to live a good life and has changed how I will live in the future.

I brought back from Peru great friendships, memories, and impressions of how I can incorporate the things that I loved about Peruvian culture into my life. I love how families in Cusco always eat lunch together, beginning with a soup, then a main course and always accompanied by a fresh drink or followed by dessert. I love the way that my host mother always kissed her husband hello when he came home for lunch and how the couples in Peru generally seemed to sustain more romance and passion in their relationships than their American counterparts. I love how often Peruvian families get together and how close they stay, and how they teach their babies to dance salsa.

I left Peru anxious to go back very soon, to see more of the diverse landscape and learn even more about the wonderful culture. My time in Peru was a priceless treasure that will stay with me forever, and not only because it was my first time being abroad on my own. I think that I gained so much from this experience because I was able to really immerse myself in another culture and thus broaden my conception of what I want in the future and how my life can affect other people. From the bottom of my heart, thank you very much for giving me this wonderful and life changing opportunity.