-
Hiatus
I have always been a bit of a perfectionist. My original vision for this blog was rather a pigeonhole of only two areas of my life: language and travel. However, as I will talk about below, I have made efforts to expand my vision. I’ve taken an 18-month hiatus, I’ve since learned a new language, studied abroad, graduated from Purdue, and now I’ve entered the real world by getting my first adult job! Even within just the last year, I’ve noticed tremendous growth and change in my life. I’ve taken it upon myself to create more short- and long-term goals for myself. I’ve set out to read as much as…
-
Destination: Puerto Rico
Three years ago if you asked me what I knew about Puerto Rico, I would have probably said something about Jennifer Lopez. I never really thought much about Puerto Rico, except that it has a weird history with U.S. statehood. However, after meeting some Puerto Ricans during my time at university, I learned a great deal about the people, culture, and food of Puerto Rico. Thus, began my desire to travel to Puerto Rico. After getting to know a culture so unlike any other Latino culture, I had to visit Puerto Rico. So, the first opportunity we had, we packed our bags and made our way to the island. There…
-
Become a local for a day
The greatest injustice to a travel experience is failing to grasp even the slightest taste of the culture. Culture is considered to be the culmination of the people, food, geography, and history of a region. Sightseeing is only one microscopic portion of the overall experience since there are SO MANY opportunities to explore – you won’t be able to complete them all. Whenever I go somewhere, I research extensively about the people, the food, some relevant history, hidden gems, etc. I discovered that a deep understanding of the people can teach you a great deal about their values and customs. Knowing the difference between Spanish customs and American customs is…
-
My Language Journey
I’ve lived most of my life as a monolingual, which, if your frame of reference is in the right way, can be a really good thing. However, my life took a vastly different path once I started studying foreign languages. From an early age, I enjoyed the pressure of challenging myself to try the next big thing. Eventually, I felt that I outgrew my surroundings and wanted to try something completely out of my wheelhouse, but what? I was about 10 at the time, and in the 7th grade, it is expected that you start learning a foreign language. I didn’t really know what to expect out of this, but I…
-
My Affinity for Spanish
I’ve been studying Spanish for as long as I can remember. At first it started out as just a class that I was forced into, but it quickly became much, much more; and it didn’t take long for me to realize that I was very good at this thing called “foreign languages” which was all but a foreign concept to me. But it wasn’t until high school that I realized that I could actually do something with Spanish. I found out about this thing called IU Honors, or IUHPFL, which is best described as this two-month immersive study abroad program (literally the stuff of fantasies). I made it my goal, my dream,…