A Peru Overview

Welcome to my blog!

A brief introduction: my name’s Alex, I’m 21 years old and I’m currently on my year abroad from Cardiff University at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru in Lima, Peru.

This is the first blog I’ve written so I don’t know much about it, but I think a good place to start would be by outlining why I chose to write it. This is mostly for my benefit, because when I look at my timetable, at my diary, and at the ever-expanding backlog of reading I have to do (in Spanish) for my Introduction to Law course, it certainly doesn’t seem like a rational decision. A year abroad isn’t all fun and games, as I write this I can’t shake the nagging feeling that I reeeaaally should be doing some work.

Me not doing work

But when I think about the things that have happened to me in my first six weeks in Peru (yeah I’ve been here a while), I can’t think how I could not write a blog. An unbelievable amount has happened in this month. I’ve walked over 70 kilometres in five days. I’ve partied next to the Pacific Ocean (and very briefly in it). I’ve been slapped by a pelican. I’ve had altitude sickness at 4,000 metres, and consequently eaten enough coca leaves that I’ll still be failing drug tests when I return to the UK next summer (disclaimer – it’s perfectly legal here).

 

I’m so high in this picture

Sure, I’ve spent a long time hunkered down in the library too, but it’s all worth it. For the friends, the university, the culture, Lima has been a fantastic choice of year abroad location for me.

Like I say, I’m pretty busy. I’m studying Psychology, Law and Metaphysics (don’t ask why) and also have a Spanish course to keep up with, football to play and a hell of a lot of places to visit. But I’ll do my best to keep this thing as ordered and updated as I can.

 

“Being now itself becomes something that ‘is’ whereas obviously only beings are, and it is not the case that Being also is.”

This is why I don’t read Heidegger in Spanish

This has just been a garbled sort of taster-slash-overview of my time here so far, but from now on I’ll keep it more organised. Next up I’ll start off with a classic ‘settling in’ post about what I did when I first arrived, and then move on to talk about university life, some of the more interesting bits of Peruvian culture, some of the places I’ve already visited and plan to visit. And if there’s anything that anyone’s particularly interested in I think you can leave comments, so let me know and I’ll try to find out about it to let you know more.

I will leave you with this picture of llamas grazing at Machu Picchu. Thanks for perusing.

I was wearing a poncho when I took this.