Welcome!
Let me start by saying that blogging is a longshot for me. I have no idea how long I will keep this up and am still not quite sure why I'm starting to begin with. Most of my writing has been essays, summaries, arguments, etc. I've never considered myself much of a writer in the general sense. We'll see how this one plays out...
My best guesses for inspiration are that I thought this would be a good way to have a chronological record of my experiences abroad(thanks Foto), to let those friends and family I left back in the States know what is happening in my life, and to help me think about the significance of my experiences here in Peru. I'm sure as I get more and more settled into life here in Lima that my free time will start to disappear, and by direct correlation my posts on this blog will follow suit. Hopefully not, but in the meantime I will do my best to kill time productively! When one of my best friends moved to Norway for graduate school I motivated her to keep up a blog by telling her she wouldn't last more than a month. Turns out she lasted over a year, maybe I need the same motivation?
What am I doing here?
I'm sure my sudden move may have come as a shock to many people but really when the time is right things can happen rather quickly. The truth is I put myself on a track to pursue psychology at UCSC and I saw it as far as it would take me. I'm not abandoning psychology, far from it, I think of it nearly every day. But really it was a realization that I had nowhere further to go in Santa Cruz. Sure I could have stayed closer but I figured if I'm going to move away I might as well REALLY move away. I haven't had the, "What the hell am I doing here moment?!" but several people have told me its only a matter of time. To be honest, it all seems really normal. I thought at first this was because I was so focused on finding a place to live and getting a job, but now that those two things are out of the way I feel the same. Maybe its a sign that I'm not immersed enough, that living with my girlfriend and having a lot of American friends here shelters me from the reality that I am in a different country, not just another place in the U.S. Who knows, I guess I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.
South of the "Border"?
The word "border" can have many meanings, for some it can be as benign as an addition to their front walkway to add curb appeal to their home, to others the only thing stopping them from having a brighter future for their children, and in the case of Palestinians a war waged across centuries for the right to live. In American politics it typically refers to the U.S-Mexico border and carries with it the serious issues of immigration, discrimination, history, the economy, hate, and family. Issues that divide us politically. These are all very different situations but in every one the word "border" implies a separation. Why do we separate some things and not others? On what basis are these separations justified? Can it ever be truly fair if the separation is created by only one side of the final line? My mind is always interested in different points of view or perspectives, I don't like to make decisions, choose sides, or have an opinion without finding out studying the different sides of the issue. As I am focusing more and more on my future and need to make big life decisions I have begun to cross the lines of what I know, and experience other lifestyles, opinions, languages, cultures, and career paths so that I can make "good" decisions about who I will be, what my opinions are, and what I want to do.
Borrowed this quote from a new friend's blog, thanks Tree(sprinterlife.com):
Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime - Mark Twain
In the literal sense I did travel south of our border to live in Lima, but thats not really why I chose to include "South" in the title. The direction "South" can be interchanged in many situations with "below". I have been studying Psychology, and love scientific process in general, because it lets you examine what lies below what we do, what we think, and what we feel. As, what I think, are the worst Primary and Presidential election campaigns I have experienced in my life continue on, I can't help but think of them when I express my desire to understand what lies below the surface. It has become increasingly necessary to think beyond what is presented to you in order to get through life. When deciding if a politician has spoken a single word of truth in their entire speech, when deciding if a product is really as good as it says it is, and when judging the face of a cab driver that could quite easily drive around the corner and rob you at gunpoint, you need to descend below what is being presented to make the correct decision. I'm learning, but thankfully no guns, literally or figuratively, have presented themselves haha
What to expect...
If you don't expect much, you'll have a much better time reading my posts. If you're interested in what I am doing and thinking about down here in Peru I'll try to keep you entertained! If nothing else I'll be putting up some good pictures, I take my camera with me on all my adventures :)
