Peru Archives - IFSA

Discovering Peru’s Diversity: My Semester Abroad Across Mountains, Deserts, and Rainforests

ichilds — Mon, 22 Dec 2025 18:45:12 +0000

When I arrived in Lima, Peru, I was excited for a semester in a big city, improving my Spanish, eating delicious food, and dancing salsa. However, I did not know much about the country I had chosen to live in for the next few months, other than that it is famous for ceviche (a seafood dish) and Machu Picchu. Five months later, my study abroad experience [...]

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Navigating Public Transportation in Peru

Kate — Wed, 07 Dec 2022 05:24:20 +0000

With extreme informality, crowds, and countless unwritten rules, Lima’s public transportation system can be overwhelming for newcomers—and even for Limeños. Here’s what I’ve learned over the semester. Why the chaos? The majority of public transport vehicles in Lima operate informally despite sporting the patterned paint of one parent company. Because the law for vehicle standards [...]

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Studying in Lima as a Peruvian-American

Kate — Wed, 07 Dec 2022 05:22:28 +0000

Alex, a fellow IFSA Peru participant, is the daughter of Peruvian immigrants to the United States who spent several years in Lima as a young child. She chose study in Peru to fully assume her Peruvian identity and get to know her family’s origins. Two months in, she shared her reflections. Growing up Peruvian in [...]

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Mañanas Con Gumer

Kate — Fri, 26 Mar 2021 16:01:20 +0000

Living in Lima, Peru for the fall of 2019, I stayed with a host family – la familia Saco-Vertiz – in the district of Miraflores. Living in the apartment were Maritza (my madre anfitriona), her brother Miguel, her adult son Alejandro, and Gumer, their cocinera, who felt much more like another member of the family. Huevos Revueltos In the [...]

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Hombres Outnumbered: Men Studying Abroad with IFSA

Tue, 07 Jan 2020 14:47:31 +0000

It’s a common and generally true perception: more women than men study abroad. Based on available statistics using legal sex data, IFSA’s enrollment for the Fall and Academic Year 2019 programs included twice as many female students as male. Current Spring 2020 enrollment currently sits even more unbalanced. On the Fall 2019 IFSA Peru program, there are [...]

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Living Gluten Free in Peru

Kate — Tue, 26 Nov 2019 23:00:04 +0000

For the past couple of months, Sophie has been adapting her gluten- and dairy- free lifestyle to Peru; one of the most food-focused countries in the world. Sophie has celiac disease and is lactose intolerance. In Lima there is increasing awareness of dietary restrictions and a growing market for gluten- and dairy-free products. However, it still hasn’t reached the [...]

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How and Why to Laugh and Embarrass Yourself Abroad

Kate — Thu, 24 Oct 2019 22:00:44 +0000

“Será que puedo botar más comida…” “Como, Chris??” my friend exclaimed with her voice climbing octaves in disbelief, cutting me off as I tried to ask for seconds of the food she and her family had cooked up with much love and craft for me to try. I had succeeded not in asking for more food [...]

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Self Discovery Through an Autoimmune Disease Abroad

Kate — Thu, 11 Oct 2018 21:34:22 +0000

It started the day before Christmas Eve, while still at home: a strange pain in my arm and hand that I’d never experienced before. From the tip of my right pinky finger, down the side of my hand into my wrist and elbow, I felt these uncomfortable sensations best described as electrical shocks combined with [...]

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Best Affordable Weekend Trips from Lima

Kate — Wed, 08 Aug 2018 15:00:46 +0000

Although staying in Lima, going to classes, getting to know the city, and spending time with your friends who live here can be super fun and important, you’ll probably also want to use your time here to explore other parts of Peru. Unfortunately, trips outside of Lima can often be expensive, time consuming, or logistically [...]

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Studying Abroad with my Family Abroad

Kate — Fri, 27 Jul 2018 14:15:04 +0000

Experiences Living with my Japanese Peruvian Family in Lima For a long time, Peru was somewhere I was curious about. I’d heard mentions of it from my dad, though he didn’t like to talk much about his years living there before moving to the US.I’m half Japanese Peruvian. My dad was born in Lima, Peru; [...]

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