Tupananchikkama is one of my favorite words in Quechua: an indigenous language of South America that I have been studying in addition to Spanish. It is used every bit a despedido, a mode to say goodbye, however its literal translation is "until we run across again." In the Quechua civilisation, they do not say permanent goodbyes. Every phrase that ane says at the end of the conversation assumes that yous will come across the person again.

Now that I have moved to a different Peruvian city for a couple months and had to say cheerio to my close friends in Lima, I stop upwardly thinking about this word a lot. I wish I would have used it the last time I saw some of my friends.

Peru Patas Azpitia Azpitia2

My main grouping of friends consisted of three girls from the U.Southward., myself included, and iii Latin American guys: one Mexican and two Peruvians. Outside of this principal group, I as well had friends from Spain and Nippon.

Azpitia Trucha

Information technology has been amazing getting to know all of these very different people from beyond the world. Throughout this semester I have learned so much almost other countries as well as Peru. I have seen cultures disharmonism. Even within Latin America each country has a distinct culture. For example, my friend from Mexico often had problems understanding Peruvians because his civilization uses dissimilar words for things and dissimilar slangs. (In Peru, an avocado is palta but in United mexican states it is aguacate). Besides he always said "No mames, cabrón!" so we started saying that to him all the time.

Laguna de Paca

Another cool group dynamic was that we all are bilingual in English and Spanish. Most of our conversations were in both languages until information technology reached the point that I spoke espanglish meliorate than either language! I realize now that having bilingual friends is something that I highly value. There is a level of understanding that is between myself and other bilinguals. We understand each other'south struggle with the language learning procedure and we tend to exist more patient with each other's mistakes, accents, and bare moments. It is besides a fun challenge that I have never experienced with monolingual friends. With bilingual friends you have no choice only to have your brain stimulated and learn a language because there will undoubtable exist that one word or phrase that you have never heard before and will have to ask virtually. It is a humbling experience. Many times I want to act like I empathize everything a Spanish speaker says, merely the reality is I don't. So I take to enquire. It is embarrassing to acknowledge you don't know how to ask something simple, just I have also learned that it is okay. I accept learned to have patience with myself. It is also really embarrassing when y'all inquire something in Spanish that you think is innocent but it actually ends up meaning something dirty. Just of course I have never done that…

Azpitia

All of us had a passion to travel. Throughout the semester we would all go along dissimilar trips around Peru. Nosotros didn't always all travel together, but it was fun hearing about each other's adventures subsequently. We went on two trips, or paseos, together: the first was to a city in la sierra (the mountainous parts of Peru) named Huancayo. The second was to a small pueblo outside of Lima called Azpitia that overlooked a huge valley. These trips are my favorite memories of my friends. In many ways, I believe that traveling together helped us to bail and larn more about each other in ways that we never would have without our adventures.

Huancayo cave

It broke my heart to say good day to my friends. 1 by one we left to our new destinations. Two of them I volition see again for my next semester in Peru. One of them I will see when I visit Mexico in February. I plan to encounter the final two when I return to the United States.

Even though our adventures together in Republic of peru take ended, I will never regret making such close friends in a place I knew we wouldn't stay. It was worth it although I knew nosotros couldn't be together forever. Now I have the memories. At present I accept the things I learned from them. Now I have the hope of one day seeing them once again. And considering of that I say Tupananchikkama mis patas.

Patas

For: Nicole "Cuellito" Pandl, Guillermo "Memo" Garayar, Adrian Cooper, Edson "No mames, Cabrón" Tapia, and Eduardo "Sassy" Chamorro