Indefinite but Indispensable

In our game of questioning around the fire in Maras, someone asked Profe, “What do you miss the most about Peru, besides friends, family, and food?” Part of his response was the laidback attitude of the people. In Peru, plans are tentative, no one is ever on time, and the structure and surety that we can easily find back home is not as constant here in Peru. For most Vandy students, this is their worst nightmare. Us ‘Type A’ people, we love our structure. I’ve seen enough color coded Lilly Pulitzer planners to know this for sure. 

PC Jingyue

So it seems that this would be a downfall of Peru, not something someone would miss upon leaving Peru. However, I’ve grown to appreciate this aspect of Peruvian culture. I may have been a step ahead, planning vacations with my family the night before, with a mother who is hardly ever willing to commit to a sure answer (“Can I do this with so and so?” “I don’t know.” “Well when will you know?” “I don’t know.”), but I found it much easier to live in the moment. Knowing that my activities are taken care of, I’ve started to worry less about what is coming next and begun to appreciate what is happening now. This is such a stark contrast from being on campus, where we either relish in our past accomplishments or work tirelessly for the future (grades, internships, extra-curricular activities), leaving little time to fully enjoy ourselves. There are certainly benefits of dependability and structure, but a break from these is quite possibly what all of us Vandy kids needed.