It has been hard to bargain with my mind and my heart that this is all real.

I am feeling a whirlwind of emotions. Being apart of IGP (Interdisciplinary Global Programs), I study in one place for an academic semester to practice my science in my chosen language and for the second part I work as an intern in my language to practice my science.

Last semester I studied abroad in Tucumán, Argentina. It is Argentina’s smallest providence, but arguably has the biggest heart. Tucumán might be considered relatively dangerous depending on one’s own point of view. People go missing more than my seem normal after living in Flagstaff, being robbed is a normal occurrence, and temperatures can be hot that you cannot leave your home for most of the day. But, for people in Tucumán, this is all normal and for me became a normal way of life for sometime too. Besides this part of life, the people from Tucumán are so open and warm. I was never alone in Tucumán as I was always welcomed with friendships, family, and help. My professors went out of their way to make me feel welcome. The friends I made me me feel like I had known them for years and the city’s jam-packed urban life was always accompanied by an open space to feel its welcoming presence.

After, Tucumán I traveled to Ushuaia in Argentina’s Patagonia. Also known as the furthest city south in the world, or “The End of the World”, or Tierra del Fuego which translates to the land of fire. This for me was almost a detox. I went hiking everyday for two weeks alone. I saw penguins, glaciers, and lagoons in the Andes Mountains. I met incredible people who helped me navigate the Ushuaian lifestyle and fellow wanderers who shared their stories with me. It was such a magnificent experience that I am eternally grateful for. It is hard to bargain with my mind and heart that this is all real.

Photos from Ushuaia:

That was the first half of my IGP journey. Now, I am in Buenos Aires for the next 4 days to prepare myself for my internship in Quito, Ecuador. Ecuador is supposed to be quite different from Argentina, with a different accent, different history, and is very colorful. It is also much smaller. I am very nervous to make my way to Quito after such a filled first semester. But, I feel very prepared and proud of what I have done this past semester, so that helps to ease my nerves.

Positive experiences I expect from Ecuador will be new foods, new people, and a new mindset with different world views and different cultural values that will all hopefully help me expand my own perspective of the world and how to view it.

Obstacles I may encounter are, a new sensation of culture shock and feeling alone. When in Argentina, I had gone through culture shock due to everything being so different from my life in the US, but I learned to navigate these differences as different perspectives on how to live life, so I anticipate something similar in Ecuador for my internship. I will also feel alone at times. This semester, I will be traveling to Quito alone, although I will meet plenty of people from work, I am sure it will be difficult to not have someone with me to share my experiences with. But, I know I always have my friends, family, and mentors with me in spirit.

I will be working at a Volcano Observatory, Instituto Geofísico, where I will be studying the Reventador Volcano. Reventador in Spanish translates to “The one that destroys everything” in English. To say the least, I am very excited! Volcanoes have always been things that harvest fascination and imagination for me.  My objectives are to be able to identify volcanic minerals more efficiently and to be able to learn the processes behind monitoring volcanic activity. I will be working in a laboratory to gain a better understanding of Reventador’s past volcanic activity and will also be able to go into the field to be able to help with Geophysical analysis.

I am not sure I will ever be able to put into words that gratitude I feel for everything I am experiencing, nor for what this experience has truly been like for me or for what it will become. But, I am excited to explore more words to try and do so for this Honors course (I wrote this for a response to an Honors course I am taking-I will also need to keep a weekly journal for this course, which will be done so here on my blog), and for the remaining prompts to help me expand on my thinking. Thank you for reading!