by Kathryn Johnson | Fall 2023 |
When people ask me in 20 years, “What was college like for you?” I know I’ll immediately think of my time abroad. Studying abroad was an experience that I knew I desired when I came to ACU, and I have loved the opportunity to spend the semester in Uruguay. Montevideo is unlike anywhere I have ever been and has opened my eyes to South American culture. The people are laid back and casual, but the streets are full of quick, weaving drivers and food delivery motorcycles. Over 1 million passengers take buses each day in the city, a form of public transportation I had no experience within the U.S. There are no huge grocery stores, and instead, we shop at local markets called Ferias and corner stores. I haven’t driven a car in months, but I walk thousands of steps each day. With all these differences comes an opportunity to learn, to practice the art of observing, and to step into uncomfortability.
Creating rhythms in a new environment has easily been one of my favorite parts of living abroad. As the semester has progressed, I have continued to find new coffee shops and parks to visit, learned the ins and outs of visiting Ferias, and become more confident in my Spanish skills. The limited Spanish knowledge I possessed before the semester could only help me count to twenty or find the nearest bathroom. Now, however, I can share a fifteen-minute conversation with a taxi driver and easily converse with my friends from La Ruta about a trip we went on or experiences they’ve had. I’ve also learned how to live in close proximity to others as we live fully dependent on ourselves for every meal we consume- a new task for us all. Cooking with eight people in one kitchen is as it sounds- slightly hectic and a little crowded at the stove, but some of my best memories from the semester have been gathered in the kitchen, the patio doors open, the smell of eggs and teriyaki sauce filling the air….you get the picture. The daily habits formed here in Con Tutti (the name of the ACU house here in Montevideo) will be what I miss most.
The hardest part of living abroad for me has been balancing the feeling of having once-in-a-lifetime experiences here with being absent from family and friends in the States. Realizing that Montevideo is my (temporary) home and not just a vacation destination has caused a perspective shift in me throughout the semester that has allowed me to better experience this place. Last summer a mentor explained to me the idea that in each place we are connected to we bury a piece of our heart, and I know a large piece of my heart will be buried in South America. But there is hope for these buried pieces of our hearts; the Lord is present in each of these places, and he is at work there. God has been working in and through me these past months in Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru, just as he has in the U.S. and will do when I arrive back.
