Latinas Sharing Their Cultura While Abroad
Traveling abroad is a great experience. Regardless of the destination it is a chance to experience a new culture and meet people of different ethnic backgrounds. I got the opportunity to speak with various individuals who’ve traveled abroad and shared their experience.
Jessica (Mexico)
In 2001, I studied abroad in Guanajuato, Mexico for a summer abroad program that was connected through Indiana University. I was there for several months taking college courses at the university while living with a host family. Since then, I’ve traveled all over Mexico.
The experience was unforgettable. It was one thing that I have told all my students that if they had the opportunity to study abroad, to do it. When I was there, we would have organized excursions with the entire group, experience the markets and community gatherings. A whole new world opened for me in knowing that I wanted to continue traveling as much as I could. During the time I was there, they were filming the movie, “Once Upon a Time in Mexico,” where I met Willem Dafoe, Enrique Iglesias, Danny Trejo, Antonio Banderas, Marco Leonardi, director Robert Rodriguez, among others. It was such an incredible experience from start to finish. Not only did I learn about culture, but I learned about how the people there see American culture as well.
I remember the new environment was difficult to get used to at times. Our running water, for example, didn’t have much water pressure and we had to put the boiler on to have hot water. We put our clothes out on a line to dry and didn’t have some of the same food products as in the United States. But the pizza was amazing, the theater and live entertainment were unmatched because it happened all of the time and for free or at a student rate.
We are all the same. We value family and freedom of expression. We love pizza and movies as entertainment. We love fine dining and theater. We won’t find many differences other than the languages we speak and the unique customs of individual families. I learned that we are like each other, and our interests are similar as well. We all care about the same things and how things affect the people we care about.
Traveling abroad allows you to see different cultures and have experiences that you wouldn’t otherwise have. You’ll make connections to global awareness and gain new perspectives and perhaps change or realign your own viewpoints on meaningful topics. It takes you outside of your world to experience a new one. And it also allows you to grow from those experiences to build and enhance your own foundation.
I didn’t have the opportunity to travel abroad during my undergraduate years. From speaking with these individuals who’ve traveled to some very beautiful places and hearing about the experiences that each of them had, now that I am finished with school it makes me want to travel and experience another culture and meet new people. You never know who you’ll meet or what you’ll learn from them. So, I would advise if you have the opportunity to travel abroad while in college, don’t miss it.
Lucia (France)
I’ve lived in Paris part time since 2018 and full time since 2021. It was sort of like an awakening. It make me so appreciative of my culture. I met people who dream about going to my country or others who have been and only have positive things to say.
It made me see the beauty of my country and its people. French culture is very family oriented just like Latin culture. I learned to be appreciative, I’m blessed with and never take it for granted. It made me learn a lot about myself as an individual and it made me appreciative of my culture.
Adrianna-Marie (Colombia)
I went to Colombia, I was there for 10 months with a Fulbright Grant Scholarship. Growing up as a Latina and going to a Latin American country, I felt very comfortable being there. The transition was not hard for me as I already speak Spanish and I am fluent in the language.
Being in Colombia the biggest thing I learned was work-life balance, what does that truly mean and what does it look like because over there it exists unlike here in the US. Having grown up as an American Latina I did not experience work, life, balance, I didn’t know what it was until going over there.
Our culture is obviously very communal, it’s very caring and to be surrounded by a whole culture of that was just beautiful.
Even if you’re from the same culture, different regions have different cultures. Like Colombiano/Colombianas they’re Latinos so even though you have the same Latin background you can still learn from new people, and new places.
