Traveling Trials Part II design by: Lucy Greaney Last issue, our three study abroad writers covered what it was like to live abroad during a pandemic. This issue, they dove into the specific cultural challenges they’ve encountered and how they overcame them. They also recounted their travels to different regions and countries in their corners of the world.
Uruguay by: Anna Mollenbeck
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hen I read my first “Traveling Trials” article over again, I breathed a sigh of relief. So much has changed since writing about my first few weeks abroad.
I came to Uruguay with impossible expectations both for myself and for the experience I wanted to have here. I felt alone, nervous and terrified out of my mind when I realized everything wouldn’t go according to plan. I was having an amazing time exploring and learning everything about Uruguay, but I let tiny language and cultural differences damper my spirits indefinitely. I see how much I’ve grown since my first article — both in my language skills and with my confidence navigating life as a young adult abroad. We’ve made it to the halfway point of my time in Montevideo, Uruguay. My main goal while studying abroad has always been to develop my Spanish, and it’s easy to tell that my skills have improved incredibly in these past two months. Immersing yourself
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in this way certainly doesn’t come without its challenges or odd experiences. However, the challenges and odd experiences I’ve encountered have only improved my confidence and the skills themselves. I’ve always thought that fluency would just come to me one day. I’d be in the middle of a conversation, speaking Spanish, and everything would click. A switch would be turned on in my brain. From that point on, Spanish would come as easily as English. While I’ve learned that achieving fluency in a language is a lifelong process and doesn’t work like how I imagined, I’ve certainly made immense progress in my speaking and comprehension skills. The other day, however, I conquered a hurdle I didn’t know I needed to overcome — I finally lost my fear. This fear was conquered in one small but important interaction I had at 9 a.m. on my way to my friend’s apartment. My transition from a country girl to a city woman has included becoming a master of Montevideo’s public bus system. The other day, I went to a local kiosk to put more money on my
