If there’s one thing I learned during my jam-packed first week in Uruguay, it’s the value of being humble when working in a foreign country.

I like to have everything under control. But when I arrived in Montevideo two weeks ago, struggling to recall the Spanish terms for airport security, I wasn’t in control. When I impatiently boarded the 522 bus to Pocitos instead of the 149 because I didn’t trust Google Maps, I wasn’t in control. And when I was getting lunch from a corner store on Calle Colonia and I anxiously (and accidentally) ordered a well-done steak, I definitely wasn’t in control.

As I sit down to reflect on my time during the Penn Abroad internship in Uruguay, I am filled with a sense of nostalgia and gratitude for the experiences I had and the lessons I learned. The journey has been transformative, and I wanted to share with you how this adventure has left an indelible mark on my perspective.

The best way to learn more about a culture is to spend a lot of time there. I spent my summer in Montevideo, but I also traveled to other countries while I was there, and while I loved them all, I got to know Uruguay in a different way. When you spend five days in a city you obviously experience it like a tourist. You pack your day with every important site. You leave your accommodation early in the morning and you come back late at night, exhausted from a busy day of trying to see as much as you can before your journey back home. This was my experience when I visited Buenos Aires and Rio with my fellow GRIP interns. We loved those cities, but not in the same way as Montevideo.

Of all the traditions of Argentina, the asado reigns as the poster child for Argentinian culture and condition. The asado - or barbecue, is usually characterized as the gathering of friends and family around the fire pit to enjoy an assortment of meats and foods while cherishing each other's company. As I reflect on my unforgettable summer interning in this captivating South American nation, my heart warms at the vivid memories of the asado experiences I was fortunate enough to partake in.

The immigrant experience is often simplified into cliches, like booking a one-way ticket and never looking back. I always wondered what it might be like to move to a new country and this past summer, I got a little taste of it. I moved to Argentina to participate in the Social Impact in Buenos Aires GRIP Program.

Over this past week of interning virtually in Buenos Aires, I’ve tried to find different ways to further connect and explore Argentina. Through a virtual tour organized by the Puentes team, my internship cohort and I were able to explore the neighborhood of San Telmo in real-time. Seeing the neighborhood and abundance of street art allowed me to gain a greater sense of the location I’ll be working in throughout these nine weeks. At one point in the walk-through, our tour guide, Santiago, took us to the historic Mercado de San Telmo, where we saw many small shops selling things ranging from fresh produce and meats to antiques. Seeing the different spaces in the market made me reflect on how my internship work on nutrition and lactation needs to be contextualized by local lived experiences, such as going to markets like that in San Telmo. While that’s difficult with a virtual internship, my conversations with my supervisor and the resources she’s provided me with have helped.