Introduction

Hello everyone. I am excited to be sharing with you something that is very important to me—traveling and immersion in another language and culture. I wish there were a better way I could have introduced that, but it will take far more than even the most descriptive sentence or paragraph to share what it really means to me, and that will certainly change and evolve over the course of said space. In that case, let’s start at the beginning.

I am Matthew Robinson, and I am currently studying English education and Spanish at Southern Utah University; I will graduate with a bachelor degree in both in 2024. Because I enjoy a lot of things, it might be best to generalize and say that I enjoy being active, being outside, listening to and creating music, learning and conversing with people in other languages, and reading. While I enjoy various genres, my favorite genre is travel literature (I will say more about that later). From my internship and immersion in Peru, I intend to realize my passions for travel and incorporate this more prominently into my life, along with practices that will support my professional endeavors as an educator not only in English as it is encapsulated in “language arts,” but in English as a second or other language and in other languages in general.

While I have looked forward, sometimes with great anticipation, to many things, at this point I have no words to convey the meaning for me of my pending travels to Peru to work, learn, live, and explore. I will fly to Cuzco at the end of next week, where I will live with a family, (it would be nice if I could live with the same family as my other classmates, as has been the case in past groups). Throughout the week we will attend a language school in the mornings, where we will improve our Spanish; and in the afternoons we will work as interns at various sites around and possibly outside the city. I will be working in an after-school program, where we will do many things with children and youth, from classroom activities and lessons to field trips. The weekends are ours with which we may do whatever we want. This program will last three months, after which we are free to stay or go home. I am wide open for any reason to prolong my stay a week or so, but we’ll see what happens.

While I am thrilled to be sharing this blog with you, I am admittedly a bit anxious as well because this is my first time committing to broadcast myself so directly to the masses on a consistent basis. (I have shared writings of mine with people before, but it was newspaper articles or essays or some other creative work. I think it will get easier once I have experiences that will dilute the me factor. To that end, I want to note that I’m not writing about my upcoming time in Peru because anything I’m doing is inherently more special or important than what my classmates or other people are doing; it’s just a big deal to me, and I love sharing things like that.

It has been my dream for many years to live and to be immersed in a Spanish-speaking country, and one in the Western Hemisphere at that. I have strived to make this particular endeavor a reality for years, and now that it is practically here, I honestly don’t completely know what to do with it all mentally. As one who has worked so hard to be able to live and enjoy life as independently as my sighted counterparts, one of my biggest anxieties is adjusting to a culture which may not view independence or blindness quite the same as do Westerners, both professionally and out in public. I am grateful that the program, Intern Abroad, has taken me on when others have simply said no. They have insisted that I have a personal assistant. While this isn’t my ideal, I am willing to work with their requirement, and I am optimistic that we can create a positive and productive situation for everyone involved. I have learned from other disabled travelers that their ideal situation cannot always be realized, although I believe mine can be.

With all that being said, I want to thank everyone who has helped to make this possible. I want to thank Carmen Alldredge, director of the Disability Resource Center at SUU, for being an inval’uable resource and helping me to advocate for what I will and will not need. I also want to thank my Spanish professor, who will accompany us, for likewise being in my corner, as well as for her enthusiastic support in general—and, as a side note, for introducing me to Latin American literature. Finally, I want to thank my parents, other family, and friends who have helped me to get here, from advice and encouragement to logistics and everything in between, sometimes at personal cost. I also appreciate Intern Abroad for their willingness to consider me and their support.

I next want to bring up some things related to this blog. If this post has been published fairly recently, you’re likely interacting with a rather basic page. While I may add some links and/or menus to it, let me know if there’s something more you want to see in layout, content, etc.

Finally, I want to throw out some quotes I like that start to epitomize what this whole thing is for me.

“One’s mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions”. — Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.

“Men go abroad to wonder at the heights of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motions of the stars, and they pass by themselves without wondering”. — Saint Augustine

“… How difficult it is to break with set routines, even when we want to, and join life’s parade passing just outside the door. The job, the mortgage, and a dozen other considerations mute to the big drum, and only rarely does the trumpet call prove irresistible.” — George Meegan, from The Longest Walk

“We’ve only just begun

Hypnotized by drums

Until forever comes

You’ll find us chasing the sun—

They said this day wouldn’t come

We refuse to run

We’ve only just begun

You’ll find us chasing the sun.” — The Wanted, “Chasing the Sun”

Thanks for reading. I am so excited to share this adventure with you! Catch me in approximately two weeks in Cuzco.