3 Ways to Reframe Challenges as Growth Opportunities

Confusion comes from situations that we don’t quite understand in the moment because the obstacles overwhelm us at first. Students, most of you have attended virtual classes for the first time. Teachers, you’ve had to adapt your lesson plans at a moment’s notice. Parents, you’ve had to support your children while maintaining your workload.

Businesses and offices have gone remote. The classrooms, and generally the world around us, has gone digital. With that said, all of us have experienced our respective challenges along the way. With little planning and preparation, all of us have resulted in a lot of unexpected changes and growing pains. 

Weeks and months later, we realize that these challenges were meant to teach us a lesson. At the moment, we might be in that moment of truth now. 

How have we overcome the initial obstacles? How have we grown in the midst of rapid changes? 

Today we focus on three ways to best work toward resolving frustrations that come from challenges and to move them toward solutions! 

1. Looking Beyond Immediate Challenges

What is this obstacle trying to teach me? 

The moment that we feel that we’re face a seemingly insurmountable challenge, we can automatically feel overwhelmed. The weight of a decision, or project, can feel like a huge weight if we don’t seek to understand our emotions first. 

We need to find a way to understand our emotions and channel it into a solution. 

With all the outside influences that affect our lives (the media, news, etc), and our responsibilities, we have to try our best to learn in the moment. We will have to make uncomfortable changes or adjustments, and we have to look at these decisions with a long-term view.

Will you remember this issue in years from now? 

Ask yourself what bothered you if it’s still bothering you or if you found a solution. 

We have to try our best to understand what our emotions are trying to tell us and focus on the bigger picture. All of us are learning and embracing the process, and the lessons learned from the challenge can create bigger impact if we focus on the desired outcome. 

If you’ve had a problem asking for help, you might have learned to confidently communicate that question. If you’re still struggling with your obstacles, and/or how to communicate, you’re still learning and that’s okay! Some challenges stem from widespread issues within society and culture, and they can’t be changed overnight, but on an individual level we can do our best change our relationship with them with the support of others.

One of the reasons why our team loves supporting teachers and students is because we see students overcome their culture shock, their fears, their biases, and whatever might be holding them back in the moment while abroad. At the end of each day, and throughout the day, our team leads reflections with the students to assess how students are overcoming challenges.

All of us are trying our best to understand our emotions, and we can’t judge ourselves while we’re in the process. 

2. Focusing on Lessons Learned

What have I learned about myself from this challenge? 

Sometimes we try to move so quickly past our challenges that we don’t appreciate what we learned from it. The valuable information and perspective that we gained from it. 

In many instances, the global pandemic has forced us to communicate in different ways. We can’t go over to our colleague, teacher or student in person and so we had to find another way to find closure or a solution. 

We focused on the issue, what we needed and how to articulate it in a new way. All of us increased our communication from outside of school, or the office, we’ve all had to better master digital chats, forms, messaging and email.

If you work better in a team, you’re probably realizing how much you can do on your own. If you’re always organized and structured, you've been pushed to be more flexible and find new approaches and tackle new challenges. 

All of us continue to grow in different ways as this digital era continues to change and evolve!

3. Embracing the Evolution of Connections & Relationships

What ways have I become closer to colleagues, friends and family? 

We continue to spend more time on our devices, and our relationship with them continues to evolve. We seek advice and information on search engines, but we also have increased ability to connect on social media platforms for those same answers. In some cases, we’re unable to see each other because of distance and restrictions. 

In the past few weeks, our team has created values and demonstrated our values and our commitment to creating meaningful, authentic experiences for students abroad. We continue to serve our school communities as we prepare for the future. 

We’ve found new ways to connect with each other in positive ways. Virtual coffees and virtual meetups have become more popular. In the past, that text message or phone call wishing someone a happy birthday has become a Zoom with friends and family. 

Please make sure that you’re taking time to reflect on your own growth and the challenges that you’ve overcome these past few weeks and months! If you’re a teacher, professor or administrator, we would love to hear from you!

Click here to share your growth with us and your passion for teaching your students!

COVID-19

LAST UPDATED: March 5, 2020 at 1:30pm EST

The past couple of months have been challenging for the world. The new novel coronavirus (COVID-19), first detected in December with an outbreak in the Wuhan Province of China, is now confirmed in at least 73 countries and territories and over 3,300 people have died (as of March 5, 2020). It is a complicated, heartbreaking situation. 

A message from Peter McGovern, EdOdyssey’s President & Global Founder.

COVID-19 is a grave pathogenic threat that needs to be taken seriously and this page has been designed to share resources, facts, EdOdyssey-specific updates, and our expertise to advise schools and families how to best manage the situation and balance and assuage understandable fears. We hope this information also helps alleviate xenophobia and racism that have emerged out of misinformation.

Below is a PowerPoint presentation with authoritative information regarding COVID-19 and useful tools for educators and other organizations.

You can also download a PDF version of this presentation here (v. March 5, 2020 - 1:30pm) .

If you are a student currently registered for an upcoming program with EdOdyssey, we will continue to be in touch with specific information relevant to your program and destination(s), but here are some general notes about what we are doing at EdOdyssey in light of this situation:

• Monitoring the situation closely and keeping our partners, vendors, and families and students working with us informed.

• Preparing contingency plans in the event adjustments or modifications to the programs itinerary are necessary still prioritizing the learning objectives and goals of the trip. This may include alternative activities and site visits, for example.

• During any programs that are running, we will make sure that the entire group practices good hygiene habits and washes their hands regularly and thoroughly. We recommend students travel with extra hand sanitizer as a precaution.

• As necessary and prioritizing health and safety, we are postponing programs to certain countries and areas of the world due to the virus. In this event, we’re committed to reducing any financial burden for participants and their families by returning 100% of recoverable costs.

• If you have a program-specific question please contact your EdOdyssey Educator or Program Director or info@edodyssey.com.

Further, as recommended by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization, some suggestions for our students and everyone as we work together as a global community to curb the spread of this virus:

• When coughing and sneezing, cover your mouth and nose with flexed elbow or tissue and then throw tissue away immediately and wash hands.

• Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth.

• Avoid close contact with anyone who has a fever or cough.

• If you have a fever, cough or difficulty breathing, seek medical attention and call in advance.

• Follow updates from authoritative sources such as the Center for Disease Control, US Department of State, World Health Organization, and local governments around the world. Refer to our presentation for a full list of recommended resources and sources.

• Help fight the global stigma surrounding COVID-19 by providing support and communicating accurate facts! Share this page and information with friends, family, and colleagues to help combat misinformation and stigma. Remember, being of a specific ethnic or cultural descent does not increase the chance of getting or spreading COVID-19.

If you have any questions regarding this outbreak or our risk assessment processes, please contact us at info@edodyssey.com. We're always happy to help the community and share! 

Beyond Peru’s Independence Day: The Meaning of the Music

This is me, Luis Garcia, in Peru with the Andes Mountains!

The month of July is the time we celebrate what it means to be Peruvian. Our streets are embroidered with Peruvian flags above every home and building, and children and workers wear cockades, or knotted ribbons, with our national colors in remembrance of the day we declared our independence from the Spanish Crown. In preparation for Peru’s July 28th independence celebration, the restaurants bring on more staff because eating in Peru means so much more than just the food.

If you were to walk into a family restaurant on July 28th in Peru, you would notice that people typically order from a set menu with a range of classic Peruvian dishes and you’d hear the magic around you. In the restaurants, the radio combines the sounds of laughter and rejoice with acoustic guitars, wooden boxes as percussion and one man singing his lungs out. If you ask the waiter what that music is, it’s Peruvian creole music. There is neither proper Sunday lunches, nor Peruvian Independence Day celebrations, without feeling the heartbeat of Peruvian culture - creole music. 

Creole music, as we know it today, actually had its roots since the very first time Spaniards set foot on Peruvian soil in the 16th century. As the very word “creole” tells us, musical expression from the European newcomers mixed with their Andean and Peruvian-African counterparts gave us a myriad of creole music adaptations of waltzes, polkas, and our very own Marinera and Tondero. This fusion of sounds and dances naturally extended in almost all forms of cultural expression, including language and food. There has never been any creole food without creole music playing in the background.

Manduco - a quinta turned into an Italian restaurant

Ever since I was a kid growing up in Lima, my dad would tune into Radio Nacional - Lima’s government-owned radio station - at exactly 1 pm as he would call my sister and me for lunch. My best family memories come from sitting down at the table and listening to the same creole music that has been playing in Peru since my grandfather was a kid.

As I remember learning in school, Peruvian creole music had its maximum expression since the 1950s when it brought neighbors and families together in the “quintas”, residential buildings in Lima (featured on the right). They were one-to-two story building with a main central hallway with doors both left and right. 

Night at the Peña dancing Marinera!

Each door lead to single or multi-family units, and in times when radios were not affordable for everyone, families would gather around amateur musicians on weekends at the very end of the hallway to entertain nights in Lima. Creole music lyrics are very creative because they reflect whatever was going on at the neighborhood. It was one of these quintas which saw the late Arturo Zambo Cavero become the icon of Peruvian Creole music he is known today. With “Y Se Llama Peru”, he created a popular anthem which has brought Peruvians together every July 28th. Along with artists like Oscar Aviles, Pepe Torres and Eva Ayllon, he left us a legacy of musical creation that is now tied to the very definition of Peru, and becoming free to form our very own nation.

Times have changed, however, and Lima has changed too. Urban development grew larger and wider in our city, quintas were replaced by apartment buildings and family reunions moved to the now havens of creole music: peñas. Created as a reaction to change, these bars and taverns are special, in the sense that they celebrate what it means to be Peruvian because they play creole and African-Peruvian music as well as serving creole food and drinks, like our acclaimed “Lomo Saltado” and “Pisco Sour”. 

Fun Fact: All street-facing businesses and houses need to have a flag outside during July in Peru!

In today’s day and age, creole music has unfortunately become a dying genre as times and social interactions have changed. Music is more of an individual situation now that services like Spotify and Apple music save us from whatever music is playing on the bus we’re riding after class or work, and so we don’t get to have the connections people had back then, but the holidays and our music always remind us of our traditions and who we are. No matter where you are in the world, you can be sure creole music will bring you tears of joy, knowing that your homeland will be waiting for you when you return.

As a Peruvian born in the 90’s, I’ve been happy to share the changes that I’ve learned and seen regarding our history through the years as well as the traditions that have stayed the same. In July, no meal is complete in Peru without hearing creole music in the background, especially on July 28th. The next time you visit a restaurant, if you listen closely, you’ll hear a little history in the air. 

Do you want to speak to me and my team about studying abroad in Peru? Fill out our Study Abroad Contact Form and we’ll be happy to answer any of your questions!

Our Bourdain Day Tribute

As we pay tribute to the late chef and TV personality, Anthony Bourdain, we are featuring quotes and excerpts from CNN’s Parts Unknown and CNN articles regarding our five locations: Peru, China, Spain, Italy and Canada. Bourdain traveled around the world to share stories of cultures and to bring us all to see the beauty, the reality, the challenges, and most importantly, the food from all these countries and more.

His open, honest approach when explaining and trying local cuisine in the streets of a foreign city, or enjoying a sit-in down Michelin star meals, made us feel like we were also invited into the conversation with locals, famous chefs, or stars from around the world.

Here are five quotes and excepts for our five locations:

“It’s an irritating reality that many places and events defy description…Machu Picchu, for instance, seem[s] to demand silence, like a love affair you can never talk about. For a while after, you fumble for words, trying vainly to assemble a private narrative, an explanation, a comfortable way to frame where you’ve been and whats happened. In the end, you’re just happy you were there- with your eyes open- and lived to see it.” -Anthony Bourdain’s NY-Times Best Seller “The Nasty Bits: Collected Varietal Cuts, Usable Trim, Scraps, and Bones”.

“If you love in Manhattan like I do and you think you live in the center of the world, this place, Shanghai, will confront you with a very different reality. Turn down a side street, it's an ancient culture. A century's old mix of culinary traditions, smells, flavors. A block away…an ultra-modern, ever clanging cash register, levels of wealth, of luxury, a sheer volume of things and services unimagined…” - Parts Unknown, Shanghai.

"It takes a special breed to live in a province like Quebec. It gets cold in winter, and winters are long. It takes a special kind of person for whom frozen rivers, icy wind-whipped streets, deep seemingly endless forests are the norm. I will confess my partisanship up front. I love Montreal. It is my favorite place in Canada. The people who live there are tough…and I admire them for it. Toronto, Vancouver, I love you, but not like Montreal." -Parts Unknown, Montreal.

"Any reasonable, sentient person who looks to Spain, comes to Spain, eats in Spain, drinks in Spain, they're gonna fall in love. Otherwise, there's something deeply wrong with you." -Parts Unknown, Granada.

“As so many have found throughout history, it is easy to fall in love with Rome. She is seductively beautiful. She has endured and survived many things.” Parts Unknown, Rome.

Early in his career, he trained as a professional chef and worked at some of Manhattan’s top restaurants. Later, he went onto write a NY Times Best Seller and tell-all book called “Kitchen Confidential” that takes the reader behind the scenes of the culinary world and into the kitchen. He would later began collaborating with CNN to create TV series that would take us on a wild ride with our crazy Uncle Tony.

Do you want to learn more about food and culture? Definitely check out our blog The Secret Ingredients Behind Peru’s Diverse Culinary Scene!

Three Unknown Phenomenons You Should Know About Chinese New Year

The Chinese zodiac cycles every 12 years with 12 animals, and every year, a new animal starts the Chinese New Year. You can also call Chinese New Year “Spring Festival”, as it marks the beginning of the new year and the beginning of Spring in the traditional Chinese calendar.  

Spring Festival is the most important and popular festival in China. It is a time of year for people in China to mark a new year with traditional celebrations and engage in cultural activities with family.

These are 3 phenomenons you may not have known about Chinese New Year.

1. Enjoy a Large Meal

During Spring Festival, Chinese people get together and have a large dinner on the eve of the Lunar New Year.  Before the festivities actually begin, during the evening before, called Spring Festival Eve, you will see many people set off fireworks and firecrackers.  

This is done with the hope of casting away any bad luck and to bring good luck for the new lunar year. Food items on the menu include dumplings (for most of Northern China) and rice dumplings, these are some of the most traditional foods.  In preparation for this important event, Chinese people usually clean and decorate their houses before Spring Festival.

2. Decorate Accordingly

For Spring Festival, people in China will put New Year paintings on the wall, post poetic verses, like Spring Festival couplets, and decorate with red lanterns.  Traditionally, the color red in China symbolizes success and harmony, which is why there are numerous red decorations during Spring Festival.

In addition, people will place paper-cuttings on main doors or windows for good fortune and prosperities.  The last day of the Spring Festival is called the Lantern Festival. People in China will usually go to parks to see beautiful displays of lanterns, of which there are different stories for each of the lanterns. They play an important part in the traditional celebration of the last day of Spring Festival to bring good luck next year.

3. Exchange Gifts

Chinese New Year lasts for 15 days!  It is an important time for family to be together, give gifts, and send warm greetings to each other.  

A common practice is for children to receive money from their parents and relatives. This money is typically given in a red packet and is meant to symbolize good luck and protection.  It is also very common for children (and some adults) to wear new clothes that they receive as gifts on the first day of Spring Festival.

Chinese New Year is a special time of year for those in China.  It is a time for a fresh start and a happy time to relax and be in the company of family.  Each family may celebrate a bit differently, but there are commonalities throughout China. The most important common thread is to spend and enjoy time with your loved ones.

Curious to learn more about China and how my experience with EdOdyssey changed me? Check out How Chinese Food in China Changed Me Forever!

Peru's Recent History: A Story of Struggles and Growth

Peru’s Recent History: From Terrorism To Triumph

Peru continues to go through a tremendous transformation that has taken the country from terrorism to triumph within the last almost forty years. Although Peru has struggled with political corruption and scandals within recent memory, on the whole, it has emerged as an economic powerhouse in South America. Along with economic growth, Peru’s expanding middle class has improved life for its people while transportation and services can vary depending on where you are in big cities like Lima.

Through EdOdyssey, we want to show you that despite Peru’s history of terrorism and most recent stint of political controversy, there has been an advance in development that has helped neighborhoods grow and prosper. From the bustling city center into the more humble neighborhoods, you will learn about how the atmosphere in Peru, and especially in Lima, has evolved and changed drastically during the last three decades.

Late 20th Century Terrorism, Recent Corruption

In the 1980’s and 1990’s, a reign of terrorism controlled and disrupted Peru. The Shining Path, a terrorist movement for the last two decades of the 20th century, rallied indigenous people from the countryside and poorer areas to engage in terrorist acts against civilians and the government. During that twenty year span, the armed supporters of the Shining Path took part in bombings and assassinations that went from more remote areas to major cities, such as Lima. Some estimates have shown that there were more than 60,000 deaths reported as a result of the Shining Path, according to the NY Times, which one of the highest death tolls from any terrorist group in the history of the America’s.

Former President Alberto Fujimori Credit: University of Houston - Clear Lake

In the 1990’s, President Alberto Fujimori pushed back against the group through unilateral, illegal orders ranging from kidnappings to assassinations of Shining Path members. Additionally, he used public money to fight the insurgency of the group that did contribute to weakening the power of the terrorist group, but his unethical tactics broke the law. His controversial decisions during his presidency ultimately put him in jail where he continues to serve a prison sentence that was given in the early 2000’s.

President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski during his short-lived presidency.

Credit: perureports.com

Despite Fujimori’s daring politics, his presidency began a time of construction and transformation in Peru that also highlights Peru’s continued struggle with political corruption within recent years. The most recent example comes from the controversy of one of the most recent presidents, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, which brought him to resign as president in May 2018 - less than twenty months into his presidency.

His company advised and received funds from a Brazilian construction company, Odebrecht, that laundered money to electoral campaigns. Despite Peru’s political controversy surrounding their presidents, the country has seen significant growth in the middle class.

21st Century: Lima On The Rise

Lima has seen an increase in public transport that has helped the middle class grow tremendously within the last few years. According to Andina, a Peruvian news source, the middle class has grown eight percent from 2011 to 2015. In order to support this growing class, Lima continues to build out new transportation, including a new metro line.

This second subway line shows the Peruvian capital’s dedication to public infrastructure as it has invested heavily with over five million dollars to expand on its existing transportation. From one subway line to two subway lines, the country has committed its biggest investments in the country’s history, according to the World Bank.

This new metro line that aims to open in 2022 will serve over two million people, according to PeruReports, which shows that the country’s capital continues to grow and expand. The growth of the metro and bus lines in the city center will help continue to serve the community as Peru continues to gain economic strength in South America.

Don’t you want to get a look into the future of one of South America’s fastest developing cities before it’s finished? Do you want to see a real look some different neighborhoods?

The silver buses service the city center.

Credit: metropoliano.com.pe

Along the same lines, the buses in Lima show that even the bus lines indicate both an area of growth as well as identifiers of class and wealth. The Metropolitano, Lima’s public bus system (as seen on the right), provides quick and easy access for over half a million workers daily to get to/from work in more of central and generally wealthier parts of the city.

The yellow buses cover Northern & Southern Lima.

Credit: APLN

During your trip, you will get a chance to see the central area of Lima that the Metropolitano services as well as the more developing areas where the Alimentadora makes stops. In the past, we’ve taken student groups to a local orphanage in Villa El Salvador, one of the Lima’s developing neighbors, to complete a day of service out of solidarity. As a part of our custom programs, we have allowed our student groups to go out and serve local communities to see how people live in different parts of the city.

Do you want to witness the growth of some of the newest, most up-and-coming infrastructure in both North and South America? Are you curious to learn more about Peru as it continues to rise?

If you want to get a better idea about us and our programs, check us out across all of our social media!

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Sources:

Andina, Agencia. “Peru's Middle-Class Accounts for One-Third of the Population.” News  ANDINA - Peru News Agency, andina.pe/ingles/noticia-perus-middleclass-accounts-for-onethird-of-the-population-618120.aspx

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Alberto Fujimori.” Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 24 July 2018, www.britannica.com/biography/Alberto-Fujimori.

“Delays for Lima Metro Line 2 Postpone Opening Date to 2022.” Perú Reports, Perú Reports, 20 Sept. 2017, perureports.com/lima-metro-line-2-delays-postpone-opening-date/5498/.

Forero, Juan. “Peru Report Says 69,000 Died in 20 Years of Rebel War.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 29 Aug. 2003, www.nytimes.com/2003/08/29/world/peru-report-says-69000-died-in-20-years-of-rebel-war.html

Hollar, Sherman. “Pedro Pablo Kuczynski.” Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 29 Sept. 2018, www.britannica.com/biography/Pedro-Pablo-Kuczynski.

“Lima Urban Transport: On the Way to Transformation.” The World Bank, The World Bank, www.worldbank.org/en/topic/transport/brief/connections-note-22.