Worst thing about me was fixed in Ecuador, OLEY!
Hello, there! Yes yes yes, I made it all the way from a small old city Bethlehem, Palestine to Ecuador. Let me tell you first a little about myself. My name is Aleen Masoud, a 22-year-old Masters student in Arts, Business and Creativity at Newcastle University. I started playing the violin at the age of 10 at Edward Said National Conservatory for Music and at the age of 18, outside of my bathroom’s door, I started singing too. You can say I’m a traveler too, but never thought I’d travel to South America in my life. So, how did I end up there?
I decided that I wanted to do something special before the stress that I knew it’s coming in my life. So, I started googling; fun things to do before being a student, again. And guess what I got? NOTHING useful! So, after spending time thinking, I knew what I needed was a new cultural experience plus doing something fruitful to the society; Yup, that’s called volunteering. Back to googling, I read about Performing Arts Abroad (PAA) and that was exactly what I needed. I did a music internship for 4 weeks and not only that, I made friends, became part of a family, saw beauty itself and gained weight, Duh!
I was excited but more nervous. Especially that my mom was stressing me out more, thinking that I might get kidnapped (After watching a movie called Snatched), ill or worst-case scenario die. I took the risk because that what life is about so, on 16th June 2017, I arrived at Quito. I must tell you that every single thing with PAA is very organized. After 2 days of sight-seeing, it was time to meet my host family and start the program, where I did it at SINAMUNE institute.
Now we are getting into the point, worst thing about me is knowing directions, which I’m horrible at! I travelled around the world from UK, touring around the States, Europe and around the Middle East too. But the problem, I always used to depend on others when traveling. I was only a follower and I would always say, ‘I don’t know, you do it, you organize guys, if you depend on me we’d get lost’. And voilà, it was only me, myself and I on this trip. And to be honest, I never thought I’d manage. Guess what? I never even got lost! I have to admit that this experience made me know more about me, my abilities and the person I want to become in the future. And made me absolutely ready for my next step at Newcastle and knowing even if I get lost I can manage, I am INDEPENDENT!
Quick advices:
- Don’t pack that much, you won’t need it.
- Make sure to break your money into $1,5,10.
- Learn some Spanish, por favor!
- Always have an open mind and heart.
- Drink enough water.
- 4 weeks is not enough, go for a minimum of 8 weeks.
- Don’t think about love there, just enjoy your moments.
- Must dance Salsa with a local. Back to the previous point, it’s not love, you’re just dancing.
- Be careful, same in any country you travel to.
- If you care about your shape, lose weight before going there.
- Have fun!