Helena Hengelbrok - Bridge Year Peru
For the past five years, I have lived in Berlin, Germany with my parents and three younger sisters. Having a German and an American parent, I’ve grown up with a blend of two cultures. Along the way, the traditions of the other countries we’ve lived in, namely, Switzerland, Poland, The Netherlands, and Belgium, have joined the mix. I recently graduated from the John F. Kennedy School, where I helped organize MUN conferences and was active in HIV/AIDS education, theater, student government, and NHS, among others. I enjoy running, cooking, playing volleyball, and exploring Berlin with my friends. Two of my main goals are to live in all six inhabited continents and to work as a pediatrician in underprivileged countries. I am extremely excited to live in South America and work in Urubamba, where I hope to gain cultural awareness and have lots of adventures. I am also determined to return home completely fluent in Spanish and master of a few traditional Peruvian dishes.
Posted Apr 26, 2012
It’s 3:00pm, half an hour before we’ll begin, and already the first bunch of kids comes running up to the building we’ve taken over. A quick greeting, “¡HolaProfe Helena!”and then they scatter, some to play in the nearby soccer field, others to sneak a peek into my bag of supplies to figure out what we’re doing today. “¡Van a ver!“You’ll see!” I say, as I shove open the ancient, ornery wooden doors, unhinge the shutters of the giant windows, and watch as light floods into the rooms...
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Posted Dec 29, 2011
“¡Ven a intermedio! Ya tienes el ritmo, no es tan difícil!” (“Come to intermediate! You’ve got the rhythm; it’s not that hard!”) said Raymi, the resident Salsa teacher in Urubamba after my second “basico” class. Hesitantly, I agreed to stay, my nervousness abetted by his confidence and my desire to learn the graceful figures I had seen in Salsa dancing. Yet from the moment the Salsa music started, I felt hopelessly lost.