Hello and welcome! Many of you are likely reading this post because I texted or emailed you the link. Others may have found the link on social media, and there may even be someone who stumbles on the site long after I’ve stopped posting. To all my readers, thank you for being here. When writing a blog (I say this as if I’m a veteran, but this is my first personal blog post, ever), there’s definitely a sense of speaking into the void, so please feel free to like or comment. My purpose in writing these posts is multifold (more on that later), but one is definitely to update friends and family on my travels, so if there is something I can add, answer, or clarify to make these posts more exciting, please ask. If your questions are related to my project, bonus points!
For those who don’t know me, a (very brief) introduction… my name is Emily and I am a recent graduate of Bowdoin College (2020). While I entered college with an interest in computer science and engineering, this liberal arts education churned out a neuroscience and anthropology graduate with aspirations of working as a doctor. In March of 2020, I was awarded a Watson Fellowship to travel internationally and work independently on a project entitled Contextualizing Wellness: An Exercise in Narrative Medicine. On the fellowship website, my project biography reads:
“I will use narrative as a tool to explore personal health. Engaging with both care providers and patients I will observe how sociocultural forces shape an individual's health story, broadening my understanding of healthcare as I aspire to be an effective care provider.”In more words, I would say I am venturing out to learn more about personal notions of health and well-being, and how personal health narratives are shaped by culture, religion, geography, economy, and space. I am curious how these orientations to “health” shape the care we seek as patients and the care those we entrust as practitioners to provide for us.I plan to use narrative and storytelling as a way of connecting with others. The confusing and beautiful reality of a Watson fellowship is that the project itself morphs throughout the year, and I can guarantee what I undertake in the year ahead will be very different from the contents of my original project proposal. That being said, check out my Project Arch section (coming soon!) for a more cohesive and up-to-date look at how I see my project unfolding and fitting into its overarching theme.
On January 28th, 2022, 18 months behind schedule, I boarded a plane to Perú and jumpstarted my project by serving as a Spanish translator for a medical mission trip to the Peruvian Amazon (more on this later, too). Now, I am just over two weeks into my year abroad, but the stories I’ve accumulated in the travels to date could fill many posts.
Before getting into the details, I want to frame the purpose of this blog and what you can expect and not expect to see documented here. As mentioned above, my primary goal is to update friends and family. There are many people across many time zones whom I hold close to my heart, and I wish I had the time, energy, and cell reception to update you all individually. Unfortunately, it’s not possible. So here you’ll find what should sound somewhat like letters home: recaps of my travels, highs and lows of my week, lessons learned, and more. If we don’t know each other super well, but you’re inclined to read along, that's cool too! Maybe we met somewhere along my fellowship year and you're curious to see what I’ve been up to (or will be up to!); whoever you are, if you’ve made it to this blog, I likely consider you a friend and am grateful we connected whenever and wherever we did. I also want to use this space as a platform for myself, to reflect on my experiences, both personal and project-related, as I constantly assess and re-direct the course of my project year. And finally, I hope to use this space to share bits and pieces about my project (the reason I’m here!) with you all. Frankly, this is the piece that brings me the most hesitation, and is the reason behind why I have dragged my feet on getting started with these posts. How can I do justice to the experiences I’ve had in a succinct enough way to communicate it to someone on the other side of the world? What is OK to share on an online platform?
For those who know me (especially those who studied abroad with me), it will come as no surprise that the covers of travel journal are already bowed from the receipts, tickets, and pamphlets I’ve taped inside. Speckled between these momentos are my honest and earnest reflections and accounts of my experiences, for my eyes only. This blog, however, is a public platform. While I do want to keep everyone updated on my project endeavors, what's most important is to acknowledge and honor the privacy of those who I encounter and who are gracious enough to share their stories with me. As a white American (i.e. citizen of the United States of America, since “American” can mean many things in the Americas!) traveling the world, I carry enormous privilege to each space I enter, which will undoubtedly affect the interactions and exchanges I have wherever I go. It will be the privilege of a lifetime to be trusted and accepted by others who trust in me. Therefore, you will not find names, stories, or photographs of locals without their knowledge and consent. There may be gaps in the chronological time of my project, holes in reporting on or vague mentions of project content, and this is why.
Now, if you’ve made it to the end of this post, and are still here, thank you. I find myself sitting and writing on a bench in Miraflores, a neighborhood in Lima, about 1,000 kilometers northwest of where I planned to be hiking in the Colca Canyon today. Why did I end up here? Stay tuned! My next post will jump into the highs and lows of my first two weeks.