An insider’s view

Batterton (Spanish ’09)
Photo by Michael Bailey.

“I learned more in those six months than I’d learned in the whole four years of Spanish I’d taken before that,” Jessica Batterton (Spanish ’09) says after spending six months in Peru. “I’d never been taught by native speakers before. It makes a big difference.”

Improving her language skills was the main reason Batterton chose to spend the spring 2007 semester at Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú in Lima. While most undergraduates are reluctant to devote an entire semester to studying abroad, this Spanish major wanted more than an outsider’s view of the country. She wanted to become a part of the place. “I wanted to really get to know the country,” Batterton says. “[U.Va.] Professor [Jorge] Secada said he wanted the program to be about studying in the country, not studying about the country. I wanted to be able to integrate into the community and the culture, not just be a visitor.”

Batterton did become part of the community, studying Latin American literature, Peruvian culture and Quechua (one of Peru’s national languages) in regular university classes with Peruvian professors and students. She lived with a Peruvian family who referred to her as “daughter.” And she developed friendships as deep as any she’s made at U.Va.

“The people I hung out with there were just like the friends I hang out with here,” she says. “I would go to their houses and meet their families. My friend’s grandma taught me how to make all these Peruvian dishes. I think that’s the thing I liked the most. It was a great feeling … that integration with them. I ended up making really good friends.”