Peru — Stories — TCK TOWN

I taught my friends bachata in the middle of Manchester. My worlds were colliding…

I don’t have a filter when it comes to talking about wanting to leave America…

Where Are You From?By Molly Kaitlin (From Peru, Costa Rica, Minnesota & Florida. Living in Tennessee)5 December 2020TCK TOWN, Tck, TCK, America, Peru, transfer student, international school, exchange students, Florida, Minnesota, Costa Rica, belonging, Central America, South America Comments

Letting Go of Everything but My Memories

0 years from now, I will have forgotten the way the mountains looked from my window in Costa Rica and how people grilled outside on weekends at the pulperia across the street…

MovingBy Molly Kaitlin (From Peru, Costa Rica, Minnesota & Florida. Living in Tennessee)30 September 2020TCK, TCK TOWN, third culture adult, third culture kid, Peru, Lima, moving, friends, moving countries, Costa Rica, Minnesota, USA, life, past, remember, memories Comment

Christmas, Costa Rica and Change

he busy streets normally filled with cars were replaced with loud, colorful parades…

Was It All a Dream?

The fog was heavy over the city, and the morning doves softly sang their tunes repeatedly…

GoodbyeBy Molly Kaitlin (From Peru, Costa Rica, Minnesota & Florida. Living in Tennessee)29 April 2020Lima, Peru, Dream, Nostalgia, familiar, TCK TOWN, third culture kid, Third Culture Adult, ocean, sadness, memoryComment

Hope and Healing in Flores de Villa

As a child who grew up in a suburban bubble in Minnesota, coming to Flores de Villa was shocking. I was unaware of the poverty that existed, and to see it first-hand changed me forever...

A Love Letter To My Community

I had kept my story to myself because it’s uncomfortable, and people never knew what to say…

CommunityBy Molly Kaitlin (From Peru, Costa Rica, Minnesota & Florida. Living in Tennessee)1 February 2020TCK, TCK TOWN, friendship, friends, community, moving, moving countries, Peru, Peruvian, USA, American, America, story, sharing, healing, TennesseeComment

Pachamanca - The Inca Mountain Meal

To call it just a meal trivializes it. It’s an event, a ceremony even…

FoodBy Molly Kaitlin (From Peru, Costa Rica, Minnesota & Florida. Living in Tennessee)14 December 2019TCK, TCK TOWN, Tck, third culture kid, food, eat, meals, meal, Peruvian, Peru, Inca, mountains, lunch, culture, cultures, travelComment

I Am Not a Tourist Here

I knew that people could look at us and know we were not from there, yet I tried desperately to fit in in this place that I called home...

Self Worth, SchoolBy Molly Kaitlin (From Peru, Costa Rica, Minnesota & Florida. Living in Tennessee)28 October 2019hometown, language, third language, self-worth, local, home, third culture kid, perspectives, school, tourists, TCK TOWN, Tck, TCK, PeruComment

Leaving Home While Standing Still

I don’t know how to stay and invest in a city long-term. I’m panicking because there is no reason to go, there is no goodbye coming and because this is foreign…

Past the Point of Resilience

I never thought that this change I loved so much would betray me. When my dad started talking, tears ran down my face as I soaked in his words and tried to make sense of what he was saying. We were leaving Peru in three days. No one in Peru knew we were leaving...

ResilienceBy Molly Kaitlin (From Peru, Costa Rica, Minnesota & Florida. Living in Tennessee)27 April 2019TCK, TCK TOWN, Tck, Peru, Minnesota, Tennessee, suitcase, change, goodbye, moving, culture shock, home Comments

Leaving Cities & Cities Behind

My mind practices the process of letting go, adapting to change and saying goodbye continuously…

The Ocean Grounds Me

I miss waking up to the salty air and seeing the small dots of surfers on the water paddling out to catch a wave back in…

WaterBy Molly Kaitlin (From Peru, Costa Rica, Minnesota & Florida. Living in Tennessee)2 January 2019TCK TOWN, TCK, Tck, Minnesota, Lima, Peru, Ocean, Costa Rica, paradise, city, home, reminisceComment

Talk Cities to Me

My friends asked me why I went out with him at all, knowing that he wasn’t from here. I said that’s why I was attracted to him…

The Women of Flores De Villa

Scattered houses of veneer boards and rusty tin sheets pressed against each other along streets full of dust, are filled with abuse, heartbreak and pain…

WomanBy Piyadasa Hettihewa. (Father and Grandfather of TCKs. From Sri Lanka. Living in Thalawathugoda)26 May 2018TCK, tck, TCK TOWN, third culture kid, cultures, culture, women, woman, woman of colour, women's rights, violence against women, Peru, Peruvian, bravery, poem, poetryComment

Dancing Feels Like Home

Dancing is everywhere in Peru; it’s a way to share history and tell stories. The country is rich in traditional dances, and I grew to love this part of Peruvian culture. It didn't matter that I was never very good at it...

The Faces and Places of Past Perú

We left the taxis that were everywhere, and we left the skyscrapers that gave the most incredible views of the vast city. We left the live music in the park where you could dance with other couples, smiling and laughing, not caring that you were stepping on your partner's feet...