As I sit back in Sheffield procrastinating from a dissertation, it feels a good time to reflect upon the last couple of months. I've been privileged enough to spend much of it in Lobitos, Northern Peru. It is a vastly different place to back home in the UK (I'm not just talking about the weather - though that was a pleasant change), and having the experience to volunteer for a local NGO, EcoSwell, has illuminated a lot of things to me. In many ways, my time in Lobitos is the closest I've come ( so far? ) to living in a different country - even then six weeks is a drop in the ocean. It is a tendency of holidaymakers to romanticise life abroad because, well, usually you're there on holiday and any break from regular working life is welcome. It is invariably the same for me, as frequently I was surrounded by other Western volunteers, but Lobitos' remoteness made it feel more culturally immersive than other trips abroad. First and foremost, it was striking to see the i...