Ryan Holderby, a Magoffin native and current junior at Morehead State University, studying education, makes sure not to waste his college years just sitting in a classroom, opting instead to take as many opportunities as possible to travel, recently spending 12 weeks in Peru.
In his second international trip through school, Holderby spent 12 weeks in Cusco, Peru, working with an after school program ran by the National Police of Peru, helping children from low socio-economic backgrounds with their homework and teaching an English class while he was there.
Holderby said the language barrier definitely made some aspects of the trip difficult, but he took Spanish classes while he was there and used Google Translate a lot, noting that eventually he didn’t need to use the translation app much, but said his Spanish was still “intermediate.”
“There were people from other countries, too,” Holderby said about the program. “I worked with people from Germany and Denmark – really all over.”
Previously, Holderby took a 10-day trip to South Korea through a scholarship for the study abroad program at MSU, so for his next trip, he said cost was the main thing he had to consider, but he also looked at the nearby attractions to help make his decision.
“I could have gone to Japan, Costa Rica – so many places,” Holderby explained. “I had already been to Asia, and the time difference (with Peru) was just 1 hour, so I could communicate with people back home and take classes while I was there. There were a lot of things I could see and places I could go to.”
His parents flew down to visit him, their first time out of the continent, during his 12-week trip, going to Machu Picchu, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, as well as the Amazon Rainforest, Lake Titicaca, the largest lake in South America, and explored the plaza. Cusco was the capital of the Incan Empire until the Spanish expedition conquered it, so they were able to explore the archaeological remains and Spanish colonial architecture.
While his parents were there visiting, Holderby said they even brought a little Salyersville to Peru.
“Dad was sitting on a bench, waiting on me to finish at the after school program, and he started watching Your News Today in front of the cathedral,” Holderby laughed, referring to Salyersville Independent owner and publisher Ritt Mortimer’s local television news program. “There he is in this beautiful, history-rich city and he’s watching Ritt!”
Holderby said his recent international trip will not be his last.
“They told me when it all started last year, ‘Do it one time and you’ll want to do it, again.’” Holderby said.
Though his parents were worried about his safety being in another country, he said they were so supportive of him and he kept in touch to help ease their worries.
“The study abroad coordinator’s wife was Peruvian, and I did my research, so I knew it was a very safe city,” Holderby said. “It’s a city about the size of Lexington and I had no issues with safety while I was down there. It’s the perfect place to go for that amount of time.”
With two international trips under his belt, Holderby said his goal is to travel to every continent, excluding Antarctica just for practicality, noting he would especially like to see Italy.
He also encouraged other students to consider the study abroad program at their schools.
“Go to the study abroad office and talk to the coordinator,” Holderby encouraged. “I heard of the Korea trip when a guy came into one of my classes talking about it, so I went to the office to talk, but the guy told me I probably couldn’t do that trip, but then he called me about a scholarship. I went for absolutely no money, and it would have cost $4,000. I paid for Peru, but I worked the semester before and 12 weeks there cost the same as one week somewhere else.”
He recommended students start with a trip set for a small period of time first, noting the culture shock can be too much for people on longer trips starting out.
About the cultural differences, he said Peru reminded him a lot of here, with kind people.
“If an elderly person or someone with a baby gets on a bus, it’s customary there to give your seat to them,” Holderby said.
While he said the people were always so nice and considerate there, the real culture shock came to the traffic.
“The traffic was so congested and there are no highways, so all the drivers have road rage,” Holderby said. “They even have signs up saying, ‘no honking.’ People are always so nice and thinking of each other, but the rage comes out when they’re driving!”
He said between the traffic and how fast people speak Spanish there, it took him a week to know how to get around, but the cost of living was very cheap, so Uber and bus rides were affordable and easily accessible, giving him access to more sites.
As far as wanting to teach in other countries after he graduates college, Holderby said he believes he would like to stay in the U.S. to live and work, but continue to travel.
“Traveling to other places, you see how fortunate we are to live in America,” he said. “With every trip you take, your view of the world changes. Kentucky is such a small part of the world and I am grateful to live in the U.S.”
