Details

• Peru
• BaWiSo-19
• Undergraduate
• WS 2025
• Time spent at the partner university: 4 months

1. Preparation

I want to touch upon three important areas: Vaccienes, Clothes and Cash. Vaccienes are the most serious topic. There are some sicknesses you might want to get vaccinated agains before your stay in Perú. These include Yellow Fewer, Dengue Fever and Rabies. You might not encounter all these diseases in Lima, but you will most propably run at risk of infection when travelling around Latinoamerica. It is important to realize that Dengue Fever and Yellow Fever can not be vaccinatet in paralell which means that you need a combined preperation period of about 3 months to get fully vaccinated. Regarding rabies I want you to think about two things when contemplating if you should get vaccinated or not: 1. Rabies has a fatality rate of ~99% in unvaccinated individuals. 2. Emergency serum against rabies is NOT commonly available in Latinoamerica. You encounter it in some metropolitan hospitals, but can never be sure if they have it in stock... You will encounter street dogs in cities and you will encounter bats in the jungle, both are common carriers of rabies, so please protect yourself against this desease. Clothing in Lima is relatively simple. You can leave your shorts and tshirts at home, because most of the time temperatures are typical hoody+long pants weather. And if you ever need short clothes, you can buy them cheap for quite good quality here (Lima is home to the biggest textile & clothing hub in south america called Gamarra). What is much more important is that you pack your high quality hiking gear. This is the stuff you will love yourself for bringing it and hate yourself if you didn't! Cash is king on this continent. In places like Lima you will find ATMs that let you withdraw money without fees (Multired ATMs by Banco de la Nación), however in other countries like Ecuador or Bolivia you need cash to survive. So take a good amount with you (1.000EUR e.g.).. and no fear, no one will rob you on the way from the airport to your apartment.

2. Accommodation

Accomodation search is tedious and quite unorganized. If you manage to arrange with a few friends, I think Airbnb has good offers for shared living. If you plan to live in a student house, I recommend the Boluma houses (Boluma 4 I know is really nice). Avoid so called Casa Madrid. This house has black fungus everywhere, the kitchen is underequipped and the land lord not realizing his responsibilities. I personally stayed in an Airbnb in Barranco and absolutely loved it. If you need the contact to a lady with appartments for rent in Barranco, feel free to let me know. I would suggest you to live in the northern parts of Barranco or the southern parts of Surco, if you do not want to live in the middle of the polished and (in my eyes) rather unauthentic tourist centre Miraflores. It is a bit of a ride to the campus of the UP, but that's part of the game, because you really don't want to live in the campus' district Jesus María. Generally, you want to stay in the districts Barranco, Miraflores and San Isidro. These are the safest ones. As a rule of thumb, it gets spicier (as the locals refer to dangerous) the further you move away from those districts. Especially at night this is a bad idea. In my opinion Barranco is the best place to live. You have amazing restaurants, markets, nice bars and sports venues all in close proximity.

3. Academic life at host university

The UP has a nice campus that will remind you of the WU in terms of modernism and vast window walls. As the english courses are mainly taught by industry professionals, you can expect a very hands-on approach to the class material. Still, the lecturers are top tier with agribusiness entrepreneurs or ex CEOs of Cabify Perú. They have a lot of valuable knowledge to share and I learned a lot!

5. Every day life in the host country

Everyday life is quite beautiful in Lima. Mostly you get around with Taxis through apps like Yango or inDrive (Uber also works but is mostly more expensive). Buses are an adventure :D! Generally the districts of Barranco, Miraflores and San Isidro are safe. BUT, we are in Latinoamerica. Stay vigilant and don't run around with Gucci sunglasses and Omega watches. Act conciously with common sense and nothing will happen. Sports is my favourite topic propably. It is incredible what kind of padel infrastructure they have here! But the best thing about Lima, and you definitely need to at least try it, is surfing! I found great friends and amazing teachers at the Playa Makaha just in front of Miraflores. If you go there, skip the first schools (the owners are all sketchy and can't surf) and head to one of the last schools called "SurfOn" from Fernando aka "Chanchito". When you get there, tell him best wishes from Lukas and enjoy some of the best surf lessons you will get on the beach! I also want to tell you that Lima may not be the beach paradise you envision on the pacific coast, because most beaches are pure rock beaches. There are only two sand beaches in the south of Lima, namely Playa los Yuyos and Playa Agua Dulce. Parties are ubiquitous, also thanks to the student union at UP!

6. Testimonial

This was one of the best times of my life. After visiting Latinoamerica through the ISP in Buenos Aires the year prior, I finally came back and got to know a new part of this continent. I fell in love with surf and the peruvian cuisine in Lima, enjoyed every step above 4.000masl in the Bolivian andes, fell in love with horseback riding in the ecuatorian volcano region and got to feel the magic flair of Rio de Jainero... what a resume! This continent has so much to offer and opened my eyes to many perspectives I would have never grasped if wouldn't have come here. If you are ready for some action and want to get to know a different way of life, this is the place to come. Enjoy it as much as I did!