Andrew J. Nalian's Blog

I am so sorry I have not been able to write in my blog for the past couple of days! Wednesday and Thursday, I just relaxed because I had to save money for the weekend – MACHU PICCHU!!!!! Fortunately, the plane situation from the last post worked out, and Gabriel and I both made it to Cusco.

We arrived in the beautiful city of Cusco around noon, and then took a taxi straight to our Hostel, Hostel Loki. If anyone ever plans on staying in a Hostel in Peru and you want to have a crazy time with pe...

Gringo(/ˈɡrɪŋɡoʊ/,Spanish:[ˈgɾiŋgo],Portuguese:[ˈgɾĩgu]) is aslangSpanishandPortugueseword used in South America, to denote foreigners, often from the United States. The term can be applied to someone who is actually a foreigner, or it can denote a strong association or assimilation into foreign (particularly US) society and culture.

In Spanish it does not have a negative connotation.Roger Axtell, a travel etiquette expert, notes that “[t]he word gringo is not necessarily a bad word. It is sla...

Day 4

Hello! With a really crazy weekend, I was getting a little behind on the blog. I decided that I will lump together my fourth and fifth day so I don’t get behind. Oh where oh where do I start!? Also, if you have been reading my blogs every day, you may notice that the way I have been talking is starting to change. I am starting to have trouble when I talk in English because I am getting used to the way sentences are constructed in Spanish. I have been challenging myself to talk in Spanish...

Hola mis amigos! I am sorry it took me so long to write my blog for my third day. On Friday, I did two different activities that are on complete opposite sides of the spectrum. I will start with when I woke up. My friends Fernando and Gracia wanted me to go to a rave with them that night, but I had to buy my ticket. I ended up walking to the mall and asking for directions to the store to buy the ticket all by myself. This is my way of getting around. Lo siento, pero mi espanol is muy mal. Pue...

Hola mis amigos!

It is almost 8:00 P.M. and I am getting ready to go to a new city called Miraflores. I am not sure if I am staying the night there or not, so I wanted to write a post before I left in case I couldn’t get back to my laptop. Today, I had a breakfast full of fruit, which is pictured below. This fruit is called Tuna, but it is not fish. In Peru, they call Tuna fish Tun. This Tuna that is pictured below is actually different parts of a cactus. All three colors are from the same cac...

Day 1

Morning

Hello everyone! I arrived safe and sound in Peru at about 1:00 A.M. on May 29th, 2013. My friend Gabriel, who I met when I was working in Vermont, was nice enough to pick me up from the airport and let me stay in his home with his family for the duration of my trip. When we got to his house, we took a little walk around the block so I can learn where I am. I did not know that Peru had a lot of mini casinos on the street! On Gabe’s street alone, there were two casinos that were s...

About four or five months ago, I found out about a company entitled SOLO (stand out live original). They are a clothing company that pushes a very simple question, “How are you going to stand out and live original?” We have created a wonderful partnership, and have done a few volunteering events together, with much more to come in the future. The reason we came together is because they noticed that I am making a very strong effort to stand out and live the way I want to live, in my own form.

W...

Today, I delved into a new book titled The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin. Gretchen, you have inspired me to write another blog. Being only one chapter in this book, I am already inspired. The concept of this book is simple, yet so rewarding. “How can I make myself a happier person?” In a 2006 study, eighty-four percent of Americans ranked themselves as either ‘pretty happy’ or ‘very happy,’ and in a survey of over forty countries, on average, people put themselves at a 7 on a 1 to 10 s...

In the past six months, my life has gone in a direction I never believed was possible. I have built wonderful relationships with individuals who I never thought I would talk to, and have been a listening ear and a role-model to people I’d never expect. With this new life path, I have had individuals open up to me in ways I’d never believe, having talks about overcoming rejection, stepping out of your comfort zone, to even talking people out of harmful situations. I realized that some of my ad...

Join The Deed Army! This is where you can submit the quote that you wrote, the deed that you did, and the story that you have. If you have any pictures or videos, send them here. Don’t be afraid to be creative. I may use your deed, quote, and story to be featured in my next book!

In the boxes below, type your name, email, and location your deed was done. Then, in the large box, share your own inspirational quote, the good deed you have done, and your story! Your story can be an inspirational s...