My family comes to visit me 1-2 times a year, and to be honest, it’s all fun and games until they wanna go to Ross for the 89th time and stop by Burlington after. Balancing school and having your family around can be hard, but it is possible (even if you’re in finals).

One thing you can’t forget is to communicate with them. Let them know when you need time to study and try to plan activities around your schedule. That way you can enjoy spending time with them without falling behind on classes and homework.

One of the things my family likes to do is eat out, but since we all come from Peru, the country with the “best gastronomy in the world,” it can be really hard to impress them. Mexican? Too spicy. Italian? Only if they can make tallarines a la huancaina. Peruvian? Doesn’t really taste the same. Even fast food doesn’t taste the same to them. And to be honest, I’ve definitely adjusted to the food here. But they haven’t, and their taste buds know it.

You know what never misses tho? Cheesecake Factory. The bread that they give you at the beginning, the variety of things on their menu, and of course THE CHEESECAKE. Going to the Cheesecake Factory has become one of our rituals every time they come.

Another one of our rituals, as I already said, is going to Ross. The last time I decided to drop them off and just pick them up whenever they were done. After a while, I got worried, thinking they couldn’t send me a message; maybe there was no signal?. Mind you, by this time it had probably been 1-2 hours, and they still hadn’t told me they were done. So I go to Ross, I call them…”Yeah we will be done in like 30 minutes.” I wait. When they come out, it seems like they have left Ross empty. I don’t even think I have enough space in my car for all of these things. This process will repeat about 5-6 times in the whole trip.

And then it comes…the goodbye. It is sad, but the sadness is overpowered by the 35 pounds of overweight in each luggage. It’s a mix of fights, tears, and a lot of new stuff I get to keep because the bag is too heavy. In the end, having my family here is a blessing, and I wouldn’t change it for the world.