Work trips can be rather monotonous.

You might go to exotic places, but it's hard to really experience your surroundings.

Well, this was not the case for Maria Elizabeth Soto.

When her office sent her to China in 2014, it was her first trip to Asia.

The cultural shock that felt to travel to China was very big.

She also never imagined that in her search for familiar experiences in that unfamiliar country,

she would change the course of her life.

Welcome to the Duolingo Spanish podcast, where we bring you true bilingual stories

of travels with unexpected turns, plans unraveled, and destinations unknown.

The Spanish in this story is for intermediate-level learners,

but if you get lost, don't worry, we'll be chiming in throughout the story.

Here's Maria.

I was happy and calm, but when I went to Wuhan in China,

I started the surprises and unexpected.

Before leaving the airport, Maria experienced her first setback.

Her suitcase had gotten lost, and the paperwork to find it was in Chinese.

Fortunately, a translator helped her with the claim, and he assured her that her luggage would arrive later.

In China, without a fresh set of clothes, and a full day of work ahead of her,

Maria already felt lost.

She had to go to a commercial center to buy clothes from work.

The commercial center was a huge and very authentic construction.

The building was gold, with giant letters, golden letters.

...