Chile: thankful for such a unique learning experience Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

3 of my courses were at the IES center and only American students took them. They were all in Spanish, however, the professors took into account that Spanish is not our primary language and spoke slower in the beginning and gradually speeding up to their normal talking speed. The workload for these classes was generally less than classes in the US. I took one class in the local Chilean university and it was really difficult, even for Chilean students according to my professor. I was the only foreign student in the class (except for a girl from Barcelona, Spain but at least the language barrier was significantly less for her). However, there were a lot more distractions from schoolwork, such as exploring and traveling in a new country and living with a Chilean host family. Because of that, I fell behind in some of my classes and had to work extra hard to catch up, which was a very stressful part of my study abroad semester. The grading system is on a different scale but it just depends on if the class you took is more advanced or an intro class. I would recommend study abroad students to take mostly intro classes because I took an upper level class in Social Work (which is not my major but sounded interesting) and I regretted it because I was not at the same level of preparation as the other students...I didn't think too much before choosing to take the class. On the bright side, I really enjoyed the 3 classes I took at the IES center: Spanish Grammar, Medical Spanish and a Clinical Observation Internship at the University Hospital. It gave me a bunch of opportunities I never would have had otherwise.

On-site administration of your program

My program center in Santiago was really great! They always were there to talk to if something was bothering me (culture shock, academics, host family issues, etc) and they helped me a great deal over the course of the semester. The biggest example of this is when I needed help and advice when my class at the university got really difficult and emotionally taxing. The academic advisor of the IES Santiago center was a very helpful resource. The program also provided us with a day trip to Valparaiso and Vina del Mar, beautiful port cities on the coast of Chile, and an optional weekend trip to Chiloe, an island in Chile's south. It was a caring, family environment.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

Living with a host family was probably the BEST part of my experience. The family had 3 children (9, 11, and 13) and I'm used to having younger siblings so it worked out great. They really made me feel like a part of their family, were helpful in explaining about the Chilean culture and daily life, answering any questions I had (about culture or vocabulary) and I really loved living with them. Even on days/nights that I didn't feel like going out and exploring the city or hanging out with people outside of the house, I was still in the midst of Chilean culture because I was around my host family. I learned SO many more things about Chile through this interaction, and got to have many discussions I would never have had if I'd lived independently or with the other American students in my program. I got to travel twice with my family and meet and spend time with their extended family members. Sometimes I got annoyed at certain members of my host family, but it was overall such a rewarding experience. I still keep in contact with my host family and it makes my semester more "real" because the relationships I made in Chile are continuing even as I'm back in the US.

3 meals a day were provided by most host family and I was satisfied with it. I am not a picky eater and so it wasn't hard to like what they made. For the most part it was similar to what I eat in the US: pasta, rice, chicken, tomato and lettuce salad, beef, sandwiches, yogurt, milk. My host Mom worked a lot so she didn't have time to prepare many cultural meals for me so in a way that limited the more "Chilean" meals I was exposed to but I could always go out and buy them at a restaurant too. The food at restaurants was really good for the most part. The prices were about the same as the US. They say don't buy food sold by vendors on the street so I stayed away from that for the most part but I never got an upset stomach in Chile. The water in Chile is a little heavier with more minerals than in NYC where I'm from, but I still drank it after drinking bottled water for the first week, and I was fine.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

The Chiloe trip by my program was awesome because we got to visit people on the island like a family who has a goat farm and another that owns their own restaurant. It was a learning experience but also really fun. I got to take a dance class to learn the Cueca, the national dance of Chile and attend "fondas" for Chile's independence day in September, which was cultural.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I had HTH Health Insurance and it was useful when I got an allergy-induced cold for 5 days and needed to visit a doctor. Santiago is a big city and you need to be street-smart. You need to carry your bag in front of you with your hand over the zipper because there are pick pockets on the metro and buses and you need to always be on the look out because pick pockets dress up nice and act friendly and before you know it your wallet could be gone if you aren't aware. I never got robbed, but some people in my program did. The best advice I can give is to leave your passport and most of your money at home and only take the equivalent of $10-20 USD with you. Don't go hiking alone, walk with someone else if you're out at night, take a taxi home if you're out late (they are pretty inexpensive) and don't fall asleep on the beach with your valuables in a bag next to you (a friend of mine did that and his expensive camera was gone when he woke up). But just think and be aware that you are not in the US anymore and you need to watch out for yourself.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

SO MUCH!!! Living in Chile made me learn more Spanish than I would have if I had stayed in Ithaca and taken all spanish courses for the semester. Seriously, everyday I was looking up new words, hearing words on the streets that I'd ask my host family about and then incorporate into my vocab, being exposed to more specific vocabulary through my classes and conversations with other friends. I didn't think I would but I actually started thinking in Spanish!! When I got back home in the US again I kept accidentally saying things in Spanish to my family forgetting that they don't speak Spanish and don't understand what I'm saying. Since arriving back to the US, my fluency in Spanish has definitely decreased but I know if I go back to Chile I will pick things up again quickly, because language is like that and no student should ever fear studying abroad because they don't feel competent enough in the language.

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• Host Family
• Hostel

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• Host Family

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• Local Students

• Living with a host family
• Geography: Chile is beautiful!
• The Health Observation program through IES Santiago

• Have more regular meetings between students and advisors