An amazing opportunity to learn to find your community in a new culture. Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

These weren't throw away classes, I felt like I was really learning applicable information about culture and life in Santiago all with an emphasis on bettering your Spanish.

On-site administration of your program

The administration here cared so much about every single person, I have never felt so loved and cared for by an administration team in my life.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

My host family was amazing and were so kind to let me into their lives. If for some reason there was a mismatch in host homes, IES was very good at making sure you were comfortable in the place you were living, even if that meant you needed to switch host families.

Being a vegetarian I thought this might be a hard one, but turns out I feel like I ate well. It was not the food I was used to, so I will admit there was a bit of an adjustment there, but IES worked with me and my host family to make sure that I was getting all the right nutrients.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Learning to become a part of Chilean culture was one of my favorite things while abroad. I felt as though without the orientation IES provided us upon arrival it would have taken quite a bit longer and I would not have come to know nearly as much.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I actually had an allergic reaction to an medication while I was abroad. It was a quite frightening experience but the administrators of the program could not have been a better help. They called and made appointments with me, always offered to go with me if I wanted, and I was made aware of how the healthcare worked during orientation so that if something like what happened to me were to occur, I would know what to expect. I felt as though the visits were very similar to my home visits (except all in Spanish).

Over all, we were very prepared to prevent getting pick pocketed etc. Unfortunately I was a victim of a robbery but it was vary much something that even the locals were shocked to hear had happened. Keep your eyes pealed, pay attention to what is going on around you and try to not ever have too many valuable things on you at one time. If it is unavoidable, take taxis/ ubers/ etc. to get safely from place to place and always use the buddy system. Don't let stereotypes scare you too much though either. Live life, be smart, and know sometimes things happen so be prepared (save police phone numbers in your phone/ have traveler's insurance/ emergency numbers from your program/ etc.).

This program had everything I was looking for. I felt as though the city allowed me many opportunities to find things i loved (hiking, dancing, meeting new people) but also challenge me in ways I never would have expected.

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

Transportation and the ATM fees are what get you, that is the money you may not be expecting to add up so quickly.

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• Host Family

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• Host Family

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• Local Students
• Americans
• International Students

• The care they have for their students
• The availability to take classes at the local university
• The familial environment provided at the IES complex.

• Communication between the host universities and the program
• Anticipation about how grades work at the university (announcing grades out loud)

The Avid Adventurer