Santiago de Chile is my second home Past Review
By Dena H (International Relations and Affairs., Tufts University) for
IES Abroad: Santiago - Study in Santiago
There is so much to learn about 1 country!!
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 2 weeks - 1 month |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
I think my program did a great job helping me understand what was happening in Chile currently and how it was tied to what had happened in the past. Instead of studying irrelevant topics, etc., my classes were all aimed at teaching me about Chile, Chileans, and their culture. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
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| * Food: |
With each host family, food experiences are different. Chilean food is not that exciting, and that was hard sometimes. But I ate large, well balanced meals. With my program all three meals are served by the host family. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Trip to Chiloe and Valpo through our program; lots of free food events; farewell 4th of July BBQ |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
The program helps you set up all your doctors' visits and everything, and the people who work at IES are so so friendly and pretty competent. At home, my host family wasn't the most attentive when I was sick (they made me to buy my own gatorade when I got food poisoning), but they still took me to the doctor. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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Finances
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* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | You technically don't need to spend any money on food, but that is hard. Transportation is really expensive--like 20-25/week. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Bring all your toiletries and stuff cause all of that is really expensive in Chile. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Intermediate |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | 8 semesters |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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| Language acquisition improvement? |
I spoke only Spanish with my host family and teachers, and a mix of Spanish and English with the other students. The Spanish teacher in the program is the best I have ever had. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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A Look Back
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | If you are looking for a great program to learn more about Latin American politics, etc., this is it. If you are studying math or science, maybe look around a little. |
