The joys of manjar and Chilean host siblings Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

The mandatory Spanish class just for IFSA students wasn't great, but I absolutely loved my courses that I took with Chilean students at La Católica. Personally, my classes were not super difficult; there was a fair amount of reading but it wasn't entirely necessary, and I only had a couple of essays for each class over the course of the whole semester.

On-site administration of your program

Isabel Yévenes, the on-site program director, is incredible. She was always helpful and caring and really served as a second host mom for everyone in our group. Both she and her assistant, Silvana, were very helpful with academic issues - picking classes, figuring out how to register, giving advice, etc. They organized really cool program activities and excursions that gave me experiences that I otherwise wouldn't have gotten.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

My host family had two little kids, 5 and 11, who were so much fun. They always wanted to include me in whatever game they were playing and did everything they could to make sure I was comfortable and happy - they made welcome signs for my bedroom door and they each drew me a card on my birthday. The little kids did make it a little more complicated to go out with friends at night because I would come back very late. My host parents were also wonderful - a little overbearing sometimes because they had small children instead of grown children, but always kind and funny. My host mom loved when I helped her cook and always wanted to exchange recipes, and both my host parents were very welcoming when my mom came to visit and were very excited to meet her.

Chilean food tends to be on the blander side, but their deserts are incredible (manjar!) and street food is super cheap and always yummy.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

I found it difficult to make friends with the other Chilean students because they tend to stick to their existing friend groups, but I did have a couple of Chilean friends that I often ate lunch with on campus. I felt very socially and culturally integrated through my host family - they always invited me to family events and introduced me to the best local restaurants.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

Isa always helped me get a doctor's appointment when I needed it. I would just ask her and she'd make the appointment and either she or Silvana would accompany me. The only thing that was irritating was the program health insurance coverage. I had to pay for everything out-of-pocket (doctors visits, lab tests, prescriptions) and then get reimbursed later. But Isa always helped me fill out the reimbursement form, so it wasn't too much of a hassle.

Overall, Santiago feels pretty safe. I never took the bus after midnight, but during the day public transportation was either super crowded so I didn't feel unsafe, or just generally not scary. Cat-calling (piropos) is really big there, which did get irritating, but I just wore long pants most of the time and avoided that for the most part. Taxis were expensive but very safe, and I also used Uber a few times and it was fine. I did have my iPhone stolen out of my coat pocket one day, but I was never held up or robbed or anything like that. Just general street smarts and not walking alone after dark was plenty to keep me feeling safe.

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

Food was always provided by my host family, so I really only spent money on food if I went out to eat. Transportation tends to be expensive - cabs will WAY overcharge foreigners and the Metro was on the more expensive side before I got my student Bip card, which was so worth it. Going out was also expensive, but that's to be expected. Overall, I spent more money than I thought I would, but it wasn't insane.

0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language

Isa and Silvana would often tell us to speak Spanish around the IFSA office and on program excursions, and the host families did not speak to us in English at all.

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• Host Family

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• Host Family

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• Local Students
• Americans

• My host family
• Program excusions (esp. to San Pedro de Atacama)
• The support from the on-site staff

• The mandatory Spanish class