Chile is a great country but was disappointed in the program. Past Review

By Hannah P (International Politics and Economics, Middlebury College) for

SIT Study Abroad: Chile - Cultural Identity, Social Justice, and Community Development

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?

I think I grew a lot as a person because I was alone a lot and had to create my own happiness many times. I definitely learned some about the host country, but I do not think it changed any of my interests/plans/awareness.

Personal Information

How much international exposure did you have prior to this program?	1 month - 6 months

Review Your Program

* Overall educational experience Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.	Not very much work, very low grading standards, and in general not a very challenging or ambitious program.
* Host Country Program Administration On-site administration of your program	They meant extremely well and were very nice, but were fairly disorganized and slow to get things done.
* Housing: How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?	I had a lot of unexpected problems with my host families (ended up living with five over the course of the semester), which led to a fairly fractured experience. The houses were all very accessible and safe, and provided all necessary living items. One of my host families was wonderful, but I felt treated somewhat like a client at some of the other ones.
* Food:	Just in general about Chilean cuisine - not very many vegetables, lots of salt/fat. Not specific to host families.
* Social & Cultural Integration: How integrated did you feel with the local culture?	Excursion to the North - academic but separate from how the program generally was. Visit to museum of human rights.
* Health Care: How well were health issues addressed during the program?
* Safety:	No safety problems!
If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program?	No

Finances

* 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)

Language

* Did your program have a foreign language component?	Yes
If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition?
Language acquisition improvement?	Meet/speak with as many locals as possible! Join a gym, music group, anything... People on the program only spoke English.

Other Program Information

* Where did you live? Select all that apply	Hotel Host Family
* Who did you live with? Select all that apply	Host Family Americans

A Look Back

* What did you like most about the program?	Excursion to the North! It was absolutely incredible and made the whole experience worth it.
* What could be improved?	Classes Efficiency
* What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program?	I think the academics of this program are more geared towards sociology/anthropology students, and I would just advise them to do some pre-research on the topic they think they want to investigate for their ISP to be able to track down relevant resources in-country as soon as possible.

Individual Course Reviews

Course Name/Rating:	Cultural Identity, Social Justice & Community Development Seminar
Course Department:	LACB-3000
Instructor:	Various
Instruction Language:	Spanish
Comments:	This class was not challenging and though some of the instructors held very interesting positions and had a lot of experience in the field, the class was kept to a very basic level. I felt it could have made more out of the location. I participated in class probably about the same about as at my home institution.
Credit Transfer Issues:	No

Course Name/Rating:	Field Study Seminar
Course Department:	ANTH 3500
Instructor:	Sergio Fiedler
Instruction Language:	Spanish
Comments:	This class did not meet very often and seemed irrelevant - we could have learned what was taught by doing assigned readings.
Credit Transfer Issues:	n/a

Course Name/Rating:	Intensive Language Study: Advanced Spanish III
Course Department:	SPAN 4006
Instructor:	Virna/Carola
Instruction Language:	Spanish
Comments:	The professors were great but I had already learned most of the things taught in the course.
Credit Transfer Issues:	Not trying for major/distribution credit so it was fine.

Course Name/Rating:	Independent Study Project
Course Department:	ISPR 3000
Instructor:	n/a
Instruction Language:	n/a
Comments:	I had a challenging time with my research; see comments above. I think more support from the program especially for those working in a different location from the headquarters would be useful.
Credit Transfer Issues:	n/a