Week 7

As we returned into the swing of things this week, after a one week break, we were all looking forward to reuniting and sharing our stories.

For the break, some students went to explore the ancient ruins of Machu Picchu, some went to rural areas of Lima, Peru, others to bare the elements of freezing Patagonia, and many vacationed at the beaches of Vina del Mar and Bahia Inglesia. Some students relaxed in the tranquil lakes region of Pucon, which is where I ventured out to with Sabrina and Sarah W.

This week was off to a slow start as some of us were still recuperating from break, but with much anticipation we resumed discussing Chilean literature in our Literature class and Chilean culture and history in Culture class. Most of us have even been able to apply the material we are learning in class to our discussions with our Chilean families.

Although some students have noticed that their home-stay families are a little reserved to talk about the controversial topics of Chilean politics, being in the city and hearing stories about its history opens up a whole new perspective for us as Americans about Santiago. And speaking of perspective, this week we also started paying attention to the landscapes of the city, both physical and metaphorical.

“Landscape” will continue to be the focus term for our literature course, as we read the works of great Chilean authors.

On Tuesday, after school, we walked and walked and took two metros to the Museo de Precolombino. We were lucky to have Darah’s mom, and her friends, whom were visiting from California join us. The museum featured ancient art and artifacts of the indigenous culture of Chile, the Mapuche which gave us another new perspective of Chile. It was amazing to hear about the way the Mapuche lived!

Plans to play soccer with Carlos on Wednesday promised a good time even though healthy competition turned into a little bloodshed and a few battle wounds. With that being said, it was a blast and exercise for those of us who have been slacking in that department.

On Thursday, Becka, Clara and I were lucky to be invited by Kelsey to walk dogs at the animal shelter where her home-stay dad works. This gave us a chance to walk happy dogs, and chat while seeing more of Santiago.

The school week ended with a get together with Clara at an outdoor café at the base of San Cristobol Hill. It was a beautiful sunny day and all of us got to share our experiences and travel stories from Spring Break!

Chile has treated me well with warm weather, mostly clear skies, a beautiful landscape of the mountains and the city, and of course my incredibly hospitable and fun Chilean family. And from what I’ve heard from everyone else over the past few weeks, I am not the only one who has had such great experiences here.

In terms of improving in speaking and understanding Spanish, we have all improved vastly since our first days in Buenos Aires and even just since we arrived here in Santiago. We’ve had the chance to practice with our home-stay families, with Clara, at school and everywhere in between.

The countdown of our days left here has already begun. We have all been experiencing a little bit of mixed feelings about going home in four weeks. However, I think we are all trying to find a way to experience every moment in South America for what it is and not take it for granted. We learned early on in this trip that culture shock is not as cut and dry as we were told. Being away from our home country and immersed in a new culture is a process of varying emotions and experiences. For those of us anxious to get back to seeing our friends and families who await us, driving our cars freely and to our beautiful campus on the seaside of Santa Barbara, and for those of us who are already feeling sad about leaving our new life, we are all going to make the most of everyday we have left here. With that we have no doubts that by the end, we will have gotten everything we wanted out of this experience.

By Erin McGovern