What I Did in Santiago …

When I flew into Santiago to begin my three months of studying abroad I was extremely excited for such a new experience, nervous about meeting my host family and hopeful that my one year of Spanish courses and watching television in Spanish would allow me to learn and thrive in this new country. The first time I walked into my new home, I was greeted by my host parents, five new siblings, extended family, as well as their dog, bird, and hamster. It was overwhelming but I have never felt so welcomed. I was instantly greeted with hugs and kisses from each member of my new family.Read full profile »

When I first decided to study abroad in Chile, I thought I knew exactly what I was getting myself into. Having spent the majority of my childhood growing up in Mexico, I assumed that living in Chile would be no different from my prior experiences in Latin America.  I was expecting to reacquire the high tolerance for spicy food that I had lost since coming to Stanford, to gain weight from eating tortillas with every meal, and even to be catcalled by locals on my way to school.  I quickly discovered that would not be the case.  In fact, Chile was different from anything I had ever encountered before.Read full profile »

I am standing in the sand looking out at La Portada, a natural stone archway just off the coast of Antofagasta, Chile. Behind me, cliffs rise up to the vast desert north of Santiago. As fellow students and I clamber along the beach, beginning to sweat in the heat, someone calls, “Hey, are those penguins?” Sure enough, a nearby rock in the middle of the water is covered with birds that look suspiciously like penguins. We later learn that this flock has migrated too far north and will soon be transported back to the cold south, so the birds won’t die in the desert.Read full profile »

When I got back to the United States after traveling so much of the world, people would often ask me about my time in Santiago. Stanford students knew it as the Spanish student location for studying abroad. My Hispanic family thought it was a random place to visit among the twenty seven other countries in Latin America, and other friends found it extremely exotic. But to everyone I would say, “I can’t imagine a more underrated city.” I applied to study in Chile with no idea of what Santiago would be like. I heard it wasn’t tropical like other parts of Latin America, it wouldn’t be like my usual visits to Guatemala, and that Chileans would speak ridiculously fast Spanish. Everyone was right. Chile was everything and nothing like what I expected. Read full profile »

Before attending Stanford I had rarely traveled away from my hometown of Chicago, let alone outside of the country, so I was extremely excited to study abroad once I arrived at college.  My parents have still never left the comfort of the U.S., so the unique experiences I have had in these foreign environments have greatly influenced my life.