Traveling Squid

On Tuesday we had a normal day of classes. I stayed home because I felt a cold starting to form and spent the day resting and packing for a 3 day trip to Buenos Aries! As a group we decided to go to celebrate two birthdays, one on the 17 and one on the 18. We took a bus from Chillan to Santiago at 2:00am. Arriving in Santiago at 7am, we made our way to the airport for a 12:55 flight. We all ended up sleeping during the bus ride and 1 hour flight, and arrived in Buenos Aries around 2:00. We drove to our AirBnb, and soon after arriving we were out on the streets exploring the city. BA is absolutely beautiful. The city holds a lot of European influence and the achrutecher reflects the colonization that happened hundreds of years ago. All of the stories fronts held apartments above. The people were all very unique, and the vibe of the city is just a relaxing feeling. Some cities that I have gone to like Seattle or New York I have often felt overwhelmed and exhausted, but BA gave me a d

On Monday, for class my group and I took a trip to a near by town  Coihueco. For class we are helping the city try to boost their tourism. So for the day we toured the town. First we went to an old gold mining town, and talked to the locals. We visited an old image of Christ that the miners would pray to  when they wanted. It was carved out of wood and is over 100 years old. The Christ is held in an older lady's house who has taken care of him for 40 years. It was very fun to see the history and culture of this sculpture.  A Church outside the main plaza Outside the information center The old women and the figure of Christ Along the streets Along the streets The crew We then went to lunch, and soon after stopped by a ladies house who makes baskets. She explained the process of making the basket. They are made from wheat that is then dried in the sun before making it into baskets. After, we stoped by an old train station that the town wants to make into

On Monday instead of having class my professor took us on a guide through the down town of my city. We went with a mother exchange student who has been in Chillan for 5 months already. We started at the main plaza, a small park that makes for a great reference point when walking downtown. We visited a Catholic cathedral, the tourist information center, and walked around the city. Inside the cathedral Group photo outside Looking into the Plaza On the corner of the plaza Part of the view from the tourist center The other part of the view from the tourist center Streets of Chillan  More streets of Chillan On Tuesday we all met up at Starbucks in the local mall after class to discus travel plans while we are here. Two of the people in our group have their birthdays one after another, and so they decided to go to Buenos Aires for 3 days. We leave on the 16, and return the 20th.  On Wednesday after class we watched a movie at my professors apartment about Ch

In Chile, on Sundays, rest is taken very seriously. My day was spent catching up on sleep, going to the grocery store to buy toiletries and school supplies, meeting with my program for dinner, and taking a short walk around my neighborhood. I have found that lunch is the most important meal of the day for Chileans. They tend to always eat together and eat a lot, while dinner is smaller, and the family does not always eat together. I am used to eating a small breakfast and small lunch. I know it will be hard for me to get used to this change of pace. Tomorrow I start classes, but I am not sure how much learning we will actually be doing. I have classes on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. On Thursdays we will have different trips, and on Fridays and the weekend is up to us. The neighborhood that I am in seems to be safe and upper middle class based on the houses. In the evening I see people outside watering their lawns and spending time with their family. There are a lot of decently expe

Hola! Luckily I slept through about 75% of my 9 hour flight, waking for food and the occasional turbulence. During one of the shakier parts of the flight I woke to see something really magical outside the window. I have taken overnight flights before, but they were over an ocean, or it was to cloudy to see the earth or much of anything. But when I looked outside, the skies were clear of clouds and full of stars. As I looked down I could see that we were flying over southern Mexico, close to Cancun. I could see the small cities and towns lit, and it was beautiful. I looked out the window for a good 10 minutes enjoying the very. When flying it is very rare to have such a beautiful view. I arrived in Chile at 10:00am completely exhausted despite my naps. Immigration was a breeze, and customs were just as easy. The airport seemed rather small to me for being international, but perhaps I am used to airports like Houston or LAX so airports that aren't huge seem small to me. I was told

All the way back in June I applied for a study abroad program with my university. This program is facility led, had no major requirements and a destination of Chile. Knowing very little about this program I applied. I got an interview before the term ended, and went off to summer break not knowing if I was 100% in the program, but having the impression that I was leaving to Chile for 10 weeks during the coming winter term. I didn't find out until late October that I was confirmed to start my next international trip. I was given an orientation date to go to, and during that orientation day I felt a little in the dark. It didn't seem like the program was very prepared, and neither was anyone else. Again, my past study abroad experience has been with Rotary International, and they spend a year with multiple orientations to send me, at age 16, to a foreign country for a year, so I suppose the experiences are different. At the end of the orientation the facility member sent us awa