For one of our last trips if our study abroad program, we decided to go to San Pedro de Atacama which is the town right next to the desert. We stayed in some cabins in the center of town right in the middle of all the restaurants. We had a pool in our cabin area, so we spent the first day hanging out by the pool, relaxing, and enjoying being…
My overall experience in Chile was absolutely amazing. I loved my host family like my own, and I plan to visit them as soon as I can afford it. My classes were overall pretty good, except for missing a lot of classes due to the political unrest. The weather was completely different than Charleston – opposite seasons and no humidity or rain ever. The city we studied in is huge,…
Santiago de Chile is a very busy city with about 6 million people making up it’s population. There is no doubt that I lived in a booming city. My first month in Chile consisted of me getting comfortable with my surroundings and acclaimed to a life in Chile this fall of 2019. I was quick to notice the social conflicts within the country, where the society brings attention to these…
When I made the decision to study abroad in a foreign country, I knew I wanted a program that included living with a host family. I believed living with a family would make the transition much easier, than living in a lonely apartment. At first, I was extremely nervous to meet the people I would be living with for the next three months, but I was also very excited. The…
One of the best weeks I have had abroad during this experience is when my group and I went to Peru. We visited Cusco, Peru for the first couple of days, and went on tours exploring the city along with its history. Our next stop was Ollantaytambo, a village in the Sacred Valley of south Peru; where we climbed the “Ollantaytambo Sanctuary,” the ruins of an ancient Incan city and…
My name is Annie Perkins and I’m a double major in Spanish and Communication with a minor in Business Administration. I’m a Junior at Cofc and the study abroad program I chose was the College of Charleston Chile study abroad program with the Spanish department. I chose this program firstly because it included classes that I need to take for my major, but also because I wanted to visit South…
Starting in mid-october, students in Santiago began protesting the prices of metro fares rising, the protests started of peaceful for the most part, but quickly turned violent and destructive. The police in Chile, carabineros, were given the authority to subdue the crowds by whatever means necessary, including shooting into the crowds, firing tear-gas bombs, and arresting protesters. The spark for the protests were the increased public transportation fares, but the…
Every year the Chile program takes a weeklong trip to Pero to explore Cusco, Ollantaytambo, Aguas Calientes, y Lima. When we stepped off the plane and took the bus to our hotel, the altitude really affected us. We all felt nauseous, had headaches, and just didn’t feel normal. We arrived in Cusco first and spent 2 days there exploring the city and adjusting to the altitude. There is a tea…
As I first arrived in Chile, I looked at the program’s schedule, and realized we had a week off of school in September. Chile’s Independence Day is September 18, but the country uses an entire week to celebrate, mostly referred to as Fiestas Patrias. My group and I instantly decided to take this week to travel and also celebrate. Half of the group went to Valparaiso, while some of us…
My name is Leasette Leon. I am a junior at the College, and I am double majoring in Latin American Studies and Spanish, and also minoring in Linguistics. I am currently studying abroad in Chile at the Universidad de Santiago de Chile. The idea of studying abroad is what most college students dream about and have most likely been planning since their freshmen year of college. I, on the other…
