It's been a While

For some reason I thought I had written once or twice since Ecuador, but I guess I've lost my mind amidst all this travelling mayhem! I've got quite a lot to catch up on...

I am now in Santiago, Chile where classes have only just begun. This will be my second week of class, as the students at SU are returning from Spring Break to finish up the second half of the semester. When we first arrived in Chile, we had a 2 week seminar in which we visited the heart of tango in Buenos Aires, Argentina and then the sandy beaches of Montevideo, Uruguay. Quite different but amazing sights to see! Now we are adjusting to life as true Chilean students in Santiago with our host families. I seriously got the cream of the crop when it comes to host families. They treat me as one of their own, help me with my spanish, and are extemely easy to talk to. It's easy to see that they want me to get as much out of this study abroad experience as possible.

Registration for classes, and classes themselves are quite different here. In order to register for classes at U.Catolica you have to visit each College within the University in which you have classes and receive a stamp and signature per class. Not so easy if you're taking a lot of classes in different areas. The campuses are spread throughout the city and not necessarily nearby. However, at U.Chile they have a lovely online system somewhat similar to Syracuse-supereasy. Lucky for me, I didn't really have to deal with too much as I am taking just 3 classes, and only had to register for 1 as the others are automatically registered for study abroad. Classes are lectures only, and not much else. Depending on the class, you may have to write a few papers, take tests, quizzes, etc. but there isn't a schedule for when these might occur. You've gotta stay on your toes and keep up with your notes and readings!

Now that I've been out of the country for over a month, I've found these things I miss most from home: reliably hot showers, clothing dryers, movie popcorn (dissappointing to get kettlecorn at theatre), simple foods like cereal, PB and J, and English (my brain swims with all the new spanish i'm learning) :