Constant Adventures for a Gringa in Santiago! Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

With this program I had the opportunity to enroll in classes in the best business school in Chile, FEN of U de Chile. My professors were knowledgeable and experienced and enthusiastically conveyed their courses material to us as students. The academics were rigorous but not overwhelming which was a nice combination to keep us focused but also give us freedom in our semester abroad.

On-site administration of your program

The people in the office at CIEE Santiago are wonderful. Constantly available and in touch and with a wealth of resources at their disposal.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

My living arrangements and host family were more than adequate, a very nice home to live in for the semester, in a particularly wealthy part of town. The only drawback is the distance away from my university, it took me 45 minutes on average to get to classes. (the case with most suburban homes in Santiago Chile)

The food of Santiago Chile is bland and lacking in culture, but the few dishes that are distinctly Chilean are tasty if prepared by the right cook. The Nana in my host house made very good dinners and there was always enough to go around. Chileans eat a lot of hotdogs and use a lot of mayonnaise, two concepts as an American I thought were interesting and distinct.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Chile was WONDERFULLY accepting of foreigners (except the occasional targeting for pickpocketers) and I was immediately accepted into groups of families and friends. The local culture of Santiago is similar to any big city, easy to assimilate into for those who have experience with such in the United States. Chilean boys our age and a bit older were very welcoming (as expected with American girls) whereas Chilean girls our age tended to keep to themselves and their groups of friends.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I did not have any experience with the health care in Chile, and did not need any vaccines. The general health knowledge of the Chilean people is a bit outdated.

Santiago was extremely safe, except for pickpocketing or theft. Most students I knew in Chile had something stolen from them or a friend, myself included, simply because foreigners are easy targets for crimes such as this. The only danger I witnessed was involved in the protests of the city, the people of Santiago are very politically active and hold several protests and "paros" in order to show this. We were adequately warned by our program and school to avoid certain areas and certain times. Other than that, even in the middle of the night, Santiago is one of the safest cities I've ever seen.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

Living in a host family, everything house related is very inexpensive in Santiago. That being said, I used public transportation everyday at a price of $1.50 per ride, and nightlife or activities in Santiago are not cheap (even though the majority of Latin America believes the US to be more expensive) Santiago's prices for commodities seemed to me to be close to twice as high as comparable items in the United States- items such as water bottles, beer, clothing, restaurant meals, shoes, etc.)

0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language

CIEE encourages the use of Spanish everyday, and it is helpful and useful to know the language in Santiago Chile.

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• Host Family

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• Host Family

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• Local Students
• Americans
• International Students

• The community aspect, I made a million friends here!
• The language incorporation- I was forced to speak Spanish and taught a lot of others English as well!
• The freedom, the program didn't require too much of us, elaving it up to us to find adventures in Santiago, and there are so many here!

• The commuting time, I spent two hours on public transportation everyday
• The organization, getting started with classes and getting necessary materials was unorganized.

The Avid Adventurer