My Semester in Chile Past Review
By Hadley C (HISTORY., Wellesley College) - abroad from 07/17/2013 to 12/15/2013 with
Middlebury Schools Abroad: Middlebury in Santiago
I gained a lot of confidence and independence as well as learning Spanish. It was very difficult and challenging, but that is what made it worthwhile.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | None |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
I did not find the courses at my university particularly rigorous, but since they were all taught in Spanish that was an academic experience in itself because I had to learn the language. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
I did not find the program staff particularly helpful. I think part of that was that they were a married couple who had a baby during the semester I was abroad, but I ended up having a lot of credit issues at the end of the semester and the Program Director was completely unhelpful and did not respond to my emails. My credit situation was not worked out until the end of January after I had already started my spring semester at Wellesley. Also the Program Director and his wife were often not in the country because they were at conferences for Middlebury study abroad programs or advertising their program at American universities. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I had a great host family who lived conveniently near a metro station which made getting to class much easier. I gained a lot from living with a host family and even though it could be awkward at times and it was difficult to connect to them at first, I recommend a host family because they provide support at the beginning of the semester when you are adjusting to the country and they expose you to new aspects of the culture that you cannot learn from hanging out with other university students. |
| * Food: |
I am a vegetarian and my host family always cooked me huge vegetarian meals for dinner, which was great and easy for me. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
It was not until the end of the semester that I felt integrated. It was difficult to make friends at my university, so my close friends were Americans on my program and then we had a group of Chileans we hung out with who we met either at clubs or through mutual friends. By the end of the semester when my Spanish was better and I knew Santiago better I felt much more comfortable with Chile. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
I was pickpocketed along with several other girls on my program and one girl had her laptop stolen, but there were no violent crimes. It was mostly that if you did not constantly pay attention your things would be stolen. Also, there is a lot of sexual harassment on the street, which was unnerving at first because I was not comfortable in Santiago and because I could not really understand what they were saying because my Spanish wasn't good. It was more annoying than anything and even though it made me very angry and sometimes made me feel violated, I never felt unsafe. I still walked around alone all the time and the worst that happened was that people yelled sexual comments at me. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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Finances
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* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
Travelling within Santiago cost a fair amount of money because I was taking the metro a lot, but the biggest costs were food and coffee. We had to buy our own lunch so that cost a fair amount, but I could have cut that cost by buying food at grocery stores instead of eating at restaurants. Also, I spent a lot of time in Starbucks and other cafes because they had internet, so buying coffee added up too. My #1 cost was travelling, but that is something I chose to do while abroad and not inherent in the costs. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | I am not sure because I paid my host family rent and food money combined. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Cut costs on food where you can, it adds up. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
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How much did the program encourage you to use the language?
0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language |
We had to sign a language pledge to only speak Spanish for the full semester. Also we took classes in Spanish at the local university and out host families generally did not speak English. |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Beginner |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Advanced |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | Spanish 241 |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? | 10+ |
| Do you have any tips/advice on the best ways to practice the language for future study abroad participants? | Stick to your language pledge even though it is tempting to speak English. I ended up breaking it by the end of the program, but the 3 or 4 months I spent only speaking Spanish gave me enough of a base that speaking English occasionally was not detrimental to my Spanish because I had already progressed so much. Also, don't get frustrated. I often felt really stupid because I couldn't communicate with people, but you have to remember that some people have been taking Spanish classes their whole lives and most Chileans don't speak any English, so you are already ahead of them. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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| About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with? | 0 |
A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | I know not to just assume things will work out. What happened to me is that I ended up failing one of my classes because I assumed I would do better on the final than I did. It was really hard for me and I was really upset and guilty because I felt like it was my fault and that I was stupid for not being able to pick up Spanish faster. It was also really hard because I had always gotten really good grades in high school and was used to succeeding at Wellesley, so to be facing personal challenges like leaving the US for the first time and dealing with that culture shock as well as academic challenges (really for the first time in my life) was difficult. Everything is fine now and I will still graduate on time because I used an AP credit from high school to cover the course, but it was definitely very hard for me to deal with failing in the midst of all of the other challenges that go with being abroad. I wish I had been more proactive earlier in the semester and gone to the professor for help instead of just trusting that everything would work out. |
Reasons For Studying Abroad
| To help future students find programs attended by like-minded individuals, please choose the profile that most closely represents you. |
The Academic or LinguistYou went abroad with specific academic goals in mind; the program credentials and rigor of your coursework abroad were very important to you. You had a great time abroad, but never lost sight of your studies and (if applicable) were diligent with your foreign language study. Good for you! |
