¿cachai?

It was officially my half way mark yesterday. Three months have past and three months to go here Santiago, Chile!

It’s crazy to look back on how the time is flying and how much I have already done. It is about a month into school now and the work is starting to pile up. Papers, presentations, tests ect. But, there is still a lot of time to explore!

Things to know before you arrive:

1. Chileans speak really fast and really “bad” or incorrect Spanish. In some cases it is described as speaking Spanish or speaking Chilean. So, learning a word like, ¿cachai?  is very helpful. ¿cachai?  is essentially saying “do you understand?”or “get it?” after explaining something.
2. Winter exists! After the summer which is so extreme compared to Chicago, forty degrees is freezing. There is no central heating and we are all dreading the winter as it is starting to get cold.
3. Santiago is beautiful diverse city with amazing places to explore

Things that have stuck out to me in Santiago:

1. The amount of smog in Santiago is unbelievable and somehow it is possible to go without noticing it. However, after some rain (which is very rare) you can see things that did not seem to exist before.
2. Respect for the elderly is extremely prevalent. There is no questioning, if an elderly person boards the bus or metro at least three people will get up for them.
3. No matter where you are in Santiago, metro, parks, streets, stores or homes PDA is present. At the beginning none of us study abroad students could believe it.  However, at this point I do not even notice it.
4. The pick pockets are real. Before arriving many people warned me of it, but of course I did not believe it could be as bad as they said. The good thing is that there is not a huge presence of other violence. It is just necessary to be constantly aware of your surroundings.
5. Café culture is so prominent here and it is amazing! Every café has a different atmosphere, but they are great places to study and have amazing cakes or gelato!
6. Chileans love their protests! Whether its a “protest” celebrating international women’s day. Or participating in the annual Dia del Joven Combatiente.

Regarding school at Universidad Alberto Hurtado:

1. Time is a different concept. You may only get part of your schedule for the semester the night before and figure the rest of it out during the first week!
2. Books are not bought. Instead you have to pay to make copies of documents, books ect.
3. The campus culture reminds me of high school. Everyone commutes so in between classes people socialize, play guitars, juggle, and play ping pong. Not a lot of people study on campus.
4. Group projects are very common in curriculum.

~Ciao