I'm currently sitting in my apartment in St. Joseph, Stearns County, Minnesota, USA, North America, and soon enough I will be in Vina del Mar, Chile, South America. It is incredible and nerve-wracking to think that I'll be living in a country where I don't know the boundaries, legal system, fashion, cities, geography, history-- let alone the language and local dialect(s)! I'm truly so excited to study abroad, it has been an experience that I've always dreamed about. I've felt recently like my life is in limbo, waiting for my next great experience to begin.
For those of you who don't know, I'll be staying with a Chilean family. I will have a mom, Erika, who is an art professor and two sisters, Martina (17) and Daniela (15). We also have a Dauchshund- I'm excited to have a new dog to love, not that Molly could ever be replaced in my heart! I'm living in the neighborhood of Chorrillos, which is a residential area of Vina. I'll have to take the bus or the metro to get to school. I google-mapped my apartment and I live very close to a metro station, which makes me feel better. I hope that my family is patient, because my Spanish is plain terrible right now.
And of course, I'll be taking 18 credits worth (ugh) at Universidad Adolfo Ibanez. My classes have UAI professors, but I will only take them with other CSB/SJU students. I'm taking the History of Chile, a literature class and a senior seminar class, taught by my program leader, Profesora Eleanora Bertranou. I'm also doing a 2 credit practicum for my Management major where I just basically get to write essays about what I'm observing abroad. What I'm most excited about however is the fact that I'm getting 4 credits for service work! I still haven't exactly figured out which organization I'll be working for, but I am pretty sure I'll be working with women micro-loan recipients in either Vina or Valparaiso (a larger city basically connected to Vina). I've been planning on doing this sort of service work for about a year now, since I got involved with making the documentary Del Micro al Cambio during my sophomore year. This opportunity will improve my Spanish in a huge way, and I'm sure simultaneously challenge and frustrate me, too. So to sum up, I'm taking 12 credits worth of actual class in Chile... and I'm so thrilled about it!
This is my last night in St. Joe. I checked out of my apartment, moved my stuff into storage and worked my last shift in the Events office. (PS, I have 9 stinking boxes in storage...who wants to help me move in mid- January Minnesota winter??!!) I'm sad to leave all of the wonderful people who I'm surrounded by up here, but also very ready to start anew elsewhere. My first two years at St. Ben's/St John's have been great, and especially after living on campus this summer, I'm excited to return, but only after spending some time abroad. And now that I've lived by mountains and lakes, I'm ready for la playa! (Everyone google image search Vina del Mar. You'll see why I'm excited!!)
