Livin' La Vida Estudiante

Hola!! The past few weeks have been filled with adjustments, adventure, and new amigos. School began about 2 weeks ago at both the IES center and at the university we are all enrolled in (La Catolica). School here is similar to the US in a few ways, but for me, the differences have been the best part of the school experience so far. Firstly, I have a commute!! It takes me about 30-40 mins to get to IES in the morning, and about one hour to get to San Juaquin (our campus) from my house. This would be a drag if it wasn't so much fun. On the buses and metro there are performers, people selling food, and a host of interesting people to pass the time. Days when the Andes peek through are, of course, my favorite. 

In IES I am taking Human Rights, Trade Organizations, and Spanish--they are wonderful! A typical day at IES consists of our classes, catching up with the other IES students, and enoying our lunches. Most of the other differences in the school experiece, however, are from San Juaquin. In the US I go to an extremely small school, but here one Faculdad (school, area of study, major) has about the same amout of students as my school, so it's a bit bigger (only a little)(just a smidge). Much to my suprise, I love it! The atmostphere of this large school is so full of life and opportunities to immerse yourself in Chilean culture. This past week alone I have seen dance competitions happening nonchantely in the paths (teachers and students dancing together and competing because it's FUN), students setting up a slackline in the middle of the green, and tons of people sitting around enjoying each others company.

Oh and also, the Andes are like RIGHT THERE. 

I am super excited to learn and grow this semester. It may be a little different, but it is different in all the right ways.