Differences between Colleges

One of the biggest differences between the U.S. and Chile that is most relevant to my life is college life. I acknowledge the fact that I’m basing my comparisons primarily off just one specific Chilean school, which Universidad Alberto Hurtado (UAH), the university that I attend. But from talking with Emily who goes to a different university (Universidad Católica), as well as her boyfriend who goes to a third university AND from talking amongst Chilean students with friends in OTHER universities, I've gathered that these differences do appear to be across the board.

            First and foremost, there are no dorms in Chile. All students live at home throughout their studies and commute daily. All of the best colleges in Chile are in Santiago, the biggest, most advanced city in the country, so unless you live right in Santiago, it can be a pretty long commute. Some people drive over an hour every day to make it to class. Other people who live super far away will move the city for a few years and stay with friends or family or even strangers, just to be able to attend a more reputable school.

            Students also go to school for a different amount of time: 5 years versus our 4. I asked my host dad about why that is and his response was that it’s because there is such a vast difference in quality from all the high schools, so they have to spend at least 1 year “adjusting” everyone to the same level. That means helping some students from inferior high schools catch up and slowing down some of the more advanced students from getting too far ahead. The university administrations strive for equality and fair opportunities so students spend the first year taking basic classes, to equal the playing field, and then the rest of the 4 years are spent actually studying their major and concentrations.

            A third interesting difference, which is possibly just a characteristic of my university, is the ”set in stone” structure of the curriculums. For every major, everyone takes the same exact classes at the same points in their academic careers. For example, everyone in a particular major is required to take the same 5 classes in their first semester for their first year and then a different 5 classes in their second semester for their first year. This continues on for their second, third, fourth and fifth years.  There is a very small percentage of students in Chile who study my major (Communication, which here in Chile is just summed up as Journalism) and I believe at UAH there are only about 30-40 Journalism students per graduating class. That means that there is usually only 1 section of each class offered each semester. Since everyone takes the same classes, and there is only 1 section of each class, these kids have the exact same schedules, Monday through Friday, for the next five years.  Obviously students have the option to take extra classes like fitness or dance classes, art classes or other "electives" where they can branch out but they definitely don’t have the same elective options that universities in the U.S. have.

Other minor differences include: No one uses laptops in class to take notes, no one is required to buy textbooks (the teacher lists on the syllabus the readings for each week and students go to the library to make photo copies of the selected pages), people are ALWAYS late to class (including the professors), and the grading scale is 1-7, with 7 being the highest. (Letter grades don’t exist nor do numbers up to 100)

Kyle

Next week marks the official halfway point of my semester in Chile. I clearly remember my halfway point in Spain: it was during a week long trip over Fall Break through Paris and Nice, France and Cinque Terre, Italy. I had a lot of great adventures in Europe but I also had some really difficult times and felt quite a few periods of homesickness. I remember thinking “Okay, I can get through this. I’m halfway done. I’ll be home before I know it.” But now, after being here, the thought of “I’ll be home before I know it” has an opposite effect. I miss my friends and family more than anything but I’ve just felt so happy and relaxed here and so intrigued by anything and everything that the thought of having to leave is a bitter thought. I have the love and support of my parents to thank for my being here in the first place, but I want to take a moment to recognize someone who has also supported me and has physically been by my side from start to finish for this entire experience.

            Kyle and I met during first semester of our sophomore year at an info meeting about our study abroad options. We had a sociology class together that semester as well but had never spoken before. During the info session we sat awkwardly across the table from each other waiting our turns to discuss our degree audits with Jessica Wassel, the director of our programs of interest (Spanish-speaking countries). We were both made aware of the option to study abroad for a full year, in two separate programs, pending our ability to maintain full course loads for both semesters and depending on the amount of applicants per program. The next couple months consisted of awkward run-ins between the two of us never expanding past “So have you thought anymore about studying abroad?” By the time second semester rolled around we had both committed to going abroad for the full year, planning to spend Fall semester in Alcala de Henares, Spain and Spring semester in Santiago, Chile. Midway through the semester we began to date officially and have been traveling the world together ever since! We've turned out to be truly perfect travel companions for each other.

            I’m the planner. We brainstorm ideas about where we want to go and what we want to see and I spend hours on end scouring the internet looking for how to get there, where to stay and what to do. Kyle, as a global studies major and one of the smartest people I know in general, knows all about the history of these places as well as their current culture. He knows the financial and political situations of almost everywhere, he knows the cultural norms and he also has his own ideas about what we should do and see. He has a massive amount of common sense and knows the importance of thinking things through. I, on the other hand, tend to sometimes get carried away. Kyle brings me back down to earth when I, for example, come up with an extravagant plan to spend a week traveling to Machu Picchu and decide that we need to jump on it and do it NOW. Kyle reminds me that it’s almost $900 out of our budget and not to worry because we will definitely be back. He reminds me of all the amazing places we have already seen and tells me we need something to look forward to in the future.

            Both of us are in total agreement that our semester in Chile has surpassed our semester in Spain by a mile. It's funny because during a particularly rough period in Spain, I was set on backing out of Chile. I had cried to my parents and I had cried to Kyle saying there is no way I could do this and I needed to spend the next semester closer to home. Kyle listened to my rants and made logical arguments against them. He reminded me that there was a time when I really, really wanted this, that I could do it and that if I backed out, I'd spend the whole semester at Loyola wishing I didn't. He told me I was just sweating the small stuff and once we got here, I would realize that. And after taking a few steps back and a few deep breathes, he was right. I can't IMAGINE not being here this semester and I have Kyle to thank for reminding me my reasons for wanting to come here in the first place. And with his support, I haven't had a single bout (knock on wood) of homesickness since I've been here.

 As I've said before, we really did enjoy quite a few things about Spain and Europe but looking at a black and white pro-con list, Chile just has offered us so much more. In comparison to Spain, we prefer the people here, we prefer the city of Santiago itself vs the cities of Madrid or Alcalá, we prefer the university we attend here, in addition to plenty of other factors. For Kyle, the activities and trips we've done so far here have stood out the most. Kyle was born and raised in Maine and LOVES anything outdoorsy or active. He snowboards, he runs, he hikes, he sails, you name it and he's done it or at is willing to try it. A major difference between South America and where we traveled in Europe is that all of things are at his finger tips here. He has enjoyed our trips so far much more than he did traveling from major city to major city in Europe. He likes being able to breathe fresh air and see volcanoes and mountains and waterfalls. I agree with that mentality, especially since we are living in bustling Santiago, being able to escape somewhere nature-y for our trips is a refreshing change.

            The only thing Kyle has struggled with here is his homestay. He lives with a lovely older woman and her husband. The husband is unfortunately suffering from some form of dementia at a rapid pace. He needs to be locked in the apartment from the inside so he doesn’t get out and wander and get lost. He doesn't know who anyone in (including his wife or Kyle), he touches everyone’s food at the dinner table, he can’t formulate his thoughts properly to speak and on top of the front door being locked, Kyle has to keep his bedroom door consistently locked or his host dad wanders in and takes things. It is a devastating disease which I personally have had experience with in my family but it would still be hard for me to live with it 24/7 so for Kyle, who has never had any experience with it before, I completely understand his struggle. But he loves his location and he loves his host mom so even at my suggestion of looking for somewhere else, he refuses. He's really flexible and understanding like that. He has the biggest heart and says he would feel to bad leaving her (his host mom) all alone.

            Kyle has been my counterpart in 3 continents, 9 countries and I cant’t even begin to count the cities and towns. I sincerely would not have been able to make it through a full year away from my family, my friends and my home had it not been for him. I know that I’ve mentioned him a lot in my earlier posts so it makes me happy to allow other people to see just a sliver of how great he is.

Natural Disasters

As if my parents weren’t worried enough about me living in South America for four and a half months, the recent natural disasters definitely aren’t putting their minds at ease! Within the last month, there has been the 8.2 magnitude earthquake in Iquique, which triggered a tsunami, as well as the devastating fires in Valparaiso. Fortunately for me and the people of Santiago, Iquique is approximately 1,100 miles north of the city. That’s a 33-hour drive or a 3-hour flight. Even if it were closer, the earthquake took place off the coast and Santiago is very much inland. I was lucky that I wasn't affected but nearly a million Chileans were evacuated from their homes as well as some regions on the Peruvian coast. 

Aftermath of the Earthquake

Aftermath of the Earthquake

            The fires of Valparaiso occurred more recently and definitely hit closer to home. Valparaiso is only 75 miles away, which is about a 2-hour drive. Santiago wasn’t affected directly – there were no signs of danger or smoke anywhere in sight. But it did affect Santiago in the fact that many people from the city have their summer homes in Valparaiso, or in its neighboring town, Viña del Mar. Many people have friends or family that live there full time. There are much closer ties between the two communities and I think the people of Santiago felt a much stronger sense of loyalty and responsibility to help in comparison to Iquique. Obviously the people of Santiago felt terribly and were just as scared after the earthquake in Iquique (especially since Santiago had the 8.8 magnitude earthquake in 2010) but I definitely saw a noticeable difference in reactions when there was a bigger distance between the cities. The fire destroyed almost 3,000 homes and required more than 10,000 to evacuate. The people of Santiago really stepped up and came together to gather supplies and monetary donations that people brought in person to help with the relief efforts. It was a really beautiful thing to see people in the streets, in the metro and all around college campus’s all asking for donations which were then brought to Valparaiso.

The fire during its height

Aftermath of the fires - Torched hills with nothing left behind

            I feel incredibly grateful to have been able to experience both Valparaiso and Viña del Mar prior to this horrific tragedy. Kyle and I were even lucky enough to go twice! The city of Valparaiso was beautiful – just like in all the pictures – full of colorful homes perched on hills and old fashioned elevators carrying people to the top, looking out onto the Pacific Ocean. It’ll take years to rebuild the city but the people who lost their homes are all fighters. In multiple interviews they were quoted saying that they’re not worried, they’ll be okay, and everything will be back to normal soon. It was very inspiring. I have my fingers crossed that Chile has run out of their bad luck and the country has only good things to come!

Easter Weekend

South America is known for being a super Catholic nation and Chile is anything but an exception. Chileans spend all of Semana Santa (Holy Week) in church, praying and preparing for the resurrection, but ironically, Easter Sunday is treated as practically nothing. My host parents went to church Thursday night, Friday night, Saturday morning AND Saturday night. Gaby (my host mom) tried to explain the significance of all the different Masses to me but my Spanish religious vocabulary is definitely lacking and I'd be lying if I said I totally understood everything she said. What I did get out of her explanations was this: Thursday night’s mass consisted of a washing of the feet ceremony. The priest chooses 12 random men or boys to come up and have their feet washed in front of the whole church. It symbolizes Jesus’s love for the 12 apostles since that is what he did for them at the Last Supper.  Friday was more of a mourning mass, obviously mourning the death of Jesus. On Saturday, my host parents left at 8 am and returned at noon for lunch, only to go back at 8 pm and come home at 2 am! I was told that the Saturday night service is a very extended “midnight mass”. Gaby explained that they turn off the electricity for the entire service but each person inside the church holds a lit candle. At the stroke of midnight everyone blows out their candles, pauses and then they turn the lights on. This symbolizes that “Christ has risen” and they have a regular mass afterwards as well as a small celebration with potluck style food and hot chocolate.  

            Sunday I was mentally preparing for a huge celebration but was surprised to discover that there were actually no plans at all. My host parents (and the rest of the local Catholic community) were tired from the service on Saturday night so they slept in. There was no Easter brunch, as I am accustomed to, much to my disappointment. Later in the day, Gaby casually popped into my room saying we were invited to her daughter’s house for lunch. There were no special foods served and not a single decoration to be found. Nobody was dressed in fancy clothes and the Easter bunny wasn't ever mentioned. It was as if it was just a normal Sunday lunch with the family. They only “Easter” related part of the whole day was all of the little kids being given lots of chocolate eggs to eat by their grandparents. Before we sat down to eat, there was a heated discussion between the older generations (my host parents and their friends) and the younger generations (their children and their friends) regarding the Catholic church and homosexuality which I felt slightly uncomfortable to be apart of but luckily I wasn't directly asked to speak on either side. There are clearly different perceptions of the way things "should be" which tend to be generational (at least that was the closing argument - "agree to disagree") but I think that could be true of anywhere, not just in Chile. 

My take away of this weekend was that Chileans see the holiday as a much more religious experience, spending a majority of the time in prayer in church, while American's seemingly are much more about the brunch, the mimosas and Easter egg hunts. Obviously Easter is intended to be a religious holiday and more than just an excuse for a party and I can appreciate both sides of that but to be perfectly honest, I’m not sure that I enjoy the holiday as much without my Dad’s waffles with strawberries!

Cultural Differences

I’ve started keeping a list of major cultural differences I’ve noticed or experienced here in Santiago and I’ve made it my mission to share these differences (as well as the similarities) with as many people as I can. Since having my mind completely changed about Chile and South America, I want as many people as possible to make those same realizations.

            Some of the differences that I’ve found I believe are differences for the better and some I’ve found a little inconvenient but there is nothing that I truly can’t handle. For example, I think it’s great that public transportation is so streamlined with Bip! cards. It makes it so much more efficient and easy for everyone to have their little card all charged up and able to just swipe through onto the train or bus rather than waiting behind someone for 25 minutes while they count out their fare in nickels and dimes. On that note, I do find it a bit inconvenient that none of the metro stations have public bathrooms. Can I live without them? Yes. But still, if the situation presented itself, it’d be nice to be able to use a public bathroom right there instead of having to leave the station and go into a nearby restaurant. On that note, you usually have to pay to use the public restrooms that do exist. It’s a small price, about $0.50, but it’s obviously different than in the U.S. 

Top price = cost of this trip, Bottom price = remaining value on card

As far as similarities go, just walking around the supermarket makes me feel like I’m home. They have all the same sugary cereals (Trix, Lucky Charms, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and more) that the US has. They have all the same personal hygiene brands. I brought enough toiletries to last me all 4 months here and upon arrival I realized I could have made my bags about 10 lbs lighter by purchasing all that stuff here. They have my Neutrogena eye make up remover, my Venus razors, my Pantene and Herbal Essence shampoo and conditioner. Even my St. Ive’s body lotion! 

Finding this in Spain was like finding the winning lottery ticket

They have Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate, Peanut butter, Starbursts candy, pancake mix (even real maple syrup!) and the freshest fruit I’ve ever tasted. There isn’t a single thing here that I am missing from home, which is a big difference between here and when I was in Spain. Granted a lot of the “American” brands are a bit pricier than the Chilean brands but just the fact they have them at all is a comfort. 

            The manner in which you pay for things is also something that strikes me as a significant difference. In cabs, they don’t have credit card machines. You always have to pay in cash. No exceptions. In restaurants when you use a credit card, they bring the credit card machine right to the table. They find it more secure and personally, I do too. It also makes it 10x easier to pay separately when you are out with a group. You just tell the waiter which things on the bill are yours, he adds them up and swipes your card for that amount. Then to figure out tip, he just adds 10% of the total to each separate payment, rather than figuring out the math mentally for the total tip and splitting it. It couldn’t be easier and more efficient. 

            Even the Netflix here in Chile is different! It didn’t work at all in Spain so I pretty much went those 4 months without watching a single show. When I got to Chile I wasn’t expecting it to work here either but when it did, I was elated! Not only did it work and have all the same shows as in the U.S., they have shows that the U.S. Netflix doesn’t! Friends, Sex and the City, and a plethora of movies are suddenly a click away for me. I swear I might like Netflix in Chile better than in the U.S. 

My all-time favorite TV show - at my finger tips!!

            I’ve mentioned the differences I’ve observed in the people here compared to the U.S. in a previous blog post but I wanted to share some insight about other aspects of life. I’m sure this list will only get longer and longer as my time here continues but here is a start! Nothing earth shattering or impossible to overcome, just differences. And like I also said, a lot of them I’m actually starting like!