This is probably the most accurate representation of my trip thus far:

The Dunes of Con-Con

Yesterday I went to the dunes of Con-Con, which is an area of Viña del Mar. They were absolutely incredible! One moment, you would be immersed in the sand and it seemed like there should be camels around you because it looked like a desert, and the next you would be on top of the dunes and could see the water right in front of you.

Classes Galore!

I have officially completed my first week of school as an exchange student! This semester, I am taking classes at Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso. The university houses 13,000 students, 10 different colleges with varying majors, and multiple different campuses through Valparaíso and Viña del Mar.

The school system in Chile is extremely different from our own. When you apply to college, you apply to a specific college, and a certain major within that college. You only take classes in that major, only with other people from your college. You can't change and you can't take other classes. For example, if you are in the school of law, you only take law classes with other law students.

As international students, we aren't forced to have a set class schedule like that. We can take classes from virtually any area of discipline. So, after much consideration, I finally decided on my classes for the semester.

Through my program, I am taking a class called Chile: Contemporary History and Cultural Geography. This is the one class I haven't had yet, so I guess I'll have to find out next week how the class is.

Through the exchange students portion of the university, I am taking two classes. The first is Advanced Spanish Communication and Chilean Culture. The second is History of Latin America in the 20th Century. Because both of these are through PIIE, the classes are only for exchange students. The teachers understand that Spanish isn't your first language, so they talk much slower than other classes. Funny thing about my Spanish communication class, my professor taught at Lewis & Clark for a few years! It was a funny coincidence learning that. The class looks like it is going to be really interesting. The professor said she likes us to go around the city and have class outside. 

My history class also looks like it will be interesting. The professor seems nice, and I think taking it in Chile will give it an entirely different perspective.

Through the university, I am taking two classes. This means that I'm taking two classes with Chilean students, that they need in order to graduate, even though I'm taking them for fun. The first is Traditional Mapuche Games and the second is Multimodalidad and Multimedios (I'm sorry, I don't know how to translate that). The Mapuche Games class is the class that came most highly recommended. You spend most class periods on the beach playing games that you've learned about! Multimodalidad and Multimedios is a linguistics-type class. We're going to look at the different forms in which we view language, such as written, oral, pictures, etc. In this class, I am the only foreign exchange student. It's extremely nerve racking being in a class with all native Spanish speakers when you're still learning. However, I think it'll be my most interesting, and also hardest, class.

But, the best part of my schedule, is that I have no class Monday's or Friday's. Which means that I have a 4 day weekend every weekend. I am so excited for the opportunities this will allow me to travel and explore, without the possibility of missing class.

So far, my classes have all seemed wonderful. I'm excited to see how they continue as the semester progresses.