Wofford College - Study Abroad

La Universidad fue tomada!!

Hello again! Its been awhile since I have posted but a lot has been going on!

Last time I posted I mentioned that our classes were "en paro" which basically means we don't have class.  The university students from all over Valpo and Chile in general were starting to protest which would last all the way up to last week.  Thats right...no University class, at least any consistent schedule, for about 5-6 weeks! I still had class for my program and class for exchange students so it wasn't a complete vacation.  The thing was that not only were we "en paro" but a few weeks in the students began to "take" the University buildings.  This is where they would actually move into the buildings and lived there until last week.  It was pretty radical but they have finally decided to discontinue the protests and tomas for now and we can continue with class.  So basically tomorrow morning will be the first time I have had University class in quite a while. 

University buildings "en toma"

They have decided to extend the first semester but obviously we can't stay past the program date due to flight and school schedules etc.  So this week will begin the "make up" process.  We will have to work with our professors to etch out a plan of attack! We'll see how that goes. 

Meanwhile, I have been able to do some very fun things.  The last week in April, CIEE took us to La Serena which is a beach city about 5-6 hours north of Vina del Mar.  We went to an observatory (what this area is known for), had a cookout with a local high school, toured a pisco factory, and spent time getting to know the region. 

 

Pisco Factory

The next weekend...me and a few friends headed outside the country for the first time.  We made the 7 hour bus ride through the Andes Mountains to Mendoza, Argentina.  It was incredible!  The weekend was full of activities and great food! On Friday night we went to a famous restaurant called Las Tinajas which was a full spread of all kinds of food but the best part was the full grill of meat.  We actually spent the weeked with former Wofford Grad Logan Stout who had been working in Santiago for the last few months.  She studied here in Valparaiso a few years ago too and was basically my motivation for coming here!

Argentinean Asado

On Saturday we rented bikes and toured part of the wine country.  Mendoza is famous for its wines and different vineyards (I'll still have to say, even though I am not a big wine fan, Chile's wines are definitely better!).  We ended up taking a few tours and eating lunch along the way too.

Wine tours and lunch!

In addition to doing a little traveling, I have been able to spend some quality time with my host family as well.  We went to my "uncle's" house in Santiago for Mother's Day and I met even more family members.  It was really fun though and the food there was great as well!  And I have great news...Vina del Mar's professional soccer team, who hasn't won the Chilean championship since 1976, has made it to the finals!!  This week they will play Colo-Colo, a very good/popular team from Santiago.  It should be great! I'll let you know how it goes.  Wish us luck.

Hope all is well state side! I have about 2 months left and I am loving every minute.  Let me know if you have any questions...I would love to answer them or just talk about Chile in general! We'll talk soon! Ciao.

Chett

spring break '08 Spain, Ireland, England...it's almost over

(the uploader for pictures isn't working, I'm sorry)

One of the advantages to studying in the spring semester in Nantes, is the two week spring break you get in the middle of April. Though it is less than enjoyable to add up the sum of travel, food, and stay money put into two weeks of European extravaganza, the chance to really explore Europe, whichever parts you are interested in, is priceless!  It was kind of weird saying bye for a whole to weeks to my very francophone life, but I set out for Charles DeGaulle Airport so excited!  To cut down on cost, and not risk missing our early flight to Malaga, Spain, two other friends and I decided to head to the airport very late, and spend the night there.

Spain was absolutely beautiful! We stayed in a little coastal town about 45 minutes west of MalagaFrom Spain, one friend and I headed to Dublin, Ireland for the next leg of our break.  Dublin is a magnificent city.  All I wanted was a really nice camera to take pictures, but my point and shoot digital worked just fine! Dublin is bustling with people and very alive.  We walked all over that city, and ended up in one of the many vegetarian restaurants that Dublin has to offer (my friend, Liz, is a vegetarian). The next day we took a tour up to Belfast, in Northern Ireland. If you ever make it to Ireland, Belfast is a must. I had absolutely no idea of the history, or the ‘troubles’, as the Irish say, that are definitely alive still to this day.  The most amazing thing I learned was that when the ‘troubles’ are said to have stopped, there were 12 walls separating the Catholic side of Belfast from the Protestant side.  Now there are 42! We took a Black Taxi tour in Belfast that showed us both sides, and the famous murals. Fun fact about Belfast: the Titanic was built there!  The next day we took a tour into the countryside of Ireland. You know, the rolling green hills, the sheep…It was magnificent. The tour was centered around Glendalough and Wicklow where Hollywood filmed movies like Braveheart, P.S. I Love You, and Reign of Fire, but we saw so much more than the land they used!  It was incredible!

by bus. We got one full day of planned beach time, and we also visited Malaga, Granada, and Cordoba.  What was interesting was not the amount of tourist we saw in our little town, Torrox-Costa, but the number of Germans that lived there permanently! We went to Spain, and heard German everywhere.  We had a connection with one lady there who was married to an American man. They were both elderly, and he lived in an assisted living facility along the coast. One day we all went to visit there, again chock full of Germans, but it was perhaps one of my favorite things we did! We just got to visit catch up.  The man had actually graduated from Clemson, and had lived in South Carolinaall his childhood. I think it was refreshing for him to meet someone who could catch him up a little on the area!

The Grand Finale of spring break was London! Liz and I stayed on the southwest side of London, in Richmond, with a family member of mine! It was so great to make contact with her, and see more of London that what everybody normally sees. When we did head into the city, we saw it all. My favorite was the Tower of London.  They prisoner stories there are amazing, and it is in such great condition. We got kind of a back-stage tour of the Tower of London by another family member who had so many amazing escape stories. Did you know that the crown jewels that are housed there were once stolen and that there used to be a polar bear that would go fishing in the Thames?

All in all, the whole trip was fantastic.  However, headed back to Nantes on the train was incredibly relaxing. Coming into my host family’s house was about as normal a thing as I could have done, which makes thinking that there are only 11 days left in the semester completely crazy. I was walking home the other day past the cathedral and huge garden thinking, “How crazy is it that I get to walk by these things every day and in two weeks, just like that, my ‘normal’ is going to change so much!” It is bittersweet, but true. I’ve got exams and then a very long flight! See you soon, friends!!

-Julia