By Chris Packs, CASA Chile Spring 2019 (Brown University ’20)

Arriving in Santiago one week before the start of the semester, I knew I would struggle to choose my classes. Although I was already familiar with the concept of a shopping period—a two week window in the beginning of the semester to try out classes, as opposed to...

By Eleanor Shea, CASA Chile Spring 2019 (Harvard University ’20)

When contemplating the location of my semester abroad, multiple people jokingly said something along the lines of: “Chile, huh? You know the Spanish there is a little different, right?” I have always been inclined towards the more difficult route, hurling myself into unknown...

By Kelsey Turner, CASA Chile Spring 2019 (Brown University '20)

The last months leading up to my study abroad in Chile were weird. Because the academic semester in South America starts in March, I had nothing to do in January and February but wait around for my flight to take off. In that time of limbo, countless people asked me the same question—“Are you excited or nervous to go to Chile?” My answer was always the same—neither. To be nervous or excited, you have to be expecting something, and I had absolutely no idea what to expect...

By Andrea Vega Troncoso, CASA Chile Spring 2019 (Brown University ’20)

El Valle de la Luna en San Pedro de Atacama

Leaving Brown for a semester was not something I always had in mind. I had left my home and most of my family in the Dominican Republic to come study at Brown. To my parents, I was already far away—abroad. Pero...

By Jaia Clingham-David, CASA Chile Spring 2019 (Cornell University ’20)

Before the semester started, I had very few expectations about what my experience in Chile was going to be like. But Santiago turned out to be the perfect place for me to spend my semester. My friends and family normally considered me to be a city-person, preferring glass buildings and concrete sidewalks to hiking in the wooded mountains. Santiago gave me that city life that I enjoy as well as the ability to travel to some of the most beautiful places I’ve seen. People...

By Isadora Nogueira , CASA Chile Spring 2019 (Barnard College ’20)

En Valle de la Luna, San Pedro de Atacama

When I first came to Chile, my answer for “¿y por qué Chile?” were platitudes about the natural beauty of the Andes and the culture and rich city-life of Santiago. But now when I think of what I...

By Matthew Kind, CASA Argentina Fall 2018 (Harvard University '20)

I believe every study abroad student has a, "smack you in your face, make a fool out of yourself, welcome to a new country, WHAAAMM" moment that lets you know you’re away from Harvard and in the real world. Mine came during my first week of class at the largest public university in South America, La Universidad de Buenos Aires Facultad de Derecho. My professor asked everyone to, wait for it... introduce themselves. I mean come on! In my brief introduction, I...

By Kelsey Carpenter, CASA Chile Fall 2018 (Cornell University '20)

When I first arrived in Chile, new faces frequently asked me, “Why did you pick Chile for study abroad?” Truth be told, I did not have a great answer to this inquiry. I did not want to go to Europe alongside the majority of my peers. An advisor recommended the country. I needed a program that supported my major. These answers satisfied the questioner, but they only left me further examining my own decision to study abroad in Chile. I thought that students were supposed to...

By Erica Foster-Allen, CASA Chile Fall 2018 (Brown University '20)

I can say with utmost confidence that the highlight of my stay in Chile was the opportunity to connect with people from a variety of different backgrounds. One of such opportunities came about from a class I enrolled in at the Universidad Diego Portales titled ‘Problemátics contemporáneas en Chile: el aprendizaje servicio como motor de cambio, where the students were divided into groups to volunteer with a variety of centers and foundations in some of the marginalized areas...

By Tom MacMullen, CASA Chile Fall 2018 (Brown '20)

You would think over 5 months in Chile would feel like a large chunk of time away from the States but the reality is that it has felt like 5 weeks. As cliché as it sounds, it is truly remarkable how fast the semester passes. During the orientation week members of the CASA staff told us that the Spring Semester (Fall in U.S.) in Chile has beautiful weather and before you know it you will be enjoying the sunny, blue sky days of December. This was in July and now I’m sitting at my desk in my...

By Gabriela Muñoz, HSI Chile 2018 (Harvard '21)

On a blue skied day in May, I woke up from perhaps the worst sleep I’ve had in years. Within seconds of my eyes adjusting to the bright, white lights and uncurling myself from the uncomfortable position I had adopted while asleep, I remembered that I was on a plane, 5,000 miles away from home, and just minutes from touching down in Santiago, Chile, my new home for the summer. Well, I couldn’t say it was a new home exactly, given that my entire family, including myself, hailed...

By Drashti Brahmbhatt, SIP Chile 2018 (Brown ‘19)

Twice have I foregone warm Providence summers for the cold, rainy winters of the Southern Cone. I remember visiting Santiago, Chile for three days while I was studying abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina in the fall of 2017 with the CASA semester program. During one of our free blocks, a few friends and I paid a visit to the Museo de la Memoria y Los Derechos Humanos (MMDH). I was in awe by the museum’s ability to portray such difficult moments of Chilean history in an innovative and powerful manner....