Tell us about an experience you had that you could not have had at home.
Hannah: During our week spent in Pucón, a small pueblo in the south of Chile, four of my friends and I decided to brave Cañi, a snow-covered mountain that required better equipment than the walking sticks we found. After a successful first six hours of hiking, we got lost. We had just reached a disappointing consensus to turn back when suddenly, like a scene from a movie, we saw in the distance our new Chilean friends (who we still keep in touch with today) making their steady way toward us through the snow.
All they had to do was call us chicken to convince us to turn around and start the final trek up the mountain again. That final hour consisted of pulling each other up, digging our sticks into the snow, clinging to every tree branch we passed, and slowly but surely inching our way to the top. The instant we reached the summit, all the struggles were washed away by the 360 degree, majestic view that welcomed and congratulated us for having conquered Cañi. There were mountains, volcanoes, trees, sky, and pure, glorious nature as far as the eye could see. I fell in love with Chile in that moment and have never looked at nature the same way since.
What was the best place you visited outside of your study abroad city?
The last week I spent in Chile was in Patagonia. The night before I booked my plane tickets, Torres del Paine was named 8th natural wonder of the world. But not even that fact could have prepared me for the awe-inspiring beauty I encountered. We spent a week doing the “W circuit,” camping at night, and hiking 15 to 20 kilometers daily. It was the most challenging and rewarding experience of my life. I wouldn’t trade the freezing rain at night, the sore muscles, and the peanut butter overkill for the experience we had.
The best words to describe Torres are magnificent and mysterious. The mountains and “towers” themselves are multicolored, the water is the brightest shade of turquoise, the massive glaciers glow an icy blue, and the flowers were blooming a bright red all over the countryside, something they do only the first week of December, when we happened to be there. The landscape is unique and almost eerie. There is stillness and a solemnity that pervades Torres, in which one feels utterly small and insignificant when at the mercy of such powerful nature.
Describe your most meaningful souvenir and why you love it?
My most meaningful souvenir was a ring given to me by my host mother. At various moments during my time in Santiago, I had said that I wanted a lapis lazuli ring because it is a unique stone that can only be found in two countries, Chile being one of them. But my last night in Chile had arrived, and I had given up on my “perfect ring” search.
On top of that, I was down to the last of my pesos. However, I still ended up with a lapis lazuli ring on my finger because that day, my host mom had snuck out and found the perfect ring for me herself. I cried when she gave it to me because it was the most thoughtful gift and because I knew I had to leave them the next day. I wear the ring every day now and think of her every time I see it. It’s a beautiful reminder of the selfless mom she was to me and how I now have the privilege of belonging to a family in another country.
Do you feel you got a chance to see the city from a local's perspective?
I was in Santiago during the “dieciocho,” Chile’s national holiday, and I saw the city and the culture through the perspective of a local during that time especially. I went to asados (Chile’s version of a barbeque with twenty times the meat), I had a terremoto, I danced Chile’s national dance the cueca with my little brother, and I went to festival after festival in the many parks around the city.
This national celebration was only a week after September 11, a day that divides many Chileans due to the complex political times the country experienced. It was interesting to learn the divisive history of the September 11, 1973 overthrow of the government and then see the country once again unite a week later to celebrate the pride of a beautiful culture that all Chileans possess – and that I now possess as well.
Do you think your program changed you as a person?
My time in Chile undoubtedly changed who I am as an individual. I arrived to Chile, hardly knowing anything about the country and about the family I was about to live with. Five months later, I left in tears because I had grown to love another life that wasn’t mine to keep. For the firs time, I truly viewed America from a different, more open perspective and saw the flaws of our interactions with Chile.
I improved my Spanish and now have an even stronger desire to become fluent and use Spanish in my future career. I rediscovered my passion for nature and adventure, thanks to the diverse and rich landscape Chile offers. I grew close to another family and formed relationships that exceed language and cultural barriers and that now will exceed distance. I became more confident overall because I learned to navigate a foreign place in Spanish – so why shouldn’t I be able to do that in English? I am more eager to learn and to place myself in uncomfortable situations, knowing that something beautiful will come out of them as a result.