A Semester Exploring the Ends of the Earth

As I write this review, back in the United States, I am sipping Playadito yerba mate (Industria Argentina) from the gourd and bombilla I brought home. I am reminded of all of the times I drank mate in Ushuaia: at La Estación De Vigilancia Atmosférica Global, while we watched the launch of a weather balloon to measure the hole in the ozone layer; on top of Cerro Cortez, resting from the tough climb with some locals I met along the way, gazing out at the magnificent view of the city and Monte Olivia; in the back of a CADIC truck, headed out to do fieldwork at Cabo San Pablo with a couple of biologists; at the small bouldering wall at the Club Andino, listening to Rock Nacional while we climbed; in Sede, passing around the mate while all of the other students presented their awesome Independent Study Projects; with my host family reflecting on all of the good times the day before my flight back to the US... We drank a lot of mate. These memories remind me of the incredible cultural and academic experience that this program was for me. Tierra del Fuego is beautiful, Antarctica is incredible, and neither are easy to get to. The opportunity to spend time in such a unique and remote part of the planet is not an opportunity that you should pass up. Downsides: 1) being a program with other American students, we spoke a good amount of English amongst each other (though classes were all in Spanish, and the friends you make around town likely won't speak any English). 2) Ushuaia is REMOTE, and the opportunities for weekend trips to other cities/countries are not as prevalent as, for example, somewhere in Europe.