¡Hola a todos and welcome back to "There Be Dragons"! Annelise Eidt

   ¡Hola a todos and welcome back to "There Be Dragons"! 

    I'm Annelise Eidt, a junior in the Global and Disciplinary honors programs through Lloyd Honors College. I'm at UNCG pursuing a double major in Speech Language Pathology and Spanish, the latter of which was my inspiration for studying abroad in a spanish-speaking country. I was lucky enough to spend my spring 2025 semester studying in Valparaíso, Chile at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso (PUCV) through UNCG's partnership with the ISEP agency. I'm so excited to be sharing my experience with you all!

Below: Pictures from all around Valparaíso and Viña del Mar, Chile

 

A Home Away from Home

During my 6 months in Chile, I stayed with a host family in the nearby town of Viña del Mar. My experience of living in a new country as well as practicing Spanish was intricately tied to my close relationship with my host family and I could not have asked for kinder or more patient people to form my second family. I stayed here with my own room, access to kitchen and laundry services, and it was right down the road from a micro stop (the bus system of Chile). We tried to eat together for lunch and dinner or "once" which is a late night meal of bread, meat and cheese, and tea. We would converse at the table about things ranging from how our days went to current politics and would also have friends and family over on the weekends.

Pictured below: My host family including my host parents (Ximena and José Miguel), la Abuelita Eliana, and la Tía Eva

Putting the "Study" in "Study Abroad"

While I was enrolled at PUCV in Valparaíso, I took a total of 6 classes over two terms. I opted to take all of my courses completely in Spanish, but they also offered courses in english too. Of course I had some grammar and conversation courses but I also took classes focusing on healthcare systems in Chile, Latin American short stories, and traditional dances of Chile which were fascinating. I found that although the courses were at times more rigorous than I anticipated, all of the professors were very kind and always willing to help. As someone who has always found school to come easily, this experience really pushed me to grow by taking more of an active role in my education. I had to try twice as hard to understand concepts that if explained in english would be fairly quick to understand. However, with time class materials became easier to digest, which showed me my personal growth in the language and significantly helped with my self-confidence in Spanish. PUCV also served as a social hub for students where we could hang out and study or just chat. If we weren't studying at school you would find us at one of the countless cafes in the city where you could buy a coffee or specialty drink for under $4! Or we would be at the beach, as Chile has massive amounts of coastline on the Pacific ocean. Pictured below is one of our favorite cafes in Viña del Mar called Café Rosa where everything was pink.

Seeing the World

My flight to Chile was the first time I had ever been outside of the United States, and I planned to make the most of all of my time while I was on another continent. With a country so varied like Chile with its beaches and mountains and deserts, I was determined to soak it all in. Not to mention all of the amazing countries that were just a short plane ride away. I managed to take about a trip per month with friends I had made through the exchange program at PUCV. Spanning the countries of Chile, Argentina, and Brazil, I was able to swim in crystal blue waters, hike glaciers and volcanoes, stargaze in the desert night sky and even see alpacas and vicuñas in person! These trips probably constituted my most vivid memories of my semester abroad because each trip was magical in its own way, seeing awesome places with friends that I met only a few weeks to a few months ago but now consider some of my closest friends. Below are a few pictures from my travels to Pucón, Chile (top row), the Atacama desert, Chile (bottom left), and skiing in the Andes mountains outside of Santiago de Chile!

Final Reflections 

The six months I spent in Chile helped me grow so much within my language learning journey, but also in general life skills. Now that I'm back, I find it so much easier to put myself out there and make new friends, I'm less anxious to try new things, and I have an even greater understanding and empathy for the people I interact with every day. I am beyond grateful for all of the opportunities I was afforded in traveling abroad, including financial assistance I received through UNCG, the Lloyd International Honors college and the Gilman Scholarship program. I would 100% recommend going abroad at least once, you'll learn so much about other cultures and you'll also be surprised at how much you learn about yourself. Thanks so much for reading about my trip to Chile, I hope it inspires you to get out there and explore!