Annie Hertzler Studies in Chile

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Mi Vida Chilena

Annie Hertzler

            While descending the Andes Mountains in a 15 passenger van, the popular song, Call Me Maybe came on the radio.  After watching the music video that the Princeton baseball team posted on YouTube, I couldn’t resist doing the arm motions that went along with the song.  I consequently received many judgmental stares from the 13 Chileans that were in the van with me (the other American was just confused because she hadn’t seen the video).  This is just one of the many awkward experiences that occurred during my month spent in the Southern Hemisphere.

            To complete the requirements for a major in Spanish, I studied abroad this summer in Valparaiso and Viña del Mar, Chile.  It was an experience that I would repeat in a heartbeat.  I took two classes, Chilean Culture and Conversation and the Sociopolitical History of Latin America, at the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaiso.  In these classes, I learned about the history of Chile and how that history had an impact on the Chilean culture today.   During the classes, we would have lectures, watch music videos, take tours of the important parts of the city, and have conversations about the differences between the Chilean and American cultures.  These classes were a really crucial and fun part of my experience. 

            While in Chile, my roommate, Elise, and I lived with a host family.  My parents were an older couple, Ali and Jorge, and their daughter, Daniella, lived with in the house as well.  This was another really important part of my experience.  Mi mama chilena was the cutest little woman.  Elise and I would ask her about vocabulary words during once (the light Chilean dinner) and she would ask us what the words meant in English.  She always said that speaking English was like having a hot potato in her mouth.  Elise and I had a different experience than the rest of the members of the group because we were with a quiet family that was not as inclusive as the other families.  Even though we did not have the experience that many of the other students did, we still learned a lot about the Chilean culture from our parents.  For example, we found out that during the dictatorial reign of Pinochet, Ali and Jorge moved their family to France because they knew people in Chile who were being persecuted and put to death for their opinions.  The culture was not the only thing we learned from our families.  Ali and Jorge had been married for 50 to 60 years and they were still very much in love with each other.  Elise and I learned a lot about the different stages of life from living with our adorable parents. 

            Our group went on a few excursions to different beaches and shops and it was always a good time adventuring and immersing ourselves in a different culture.  I traveled with another ONU student and we visited Easter Island (La Isla de Pascua) before our study abroad started.  It was a unique place and not what I was expecting at all.  There were stray dogs and wild horses all over the island.  We found out the hard way that there is only one paved road on the island. We also ventured to the tops of the Andes Mountains one day to go skiing, but ended up going zip-lining instead. 

            My trip to Chile was quite the adventure, but I learned things there that I will definitely never forget.  I would recommend studying abroad to anyone who is interested and wants to learn about a new and different culture.