Gallivanting in the world's narrowest and longest country

Thanks so much to various programs and scholarships, I am able to embark on global explorations for service and research initiatives. This summer, the Harvard School of Public Health MIRT program flew me to Chile. I've grown to love the country. Every so often, whether it's at work, a family gathering with my homestay, or a night out with the other interns, I am constantly reminding myself that I am in Chile. CHILE. I’ve been approaching everything with excitement and an open mind, looking to take advantage of everything while here because I’m pretty sure I won’t get the chance to come back!

The MIRT (Multidisciplinary International Research Training) program through the Harvard School of Public Health emphasizes research, interventions, active public health involvement, and especially cultural exchange in international communities. At work, things have been a little slow. We are shadowing specialists at the rehabilitation center and conducting data analyses of research studies that were already conducted in Chile and Peru, but communication with our research mentor has been fairly stagnant since our arrival. 

 

We hope to pick things up in the next several weeks of our time here and successfully complete the program requirements (which include writing papers for submission to journals and making a final presentation). While I of course prefer and enjoy the fun facets of this experience (meeting others, practicing Spanish, exploring the region, etc), I’d like to take advantage of this opportunity to become an expert on my project, gain proficiency in a statistical software (SPSS) for data analysis, and somehow engage in the work of the specialists at the center.

This past week, the rehabilitation center was closed for vacation, so the other two interns (Anjalene and Tessa) and I flew up from Punta Arenas to the capital, Santiago, to explore more of Chile. I have never done so much traveling in such a short period of time in my life before. It’s a miracle that I haven’t gotten sick from the constant flying, car rides, and walking.

 Timeline of our one week trip in Northern Chile

La Costanera, Santiago, Chile

·     Sunday & Monday (July 21-22) - We stayed with some of our homestay’s extended family in Santiago. Our flight arrived rather late on Sunday night, but we went out with the family’s son anyway. He drove us around, took us to the mall and a few shops, but most were closed at that time of night. The Costanera Center was still open for a little while longer, so we took a walk around there. The Costanera shopping mall (made up of 6-floors) was finished being built last year (2012), and it is the largest in South America. This picture does not do it justice.

On Monday, we explored downtown Santiago with the family’s son and his sister. They were great people to hang out with. I bought a few souvenirs (which I waited to buy here because apparently they're more expensive in Punta Arenas. The further north you go, the cheaper the things are said to be), we ate out for lunch (I ordered an avocado pizza. Absolutely delicious), walked through some shops, went up to a few sites that allowed us to see all of Santiago, explored the central plaza, and did more walking.
   

Plaza de Armas, Santiago, Chile

Santiago, Chile

Vina del Mar

·    Tuesday – Anjalene, Tessa, our Santiago homestay family's daughter and I took a bus in the morning to Viña del Mar, which is a small city inside of a larger one, Valparaíso. It’s about an hour from Santiago. We went for the day on a 6 hour tour of both cities. We met people from other parts of the world on the bus (including Brazil, Colombia, Spain, Germany, etc.), took many photos, and ate out at Pizza Hut. Viña is gorgeous.

·     Wednesday – Tessa and I left Tuesday night for a 7-hour bus ride up north from Santiago to La Serena. We slept on the way there, checked into our hostel the following morning, and explored the small town. We went to a Japanese Garden, a free zoo, the plaza, cathedral, local market, beach (where we took a nap. I woke up forgetting where I was), and horseback riding (on the beach). I hadn’t been horseback riding in such a long time. I remember being on a horse, but I don’t think I’ve ridden one this far of a distance before. It was very fun. The young boy who came with us on our ride was great to talk to. He was only 14 and knew so much about horses. 

La Serena, Chile

Wednesday night we stayed in a hostel. On Thursday we went bike riding along the coast. Tessa is from Seattle, so none of the “active” things we’ve done this whole week were new to her at all (bicycling, horseback riding, hiking, etc.). I wasn’t new to these things either because I’ve done them before, but certainly not as often. It’s been great to step out and immerse myself in these activities. I’ve found that I love bike riding. It’s a fun exercise! The day was beautiful. It was a little chilly, but I had on a sweater and scarf, and it felt nice to feel the wind blowing through my hair.

Horseback riding

Bike riding along the coast

We rode all the way to the other side of the coast where we reached a pueblito (little town) called Coquimbo. We walked through the market, shops, and spoke to a few of the locals. Our endpoint was the cross at the top of the hill in the town: Cruz del Tercer Milenio (Third Millennium Cross). There was no way we could ride our bikes up the hill because it was too steep. Instead, we pushed them up with us. That was quite a workout. But we made it! And from the cross we were able to see all of Coquimbo and La Serena.

Third Millennium Cross, Coquimbo, Chile

The tallest monument in South America

Coquimbo, Chile

·     Friday – We took a night bus again on Thursday from La Serena and arrived back in Santiago early on Friday morning…around 7AM. We planned to take another bus leaving at 10AM to Olmué, a small town in between Santiago and Valparaíso that’s home to La Campana, one of the top 5 national parks in Chile. To be honest, I wasn’t up for the hiking at all, which was supposed to last for about 6 hours. I was tired from all the bus travel, incessant activity and walking for the past several days, but Tessa was so intent on going with a head cold, burning sinuses, and pumped attitude. That motivated me to suck up my fatigue and join in. We only live once right?

Hiking in Olmué, Chile

• I'd gone hiking once before in Guatemala (up a volcano. Volcán Pacaya), and I completely forgot about how much I disliked it. I loved the scenery once we got to the top, but the walk up was a struggle. This was the same case at La Campana. I fought to keep up with Tessa and her friend who is from Colorado and goes hiking all the time back home. I never go hiking, so this was rough. I’m glad I kept pushing through. I'm not really a nature-y person, but I admit, the wind and beauty of the walk was nice.

 

·     Saturday – We came back at night from our hike on Friday (which lasted about 4 hours, not 6, since we arrived late and had to end early). We went out in Santiago on Friday night and relaxed all day Saturday. We ordered a pizza, relaxed with the family, chatted, watched movies/shows, and I pretty much wrote in my journal for half the day. I was so sore from the hike.

·     Sunday – Our flight back to Punta Arenas was at 9AM. We got back in the afternoon. My first thoughts once I gave my (original) homestay mom a hug and kiss in the airport were, “It’s so good to be back home.” :)

First experiences in Chile

It’s been a little over a couple of weeks since my arrival, and I’ve been able to see and get a taste of new things here in Patagonia Chile.

From having a free gym membership to hanging out and giggling with my huge homestay family and the other two interns, this experience has been incredible so far. 

This past Friday I had what they call an “evaluation” at the gym by my personal trainer, who set up a workout schedule for me to do on my own three times a week. The workouts brought me back to Track in high school. Such bad memories (some good of course, but most bad). I thought back to the tough workouts (I found that I could never really push myself to the extent that most of my teammates could) and the yelling of the coaches because I oftentimes fell behind. (I later realized that I became easily fatigued because of my anemia; I carry the trait for beta thalassemia, which is a blood disorder that reduces the production of hemoglobin). I want to get into better shape, and one of my goals for this summer is to stay on top of these workouts. 

On that same Friday we went to a birthday gathering for our host mom’s niece. The family is huge, everyone is nice and relaxed, and the ambience in the homes is warm and friendly. The 2 interns and I ended up playing a big game of Uno for a few hours with the other young people in the family (cousins, family friends, our host mom’s daughters and their boyfriends, etc.) It was beyond fun. We practiced our Spanish (as well as learned a lot of Chilean slang), got to know some of the people from this region better, and laughed the night away with our silliness and random jokes.

Last Wednesday we took a day trip to Puerto Natales, a small town three hours up north from Punta Arenas by bus. It’s pretty dead this time of year in the winter because tourists typically come during the summertime. The hostels, souvenir shops, travel agencies, and other places either weren’t very busy or were closed. We visited the cave of the Giant Sloth (La cueva del milodón), walked along the beach, met a Chilean from Santiago who wanted to take pictures of and with us foreigners, and ate at a very good seafood restaurant.

                               Puerto Natales, Chile

This Tuesday is a national holiday, July 16 (Our Lady of Mount Carmel; in honor of the Virgin Mary I). We’ll be going to Fuerte Bulnes with the host family and friends, a Chilean fort about 40 miles south of Punta Arenas.

Journey to Chile's southernmost city

After about 25 hours of travel and three plane flights, I made it to Punta Arenas (“Sandy Point”), Chile, the southernmost city in the nation. I’m here for eight weeks to do public health research while stationed at a rehabilitation center for mentally disabled children and adults.

The trip was exhausting and long. Newark, NJ --> Lima, Peru --> Santiago, Chile --> Punta Arenas, Chile. That was the order of the flights. 7, 5, 3. And those were the hours I spent on each one.

I was picked up at the airport by the Director of research at the center. When we stepped outside, I expected it to be much colder (Ithaca’s winter had been even more brutal). I was told that it would get worse.

My homestay family is so sweet, especially Monica, the mother. She has four grown daughters (the oldest is in her late twenties) but Monica doesn't look a day over 40. The food is delicious, and the Spanish is tricky! You can live and study for as long as you want in Mexico, for example, and return to the states speaking fluent Spanish, but once you immerse yourself in Chile, you’ll be in for a shock. It will feel like you're hearing another language entirely. The Spanish is completely different, they use a lot of slang, and the fact that they speak fast is an understatement.

Punta Arenas is the southernmost city in Chile. Ushaia, Argentina is the southernmost city of the world. Their winter is our summer, and vice versa. There are about 150,000 people living here. Punta Arenas is known especially for its oil, fishing industry, and agriculture. I'm looking forward to exploring more of the Tierra del Fuego region, learning about Chilean culture, and getting started on my research project at the rehabilitation center.