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.” :)