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.
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