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Final Reflection
I’m writing this blog post on my couch at home, which is extremely weird. I’ve been back in the States since May 17th, although I haven’t really had time to sit down and write until today. It has been a hectic few weeks. Transitioning back home from studying abroad is no joke. Anyway, this post is meant…
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Week 15: Sopapillas, Caves, Discotecas, Oh My!
I had initially planned on this being my last blog post, but looks like it’s actually the penultimate. Enough things have happened since last week that I want to recap those before diving into my final reflection. Plus, I’m still in vehement denial that study abroad is ending, so I’m not quite in reflection mode.…
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Week 14: Study Abroad Tips
I was planning on writing more updates about DR, but it’s just now hitting me that study abroad is almost over (the panic that accompanies that sentence is no joke), so I thought it might be more helpful to start thinking back on the semester and creating a post full of things I wish I…
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Week 12: Directed Research Begins!
Hello from the midst of Directed Research! DR always felt like such an abstract idea, something so distant in the future that I never really thought about it. But somehow I’m in the last month of study abroad and it’s all very real. For those who aren’t familiar with DR, it’s a core part of…
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Week 10: T-Minus One Day until Finals
School has been extremely hectic recently, hence the lack of a post last week. I’m still not entirely out of the woods; our final exams begin tomorrow and mark the end of the first section of the semester (classes) and the beginning of the second part of the semester (Directed Research). Luckily, all of my…
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Week 8: Headfirst Dive back into Class
Since my last post, I completed my quarantine period and boarded a plane to Puerto Montt the same day, flying to Los Lagos for a school trip. Walking out of my quarantine room and immediately getting on a bus with 30 people was a little jarring, but I slowly returned to my typical rhythms throughout…
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Week 6.5: Mid-Semester Break
Unfortunately, I’m writing this from quarantine. A lot has happened since I last posted, although much of the last week and a half has already receded into the back of my mind following my recent positive COVID test. So, how did I get here? I’ll backtrack. Last week entailed three days of classes at the…
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Week 5: Reflections
This past week marks the final full week of classes before mid-semester break, which is hard to believe. I feel like I just arrived in Chile, even though Sunday was the one-month anniversary of my first day at SFS. As I finish the assignments that are due before break and begin to pack for my…
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Week 4: The Other Side of Patagonia
When I pictured Patagonia back in December, I imagined dramatic mountains and blue glaciers and waterfalls cascading into frothy rivers (side note: this is a common perception of Patagonia, and one that we have picked apart in class). This is not to say that Patagonia doesn’t have these things. It does, plus a bounty of…
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Week 3: An Ode to Lying in the Sun
You don’t realize how comfortable a patch of dirt can be until you’re curled up in the dust with a hat shielding your face from the warm sun. Bonus points if you can hear the sound of a breeze dancing in the leaves overhead, birds singing, or a classmate strumming a guitar in a nearby…