Friday, April 25, 2008

plane tickets

So I guess it's really happening, huh? Tonight I'm meeting with a group of girls in the program to make travel plans. Yep, concrete, time-to-buy-our-plane-tickets kind of plans. Ahh! I'm actually really excited. I saw a few people at our meeting but it was for informational purposes so we spent less time getting to know each other and more time listening to the next 6 months of our young lives. It should be fun to have a casual get together. I assume I'll really like everyone. Most of the time I do :) and they're just the kind of people that I find interesting. How do I know if I don't know them yet? Well, the Santiago program is super new. So much so that this last semester is the only time they've had it before the time that I'll be there a.k.a. these girls are independent, and brave, and adventurous. Also, it's very language-intensive so it doesn't really attract those students that are just there to globally party-it-up and don't really prioritize getting familiar with the culture. Obviously I fully expect to have a good time but learning the language, enjoying the food, exploring the city's secrets, and befriending the locals are also very important to me. Okay now for basic updates... I'm leaving a day earlier than planned (June 14th). Gosh, I can't even grasp the reality of it all, how close it actually is before I leave, I've been planning on spending the year abroad for so long now!  I have all my documents and registration in for Santiago, just found out I received quite the scholarship (my parents are so pleased, lol) and am working on filling out things for France now. Since I'll be in Santiago when most students are applying to study abroad in the spring SU Abroad is allowing me to register early. Oh, and one more great thing I found out is that because I am continuing to stay abroad for a year through another SU program I get a discount on the second semester. Yay me! I'm sure it'll be expensive because of all the traveling I'm going to want to do but it's wonderful to know I'm saving money elsewhere.
Adios amigos! I'll post pictures and information from tonight ASAP!

Monday, April 21, 2008

velcome

Thanks so much for virtually joining me! The tentative date for departure is June 15. Time is really flying by and I already have that nervous/excited butterfly feeling. I met with an SU Abroad advisor yesterday to go over all of the Chilean visa, medical, even FBI forms that I need completed in the next week. Wow, there is so much to do... it better be worth it ;)

"The program is hosted by CEDEI in Cuenca, (Ecuador) and includes a two-day orientation in Quito and various field study and program activities during the 4-week immersion experience where students live with host families. Students then travel to Santiago, (Chile) where they join other program students for participation in the bilingual field study seminar, Contemporary Issues in Chile and Latin America, and enroll in classes at U Chile." Ultimately, "The program is designed to maximize immersion and language acquisition through homestays, bilingual coursework, interdisciplinary field study, and enrollment in regular semester classes taught in Spanish at the University of Chile."