Heading Out

Today marks not only the start of a fresh year as a junior at Grove City College, but also the day on which my experiences expand to the southern hemisphere. Today I leave for Viña del Mar, Chile where I will spend the semester studying at Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez along with eight other Grovers. Contrary to popular belief, my time in Central America strikes me surprisingly insufficient as far as preparing me for Chile; South America is a completely different culture, complete with unique holidays, customs, attitudes... even the Spanish is different. So, for as excited as I am, I fully anticipate the next 4-5 months to be humbling, to say the least.

Just for some context, Viña del Mar is a coastal town in central Chile located some miles northwest of Santiago (the capital) and, as their seasons are opposite those of North America, I'll be there during their winter/spring. Not to say that it'll be anything like Grove City winters; 50-60s on the beach? Yeah, I can handle that. UAI is a Catholic university and I'll be taking three Spanish courses and a film course. I will be living alone with a host family (as of yet unknown to me), but I know at least four other people from Grove City, so I'll have a crowd to share in the culture shock.

God willing, I'll actually keep up with this thing and post regular updates so you guys have some idea of where I'm going, what I'm doing, and what I'm learning. Aiming to put up pictures every so often, too... no promises though.

At this point - with minimal packing left to go and no more errands to run - I'm ready to skip the waiting and dive into whatever unknown craziness sits on the other side of the terminal.