Just got an email about In-Country Study next year (ie. my exchange), and we have a meeting next Friday afternoon. Think is, I think I need to decide where I want to go before then. I’m pretty much set on Chile rather than Argentina, I think, but where do I go in Chile? There are three choices – Santiago, Valparaiso / Vina del Mar, and Concepcion. Their pros and cons are as follows:
Santiago: The capital of Chile, it’s located an hour or two inland from Valparaiso, in between the coast and the Andes. It’s apparently quite smoggy, and being a larger city, and the capital, it can be more dangerous than other places, but it also has a large University with lots of different course possibilities.
Valparaiso / Vina del Mar: God, I wish Chrome had keyboard shortcuts for accents like Word does. Anyway, these cities (next to each other) are on the coast, Vina being a summer hangout for the wealthy of Santiago. It’d be lovely being on the coast, although I don’t know what the beaches are like, but the University is quite boring… They only really do Law and Business, which aren’t the most exciting options.
Concepcion: This isn’t completely out of the books, but it’s probably lowest on my list. It’s down south a fair bit, so it’s going to be colder than either of the other cities. It’s also a bit of an industrial port city (Newcastle, anyone?). That said, I’ve heard good things about not only its University, but also its indie music scene.
Anyone have opinions or suggestions?
I was talking to Carla (my Spanish teacher) today, and she, like my last Spanish teacher (Eve) recommended Buenos Aires, and didn’t know much about Chile. She did raise some interesting points, though. Like, that it’s so easy to get pretty much anywhere from Buenos Aires. Like, the train to the rest of the country, Patagonia, ferry to Montevideo, quick trip to Brazil, etc. So I might just keep it up my sleeve.