It’s hard to believe that we’re already several days in April – when people said that studying abroad goes quickly they really weren’t kidding. School has been picking up (presentations and essays galore) so there have been fewer adventures, but each day still brings a new experience here in the city.
This week we started our clinical observations with a morning trip to una ruca – a traditional village where the indigenous Mapuche people live on the outskirts of the city. We had a great time speaking with two Mapuche women about traditional medicine, including their use of herbs to cure some diseases. We enjoyed a delicious breakfast of different kinds of breads (of course) and toppings. I wish we had been able to stay longer and see some medicine in action, but it was still a great experience to get to talk to them.
For our medical spanish class, Veroneque and I also made a trip to a private clinic (Clinica Santa Maria) and a public hospital (Hospital Salvador) to observe the facilities for our presentation next week. It was really interesting to explore the health centers, which are just a few blocks apart in our neighborhood, and witness the differences between the facilities. We were able to ask a few people at each facility about the type of care we would receive after we gained residency (our story for the day) and we were able to learn a lot about health insurance in Chile (a major part of our health classes).
Yesterday, a group of us from IES took a trip to Pomaire, a ceramics village about an hour southeast of Santiago. We hopped on a $3 bus from the central station in Santiago in the morning and spent the day exploring the pottery within the village. We were able to watch some of the artists in action on the street and got to sample so many good foods, including pineapple smoothies, alfajores and empanadas. All around the town, the restaurants advertise their kilo empanadas, so we figured we would have to try one before leaving. The empanada was actually a lot smaller than we expected (and apparently not very good) but at least we tried! My friend Amy and I wanted to explore the city a bit more and buy some souvenirs, and we ended up missing the 5:00 bus back to Santiago by a few seconds. Fortunately, though, it gave us an extra hour to explore the village, pick up some crafts and eat more treats before catching the 6:00 bus back :)
Yesterday, a group of us from IES took a trip to Pomaire, a ceramics village about an hour southeast of Santiago. We hopped on a $3 bus from the central station in Santiago in the morning and spent the day exploring the pottery within the village. We were able to watch some of the artists in action on the street and got to sample so many good foods, including pineapple smoothies, alfajores and empanadas. All around the town, the restaurants advertise their kilo empanadas, so we figured we would have to try one before leaving. The empanada was actually a lot smaller than we expected (and apparently not very good) but at least we tried! My friend Amy and I wanted to explore the city a bit more and buy some souvenirs, and we ended up missing the 5:00 bus back to Santiago by a few seconds. Fortunately, though, it gave us an extra hour to explore the village, pick up some crafts and eat more treats before catching the 6:00 bus back :)