Erasmus in Chile

I've chosen to talk about my Erasmus in Chile. I had the opportunity to go there from September to last January. I had an incredible experience, which is why I wanted to share it. When I returned to Belgium, a lot of people asked me a very difficult question: "How was it? ” How could I make them understand through words the love I felt for this country, and more particularly Santiago? This contest is an amazing chance for me to let you discover my experience.

Why Chile?

First of all, I absolutely wanted to learn Spanish. This exotic Latin language makes me think of holidays, and I wanted to be able to speak it myself. I hesitated between Chile and Argentina. My decision came down to Chile for safety reasons. I can assure you that today I regret absolutely nothing from my experience!

My arrival in Santiago

My arrival in Santiago was not easy. I did not speak Spanish very well. By chance, I already had a friend over there (a Chilean girl that I had met during a Rotary exchange in New Zealand). She could therefore speak English and I was able to communicate with her. However, it was not so simple with her friends. Everyone was very friendly and wanted to talk to me but... nobody spoke English. For the first two weeks, I desperately looked for Chileans who I could talk to in English... with no success. Finally, I knew that the best way for me to learn was to speak in Spanish, despite my poor level. In the end, I rapidly improved. I was lucky to be in a class at university with Mexicans, Colombians, Spaniards and Argentineans. So I could discover a wide range of different accents and progress quickly. It is said that if you understand Chilean Spanish, you can understand any Spanish! I think this is true as they speak very fast! There is also a "Chilean" vocabulary, with loads of words that are completely their own which may be very useful if you wish to do an Erasmus stay in Chile. I'll talk more about that later in the article.

Music

I do have to admit that I fell in love with reggaeton. In Santiago, you can hear it everywhere and all the time. As I had a magnificent experience and I loved the city, hearing songs in Spanish and reggaeton brings many good memories flooding back to me. It's lively music that accompanied me through the whole duration of my exchange. Whether it was in the street, in bars, or on the radio - this music is played everywhere. So there's only one thing to say: si necesitas reggaeton, DALE!

Partying in Santiago

If you look for information on tourist websites, most will advise you to look around Bellavista if you want to go out. I do not completely agree with that. There are some clubs that aren't bad and the prices aren't too high, but it wasn't what I personally preferred. If you are looking for good clubs or something more "fancy", I would advise going to Las Condes. W organises great nights out, for example. I also went out to Club Eve or to Kamikaze which aren't bad either. However, W remains my favourite place. On Wednesdays, there are also "after-work parties" where people tend to be a bit older. It's different to "estudiantines" parties, but it has its charm. It starts fairly early; you can go from 5pm. Every week it is organised in a different place and often they are held in superb venues.

Miercolés Po

How could I talk about partying in Chile without mentioning Miércoles Po? If you are an Erasmus student in Santiago, it's the party that you absolutely cannot miss! As its name suggests, this party takes place every Wednesday, finishes around 4 in the morning, and is free for foreign students. There is a different theme each week and it is held in various clubs in the city (often in Bellavista). And so, every Wednesday we were in the habit of organising a "pre-party" between exchange students to end the night at Miércoles Po. I have so many good memories there... from what I can remember!

Pisco

In Santiago, where there is partying, there is pisco - alcohol often mixed with Coca-Cola (thus called a "piscola") and some ice. The perfect drink for pre-drinking with friends! Don't forget to try it.

Where to eat or drink

I really liked eating in Santiago. To be objective, I have to admit nevertheless that a lot of other exchange students did not feel the same and thought the food wasn't good.

Whatever the case, my best culinary experience in Chile is this: my Chilean friend invited me to a barbecue with her friends. They had slow-cooked the meat on the barbecue for the entire day... delicious! I'm dreaming of it again...

As for restaurants, I often went to the Patio Bellavista. It's a type of centre where you can find all kinds of foods that one desires. I particularly liked their sushi restaurant. This place is also great for having a drink as there is music and a lot of tourists. In the less touristy areas, there are many little "barrios" where you can always find some restaurants, notably the barrio Lastarria. There was also another area with some restaurants near the metro station Tobalaba, or another near Pedro de Valdivia station. A lot of cool little places to not miss if you are going to live in Santiago for a few months. My biggest recommendation would be to make the most of a "rooftop" to have a drink. Santiago is surrounded by mountains and the sunsets are magnificent. Why not enjoy them at the very top of some of the highest buildings in Santiago? For this I recommend Hotel W again.

Where to go food shopping

It's a question you do not find the answer to so often on the internet. That's why I decided to give some answers. I found supermarkets quite expensive in Chile. I thought that South America was affordable, but that wasn't visibly the case in Santiago. You can find a very small variety of fruits and vegetables. The best plan when food shopping is to go to the market in Patronato. There, you can find a large range of fruits, vegetables, meat, and fish at very small prices. You will even be able to find other products like cleaning products, soap, etc. So, if you want good advice, look around the market before going to the supermarket. However, don't be surprised - it's a very different market to the traditional ones found in Europe. You'll see that it's very distinctive...

Where to go shopping

There are loads of shopping centres in Santiago. Unfortunately I do not have the time to introduce all of them, so I will talk about my two favourites. The first is near Parque Arauco in the town of Las Condes, and I love it for two reasons. Firstly, it was the first place I went to when I arrived in Santiago. Secondly, it is absolutely a-ma-zing. Half of it is outside and half is indoors. There are several floors, and at the top are designer brand like Michael Kors, Louis Vuitton, etc. When you go down there is a big plaza with fountains and palm trees and a ton of restaurants of all kinds. At the bottom and inside, you find all the shops typical to a shopping centre: H&M, Zara, etc. The design of this shopping centre is absolutely incredible. The second centre is the Costanera Center, the biggest in Santiago located in Latin America's tallest tower (303 metres in height). It is a more traditional shopping centre, like those you can find in the United States. If you spend a day shopping there, don't miss seeing the view from the top of this building because it is really worth it. It is also very affordable; it costs no more than 6 euros if you go during the week!

What to do in Santiago

There are many things to do - I will not expand on all of them as many have already been mentioned on the internet but I will make a quick summary. First of all, there are a lot of parks in every corner of the city. They are great for walks and all sorts of festivals are organised in them. Notably I'm thinking of Parque Fluvial Renato, Parque de los Reyes, Parque Arauco, Parque Bicentenario... the list goes on. The particularity of Santiago is the variety in architecture; the town is full of districts very different from each other. One part of the city is very modern and makes you think of the big cities in the USA (and is incidentally called "Sanhattan"), whereas other areas are consisted of little colourful houses that resemble Central America.

Santiago is also surrounded by mountains, and there are some "cerros" that are cool for trekking fans to discover. The most touristic is the Cerro Manquehue that offers a panoramic view of the city. However, I recommend knowing the basics of climbing.

Transport

Santiago has a fantastic metro system. The metro covers all zones of the city and I had no trouble getting around. There are trains every 2-3 minutes. The only big negative point is that it doesn't run at night (from around 11pm to 6am). However, there are a lot of taxis and the prices are very low compared to the majority of Western European cities. I only had one bad experience in a taxi. It was during my first few weeks in Santiago. The taxi cost 3000 pesos. I gave a 10, 000 note to the driver and he gave me the remaining 7000 pesos in change. It wasn't until a few days later that I realised the notes were fake...

What makes Santiago a perfect city for an Erasmus exchange?

I could list a million things, but for me the main thing is the city's ambiance. There is a great and very safe atmosphere despite the prejudice we often have of Latin American countries. Even in the middle of the night, I never felt like I was in danger. All residential buildings have a reception desk where you are obliged to go to before being able to enter. It is therefore very difficult to enter without being invited. There is always something to do and there are still a lot of things for me to visit even after having lived there for 5 months. I dream of going back and doing everything that I haven't done. Its location is exceptional, at only a 2-hour drive away from the beach and a 1-hour drive from the mountains. If you go to Santiago, you mustn't miss visiting its surrounding areas. Notably Cajon de Maipo, a mountainous region where you can do horse-riding, rafting, climbing, and all sorts of adventure sports. The city of Valparaíso is renowned for its colourful houses and its graffiti and artworks on all the city walls. I however warn against trusting the images you find of this city online. It has its charm but it is very dirty and you cannot see this in the photos. The beaches in Algarrobo and Viña are also very pretty. And if you're a fan of surfing, you can wander around Pichilemu, the designated surf capital of Chile. This beach is not very pretty but the waves are great!

Some "Chilean" words to finish...

• cachaï? = you see?
• weon = guy
• copete = a drink
• pololo = boyfriend
• bacàn = great

And many others that I'll let you discover by yourself...

¡Santiago, te extraño!