Now that we have returned to Columbus and are back to work, I can certainly say that this trip has been one of the greatest experiences of my life. I used my STEP money to help me pay for this education abroad, and of course the point of STEP is to create a “transformative” experience for all of us who participated. I really thought through and discussed multiple times how I thought that this trip would be a transformative experience, but now that it is over I can fully understand it without any speculation. Since I had never traveled outside of the US or Canada before, experiencing a new country and culture was amazing, and fills me with happiness and excitement to continue to travel throughout the rest of my life. I can’t believe how many sketches and pictures I came away with, and will be able to keep these memories forever, not to mention remember all the things I learned.

Some of my favorite experiences included eating the food (an As Chacarero is now one of my favorite foods), visiting the college campuses and comparing them to our own, relaxing and sketching on Santa Lucia, hiking in the Andes, and getting to actually use Spanish for the first time.

Santiago as a city is so much more dynamic than anything else I had experienced, whether it is at a small scale like the street performers that would run out at a red light, or on a massive scale like how the cerros influence the organization and culture of the city. We got to experience little quirks like ringing a doorbell in Valparaiso to buy a cookie as well as grand views and vistas by climbing high into the Andes or looking out from Costanera. I think that although I learned a lot about sketching, architecture, landscape, planning, etc., along the way, the trip has inspired me to not take anything for granted, to not miss out on new opportunities, and to just appreciate the world that we all live in. I’ll be able to take all these lessons with me throughout my academic career, into my professional career, into my personal life, and the next time I travel.

Although it feels good be back home, the wheels of the plane touching down in Columbus was a shadowy feeling because that meant that our trip had come to an end. In the most honest way, I can say that this trip was the greatest experience of my life. Not only was I given the unique opportunity to travel to a different part of the world, but I also learned more than I thought was imaginable. In Santiago, I learned an immense amount about the city’s culture, its architecture and most importantly about myself.

Arriving in Santiago started a very new experience for me as this was the first time I’ve ever been subject to a new culture outside of the United States. It was interesting for me to get the chance to interact with a different culture and to see how the gears of society turn in a foreign country.

As far as architecture goes, I was able to see and understand a great deal of themes throughout many projects in Chilean architecture. Such as, the ideology of designing for sustainability used frequently by Radic and Aravena, and also the challenge of building in mountainous terrain as the Adolfo Ibáñez campus was. Being able to see many of these impressive pieces of Chilean architecture in person gave me a perspective on the architecture that was completely unique to studying a project from photographs in a classroom.

When I signed up for this trip I had no idea what kind of personal experience it would turn out to be for me. Before leaving for the trip, I feared that I would not come out of my shell and it would negatively affect my experience in country, but thanks to an incredible group of people and the new friends that I made, this was no problem for me. Thanks to this trip, I learned so much about myself and the things that I am capable of. I am immensely thankful to everyone on the trip that helped me make this study abroad opportunity in Santiago, the time of my life.

A full day of classes completed and fully immersed in Columbus, OH, I can safely say that my time in Santiago was well spent. It feels strange being thrown right back into my regular routine after being in a totally new place and a culture foreign to my own. After leaving the airport, I had lunch with my mother and attempting to put into words and pictures just how meaningful this trip was to me was practically impossible. Never being abroad before, I had no idea what to expect and was even scared to go through customs for the first time! I surprised myself with just how much I pushed myself and allowed myself to fully embrace all of this newness and I am very proud of everything I got out of the trip.

I am a creature of habit. I wake up at the crack of dawn everyday, eat the same foods, go to bed at the same time every night, I live my life like clockwork. This trip threw my routine for a loop, and through it was challenging at first, the break was much needed and allowed me to enjoy the food and culture more than I could’ve ever imagined. I had no expectations when it came to meeting others on the trip as well, but so quickly the entire group became close and I met people in various years and bonded with people in my own year, I feel like we all have this new unspoken connection that will last a lifetime and I’m so grateful to have gotten to know all of these people.

Santiago was unlike anywhere I have ever traveled to. I am still working on adjusting to the bitter weather, bland dining hall food, and identical brick architecture that Columbus is full of. Chile was vibrant and no two buildings looked alike, it was stimulating and thought provoking. I loved the colorful pedestrian streets and unity between landscape and the built environment in areas such as Valpariso, Cerra San Cristobal, and our day trip to Cajun de Mapio. Overall, I will remember this trip forever and it has hugely impacted my education and life!

After arriving home and talking to people about my experience I realize that in the past week so many interesting things happened that it’s hard to condense into a simple answer for “how was your break?”. I am really glad I decided to go on this trip because it was such a unique opportunity. It was really interesting being exposed to a new culture and architectural styles.

I’ve never been to a spanish speaking country and being forced to quickly relearn all the spanish I forgot in order to make it by was a challenge. I was surprised by how quickly I was able to remember things and start trying to think of how to say different things. I was surprised that I was able to become a very makeshift translator at some points. This trip made me want to improve my Spanish so that if I get the opportunity to travel to another Spanish speaking country I will be able to communicate better with the locals. That being said I’m incredibly grateful for all the people I interacted with who put up with my broken Spanish and confused expression and worked to help me understand and make it possible to communicate despite the language barrier.

Something that surprised me about Santiago was the amount of greenery everywhere, even within urban areas. There were giant trees everywhere that provided shade and broke up the endless facades of buildings. Even in residential areas there were balconies with plants overflowing them. I have never seen a city that had so many trees and it made me realize how much they can add to one’s experience of a urban area. This trip gave me a new appreciation for landscapes and green spaces in cities. The presence of the Andes mountains surrounding Santiago, and the Cerros tucked within the city was another natural feature that I found myself forgetting then noticing and being in awe of all over again. There was one day were a group of us climbed to the top of Cerro Santa Lucia and it was a surreal experience being able to climb to the top of a hill and look out over a city.

Outside of the projects we focused on there were so many interesting buildings in Santiago. I remember standing at the top of the Costanera tower with a group of people pointing out different buildings we liked and discussing them. There were ones that were interesting colors or shapes. One that stood out appeared to have a front that was covered in greenery. Even just walking down the street there were different buildings that stepped out of the box and brought interesting moments to the city.

This trip is one that I will fondly remember for the rest of my life. It taught me how to become a more independent traveler and reassured me of my ability to adapt to new environments. I also feel like I gained a new appreciation for architecture and landscape by experiencing the amazing spaces Chile had to offer. Going into this experience all I really knew about Chile was that it was the long, thin country in South America. I didn’t really know what to expect that I’ve had the opportunity to explore the country I can say it surprised me in so many ways. I loved my experience in Chile and would return in a heartbeat if given the opportunity.

Sunday and Monday everyone asked how spring break and Chile was and all I could respond was amazing! They would ask well what was amazing?, and I would respond with everything. I explained to a few that my favorite part was climbing up the old and uneven stairs of Cerro Santa Lucia and reaching the top of the castle and looking over the entire city but still being overwhelmingly surrounded by mountains. I explained to others that the most difficult part was the language barrier, but that once I took a step back I could understand what they might be saying due to the activity. To others, I explained that I need to find a really amazing spanish restaurant in Columbus to feed my new found empanada obsession. No matter what I told anyone, I was not able to fully explain how amazing the trip to Chile was. 

I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to travel there and experience a culture and architecture that is so unlike that in the United States. I truly feel that the lessons I have learned from observing and aiming to understand their culture will really help me in the rest of my education and career. 

I am frustrated that the pictures don’t do the country and city justice and my words don’t either, so I have been telling people that if they are ever offered the opportunity to travel to Chile, they have to go. 

Shoutout Christine! When I told her I was considering going to Chile she said you have to go, and so I did! So thank you for encouraging me to take such an amazing trip!

Back in U.S. soil and I will have to say that I was disappointed in the flat land, cold weather, and perpetually hazy skies. Within these last 48 hours, I find myself reflecting more and more on how much I loved my abroad experience. Even more than the various beautiful destinations that we went to, what I loved the most was my ability to analyze the buildings we observed. In that aspect, I surprised myself. This revelation can be interpreted as both good and bad. Since I took this course to see if my curiosity in architecture would correlate into some ability, I am glad that my interest in architecture has been fueled further as a result of this trip. Pessimistically, part of me also wanted to hate every aspect of this trip so that I could be certain that a career in finance was the route I should take. Thanks to all of you, that did not happen. As I continue down this road called life, I have reached a point where a road diverges. I have to decide if I should take a relative leap of faith and pursue a masters in architecture or stay true to my undergraduate and enter the corporate world.

P.S. I will also say that I like OSU’s campus a lot less after going to UC’s. I used to completely love the uniformity and clean nature of all our brick and mortar buildings but after visiting the campus at San Joaquín, I have begun to think that we lack the necessary variety that makes each department so special.

It was hard and didn’t feel right just being thrown right back into my old routine today. It felt like I never left for spring break and Santiago was just a dream. Santiago came and went too fast for me. I still can’t believe that I had this opportunity. Everything that I have done and seen is nothing like what I have experienced in my past.

I noticed differences between our culture and Chilean culture. But I found it easier to spot the similarities. I didn’t expect to find so many. I thought that their would be a big difference between us. The fact that we are on completely different continents and yet are so simular astonishes me.

Another amazing thing I witnessed in Chile were all of the friendships made. Going into the trip, most of us knew little about our classmates. It was crazy to actually see people go from strangers to friends in a matter of a few days. I learned so much about my peers that I would have never gotten to do if I didn’t go on this trip. I have a feeling that class this Thursday is going to be a completely different class than the one before this trip.

The architecture in Chile was amazing. Alot of it seemed to be much older than what it was. There was such a harmonious mix of styles. In the US we have a diverse portfolio too. But Chile has done much better preserving the old and introducing new. The Chileans set a good example on how to treat and use architecture in a way that is beneficial to everyone. Something that America lacks and that we should follow.

Traveling to Santiago is a rare opportunity few get to have. I am so grateful to have had it. I learned so much from this journey about the world and myself. I hope to inspire others to try something like this and I hope to be able to do something like this again in my future.

The first time I realized that the trip was officially over was when I was oddly able to understand every one around me. I felt the unnecessary need to keep saying “gracias” or “lo siento” in response to people. While I love the ability to finally understand the words being spoken next to me, it is very bittersweet to be back home.

I reflect on all of the experiences that I had seized during my time in Chile. My favorite memory was the group’s time at the monastery – looking around and seeing all of us in awe from how picturesque the building was, sketching in silence. While that moment was my absolute favorite, I loved everything else about the trip from seeing all of the beautiful buildings in Santiago and eating amazing food, to almost losing the group in Baquedano. Every memory made is one that I will always cherish.

From this trip, I have learned so much. While the tourist attractions were amazing, I also enjoyed our free time where we got to fully immerse ourselves into the culture as regular Chileans rather than visitors (Colin’s Spanish skills surely helped us to do this). Chile was a helpful and enjoyable sneak peak into my time after college as I hope to spend the summer after graduation traveling around the world. If my travels go even half as well as this one, I will be ecstatic.

Unfortunately, I have to get to all of the homework and exams that I had awaiting my arrival, however I will still be day dreaming of empanadas and 80 degrees the entire time.

While at the Mapuche Cultural Center, I noticed and admired the highly decorative, composite styled columns in the space’s lobby. Afterwards, we made our way towards the Tirso de Molina market, where I noticed the decorative capitals that the structure has. There existed a stark difference in appearance when comparing these capitals to the former ones mentioned. The capitals of the columns in the cultural center were obviously an embellished classical styled columns, whereas the capitals of the columns at the market posses a modern contemporary style. The reason why I compared the capitals of these two columns is because although they are both, in their own way, ornate, they look incredibly different. the two diagrams below show a side by side representation of the two very contrasting styles demonstrated in the columns’ capitals.

Decorative capital of columns at Tirso de Molina

Ornate qualities of composite style columns in Mapuche Cultural Center

We leave in less than 48 hours. I never thought the day would come, it felt so far away when we returned for Spring Semester. The warmth and the sun are almost calling my name as we continue through yet another grey Ohio winter.

I am looking forward to not only seeing beautiful and creative works such as the Costanera Tower, Mestizo and the slide park but also to be immersed into a totally new culture. I am not only excited about the architecture, I am also very excited to eat new food and (attempt to) put my 4 years of high school Spanish class to use.

I am nervous about my sketching, as it’s not totally where I was hoping it would be at this point. Hopefully I can figure it out on the fly, and I am looking forward to the constant practice and hopefully some improvement. What I can’t capture with my sketching I will definitely try my best to capture with a picture at least.

I am going to be the first person in my family to travel to South America, and I can’t wait to have stories and new experiences to tell them when I get back home.

It is  crazy to me that our trip has approached so quickly. I remember sitting in Knowlton for a Santiago meeting in November or December thinking this day would never actually be here. Soon enough,  we are about to depart. Since I have never been out of the country before, I am a little nervous to be totally immersed in a new culture and especially a place I do not know the language, but I fully trust and know my teachers and peers will help me along the way. My entire family is eager for for me travel out of the country and surprised me with new drawing material and a new sketchbook!

In Chile, while I am very excited to see the architecture and culture, I am also equally, if not more, excited to see the dogs in their sweaters. My friends and I have planned an amazing free day exploring the Mapio Valley and its many thermal baths, hot springs, etc.  I am also looking forward to the food because I haven’t really ventured out and explored different foods before and am. definitely going to have a break from my diet 🙂 Overall, I am SO excited and can’t wait to make memories that will last a lifetime.