Well, as many of you know, I don't like to stay in one place for too long. Starting Monday, I will begin my next adventure! I'm headed to Arica, Chile, the northernmost city in the country where I'll be studying for most of the semester. The way the SIT program is set up I will be living with a host family and attending classes at the Universidad de Tarapacá. The coursework is focused around public health, traditional medicine, and community empowerment, specifically in the indigenous areas of Chile. At the end of the program, we have 4 weeks to go out on our own and conduct our own research and gather data for our Independent Study Projects that each of us will then present as our final assignment for the semester. I haven't quite figured out what I'll be doing my project on, but something along the lines of infant nutrition in indigenous populations... maybe looking int some witchcraft and legends around infant illness... We'll see!
There are 22 other students from around the US who will also be joining me in this wonderful experience to improve my Spanish, engage in the local culture, try some new foods, learn all about the Chilean health system, and hopefully make some amazing new friends.
I'm so excited to see what this semester has in store for me :)
All for now,
Heidi
