Independence. Culture. A new language. Street smarts.
You’ve seen your advisors’ lists of study abroad gains. But, girl, let me tell you, that in the first week my semester in Santiago, Chile, I’ve found there are a few life lessons missing from their register.
Here are a few things you, too, might pick up while opening textbooks abroad:
1) An impeccable fashion sense
No longer will Northface jackets and fuzzy Uggs flood your daily camino—South American cities will introduce you to trends you’ve been missing out on. Patterned leggings and floor-length hair . And sorry, girls, but you might want to grab a pair of hair clippers before searching for your Latin lover; the mullet pays homage to Paul McCartney in every salsoteca.
2) Don’t fret if the metro closes far before your bed time.
I asked a few locals how they manage to transport themselves home after nights at the bars without cracking into their piggy banks. Their solution? Stay at the clubs until 8am, when the metro opens to a fresh new day… Or to a very well-lit homecoming.
3) You might be over-due for a refresher course in arithmetic
Or maybe that’s just my issue. Paradigm:
Girl. In a little store in Santiago Centro, trying to buy empanadas. Vendor charges 700 pesos.
She rifles through her cash and grabs the first bills that seem to add to the number 7. First attempt: her $5000 peso bill.
Rolls her remaining $2000 pesos in her hands, wondering when the vendor will ask her to hand them over. Damn. Here goes all my cash.
Vendor looks at girl. He gives pity. “Es suficiente.” He exchanges the girl’s $5000 bill for one of her $1000 bills. Makes change.
Really? I wanted to give him $7000 instead of $700? This is why he is the businessman, and I am the tourist.