SIE LA 2018

(Pic1: The boys holding the Bryant flag proudly at sunrise) As all good things have to come to an end, so does our incredible SIE trip. These two weeks can only be described as perfect, and was definitely one of the best experiences I have ever had.   On January 19th, 2018, our last day in paradise, we wanted to end on a high note; making the most of every remaining moment. We had a free day in Santiago, with a plethora of opportunities to do whatever we wanted.   (Pic2: Tyler & Rocky bonding) For most people the best way to make the most of our free day was to wake up as early as possible. With Tyler’s skilful persuasion and Jaden’s foresight, twenty of us decided to go on an early morning hike to watch the sunrise over Santiago. So, while many students slept soundly in their comfortable hotel beds, we ventured off to a nearby mountain to make the most of our day. We were up and ready to go at 5am sharp and were excited   to begin our day on a p...

After a long, humid day of scouring throughout the city of Santiago, the students and faculty members were more than ready to attend the final SIE dinner at Meson Nerudiano. Today was not any ordinary bus ride to a regular dinner. On this particular bus ride, everyone was greeted with Tyler and Jaden's spectacular idea of hiking up the Andes Mountains at 5:00 am the next day. When Tyler was finally able to get his hands on the microphone of the bus, he was miraculously able to get everyone, even the professors, in on his plan. I was the only one to disagree with this plan because even though I would like to go on the hike, I thought that this time was not ideal for everyone since this night was the last night that all of us would spend in Chile and most people would not be able to wake up in time. However, after Jay's attempt to throw me under the bus, just like everyone else I finally agreed to go on trip. At around 7:30 pm, we finally arrived at the glorious restaur...

  After a long day of immense activities yesterday, here came the last day with the last presentation before us. All of us longing to have a day of our own where we could just relax and have a day to explore the city of Chile. However, we had this interesting presentation to attend with Tatiana Molina who was introducing us to an in depth understanding of Chile not only as political or economical country but helping understand the culture of Chile on the whole. We had a great start when the students were offered a starting delicacy of nice coffee and snacks. After this we were introduced to the speaker who spoke to us about how Chile was a country in which every citizen was involved in making the country a better place. The presentation had a lot of topics that related to how Chile was turning to be a growing economy and the ways in which it was able achieve it's economical and political objectives. It started with introducing us to Chile and how the country ranked in its si...

January 18 th was our last full day of SIE and last full day in the beautiful city of Santiago Chile. Before our departure on January 19 th , our groups were able to take part in the Santiago cultural city game. My group (made up of myself, Colby Sturgis, Angie Perrone, Diana Thu, and Arvav Vaid) had previously anticipated this game since we had such an amazing time exploring the city of Buenos Aires during the last cultural city game. Our game got off to a bit of a rough start. My group was delayed an hour and a half due to members taking care of personal matters. Regardless of this time constraint, we were determined to visit as many locations throughout the city as possible. In order to get to our first location, we took the metro to Baqueando and took a fifteen-minute walk in hopes to take a funicular up San Cristóbal Hill. Unfortunately, upon our arrival, we found out that the funiculars were closed for maintenance. Although this was not ideal, my group attempted to turn this ne...

Hola from Santiago!! Coming off of the Buenos Aires City Game, my group was prepared and anxious to attack the Santiago City Game.  At this point, we could call ourselves veterans at navigating a foreign city and completing a scavenger hunt.  This time my group had spent a few days in the city already, so we had a decent grasp on our surroundings.  With the clock ticking and a new city to explore, my team was ready to play! The start of our journey at the first metro station This game was a lot different than the one played in Buenos Aires.  Our team already knew the best possible way to attack this game and that's what we did.  My team started the game in the lobby of our hotel mapping out the different places that we had to visit.  We all came to the conclusion that it would be best for our team to go to the furthest destination and then slowly back track.  Seeing that time was a huge factor in this game, we thought this would be the best bet...

Los Dominicos Handcraft Village Today 35 Bryant Bulldogs visited the Handicraft Village in Santiago where we had a chance to further explore the Chilean culture. Over the course of this entire trip, it's been incredibly important that we immersed ourselves in the culture completely. For me this meant trying to speak Spanish, eat traditional food, and purchase gifts made with products found in the country or products made by hand.  A look inside the market I started my time here with some friends by expanding my taste buds and trying the local cuisine. While in Latin America, I've recently discovered my love for empanadas! I immediately gravitated towards this on the menu and then also picked a Greek Salad. Our friends a few tables over let us try their Pastel de Choclo made with chicken. This contains corn and meats and is very traditional in Chile. I was incredibly excited to try this dish because every person I spoke to told us we needed to try this dish...