¿Por qué Chile?

And more specifically, ¿por qué La Serena?

I get asked this question by about every person I have a conversation with in Chile, and it usually stumps me for multiple reasons: 1) the language barrier - I can't explain it fully in Spanish 2) the complexity 3) I never really made a list to think through all of the reasons 4) (lack of) memory - I can't ever remember all the reasons at once.

So, I usually end up simplifying the answer. But I decided to actually think it through to come up with all of the reasons, since I haven't really done that.

And I suppose I should preface this by saying that I only considered Spanish-speaking countries. I ruled out Spain pretty quickly because I'd prefer to live in Latin-America than Europe.

Here's why Chile, in no particular order:

• The attitude towards foreigners. I'm referred to as a gringa sometimes, but it's not derogatory in the slightest. People are delighted to find out I'm studying in Chile for a semester. This leads to full conversations with strangers weekly, whether with people at the micro stop, university students (at both ULS in Serena and U. Católica del Norte in Coquimbo), or shopowners at a local corner store. They offer me advice on learning español chileno, suggestions for places to travel, and just a friendly smile. It's not uncommon for people give me their phone numbers (or even addresses) just in case I need to contact them for help in anything.
• El paisaje (the scenery)/the travel opportunities. From the northern desert to southern Patagonia, Chile stretches almost 3000 miles. That means an incredible amount of diversity in geography as well as culture. Always close by is the ocean as well as la cordillera de los Andes, both full of natural beauty. Since I knew I wanted to explore the country I'd study abroad in, Chile seemed perfect.

Why La Serena, also no particular order:

• Fewer foreigners. I am incredibly glad to be in a city that only has only one other American student from my study abroad program, and only 7 other exchange students from other countries (though I haven't even met all of them).  I wanted a complete immersion experience, and while it's more than I bargained for sometimes, this was what I was looking for - definitely my main reason.
• Laura Till. One of my friends from Bowdoin studied abroad in Chile two years ago and though she didn't study abroad in La Serena, she told me about it and convinced me that it was the place for me (not that I needed much convincing). Most of the things she elaborated upon are covered in my other reasons. (Thank you Letto!)
• Other people. I also talked to other people for advice (other friends who have studied in or been to Chile, the study abroad coordinator at Bowdoin, etc) and they were quite helpful.
• Weather. It's currently winter here, but is nearly always above 55 degrees Fahrenheit during the day, and not too cold at night either.  It rarely rains (as in, a-few-times-a-year rare). And summer is arriving, which should have temperatures in the high-sixties or low-seventies. For someone who is always cold, that's not so bad :).

These lists aren't exhaustive, they're just what I came up with now. Maybe I'll edit as I think of more.

I could also do a list about why I chose the Midd program, or why I wanted to study abroad in the fall semester, but I doubt most people care about those. Feel free to let me know if you want to know the answers, though.

Side note: I'm impressed that this is one of the few posts where my love for lists shows.