¡Bienvenidos!

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog! My name is Michelle and I am a senior at the University of North Dakota and will be graduating with my B.A. in Spanish in just a couple of weeks. In addition to studying Spanish, I am also Pre-Physical Therapy and will be starting the Doctor of Physical Therapy Program here at UND in the fall. These two diverse majors have collided and brought me to the adventure I will be embracing this summer: a physical therapy internship in Chile!

My internship placement is in the beautiful, coastal city of Viña del Mar, about an hour and a half west of Santiago, the Chilean capital. Viña is Chile's fourth largest city, with around 324,000 people, and is a very popular tourist destination since it is located right on the Pacific Coast. Viña is filled with beautiful architecture and sights I cannot wait to explore. I am very excited to be living so close to the ocean and to the mountains, a couple things I do not experience at all in North Dakota! Since Chile is in the Southern Hemisphere, it will actually be winter while I am there. Their average winter temperatures range from lows in the 40's to highs in the 60's and 70's, which isn't ideal beach conditions, but I am still so excited to be able to take it all in.

 My internship is coordinated through World Endeavors, a provider of interships and study abroad experiences across the world. I am so glad I found them! I will be working at a physical therapy clinic, Kinesiología el Mirador, which specializes in trauma and neurological therapy, which I am very excited about. In addition to my hours at the clinic, I will also be receiving some additional Spanish language training. I leave right after graduation and will be in Chile for 8 weeks.

I will be living in a small house/apartment with a couple of other WE interns, and I have gotten to chat with my roommates a little bit already. They are both already there, which has been so nice because they are able to answer all of my last-minute questions! Our apartment is just a couple of blocks from the beach which will be SO nice.

I leave two weeks from tomorrow . . . AHH! I cannot believe how quickly the semester is coming to an end. I feel like I have so much to do before the time comes, but I am thankful I have previously studied abroad and have experience with international travel and packing. I think (and hope!) I will be much better at packing this time around.

I will keep you all updated as my journey gets closer, and I can't wait to give you an inside look at my life in Chile! :)

Here is a sneak peek of Viña! Can't wait to experience these beautiful views.