August 30, 2024 Study Abroad in Chile: Ebone Fields

This summer, fourth-year interior architecture student Ebone Fields traveled abroad to Chile to work with former Visiting Professor Germán Valenzuela Buccolini. During the trip, she assisted Valenzuela and his students at the School of Architecture of the Universidad de Talca, Chile, on a project to revive the Ramal Talca-Constitución by creating spaces for tourists to engage with local communities along the Maule River.

“I mainly helped with the additional graphics for a series of maps used to analyze the Maule River and the Ramal Talca-Constitución,” said Fields. “I met specifically with one of the students who spoke English throughout my last two weeks going over things such as what size font to use and what colors would look best for analyzing the maps.”

Although the trip was Fields’ first time outside the United States, the language barrier was not the biggest challenge she faced.

“I just so happened to visit Chile while they were having one of their coldest winters and it took several days to get used to walking around with multiple layers of clothing,” she said. “I flew from Columbia to Atlanta where it was summer, and I was wearing a sweatshirt and a pair of shorts because it was hot and then landed in Santiago where everyone else wore thick jackets and boots because it was cold.”

Fields was able to participate in cultural events such as the Fiesta del Chancho de Talca, Talca Pig Festival, and travel the country.

“My most memorable experience was riding up the Andes Mountains just after it snowed,” she said. “It was a very beautiful experience especially since I don’t get to see snow very often. At one point the peak of the snowy mountain top blended with the cloudy sky and almost looked like a never-ending winter wonderland.” 

She made a point of visiting museums between Talca, Viña del Mar, and Valparaíso.

“During my first week in Talca, I went to the O’Higgins’s Museum and learned about the famous Chilean independence leader, Bernardo O’Higgins. The building is his preserved home turned into a museum featuring artifacts and other historical information about Talca. During my third week in Chile, I took a private trip to Viña del Mar and Valparaíso. I spent most of the time walking through various plazas and outdoor attractions because it was much warmer in those two cities. In Viña del Mar, I visited the Fonk Museum and learned about the Mapuches and their cultural importance in Chile. In Valparaíso, I visited the Baburizza Palace and got to view a variety of artwork with a great view of the ports.”