Flights

For my last big trip as an international student here in Chile I wanted to make it into Buenos Aires because it is much cheaper to fly from Chile instead of from Boston! When I am in the US and I want to travel by plane I have to book months in advance in order to get a relatively cheap flight with the dates and times I want. Mind you, all of this is in English. This week when I booked my flight to Buenos Aires, LAN offered numerous excursions to different places throughout Latin America. They included airfare, hotel and transportation. It is cheaper to search on LAN if you put the nationality as a Chilean. As a traveller, it is great to see what the airline has to offer for all inclusive trip because in the US I do not get that option through the airline. In order to get an all inclusive trip one must search for it thoroughly on other websites which can then inclusive airfare. I don't find it easy to find inclusive deals on websites of airlines.

Mendoza

This weekend I made the trip into Mendoza, Argentina. It was a very different scene from Vina; more trees, less traffic, and the Spanish was a lot easier to understand. When going to the artisanal market, I noticed a big difference. They had a larger variety of items ranging from knives to stuffed animals. Although I was only about 6 or 7 hours away from Vina, it was interesting to notice what was popular here in Mendoza. There was rings at almost every vendor as well as earrings. Jewellery was a popular selling item. Here in Vina when I walk from vendor to vendor people are very aggressive about trying to sell their items, but this time I didn't feel as awkward or pressured. It made me feel comfortable to stay standing at their stand for a while so that I could look in peace. When making a purchase, the vendor almost always offered a deal if I bought 2. In general I believe many of the vendors had more patience with foreigners/tourists and were willing to help if necessary.

The same but different

The other night I went to the movie theater to watch a movie but mostly, to experience going to see a movie in a non-English speaking country. It was interesting to search online about movies and there was 3 sections of some movies. Back home, there is only one type: the movie in English. Here, when I was searching I found movies offered in just Spanish, in English with Spanish subtitles and Spanish with English subtitles. Something simple like going to the movies never seemed so complicated. As an international student, it was great to have all those options. When I went to the actual theater I noticed there was mostly people going into the Spanish movie since this is the native language, but I found that a lot of younger Chileans went into the Spanish movie that included English subtitles. I asked one Chilean if he understood any English and he said a little bit but he wants to try to become more fluent which is why he went into a movie with subtitles. As a marketing perspective I think it is awesome to have so many different options whether it is benefiting the locals, international students or even the occasional tourist. Now when I go back home, I am going to look more closely into the movies to see if they have other language options for movie goers in Massachusetts.