Hola friends!
This week, our class really took off. Before we depart for our trip, we are reading a book called Argentina Culture Smart: A Quick Guide to Customs & Culture. The first chapter was about Argentina's climate, geography, landscapes, history, government, economy and cultural influences. As I was reading before class, I couldn't help but constantly compare Argentina to the United States. I realized that the two countries have many similarities. For example, both have a large geographic region that spans a wide variety of climates. Also, both are heavily influenced by European countries and fought to gain their independence from those European nations. In fact, Argentina's constitution was modeled after the United States Constitution!
In class, we talked a lot about Chile's current economic situation and how it has changed over the years. Right now, Chile is considered a success as it's economy continues to improve. One thing I found particularly relevant to Clarkson was Chile's interest in entrepreneurship and innovation. The government has created a program called "Start Up Chile," which aims to attract high quality entrepreneurs to start their business in Chile. (http://www.startupchile.org/). We will actually be visiting Start Up Chile while we're in Santiago, even meeting with some of the entrepreneurs themselves. I'm definitely looking forward to that!
The last thing we did in class this week was to learn the Spanish alphabet and more importantly, the differences in pronunciation of letters and combinations of letters between Spain, Chile, and Argentina. It's fascinating how the language has changed over time and place, but it will certainly be a challenge to remember the different sounds!
Next week we're talking about the Argentinean people - their customs, religious beliefs, business ethics and more. Stay tuned!
This week, our class really took off. Before we depart for our trip, we are reading a book called Argentina Culture Smart: A Quick Guide to Customs & Culture. The first chapter was about Argentina's climate, geography, landscapes, history, government, economy and cultural influences. As I was reading before class, I couldn't help but constantly compare Argentina to the United States. I realized that the two countries have many similarities. For example, both have a large geographic region that spans a wide variety of climates. Also, both are heavily influenced by European countries and fought to gain their independence from those European nations. In fact, Argentina's constitution was modeled after the United States Constitution!
In class, we talked a lot about Chile's current economic situation and how it has changed over the years. Right now, Chile is considered a success as it's economy continues to improve. One thing I found particularly relevant to Clarkson was Chile's interest in entrepreneurship and innovation. The government has created a program called "Start Up Chile," which aims to attract high quality entrepreneurs to start their business in Chile. (http://www.startupchile.org/). We will actually be visiting Start Up Chile while we're in Santiago, even meeting with some of the entrepreneurs themselves. I'm definitely looking forward to that!
The last thing we did in class this week was to learn the Spanish alphabet and more importantly, the differences in pronunciation of letters and combinations of letters between Spain, Chile, and Argentina. It's fascinating how the language has changed over time and place, but it will certainly be a challenge to remember the different sounds!
Next week we're talking about the Argentinean people - their customs, religious beliefs, business ethics and more. Stay tuned!
