Pontífica Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC)

the 18th of september, chile's independence day is interesting and fun. Must see is Torres del paine in Patagonia if you can only see one place then its totally worth it. Visit Pablo Neruda's houses(see any guide book).

You need to be fairly easy going as you are living with about 40 other people. Its like living in a hostel except your sharing the same space for a longer lenght of time. Also rent is charged at a "special" rate for foreigners try and bargain him(Andres, the manager of the place) down.

Bring a credit card just in case.

Isla de Pasuca(Easter Island) is definitely worth a visit. Its expensive to get there but very much so worth it.

My degree is in Spanish and Economics, before going i thought i could speak spanish when i arrived i realised Chilean spanish is very different from the Spanish they speak in Spain in terms of accent, speed and slang. There is an awful lot of slang spoken in Chile that they do not use in other parts of south America and Spain. I enjoyed learning the chilean version of Spanish. Once you tune into it(took me about 2 months) it gets easier and easier.