Spanish immersion

The majority of the students in the Santiago school were European, and many were in their 30s - mid-career adventure-seekers taking several months off work to travel throughout South America. The Americans were younger and just out of college, not sure of their next step.

I didn't encounter anyone doing what I did - taking just two weeks vacation to go to a language school, but I highly recommend it. I definitely improved my Spanish, but I also felt like I had a real break (that whole running-away thing really works). And I didn't come home broke.

The school also offers a combined class-and-ski program during the winter season - which takes place during our summer.

When I was there, it was late summer, so I spent most of my afternoons crisscrossing the city, checking out the different neighborhoods and sites. Among the highlights was Cerro Santa Lucia, a very vertical public park that is an almost Gaudiesque swirl of landscaping, terraces and pathways.

It is a great place to enjoy panoramic city views, and nearby is the artsy Barrio Lastarria, home to the Museo de Artes Visuales - a top showcase for emerging Chilean artists. (Speaking of artists, I perfected the one-arm self-portrait on this trip).

Dining in Chile is fantastic - I enjoyed sea bass or Peruvian ceviche with amazing wine for less than $10 in many places. Before leaving, I picked up a few bottles of my favorites - after the wine store proprietor let me hang out in the shop and try whatever I wanted.

With limited time and money, I couldn't travel all over Chile, but I managed to break away from school and hit the beach.

For a few days I lazed around the resort community of Vina del Mar, a two-hour bus ride from Santiago. From there I took another bus to the port town of Valparaiso, which was literally built onto the side of a mountain.

It is stacked in such a way that there are cable car lifts to take you up and down - truly one of the most unusual places I have ever seen. And in the late afternoon, as the sun is lower in the sky, the shadows on the multicolored buildings create living Edward Hopper paintings everywhere you turn.

That's the thing about Chile - everything is so luminous and striking, and the night sky is world-renowned. Maybe that's why people flee their problems and go to South America, to look at the world in a different light.

If You Go...

FINDING A SCHOOL: Latin Immersion operates in both Buenos Aires and Santiago, http://www.latinimmersion.com/ or (866) 577-8693. There are also other web sites like http://www.spanishabroad.com/ that do business with language schools in many different countries.

PRICES: With Latin Immersion, group classes (usually about four people) are $170 per week and private are $280 per week. Students can live in an apartment with other students for $105 per week, or with a family for $140 a week (including meals) or $105 (no meals).

ACCOMMODATIONS: In Chile and Argentina, the accommodations are usually with middle-class families and you are always given your own bedroom. The lodging differs in other countries, so do your research.

CHILE TOURISM: http://www.visit-chile.org/

MORE FROM SOUTH AMERICA

South America Section Front

13 sizzling South American beaches How to spend a couple days in Sao Paulo South America's sexiest beaches Discover riches in Peru’s original City of Gold The toast of Argentina Buenos Aires reborn Everything old is new again in Quito Off beaten track in Peru South America’s wilderness lodges Brazil: Under the equator South America Section Front   Add South America headlines to your news reader: