WHS student reflects on exchange experience in Chile

Dannie McCabe found herself sitting in a classroom in a foreign country at the beginning of her summer break. She was handed a semester math test to take even though she had just joined the school.

McCabe, a senior at Whitefish High School, spent most of the summer in Chile as a foreign exchange student.

“They said, ‘Math is universal, you’ll be fine,’” she recalled with a laugh.

She did well on the test, mostly because it contained concepts she had covered the previous year in school.

McCabe returned to Montana just recently after having spent about two months with a host family in Temuco, near Santiago.

“When I left I didn’t speak any Spanish,” she said. “Now I speak it pretty well and I can read it well enough to get the basic context of what’s being said.”

Most of those around her spoke little English. She found one friend, who became her translator because he had previously attended an English school. Communication with her family and others was an exercise in creativity.

“There was a lot of hand gestures and drawings to go with the few words I did know,” she said. “There’s a few things that are universal signs like — hungry and thirsty.”

An only child at home, McCabe joined a family that gave her a college-aged brother and a two-year-old sister. She enjoyed spending time with her little sister and her host father who, like McCabe, enjoys art.

“I’ll miss the relationships I got there,” she said. “Every house is different, but I still felt loved and warmth in the household, and that I had a family.”

The culture of Chile, with a welcoming people, was one of the reasons McCabe thought it would be a good fit for an exchange experience despite the language barrier. McCabe takes French at WHS, but when it came time to pick a county, Chile was suggested as a place she would enjoy.

“The culture fit my personality,” she said. “When you walk into a room everyone says, ‘Hi, how are you?’ Everyone greets with a kiss on the cheek — friends, children and parents, students and teachers and siblings.”

She had to readjust to not greeting everyone that way when she returned to Montana.

Most of the class offerings were the same as here. However, art and music aren’t part of the regular school day, but are considered to be extra curricular activities.

“The classrooms are more easy going,” she said. “Teachers have a more personal relationship with students.”

McCabe was able to travel to other parts of the country with her host family. She enjoyed seeing the markets with handmade items and traditional jewelry. Her favorite food item was a type of hot dog piled with sauerkraut, tomato, ketchup, mustard, and avocado in a crunchy bread. She enjoyed avocado being served on most everything.

McCabe’s time spent in Chile was part of her larger goal of traveling around the world. She has friends in France, Germany and Africa and hopes to be able to visit them one day.