Why You Need to Play Sports While Studying Abroad
Months before I left for my semester abroad in Valparaíso, Chile, I was standing before my university men’s ultimate frisbee team, explaining why I deserved to be captain for the next season. Everyone had the same question: Aren’t you going abroad? I assured my teammates that I was already in the process of contacting frisbee teams in Chile to make sure I didn’t lose a step. And though it started as a means to an end, playing with Puerto Pirata and Ultimate Wolves was the most exciting, welcoming, and immersive experience that I had during my time in Chile.
Playing with Puerto Pirata and Ultimate Wolves was the most exciting, welcoming, and immersive experience that I had during my time in Chile.
Finding a team
I had messaged several teams on Instagram by searching “Valparaíso” and “ultimate frisbee,” and in my second week abroad I went to my first practice with Puerto Pirata, a team mostly comprised of professors at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso (PUCV) where I was studying. We met on a turf field the size of a soccer goalie box at the PUCV Sausalito campus. I did not take classes at this facultad (department), so my host family made sure that I knew exactly which micro, the buses that roam the region, to take.
The first practice was so much fun. There were 15 to 20 people there, all with different frisbee experiences and skill levels. Regardless, they all were excited to meet me, learn about frisbee in the U.S., and teach me about frisbee in Chile. The first thing that I noticed was that Chileans never get tired. I think we ran for an hour and a half before we took a water break. The practice ended as the rest of my practices here would, with a team selfie, una fotito.
New teammates, new tastes
As the semester progressed, I got very close with a lot of my teammates. After just a few months, I truly felt like a member of the team. To me, the most striking thing about Chileans is how welcoming they are. They strive to make you feel like a part of the team. They tried to teach me different chilenismos, idioms and phrases unique to Chilean Spanish that define the national culture. They introduced me to foods, such as the chorrillana, a mountain of french fries topped with grilled onions, meats, and fried eggs.
Learning the landscape
On top of all the cultural exchanges, my host dad noted that one of the most beneficial aspects of playing with this team was the places it took me around the region. I am pretty confident that nobody else in my program saw some of the places I went for different practices. Even my host dad hadn’t been to or heard of some of the field locations. When practicing with my second team, Ultimate Wolves (yes, the name was in English), we frequently held practices at La Lobera, the wolf’s den, an hour and a half micro ride away.
I will never forget a moment from one random practice at Lobera. I found myself on a field in the middle of nowhere without a single blade of grass in sight, listening to Chilean adults speak about incomprehensible nonsense in their signature fast-paced, difficult to understand, Spanish, feeling the most tired I’d ever felt, and never wanting to leave. What an incredible, unique, irreplaceable experience.
Ezra Tinsky | Georgetown University | IFSA Chilean Universities Program, Valparaíso | Fall 2024