Adam Baltaxe

In Fall 2023, I studied abroad in Santiago, Chile. During my 5 months in South America, I took International Relations courses at Pontificia Universidad Catolica (one of the most prestigious schools on the continent), I traveled all across the continent, including trips to Brazil, Easter Island, and Uruguay, and interned at International IDEA—an NGO that works in promoting democracy across the Americas. Throughout this semester, I lived with a host mom, Cecilia, who I grew very close to and now see as my grandmother. My final project in Chile involved first-hand research of Jewish secret communications during the Pinochet regime, which I was granted exclusive access to. Overall, my time in Chile was incredibly constructive, and contributed to my growth not only as a student, but as a person as well. 

One thing that I underestimated during my time in Chile was the amount that my host mom would impact my experience. Abuela Ceci was a 78-year-old Palestinian-Italian woman who as an educator not only survived the Pinochet dictatorship but also a few rounds of cancer. While I ended up acting sort of as her caretaker, she and I grew very close, and we quickly became like family. So, when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7th, we obviously had a lot to talk about, and those conversations helped me grow my passion for dialogue. This ended up shaping my development of Jewish-Muslim relations at Syracuse and in my work, something I definitely did not expect to receive from my time in the isolated Chilean environment. I am now working in International Peacebuilding and plan on using the Spanish skills that I developed in Chile to continue creating conversations and bringing people together. I can’t wait to work from my Chilean experiences as I continue to work in Latin America.