Tour of Santiago

Today was another exciting day in Chile. We started off our morning by traveling two hours to Santiago with four Chilean students (Javier, Javier, Sebastian, and Paula). In Santiago our first stop was to the stock exchange where a young lady gave us a very informative presentation about the foundation and usage of the Chilean stock exchange. After the presentation she took us to the trading floor which remains pretty empty today because most of the work is done through computers at home. It is, however, open to all brokers and you can see the stocks running at all times on the ticker. After we toured the trading floor we walked through Santiago and went to a beautiful Cathedral in the middle of the city. By looking at it from the street, you wouldn't believe how expansive it is. It was truly an amazing site. After this, we were all craving lunch and went to the central market which is famous for it's seafood. I ordered one of their specialties- Chilean sea bass, and it was delicious. After lunch Morgan, Kelsey, and I met an adorable, old Chilean woman. I attempted to speak to her in Spanish and she ended up giving us four leaf clovers that you keep in your wallet for good luck. She was so kind and welcoming, just like all the Chileans that I've met so far.
We also went to the president's palace, which is in the middle of the city. It was interesting to see how little security they have to enter. There are guards that secure all of the palace, but for the most part it is open to anyone with identification.
The last part of our day was a hike to Cerro San Cristobal, which had the most amazing view I have ever seen. It overlooked all of Santiago and the Andes Mountains- it was incredible!
When we got back to the hotel, we were all pretty tired and hungry. All I wanted to do was eat, but I needed to get an adapter to charge my cell phone and computer, so a big group of us went to the mall and walked around for hours with no luck. We were all delirious and tired and went to a random place for dinner, and ended up having the best time. Tonight I am going to bed early. We are going to the university again tomorrow for lecture.