Last day in Chile :(

Sadly, today was our last day in Chile. I had Brendan wake me up at 9:30 so that we could walk to the beach to look for last minute souvenirs; although most of the vendors weren't even open at the time. After walking the beach for the last time, Brendan, Morgan, and I went to the empanaderia for our last empanadas. It was a sad walk back to the hotel and especially hard to pack up all my luggage. I didn't realize two weeks could go by so quickly, but I guess that's what happens when you are having so much fun.
We left the hotel at around 1:45 and said our goodbyes to Valeria, Paula, Javier, and Alejandro. It was so hard to say goodbye to these amazing people. It was even harder to say goodbye to the 18 students that I shared this incredible experience with. I did not expect to make such great friends on this trip. We all became so close, and I could not have asked for a more amazing group of people.
I will never forget these last two weeks. The knowledge of the culture and language have encouraged me to study abroad in the future, possibly to Chile again! I am truly blessed to have been able to have this experience. I made some great friends who I will be able to see next year at Pitt, and hopefully sometime in the future in Chile!

Horseback riding on the beach

Today was such an incredible day. It was a great way to end the trip, and will be a memory that I never forget. We arrived at a rustic ranch that was located right across from the ocean! The first thing we saw when we got off the bus was a five day old cow that I actually got to feed. The ranch had so many animals, ranging from dogs to cows to pigs and horses. After all the horses were saddled up, we each got assigned to one. You could request to have a tranquil horse if you wanted to, but I have ridden horses before so I wanted to go with a bigger one. Once everyone was on their horse, we set off down the road towards the beach. At first, we had a nice calm walk on the beach and through the woods. However, at some points during the journey all of the horses would start galloping at insane speeds. At first, I was really nervous, but after about the third time I loved it! It was so exhilarating. For part of he time we walked right beside the water, but at other points we went through woods and sand dunes that looked like scenery from a desert.

After three hours of the best experience of my life, we went back to the ranch for an authentic cookout. They had all different kinds of meat that were cooked right on the grill, and fresh salads, and wine! Everything was delicious, and to finish it off we made smores! We all sat around and reminisced about all the good times we had and the amazing day we shared together. It was truly an experience that I will never forget!

Later that night, we went to a pizza place for our last meal with the Chilean students. It was pretty emotional to say goodbye to them, but I hope that I will see them sometime in the future. They left us with awesome USM sweatshirts that we all plan on wearing to the airport tomorrow! 

Spa Day

Today we went to the "spa", which was more of a country club that had a pool, restaurant, and soccer field. When we first got there we were greeted with empanadas that we ate by the pool. The empanadas were called empanadas de pino. They are traditional to Chile and are filled with beef, onions, an olive, and a hardboiled egg. Compared to the fried empanadas that we liked so much, these were baked. After eating we took a long nap in the sun by the pool. It was so nice to unwind and relax. After we rested for a while, we ate in the restaurant. We were served steak with an egg on top with fries and onions. Then we got avocados, lettuce, and tomatoes which were delicious. For dessert they had pie and pudding. After lunch, we walked a few blocks to Verner's house, who is in charge of the Plus3 program in Chile. He had a catered barbecue for us at his country home which had the most amazing view! It looked out into the mountains, and we arrived when the sun was just setting. While the food was being prepared, we played some volleyball in the backyard until Brice accidentally hit the ball into the neighbor's yard and it was attacked by their dogs.
Dinner was amazing! They made sausage-hotdogs that were put inside actual rolls. I usually don't like hotdogs, but these were delicious. They also had fresh salsa and lots of other meat. It was really fun to hang out with the other Chilean students while enjoying our meal! Although, for most of the night we were huddled around the grill because we were not appropriately dressed for the cold weather that hit. Meanwhile, the Chilean students were wrapped in their winter jackets! I didn't realize it would get so cold at night!
Sadly, tomorrow will be our last full day in Chile, but I am really excited because we will be horseback riding. I don't really know what to expect, but I know it will be a memorable experience.

Company visits

Today we visited our last three companies: HELA, Centauros, and Bosques del Mauco. The first company we visited was HELA, which produces tools and brushes. We got to see the production process: how the machines operate and the labor that goes into making the products. I was surprised to see how much manual labor actually goes into the process. They have a small assembly line that makes everything work more efficiently, and the workers put together all the final pieces.

After HELA, we drove to Centauros, which is a company that packages and produces many different kinds of food, including: tomato paste, ketchup, canned fruits, and some prepared meals. We got to try some of the ketchup and tomato paste and they even gave us each a can of beans to take home. It was interesting to see the process for making these products too. They had a lot of large machinery and used less manual labor than HELA, but people were still working in assembly lines. HELA makes their own containers that they package their products in, so it was cool to see how that was done too. What I found really interesting about Centauros is that they do not put preservatives in any of their products and guarantee freshness.

After this we went to an empanada place by the beach. It was so pretty and the empanadas were excellent! Mine had clams, shrimp, fish, asparagus, and mushrooms in it. This is Alana attempting to eat a sweet one:

Once we were all full, we went on the bus again and drove to Bosques del Mauco, which is a mushroom producing company. It was interesting to see the process of growing and packaging the mushrooms, although the smell was awful because they use horse manure for fertilization. Bosques del Mauco is the largest mushroom producing company in the country. We learned a lot about the process for making the compost, which is the most important step in the growing of the mushrooms. It was really cool to see the mushrooms growing in the sheds by the hundreds.

Tomorrow we have a spa day. I'm excited to relax and enjoy the weather and food!

Presentations and Futbol

Today was our last day at the university and we shared our presentations with Jaime who was so knowledgeable about all of our topics. We heard about LAN airlines and Vina Indomita, which we have already visited. And then we learned about Centauros, HELA, and Bosques del Mauco (my group’s presentation), which we will be seeing tomorrow. Jaime had a lot of great information to share with each group about our companies and it was great to hear the presentations again in Chile because it is more relevant than when we heard them in Pittsburgh. I can’t wait to visit each company and be able to see how they produce what we’ve learned about.

After we said goodbye to Jaime and thanked him for sharing his knowledge with us, we went to the mall for lunch before we played futbol against the Chilean students. I got a fajita from the food court. Most of the food was the same in the food court there as it would be at home. They had a burger king and McDonalds. The only thing I noticed that was different was that they put guacamole on almost everything, including burgers.

When everyone was done eating, we walked over to the soccer fields which overlooked the mountains and Vina and we played soccer with the Chileans on four different teams. They were all such good players! I think they were taking it easy on us, but they were still so incredible. Futbol is definitely a big part of all of their lives and it was so exciting to see them play in their element. 

Tierra del Fuego

Today was another free day so we got to sleep in a bit again. I woke up around ten and had breakfast in the hotel and then I called my mom to wish her a happy mother’s day. I waited around for a little while for other people to get ready, and then Brendan, Kelsey, Josh and I walked around to find coffee and food. Most of the restaurants and cafes were closed because it’s a Sunday and a lot of places close on Sundays, but we did come across an Italian restaurant near the beach that was open. Brendan was happy because he really wanted pasta and I was happy because I really wanted coffee. The people who owned the restaurant didn’t speak any English and we didn’t know how to read most things off the menu but what we did get ended up being delicious. I got ravioli in marinara sauce, or salsa de tomate as they call it, and the bread was amazing. Then we walked back and hung out for a little until it was time to go to dinner. We went to a really nice restaurant called Tierra del Fuego, which is right on the water in Vina del Mar and had huge glass windows. It was fantastic! We started off with a seafood platter appetizer that had shrimp, crab legs, lobster, and other fresh shellfish. Then we had some wine and I got a seafood salad for dinner. For dessert, we had an assortment of different sweets, which were amazing. When we got back to the hotel, we were all really tired from the filling dinner so we decided to just hang out and work on our presentations because we will be presenting them tomorrow.

Free day

Today we finally got to sleep in a little, and then I went to get a coffee from the café down the street with Brendan, Alana, and Kelsey. The coffee was really good- my first one of the trip- and the owners were really sweet and welcoming. Later, a big group of us walked down toward the beach to grab something for lunch. We walked to 5 norte which is a street that has a bunch of different restaurants and shops. We went to a restaurant called Entre Mesa and split a family meal that had chicken, pork, steak, amazing mushrooms, artichoke, and corn in a cream sauce. The restaurant was very rustic and authentic, and the food was delicious. It was also fun to share with everyone. After lunch I went back to the hotel and slept for a little. Then Becca, Jess, Colin, and I went to the market on the corner of the street and I picked up something for dinner. Later tonight we are going to go to Clavel’s house (a friend of Sebastian’s, one of the Chilean students). We went there before and it was really fun to interact with all of the Chileans. Hopefully I will be practicing my Spanish a lot tonight!

Viña Indómita and Pablo's house

Today was an exciting day in Chile that started off by us going to Viña Indómita winery. It was so beautiful and the tour was very informative. They took us around the winery and showed us where they make and store the wine. They store they wine in big, wooden barrels for two years and then immediately bottle and export them. After the tour of the winery, we went outside to taste a few of the different wines. There was one white wine and two red wines. They were all pretty good, but my favorite was the last one which has a chocolate and leather taste. Brendan and I liked it so much that we decided to buy a bottle.

After the winery, we took the bus to another one of Pablo Neruda's houses which is right on the water and has an amazing restaurant. We ate at restaurant, which overlooks the water, for lunch and had oysters, fish stew, and tiramisu. Everything was delicious and so fresh! We enjoyed our lunch in the sunshine and then made our way over to Pablo's home for a tour. His house was so adorable and had the most beautiful views. After the tour, we walked down to the beach and took pictures on the rocks. 

Later today, we went back to the university for our last dancing lesson. We learned so many fun dances and started burning up a sweat. The instructor was very sweet again and said that he saw a lot of improvement in our dancing.
Tomorrow's our free day. I'm excited to sleep in a little and explore more of Vina del Mar.

LAN

Today we went to the university to learn the traditional dance of Chile, la cueca. There were two professional instructors, along with a few students, who were there to teach us the dance steps. My partner was Brendan. We struggled at first to catch on to the moves, but picked it up quickly. Chileans are required to learn la cueca in high school and traditionally it is done with a handkerchief that both people wave in the air.
After practicing la cueca for an hour, we were treated to empanadas. They were not like the ones that we had the other night, but they were still good. Then we had lunch in the school cafeteria and then took a bus ride to Santiago to visit LAN airline company. They took us on a tour of one of the airplanes. It was huge and the business class section was very luxurious. At this site, they do a lot of maintenance on the planes. LAN is a very successful line and they are growing exponentially. 
After LAN, we were supposed to have another dance lesson but we didn't get back in time. Tonight we are going out with the Chilean students again. I'm really excited. We're going to a bar and club in Valparaiso which should be a lot of fun!

Learning about Chile

Today was a full day of lectures for us at the university. We met with our professor, Jose Luis Cortes, who started off the lecture by asking each of us what we wanted to gain from this trip. I came to Chile to learn more about the culture and the business world here because I would like to study abroad in Latin America again in the future. The lecture was split into a morning and afternoon session. In the morning we learned about the history, literature, geography, tourism, art, and culture of Chile. We learned about the controversies of Pinochet as a ruler, and the return to democracy after his ruling. After Pinochet, the four following presidents were all socialists or leftists, but the current president- Sebastian Pinera- is a rightest. The Chileans feel very secure with him as president, and he has led them through many difficult times, including the earthquake and miner's incident in 2010. We then moved on to literature and talked about two famous Chilean poets, Pablo Neruda and Gabriela Mistral. After lunch in the cafeteria, we learned about Chilean society, gender issues, capital vs. regions, Chilean ads, and natural disasters. It was really interesting to watch some of the Chilean ads and their marketing techniques because that is what I am interested in as a business major. It was also really interesting to learn about the natural disasters, specifically earthquakes, and what to do when one comes about. Jose Luis talked about his experience during an extreme earthquake and how they had to run to the hills for safety. Overall, it was a very interesting and informative lecture and Jose Luis was a very animated and kind person who kept our attention the entire time.

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.