picante! 5/14

This morning was definitely needed by the whole group of us. We got to sleep in, and many of us didn’t surface until around noon. It’s been an action packed week and we really needed some genuine rest. After we woke up, I decided it was really time to do some laundry. On the way to do laundry, we went to buy some souvenirs. I spent a lot of money in the last 24 hours. I had brought way more dress clothes than necessary, so the amount of regular clothes I had just wasn’t enough. Jen, Colleen, Christine, and I had quite the adventure trying to find a Laundromat, luckily at the dry cleaners we first went to, a woman spoke English. She gave us directions to a Laundromat. The man there spoke zero English, but as far as we know we somehow got what we wanted. We then ate at a pita shop. I decided to play it safe and ordered a chicken quesadilla. I’m disappointed with that decision, because their wraps looked extremely good. After this, we picked up our laundry and relaxed at the hotel for awhile. We then went to a “football” game which is actually soccer in the US. They take it extremely seriously. There were flares and fireworks and flags. I also thought the bleachers were interesting; they were made of solid cement. While sitting on them, I could only think of what a process it probably was to make them. Also, I had a really good/ interesting sandwich. It had really delicious guacamole and spicy picante sauce on it. Today was very relaxing, and I really think everyone needed it.

pimienta steak 5/13

Today was a relaxing day. It began with our usual hotel breakfast. The bus picked us up around 9:30. Burt and Matthew decided they needed some McDonald’s, so our departure was a bit delayed. It was completely worth it, however because I bought Matt’s coffee from him, therefore drinking my first real coffee since I arrived in Chile. It tasted incredibly good. So we were supposed to go to Isla Negra and visit Pablo Neruda’s house. Isla Negra is a relatively urban area about 90 minutes south of Vina del Mar. First, we went to the tomb of the third best poet in Chile. It was a pretty interesting area, reminding me a lot of the general housing of places like the Dominican Republic. We ate lunch at a pretty nice restaurant, and I liked my rice. The steak was actually pretty good too. Food is just so different here it seems. We also visited the largest pool in the world today. It was extremely disappointing to be honest. It was probably about 150 feet wide, and 30 feet deep. Don’t get me wrong, it was absolutely enormous, but it was empty. It’s not that I wouldn’t recommend visiting Chile in their winter; however I can only imagine how different it is in the summer. Many stores and restaurants are not open, and people seem surprised to see tourists. Just as my general opinion, I think we’ve all spent more time sleeping on a bus than actually sleeping in a bed. Tonight we’re going to the discoteca, and I think we’re all very excited to show off our recently learned reggaeton and salsa skills.

what an interesting lunch 5/12/11

Time is honestly flying in Chile. I can’t believe that Thursday is almost over already. Today we visited two companies, Vina Indomita and LAN airlines. The Vina visit was extremely interesting to me, because before the presentation I honestly knew nothing about wine making. It was the cleanest and seemingly most safe company we’ve visited thus far. All the employees seemed genuinely interested in wine and were very knowledgeable. Wine tasting was also cool, I feel like it’ll be really impressive for me to smell a wine and tell a person what kind it is in the future. I was interested to hear that they produced white and red wine only. I feel that they could really extend their product lines by branching out into the pink and sparkling wine. The second visit was also interesting for LAN airlines. They’re an extremely successful company and the way it seems is that the success they are having will continue. Climbing into the airplane was really cool, seeing the cockpit up close and personal. Also being in the hangar and seeing how the mechanics work was interesting. He mentioned however that some passenger planes are only checked out and having maintenance performed every 6 years. This is only certain planes, however it’s stil kind of eery to get on a plane with the possibility that no one has checked it out in detail for five years. I would be curious to know the way it’s done in the United States, whether it’s just a difference in safety laws or if that’s truly the status quo. Today we ate lunch on the road, and I decided to try authentic Chilean food. A mistake I won’t make again anytime soon. I ordered “Pastel de Choclo.” I’ll try not to be too gory in my description. It was a very sweet cream of corn, with an entire chicken leg/ wing thrown in and the bottom had beef in it. Also I believe there was a little extra soup, so they threw it in as well. Certainly not my favorite meal, luckily Chris had some snacks for later on. This is the first night we’ve gotten back before like 9 oclock and it seems like everyone is really liking being able to just sit for a few minutes. Tomorrow we go to Pablo Neruda’s house!

pizza day!! 5/10/11

Today was fortunately not an early day. We got up at a decent hour, and had breakfast at the hotel. All of the coffee here seems to be instant, but compared to instant coffee in the United States , the instant coffee here is honestly awesome. Also, it seems that here is fresh fruit every morning, such as apples and oranges, and I think that’s also great, because sometimes it’s so expensive in the U.S. After breakfast, we went to the university and had some lecture time. It was about Chilean business and Jaime Rubin de Celis gave the lecture. His presentation was excellent because it not only concentrated on Chile but also on all of Latin America. I found it especially interesting because when we asked questions, he gave his honest opinion on Latin American or Chilean issues. I think this really helped me learn about the culture because he gave an outside and inside opinion on Chilean issues and conflicts. For lunch, we had pizza. Pizza in Chile is nothing like pizza in the United States.  The pizza was a piece of cheese, ham, sliced tomato, and flat bread. It was certainly different than I’m used to but it was good. Also I can’t get over how absolutely delicious Chilean grapes are. They have seeds and are huge, but they are so sweet and delicious. They’re so sweet in fact, they’re considered dessert. After lunch, we finished our lecture, and gave our company presentations. I feel like I received an enormous  amount of feedback. After this, we learned a reggaetown dance. It was kinda raunchy, but it was really fun to learn how they dance and interact. I liked the lesson a lot. I ate at the taco bar and got an enchilada. It wasn’t quite as good as my mom’s, but it was probably the most “normal” meal I’ve eaten thus far in my trip. Then, a smaller group of us decided to go out with the Chileans, which was incredibly cool because I actually got some one on one time to ask them some questions about their culture and their way of life. I had a lot of fun with them and learned a lot. Tomorrow we visit our first several companies, and I’m really looking forward to it!!

carmel empanadas and pisco! 5/9

Today was our first full day in Vina del Mar and Valparaiso. We had to get up super early and head to the university. The architecture and layout of the campus was beautiful, I feel like every room had a view of the ocean. The lectures were very interesting, Jose Cortes did an excellent job of involving the students and realy making us thing and connect ideas. Then we took a city tour of Vina del Mar and Valparaiso. It was very cool to see the port and all of the containers. Then I’m pretty sure we climbed a mountain, even though Jose told us it was a big hill. There were a lot of steps, worse than climbing to the Pete, but the view was much better. You could see everything from up there and it was beautiful. Then we did a little shopping for local artesan goods. I got some souvenirs for people at home, and I think I’m getting a hang of changing pesos to dollars. Celsius to Farenheit is still beyond my understanding though. During the tour we stopped near Renaca to get empanadas. I got two, one was chicken and cheese, which was pretty good, and the other was carmel and banana. SO SO GOOD. It was a complete mess to eat but well worth it because it was so good. Then we rode back to the university. While we were waiting for our dance class to start, we attempted to get coffee. The coffee here is all instant I’m pretty sure, but it’s still really good. Then we had our dance class, and our instructor was hilarious. He didn’t know much English, but it didn’t matter. That just proves how important body language and gestures are for communicating. Then we went out with some Chilean students and we tried pisco. Muy fuerte. It was nice to see everyone and talk in a different more casual atmosphere though, I learned a lot about everyone!

Sunday 5/8, Happy Mother's Day!

This morning we arrived in Chile around 7am. The bus ride back to the hotel was interesting, got to see a little bit of the land and a lot of my eyelids. Turns out sleeping on a full plane all night doesn’t work out all that well. But anyway, that at least refreshed me enough to go eat the largest cheeseburger I’ve ever seen that ended up costing thousands. The challenge of pesos versus dollars is alluding me thus far, but I’m hoping as the trip goes on I get a hang of the currency exchange rate. Never in my life have I seen the Pacific Ocean, and today that changed. It’s kind of crazy that we’re in the same time zone as Pittsburgh, however it is fall here and you can see the Pacific Ocean. Just the fact that we traveled so far, and its still the same time at home makes the world seem very big to me. Even though when we arrived this morning and walked outside you could see our breathe, as the day went on it ended up being really good weather. The major difference is the fact that they take their time. I wish the US was more like them in that aspect. I think it’s fantastic how all of the shops are closed on Sundays, and you could see people just strolling around with their families enjoying the day. Also, the architecture is something I find fascinating. Buildings are interesting inside and out, with staircases and windows that could lead to anywhere.  We’re eating dinner at 6 o’clock, and after that I think it will be a pretty early night for everyone.

TODAY!

Today is May 7th, the day I leave for Chile. I'm actually sitting in the Pittsburgh airport right now. When I first found out about the trip, it felt like it was so far away. The time since then has flown! I've been on a plane before, but never a flight longer than a couple hours. Ten hours on an airplane is definitely going to be pretty interesting. Hopefully I have no problem sleeping. Pittsburgh has been extremely rainy recently, but our weather forecast looks fantastic! I hope we all have safe travels and don't have too much trouble with all the added security!!