Isla de Negra Pictures

Isla de Negra

Today we went to Isla de Negra. It is south of Viña probably about an hour away. We visited Pablo Neruda’s house in Isla de Negra. It was a really interesting tour to see where this famous poet and writer actually lived. We studied him a little bit pre-departure and discussed him more in depth with our lectures with Mimo. His house was virtually built to be a museum because all of the rooms were connected one after the other, perfect for shuffling tours through. The house was built to resemble a boat. So the doorways and hallways were all very tight and small. This was not good for someone like myself who is 6’3. It was amazing to see all of the figureheads that Neruda collected it was quite a collection I think he had about 13 of them. He was quite a collector, this only adding to why his house was perfect for a museum. His prize possession in the last room was the five-foot narwhal tusk. It was a beautiful home placed right on the beach. I could definitely see where he got a lot of his inspiration. A Chilean middle school was also touring at the same time and a couple of Plus3 students talked to them in English. It looked like a private school because they were wearing uniforms. It’s amazing how young the school was teaching some of the kids English. It is similar to at least my middle school where I was exposed to Spanish in sixth grade. It is funny how similar two cultures can be 5,000 miles apart.

We then drove to the World’s Largest Swimming Pool and well…it was everything I expected but far more. This pool was enormous. It was 1,000 yards long and its deep end is 115 feet deep. It was strenuous just walking alongside of the pool. The days are wining down but at least they are getting better and better.

Santiago!

Today we went to Santiago and wow what a trip. Santiago was amazing it was such a beautiful city with huge monuments and detailed architecture. It reminded me a lot of New York city because of how big the streets were. However it looked a lot nicer and cleaner (besides the pollution). We visited the Santiago Stock Exchange and watched a brief video about the history and what are some key components involving the exchange. Our presenter was very nice and her English despite what she kept saying was good. We then took a tour down to the trading pit, which wasn’t busy at all. We learned that most brokers or people selling stocks don’t need to be in the pit because of how much technology is used. In our presentation we saw the evolution of how the stock exchange. It first started with chalkboards and a lot of commotion in the pit. Evolving to three round circles where traders still traded. Evolving to a broker sitting at another location with about eight computer screens conducting business sitting down. It is amazing to see how far our technology has come, through a global perspective. After our tour we walked through the streets and through one of the central plazas. One thing I noticed was that Santiago had many fountains, which were perfect for pictures. It was a little overwhelming the amount of people in Santiago compared to Viña and Valpo. It was also fun to see the street performers and how they could control a crowd. This was another thing I was used to seeing in New York.

Lunch we ate at a Central Market and had fresh Seafood. It was very delicious and we learned in our cultural lectures that seafood is distributed from Valpo directly to Santiago. We new it was probably the freshest seafood we would get. After that we took an incline up to the top of one of the mountains in Santiago. The view was amazing. You could see the entire city from the mountain. We were able to see the smog first hand by barely seeing the tops of the Andes. It was something very special. At the top of the mountain was a statue of the Virgin Mary and it only added to our spectacular view. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced something as breathtaking as that in my life. I accomplished more shopping and then it was time to go. We rode the bus back home and I think we are going to go to a local bar with the Chilean students. A great day in Santaigo!

All of us outside of the resort on Friday.

The Saturday night sunset after we put on a show for the locals by going swimming.

A Beautiful Saturday

So it has been six days since we landed in Santiago and I must say my trip has been spectacular. We have done everything from wine tasting to touring to everything in between. We have had four of out of our five business trips and they have been very interesting. Monday and Tuesday consisted mostly of touring the Universidad de Santa Maria and lectures on the culture from Jose Cortez aka "Memo."

On Wednesday was had our first business trip to Coldelco. It was very interesting learning the many steps in processing copper here in Chile. However, it was kind of difficult because the tour was in complete spanish, but we made do with our translators. Centaura was our second business visit on Wednesday. Mario was the name of the person that toured us around. Centaura was a family business that has been passed down to him and you could clearly see his passion and love for his business. He answered any question that we threw at him and in the end gave us fresh diced tomatoes and soup! The soup was delicious. I really enjoyed observing the packaging system the company had. It is amazing to me how the bag can be created, packed, sealed all without stopping.

On Thursday we went to Vina Indomita and took a tour of the winery and then even got tips for wine tasting. One of the most interesting facts is that because they are a smaller winery compared to the industry powerhouses they are able to produce a higher quality of wine and penetrate different foreign markets. One market that they are very interested is in Korea. Our second trip was to LAN Airlines. We took a tour going through two of their hangars and saw two planes being serviced. We also got to go on a plane and sit in first class, which was a tease because we are not flying first class back. After our LAN visit we had two more lectures about Chilean people, gender issues, social issues, and society issues. These were by far my favorite lectures because it really gave me a better sense of the characteristics of the Chileans that I researched before the trip. Thursday night we had a bbq at Werner's house. It was a typical bbq from an American standpoint but there was definitely a lot more meat that was served. The sischa bobs were three different types of meet: chicken, pork, and beef. It was a completely different sischa bob that I've been used to in the United States.

Friday we spent the entire afternoon at the resort. It was a very relaxing day compared to the busy schedules we've been following. The resort was all inclusive and that meant all you can eat buffet. Unfortunately, it was raining so we couldn't go swimming.

Today we woke up around 10 A.M. and are trying to figure out what we are doing. I think the plan right now is to try and get a bite to eat. Then go to this little cluster of shops, hopefully I can get some good shopping completed. Then off to a lunch with Mimo. The day is young!

First Day in Vina Del Mar

We landed at around 8:30 and got through customs and immigration in about an hour. Luckily everyone's luggage made it down to Santiago. We arrived at our hotel, Hotel Las Americas, around 10:30 and unpacked. We then ate at a local restaurant and had our first encounter with paying in pesos! Then strolled down to the beach and saw the pacific ocean. At first the stray dogs would startle me because I didn't really know how to act around them. But, after seeing how other Chileans and especially the kids act around them, I can say the dogs pose no threat. The beach was beautiful and I cant wait to walk around the beach during sunset. We have a group dinner around 7, more to come.

Leaving Today!

So after cutting down my suitcase four times I finally was able to reach the 50 pound limit. It is pretty surreal that Plus3 is finally here! I'm hoping for no airport delays and easy traveling.