Day 7

Today was the start of the weekend! It was our first day off.  I began the day after waking up around noon time with breakfast.  I ate some cereal bars and juice I purchased at a local supermarket.  They were flavors I haven’t seen before and they were very good.  I found myself relaxing, watching television in Spanish, and catching up with my friends in the United States online. 

Eventually, my roommates and a group of the students decided to go out to a restaurant for lunch.  One of the students, Brianna, had found a small place to eat that she thought would be a nice inexpensive place to go.  She was right! It was a small restaurant but, the food selection and prices were perfect.  I ordered a chicken quesadilla and orange juice.  The food tasted and smelled fresh and the orange juice seemed to be freshly squeezed from the orange itself.  One of my best lunches so far. 

Soon after lunch we all met up for dinner at around 6:00 PM.  We went to eat at another local restaurant near the casino.  Our seats were on the second floor by a window so we could look out into the lively city.  There was a live DJ and the food again was fresh and filling to eat. 

After the satisfying dinner with the view and music to remember, a group of us watched some TV in Spanish.  Comedy, drama, and scary movies were all very amusing to us because the Spanish voice over the actual speaking made everything seem less real. 

Finally, after watching some movies, it was time to party!  Two of the Chilean students took us out for a little pregame first.  At around 1:00 AM we went to the discotheque a few blocks from the hotel.  I even met up with some Chileans that were at the casino discotheque from the previous night.  There was a lot of hip hop from the United States that played as well as some Latin American music that was easy to dance to.  On to the next day!

Day 6

Following our usual breakfast in the hotel, we set out to visit Isla Negra.  This was the house of the famous Chilean poet, Pablo Naruto.   Of course, not everything goes as planned.  As we were on the bus we soon realized that we did not need to be at Pablo Neruda's house until another four hours.  So simply put, we had some time to kill.  We first took a stop at a local beach before heading up a hill to arrive at another poet’s grave.  This was a bumpy ride up a steep dirt road but we were able to learn how Chileans gave respect to their own as his grave was more like a garden with places for people to sit and visit.  After this visit and short lesson on who this poet was, we arrived at a local restaurant.  I must say, the spaghetti with meat sauce was one of the best I’ve had as there were clearly very fresh ingredients.  So, it didn’t surprise me that this restaurant was being filmed on CNN Chile as we were there. 

Now it was finally time to head to Naruto’s house.  It was filled with statues, collections, and a theme that the house was more like a ship.  His house was a clear reflection of his creative and poet nature and was unlike any house I have been in before.  Another experience I will not forget.  Today ended with the Reggaeton class, another perfect way to end the day before heading out to the OVO Discotheque at the local casino.  This had to of been the best night of the trip so far as we danced reggeaton, salsa, and met so many Chilean people.  A perfect end to a Friday night!

Day 5

Following our usual hotel breakfast, we began the day with a Company visit to Vina Indomita.  This was the wine company that my group covered for our company, so it was interesting and fulfilling to see that our data and ideas about the company were correct.   The company was definitely a more aesthetically pleasing to visit as it was on top of a hill gazing over the mountain ranges and vast fields of grapes the company owned.  Inside the company walls, we were able to see the large bodega where they stored and mixed their wine.  At the end of the bodega we were able to see the lab where they tested the win to make sure everything was in the correct quantities for the best possible wine.  Finally, we were taken to the cellar where the company stored their different wines.  Here, I learned the importance engineering can have on an entire company.  After the earthquake, the company only lost a small percentage of its wine because it was structurally built with great support.  This is unlike a neighboring company that lost all of their wine due to the powerful earthquake.  After the tour, we began our wine tasting.  I was surprised to see three full cups of wine in front of me as I was expected us to each get a little small sampling of the wine.  Of course, I won’t complain.  We tasted the different wines, the fruity white wine, the tasteful red win, and the reserved white wine that left us felling hungry.  Each wine was clearly of very good quality as they were very smooth to taste. 

Next, was our company visit to LAN Airlines.  Here we were able to learn about how the company is expanding and the business side of how a smaller company can grow into a very productive and prosperous company like LAN.  We were able to see the different maintenances that go into the planes before we were able to get on one of the planes.  We saw the impressive business class seats that had reclining chairs and TVs for each passenger.  A plane ride that I wouldn’t mine to ride.

Today ended with a good dinner at a local restaurant before going out to a karaoke bar where I sung “I’m still In love” by Sean Paul.  Another experience to remember, and a great way to end the day. 

Day 4

Today started off with our hotel breakfast and followed with our first company visit of the trip.  We visited Bosque del Mauco, the mushroom company.  We had to wear our boots today and I was glad we did.  The first cite of the company we saw was the raw materials used to create the soil for the mushroom.  Simply put, this looked and smelled like fresh poop!  We walked up-close to this ‘soil’ and felt the steamy piles blowing into our faces.  A funny experience I will not forget.  Next, we visited the different rooms where the mushrooms are actually grown.  We saw the different stages of mushroom growth and learned that the entire process was not that long and seemed to be rather efficient.  Following this, we were able to see the place where there was a machine for canning the different mushrooms and we could smell the freshly cooked mushrooms in the air.  Finally we could see where they packaged different mushrooms by having a line of people sorting out bad products and good ones.  They fed the good mushrooms to a packaging machine that wrapped and labeled them.  This company visit allowed me to see how engineering processes truly work in the real world. 

Next, we visited the Centauro company.  This was a food production company that specializes in tomatoes.  This family owned company was also very impressive.  The owner, a descendent of the company founder, could answer any of our business questions which helped me get a feel for how a large and successful company like Centauro operates.  There was also a Chemical Engineer who oversaw the plant.  This allowed me to understand the role the engineers can have in a given company.

The company visits were followed by lunch and another lecture on Chilean culture.   This time we learned about the deadly natural disasters that Chileans are constantly faced with.  We even saw some of the stories behind the 2010 8.8 magnitude earthquake that hit Chile.  To brighten the mood we than learned about Chilean music and the role it has on the nation as a whole.  After a short break we had to discuss our business idea that our groups came up with that had to exemplify what we learned about Chilean culture.  My idea of having a type of dog pound and adoption center won first place because it demonstrated that passion and respect for nature the people of Chile had.  Of course following the informative lecture and presentations, we had another engaging salsa class.  This was still another great way to end the day before going to another bar for the night.

Day 3

Today we began bright and early with the same hotel breakfast.  After eating, we had our lecture on Business in Chile.   We promptly began as conflicts caused us to begin a little late.  This highly qualified professor, has traveled all around the world, including Pittsburgh.  His global awareness of business allows me to see that the more experience and awareness we have abroad the more overall knowledgeable and successful we can be for business.  This was seen clearly because he could speak on any topic with great detail and was very informative.  We soon had our lunch break in the same cafeteria as the previous day.  Again, it felt good to feel welcome in a completely different atmosphere than I have ever experienced.  The people I sat with started to talk to me in Spanish and I soon began to feel a little more confident speaking to the Chileans in Spanish.  I ended up sharing my food with my neighbor before leaving to head to the next lecture on Chilean business. 

 The business professor was more engaging this time because he knew it had been a rather long two days for us and wanted our input of what we were thinking.  This professor could also answer our wide variety of questions and improved our understanding of Chilean business, South American business, and business in general.  After the time consuming and engaging lecture we took a brief break before our Company presentations.  Since we had done them before, they all generally went well because I knew what I was going to say and how I was going to say it without looking at the slides too much.  In addition the business professor asked questions to each of the groups and further increased our understanding of the company and the product.  Finally to end the day we had our energetic Reggeaton class.  The music was upbeat and the instructed showed no shame in showing us all of the various promiscuous dance moves.  Another great way to end the day.

Day 2

Today was the day I started to get a real feel for the Chile.  After a breakfast of a small tasteful ham and cheese sandwich and orange juice, we began our tour of the Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria main campus in Valparaiso.  Simply put, the campus was more like a mixture of a paradise island and an Ivy League college in America.  There were gardens filled with trees, flowers, and places to study.  Although, there are no longer any dorms on the campus, the vast majority of the students live nearby.       

After the campus tour, we had an interesting first lecture on Chilean culture.  This informative lecture allowed us to see the rich history and traditions of the Chilean people.  The professor was very knowledgeable and could answer any questions we asked him.   After this first lecture we went to the cafeteria in the school to eat dinner.  Sitting next to and around the Chilean students, I soon felt very welcome among the crowd.  Next we had our second lecture of the day.  Again it was very informative and the professor was very engaging and really enjoyed created discussions to see our opinion on certain views.  This allowed us to begin to understand the business and engineering opportunities and differences in Chile. 

When the culture lecture was finished, we then began the city tour of Vina del Mar and Valparaiso.  As I was looking at the different cites and streets as we drove by, I felt as if people were generally more happy and peaceful.  But, that could just be me.  During the tour was walked up on of the hill to see the breathtaking   view of the colorful, lively, and unique city.  On this hill, I brought a necklace and a hat because they were much less expensive here than in the United States.  Next was a much needed dinner followed by the Salsa dance class.    The energetic dancing was a perfect way to end the day before going to a bar for the night.  On to the next day!

Day 1: The Great Arrival

Today was the day I traveled from New Jersey to Santiago, Chile.  The first step of this process was being able to get from airport to airport.  With no experience in airports alone this was interestingly an easy process.  I arrived to the Newark airport around two hours early which gave me plenty of time to make it to the gate I was assigned to.  Once I made it to Atlanta, the flight to Chile was a nine hour flight.  A much longer flight than any trip I have experienced to California.  The long flight had surprisingly good and filling food.  Once I arrived in Chile, there was a big misunderstanding that I faced.  The temperature was shockingly colder than I had previously expected based on online weather reports.  Immediately after getting off the plane, I could see my own breath and the landscape was completely fog covered.

The first thing I noticed while taking the bus to the hotel was that the landscape was simply (I know this sounds cliche) breathtaking and amazing.  The mountains were much longer than the Appalachian Mountain chains and the various houses and buildings were colorful and gave a new and unique view in the landscape as I drove by.

The Hotel America itself was drafty, cold and much smaller than I had expected.  But it turned out that the shower water was warm, making the hotel quality to be enough for me to live for this trip.  Outside of the hotel and around Vina del Mar I soon found out that there are many stray dogs running loose, starving and possibly diseased.  Walking around the city, I received many smiling faces and positive vibes from the different Chileans who lived in the city.  I also soon found out that the food in Chile was very edible and I found myself quite full of food by the end of the day.  Overall the views from the Ocean, the positive feeling that I felt from the native people, and the colorful city gave me the impression that this will be a truly epic and fantastic experience for me that I will surely not forget.

-Marquis