Day six!!

This morning we woke up to no running water in our hotel, but we all managed to still meet the bus on time at 9:30 after breakfast.  Besides the no running water, today was the best day so far!  We were able to sleep in and it was Allison’s birthday, so every else started off well.  We first travelled on a private bus with two Chilean students (Valeria and the second Javier we met)for about 40 minutes south to our third company visit.  This was a vineyard called Viña Indómita.  This was a really interesting visit because we learned about the details on how the wine is made which always interests me.  On the other hand, this company was beautiful!  It was up on a hill looking out into the valley of grape trees and mountains.  After our tour about the wine, we were able to taste three different types of wine- one white and two red.  This part of the visit was so peaceful!  We were sipping and swirling wine while sitting on patio chairs in the sun in 68 degree weather without wind and looking out into the valley and mountains! I was content.  Everyone in our group just kept calmly saying “YOICO” which is an acronym for You’re Only In Chile Once.  If we are trying to make a decision everyone says this acronym and are decision is made for the better.  Anyways after we had to leave this company, we went to Pablo Neruda’s house which was another hour south.  Pablo Neruda was a poet, economist, sailor and artist.  Before our tour through his house, we had lunch.  This lunch was amazing also.  First, we sat outside of the Café of Pablo Neruda with a great view of the ocean, beach, hills to the side and sun streaming down.  We started off our lunch with an appetizer of muscles and cheese with a carrot shaved flower in the middle. These tasted pretty good which I didn’t expect.  Then, our main meal came out which was white fish with a cream sauce on top with rice and a carrot and beat shaved flower on the side.  This tasted delicious!  As well as this food, I had freshly squeezed strawberry juice as my drink.  Our dessert came out which was a chocolate and cream moose with chopped kiwis and strawberries on top, but this had some fancy Italian name and description that I couldn’t understand when the Chilean said it.  Once again this tasted great.  I apologize if all this is tempting you and making you jealous.  Today was just one of the best days!  Next, we went down to the beach which was right down the hill.  We all sat on the huge rocks and watch the waves roll in.  Everyone was taking pictures with everyone else.  Besides all of the perfect views and activities so far today, we as a group have been so close in getting to know each other.  This happened so quickly, but I was crying at lunch I was laughing so hard and we all took great pictures everywhere today.  We definitely are professionals at the group picture pose.  Anyways, next we had the tour of Pablo Neruda’s house which was interesting except the guide spoke Chilean Spanish as expected.  They don’t say the letter ‘s’ in most words and they speak so quickly (sometimes I can’t even understand their English because it’s so fast).  It was still a good tour.  Then, we look at all the shops nearby so I could buy a few more souvenirs.  We left on our bus back to our hotel for an hour and a half bus ride.  We are going to meet for dinner a little later and enjoy the Chilean night life once again.  Adios y gracias para leyendo mi blog (Goodbye and thank you for reading my blog).

Day five!!

Hola otra vez (other time)!  First, last night we went to Café Journal for our second Chilean night life experience.  A friend of our respective Chilean students came up to me, Allison and Caren thinking we spoke only Spanish.  He was obviously wrong and he only spoke Spanish.  I tried out my Spanish once again, but it was so loud in there.  I feel he was speaking really slowly, but I was really nervous.  A conversation occurred though, but Chileans are not as good at respecting personal space.  They always give everyone a “beso” (kiss) on each other’s right cheek.  This morning, though, we left at 8:30 to take another public bus to the University.  Now we know our way around most of the campus.  I don’t know if I ever said but the Chilean universities do not have any dormitories or campus living; all the students live with their parents (if they live close enough) or they live on their own.  So, we had lectures at the university about Chilean cultural differences in everything and business.  We also learned about and watched the Chilean advertisements, music and dance. This was really interesting and entertaining because we are learning a different culture.  Also, we always take a break during the lectures and have snacks.  There are differences between Chilean snacks and American snacks.  The dorritos, miniature cupcakes, cookies and chocolate are different than in the “states” which is what the rest of the world calls America; just to let you know!  Then after the lectures we had lunch at the University.  Lunch was a salad with lemon juice dressing, rice, fresh fish, bread (always “pan”) and pop.  İMuy delicioso!  Ahora, andíamos un autobus por trienta minutos para ir a la empresa los bosques de mauco (Now, we rode a private bus for thirty minutes to go to the Nature’s farm company). At this company we saw the whole production and steps to growing mushrooms.  I have learned more than enough about how they create the most efficient mulch/food for the mushrooms plus the smell was just completely awful! However, this company was interesting though plus it was on the coast, so the bus ride was beautiful!  I can never take enough pictures of the ocean, palm trees and mountains!  We came back to the university in Valparaiso to have a snack because the Chileans do not eat dinner until 9pm or 10pm.  Basically, Chileans only eat Lunch and a few snacks.   I tried to order my snack at the University and all the Chilean students ask us if we are Americans. We Americans are just problems when we travel abroad.  Anyways, I tried to order a Gatorade and they didn’t understand me.  There is no Spanish equivalent and plus that’s what it says on the label.  So, a Chilean student behind me said Gatorade with a slight Spanish accent and the cashier understood.  J It sounded the same to me, but I guess my American accent is too thick.  After that, we had our last dance class. Today was Reggeton again.  I really enjoy this dance especially since I have a whole dance memorized because it gets stuck in my head. I will definitely have to teach people when I return to the “states”.  J Pues, también un día en este viaje trataré en español por cuatro horas (Well, also one day on this trip I will try to speak in Spanish for four hours).  I think I can do it because lately I have spoken without hesitation, but it is hard for me to have a Spanish conversation and transition back to English and Spanish.  Adios hasta mañana (goodbye until tomorrow)!

Day four!!

Today started with a delicious breakfast of breads and we left at 8:30am.  We took a public bus to the University to have lectures.  We met Jose Luis who was really interesting and a great speaker.  He talked about the Chilean culture, art, tourism and earthquakes.  I really enjoyed this new information.  We ate lunch at the University which was fresh bread (comes with every lunch), juice box, soup, empanada and dessert.  The soup literally had every type of vegetable possible plus meat and rice, but it tasted good.  The empanada was kind of disgusting just because it had olives with pits and weird meat in it.  Then the dessert was called “flan” which tasted kind of bad too, but I tried everything before criticizing it.  We talked with Camilo, Daniela, Valeria, Javier (The Chilean students) and “amigos” after lunch.  Afterwards, we took a private bus to Santiago for LAN company and I was able to sleep on the bus.  This company is the one I had to research and what I will have to continue to research upon so this airplane company was interesting.  We had a lecture about it, we were able to ask questions and see the airplanes closer.  I learned so much about this company.  We then rode the bus (hour and a half) back and it was very tempting to sleep again because it was very dark outside.  We went back to the university to have our Salsa classes again.  We are all professionals at this type of dance (just kidding!).  Then we finally rode a public bus back to the hotel and finally were able to eat.  It was already 9pm and we hadn’t eaten since 1pm.  No wonder Latin Americans are skinny; they do not eat!  I have learned that you have to pay to use a public bathroom, you cannot flush the toilet paper, there is not much room in the hotel rooms and this group of people is becoming like a family with many laughing! Adios hasta manana!

Day three!!

First I forgot to write that last night we had Salsa classes! It was interesting and fun! Then we did Karaoke which is why it was a late night.  Now, this morning I woke up at 6am to go for a run to the beach/ocean.  Great times! We had breakfast and left for Santiago at 8am with three Chilean students: Javier, Javier and Anton.  This was an hour and a half bus ride so we were able to sleep.  Once we arrived, we went to the Santiago Stock exchange.  This was interesting and informational. Then we just walked around the city and saw many landmarks.  Santiago is a much bigger city and different from Valparaiso.  In Santiago, most of the sidewalks are flesh with the streets and there are multiple popular retail stores. The Chilean "white house" and Capitol buildings are there also.  We walked around the National History Museum and the main Cathedral.  These were very interesting!  Then, we ate at the Chilean Fish Market! This restaurant, if one can call it that, was huge and had multiple vendors inside.  I tried the Chilean sea bass with a side of rice and calamari.  This tasted great!! We walked around to look at the shops inside also.  I was able to test more of my spanish because the vendor and I had a full conversation.  I felt proud.  We then walked a "cerro" which is bigger than a hill and smaller than a mountain and we rode this huge incline.  There were shops, food, a church and a nice lookout on this "cerro".  Everything here has more of a tradition and is more eloquent.  We finally went to another market full of more shops, food and flowers and paintings decorating the walls and stairs.  After so much walking today, it felt great to ride a bus back to Valparaiso.  It was beginning to get dark because Chile is in fall right now so 6pm and 7pm it is very dark.  We went back to the University Technical Federico Santa Maria for our Regueton dance classes! This was a major wake-up call!! We were all so tired from last night and during the day that we slept on the bus every chance we could get but then we had to dance.  This type of dance is just by oneself but constant jumping and moving.  This was crazy and we looked crazy especially when we had an audience that randomly showed up! It was still really good.  This marked the end of our day three in Chile! Adios hasta manana!

Day two!!

Today was the second day in Chile.  We woke up and had breakfast which was great! It was biscuits and jam with fresh orange juice.  Then we boarded a public bus to Valparaiso! This is correction from yesterday's blog.  Our hotel is in Vina del Mar and the university where the Chilean students attend.  So, we rode on the bus for about a twenty minutes to Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria (Santa Maria Technical University).  We started this day at 8:30! We arrived in Valparaiso and met another Chilean student, Camilo.  We had a guided tour of the campus which was beautiful!  I really liked the campus!  Then, we had two lectures about Latin American economy, geography, etc.  These were long but informational.  Then, Javier(the main Chilean student) took us to the University cafeteria.  This was so busy, but a great meal! We had a salad with tomatoes and a lime for dressing. Then the lunch came with mashed potatoes, sausage, apple, and a mango juice box! We took a private bus to have a tour of Valparaiso for 4 hours with three other new Chilean students! There were some great views of the ocean, houses, and buildings.  We had to ride a bus up the hill with very tight streets and almost hitting other cars and buildings.  I tried a tootie fruitie drink and saw many landmarks.  I have learned that the public buses go so quickly, the food is so fresh, the time is on military time and Chileans always give everyone a kiss on the cheek.  This is great!!  On this tour of the city we were always in the right place at the right time.  The Chileans either stared at us or took pictures of us.  We finally got back at 6:30pm and ate Empanadas at a local restaurant.  These tasted great!! Well, tomorrow we will start again at 7:30am.

Official first day in Chile!

After seeing the sunrise peer through the mountain tops, I knew we have arrived to Santiago, Chile!! Our first day has finally come! We had an eight and half hour flight from Miami, Florida to Chile! I didn't sleep much, but tonight will be much better.  We finally landed at 7:30 am, but didn't leave the airport until 9am.  During these couple hours we had to pay the exchange fee with perfect(nothing less) dollar bills, go through customs and find our luggage.  All three of these were much harder than expected, but we all survived! I have tested out my Spanish skills today so far which was nerve-racking.  After the airport situations were finished, we met up with our other program leader, Jorge, who is from Peru and a Chilean student.  We then took an hour and a half bus ride to Valparaiso, Chile.  The landscape was interesting and different than I expected.  We finally arrived at our hotel and were able to shower and change which was very nice!  The shower was a tad nippy but everything is good.  So far today I have learned that Chile has many stray dogs roaming the city.  Every sidewalk has at least one stray dog.  Also, I have learned that Chileans still drive on the same side of the car as Americans do.  I wasn't aware of that.  Then, most of there streets are one-way and there trees are mostly palm trees.
A little while after we got to our hotel, we  left for lunch at the Tiki Taco Bar which was only a few blocks away.  This was an experience.  My first time ordering in Spanish where the waiter did not know any English.  We had Spanish menus and English menus.  I shared a Chicken Fajita dinner which tasted pretty good.  We were all laughing and talking at lunch.  Also, lunch is much bigger than dinner in Chile.  Once we got done with lunch, we all walked a half an hour to a Chilean "futbol" game.  This was exciting, but a little rainy! This one section of the crowd was jumping up and down and cheering loudly the whole game.  It was a great experience  especially since the home team won 3-2! Well, we are off to dinner and then we get to sleep in a bed which might be a loose term :) Adios!

In T minus 16 hours, I will be in Santiago, Chile!! I started off today just relaxing until taking an hour bus ride to   the airport. It was an experience trying to fit 18 people plus two to three bags/suitcases each on a bus, but just a minor challenge!  I am now just waiting in the Pittsburgh International Airport for the first flight to Miami, Florida and then Chile by tomorrow morning!! I am so excited! I have had challenges and experiences throughout my life, but this will be a great mix of both! Our group have already become good friends and we are not even to Chile yet.  I will just wait for all the good beginnings that will start at each minute throughout this trip! Stay updated while I am away because this will be exciting!