Friday May 20, Day 13 in Chile

Today was our final day here in Chile. I spent most of the morning sleeping in. Finally when I woke up I instantly starting downloading all the music I have heard over the two weeks. After doing some last minute packing we all went to our last “family” meal. This was a typical Chilean for many us. I got Lomo a lo Pobre.  Which mean stake porbe, which includes an egg sunny side up on top, sautéed onions and fries. The egg really adds something to the stake. It was a really nice day so we sat on the deck of the restaurant. It was really nice to spend the last day all together.  After eating we went back did one last room check and got on the bus. At the airport security took some time but we got through with an hour and half to spare.

The plane ride didn’t go a well as expected. I figured I would have been so tired from the previous but I could barely sleep.  So for like 3 hours I would sleep for like 30 minutes at a time.   Going through customs in Atlanta took forever!  Thank we all made it to our flights on time. The only thing that didn’t make it was half of our luggage L. But, it should be here eventually.

Overall these past two week were amazing. I could have not had a better time. I learned so much about Chile as a whole on this trip.   Being there for two weeks gave me enough time to feel like I had been there forever! By the last day I almost felt like Vina del Mar was my home. I think we all did a good job immersing ourselves in the culture that at times I felt like typical Chilean college student’s life.  This was a trip of a lifetime and I will always remember it. 

Thursday May 19, Day 12 in Chile

Today was our last full day in Chile. We didn’t need to meet in the lobby till around 12:00, which meant we had the morning free. When you are college student and have the morning free it usually means sleep in, but I got and went to do my last minute shopping for souvenirs.   It was weird just two weeks ago that I walked down the same streets and didn’t know where I was but, I feel like an expert of Vina del Mar. As a bunch of us made our way back from shopping we clearly stopped at pandadria. Today I decided to get pan de leche, which was very similar to vanilla custard Danish. 

Once we got back to the hotel we gathered our things and we were off to our last visit at USM.   When we arrive I had finally brought my camera so I was able to take a pictures of the campus.  After taking a big group picture in front we then walked up all the stairs.  That is probably one thing I will not miss, every time I am still out of breathe.  Inside we got hear about we could actually do a semester abroad at USM.   A Belgium exchange student Stephanie was able to share her experience with us along with how she felt about choosing to study abroad in Chile.

We had lunch today in the cafeteria. After talking about it over lunch a few of us decided what we would have never eaten in the begging of the trip we weren’t afraid to eat now.   It didn’t mean it was good, just editable. After lunch it was fútbol time. It was supposed be Pitt vs. the Chilean students but the teams got a little mixed around. Of course I watched from the sidelines and cheered us on, I am not really sure who won because after watching it for an hour a few of us decided to head back to the hotel and start packing.

Packing in itself is pretty stress but when you have clothes all over the place it’s a nightmare. I am defiantly going to miss Chile but this hotel not so much. For dinner tonight went to this pizza place with the whole crew, all the Chilean students and us.  It was a lot of fun and the pizza was interesting. They are not afraid to but whatever on their pizza. At the end of the dinner we ended up getting he sickest sweatshirts (sickest as in awesome) I can’t wait to wear it home tomorrow.

For tonight’s evening activities we all went out as a group to a bar and then a disco techa. It was a lot of fun and as you can at the time I am posting this blog we got back in the middle of the morning.

I cannot believe tomorrow is our last day here. These two weeks flew by, but I had the best time!

Wednesday May 18, Day 11 In Chile

Today we were back in the swing of company visits. We woke up at 7:15 to get dressed up in our profession attiure becuaser today we were going to the Chilean Stock Exchange called Bolsa de Comercio. After a little over an hour and half drive in to Santiago we arrive.  As we walked along the crowded street of the city it looked like any other major city in the world, lots of people trying to get to where they need to be. When we arrive in to Bolsa de Comericio we headed to an auditorium where we got to watch a short film on what they do, how they work, who is involved and all the logistics.  It was extremely informative. After that video we then saw a power point that look more closely in how the stock exchange operates and some of their major companies. One thing that I was really looking forward to was actually going to the trading floor. Well, that didn’t happen. It turned out it was under construction at this time and no one was allowed in. That was rather disappointing and made the experience a little less of exciting. After asking one of the engineers who works with the computer system, because now most thing are done by the click of the mouse, we took a picture with a picture of the old trade floor.

From there it was time to explore the city a little bit.  As we walked around downtown we notice this very large white building with the biggest Chilean flag I have ever seen! It turned out to be the La Monada aka Chile’s white house aka where their president lives. We all took pictures in the front with guards. It was really cool and the weather was in our favor yet again which made the day even better. After that we went into gorgeous old church and walked around. The architecture in the church was beautiful and actually reminded of some of the churches I had seen in Eastern Europe. We finished our walk around the city by visiting a National History Museum of Chile.  It was really interesting to seem most the paintings were of the Spaniard when they had first come to Chile In the 1800’s.

For lunch today we ate at Donde Augusto. This was a seafood restaurant in the middle of a pescaderia, a fish market at Mercado Central (market central, not the one at PITT). The smell was a little much but I knew the food was going to be unreal. Throughout my time in Chile, I have been in search for Chilean Sea bass. I have had it in the states, and up to this point I was starting to think that in America we had just made up the name. Finally today I saw it on the menu and had to go for it! So I ended up getting Chilean Sea bass with some type of lump crab meat sauce. It was unreal.

To end our day in Santiago we went up this huge incline that looked over the entire city. It was really pretty but at some point due to all the pollution in the city the smog made it hard to see out. At the top of the incline there were shops and this stand where you could get Mote con Husesillos that translates to mean “little bones” but really it is really ripened peaches, soaked in tea with these little rice like things. It looked weird but tasted great. At the very top of this mountain sit’s a statue of “Blessed Mary”. It is huge, and is there to watch over/protect the whole city. Overall it was a really eventful day and I enjoyed it.  Tomorrow we have a free morning and then activities at the University; it should be a fun last full day. 

Tuesday May 18, Day 10 in Chile

When I woke up this morning I had set no expectation of today. We had heard a lot about where we were going but weren’t sure what it was. We had heard, farm, spa, country club. As we pulled and looked around it seemed be mashed in with some lower scale homes but as we walled lobby and got our bracelet for the day we knew we had a good day in store. The weather was beautiful it felt like 75 in the sun. When we walked out of the lobby and throughout the ground it looked like paradise with palm trees, Tiki huts, swimming pools and even a water slide. Finally we arrive in an enclosed area where there was a woman just handing out empanadas left and right. It was all you could eat and drink, which included all the ice cream from the freezer.  It felt like we were at a turn resort.

From eating our little empanada’s everyone decided we were going to play some soccer.   Well after sitting there watching for 10 minutes a few of us girls decided that if it was this nice we should change into our bathing suites and lay out. As we sat by the pool with the sun shinning, I was so happy! At around 1:30 we all gathered for lunch inside. There was a huge buffet with everything and anything to choose from.  I was stuffed and didn’t want to waste anymore-prime sun hours so when everyone was done we all rushed to sit by the pool.  Only one person actually in the pool since the water was so cold, but to go in a pool here in Chile a swim cap is mandatory.  As we were sitting out music there was music and it was all just very relaxing.   The day that started out with few expectations turned out to be one of my favorites here in Chile!

For dinner tonight we all went to Warren’s house for a barbeque.   We dined on sausage hotdog for an appetizer and steak and chicken kebabs for dinner. We did a lot of dancing and the Chileans shows us some of there dances and we showed them the Cupid Shuffle. It was enjoyable and fun way to end the day!

Monday May 16, Day 9 in Chile

When I woke up this morning I was in panic mode about riding a horse.  I don’t like horses at all and I had a nightmare I would fall of one when I went riding! However when I walked outside i realized today was one of our most beautiful days here with the sun shinning and weather that was actually bearable.  I figured that was a sign that maybe today would not be so bad after all.

So on the way to the farm for Ritoque Expediciones I was happy about the weather but still was not overly thrilled about the horse back riding. When we got there the lady who ran this program was extremely nice and she definitely made me feel better. Then it came time to get actually get our horse.  As I walked up to the man distributing them I asked if I could I have the most tamed horse. I got what I asked for. As we began to ride around the pen where the horse were kept I was mildly freaking out cause I had no clue how to control this animal but I got used to it, and even started enjoying it. I named my horse Sugar Cube. He was tinny horse who was rather socially awkward, there were times he just didn’t like any of the other horse and found himself even getting kicked in the face by the others.

When we rode on the beach Sugar Cube met up with Coco, Susie’s horse and together they would take on Miami just like Courtney and Khloe.  As we began to go behind the beach back by the dunes, Sugar Cube decided he didn’t want to be with everyone else and began to take short cut, but just ended up making us be in the back of the pack.  Riding the horse was really fun! An hour and half into riding we stopped at this campsite where we ate fresh cut pineapple and drank water.  This was my first time getting off the horse and I could feel how much pain I was in. I didn’t even think I was exercising.  When it came time go on we went through a dessert.  It was really interesting to see this because I knew there was a lot of dessert space up north but not down south in Chile.  As we got back to the beach we it was time to gallop. But, Sugar Cube being quiet lazy like myself didn’t really like to gallop, he would go for like 30 seconds and stop. At one point we were like 500 feet away form everyone else because he seemed to be tired.  But after a few mildly whips he picked it up to be with everyone.  

When we got back to the originally place where we first started we saw that there was tables all set up and the barbeque was grilling every kind of meat known to man.  We all started off with grilled baby sausage on an Italian loaf of bread, and bowl of cut tomatoes, onions and cilantro that would be used to dress it.  As we walked over to the table we saw there was were all different kinds of salad out.  There was regular, potato, tomato salads and some sort of yellow rice dish.   After eating those things all the meat was ready.  There was chicken with thin sliced potatoes and zucchini, stake and pork to choose from. Of course I tried a little bit of each. 

The lady who runs Ritoque Expediciones was telling us that that they also do the same thing we did but when there is a full moon out!  It sounded really neat and she said they were supposed to have this past Saturday but due to the weather being so bad they had to cancel it.

After a long day of riding we were all tired, and all we wanted to do was shower, yet when we arrive back at the hotel they didn’t have towels yet, so instead of staying inside some of when to get gelato and go to the rock along the beach and watch the sunset.  

Sunday May 15, Day 8 in Chile

On our second free day I spent a good portion of the morning catching up on the sleep that I haven’t been doing for the last week.  It was a good way to start this relaxing day. After finally getting up and dressed a few of the girls and I started our day by going to the mall.  On our way to the mall we made a few interesting stop.  Our first stop was to the man making giant sand castle. They were actually really neat. There was one huge squid, a few mermaids, a giant heart, a boy and the man was working on a giant eel.   It was neat how there were actually a lot of different colors that were being used for it. 

As we continued on walking we found a bunch of shops that lined the side of the beach by the walkway. There each of the shops had handmade jewelry and little nick knacks that could be purchase. Since we are our way to the mall I decided to find what I wanted and see if I still wanted it on the way back. Once we got the mall it was just like any other mall in the world, it had some of the same stores, and even restaurants. A few of us were even able to grab a Dunk’ drink.  As I was walking around the food court for lunch I was able to get a hoagie with guacamole, mozzarella tomatoes and lettuce. After trying to tell the lady in 1,000 different ways I didn’t want mayo she got the point, it was my first experience where they got it right! After a quick bit we returned to the shops along the beach and I picked up some bracelets and few other souvenirs.

At 6:00 was the time we all were supposes to meet at the lobby for our “family dinner”.  We ended up not having dinner but dinning at an extremely upscale restaurant along the beach call Tierra de Fuego.  We started off our meal with two appetizers. The first appetizer was a mussel with Parmesan cheese broiled on top. The second was jumbo tempura shrimp. They were legit some of the biggest shrimp I had ever seen at first I thought it was a baby lobster tail. For my main dish I got squash gnocchi in a Parmesan olive oil chive sauce. After having a little mix up when I was ordering due to the fact I cannot read/speak Spanish it turned out great.  To finally wrap up my meal I got the Tierra de Fuego dessert. I thought it was going to come out on fire because the name was feugo, but it turned out to be a brownie with raspberries and cheesecake in the center.  It was really good but I could barely finish it was like everyone else we all ended up passing our plate around for everyone to try everyone else’s dessert.  Dinner was a lot of fun and really filling.  Also to stick with the sand/beach theme the bathroom stall doors looked almost like an ant farm in the sense that they were big piece of glassed filled up with sand.

            Tomorrow we are going horseback riding on the beach. Its sounds really fun it you like horses, however due to my lack of interest in animals horseback riding isn’t one of my top 100 things I like to do. I figure however it will hopefully be really fun to see the beaches. 

Saturday May 14, Day 7 in Chile

Today was our first free day in Chile!  Half of the day was gone due to the fact we got in pretty late night and to even get six hour of sleep involved us not waking up till noon.  So after recouping a few of us went into town to go shopping. We decided we would scope out this prices today and make final purchases later in the week. We walked into panadaria where I got what seemed like to be a donut sliced down the middle filled with vanilla pudding. Sprinkled with powder sugar. After that we had lunch at one of the places on the main street.  The place had pretty good food for a more inexpensive price.  

At 5:45 we walked over to the stadium to see my first real fútbol game. The walk there was about 30 minutes and rather exhausting, but once we got to the stadium it was like nothing I had ever seen.  There were group of die-hard fans in two different sections. It was almost like sitting at Pitt football game but more intense. There were Chilean policemen everywhere. When ever the home team score people went insane.   They would bang on drums and then bring this huge flags down.  As the game went on the temperature dropped and it got really cold, so when the game finally ended I wasn’t too up even though the game was tied 2-2. Tomorrow we have another free day and I am not really sure what we are going to do yet, maybe checking out the mall here.