Cue Brice's Graduation Song

Today was the final day of this fantastic trip.  I woke up to Brendan knocking on my door at 9:30, like I previously asked him to so that we could make a final trip to the stands on the boardwalk.  We ended up going as a big group to the beach, and we looked around for some final souvenirs.  Unfortunately most of the stand were closed, but we scavenged the stands they had anyway.  Eventually our group broke up into three separate groups, and we ended up meeting at our favorite empanada place for the final 'panadas.  I once again got my favorite type, the shrimp and cheese, and I had a whole ordeal with the people ordering because they thought I ordered ham and cheese.  (Jamon, which is ham vs. Camaron, which is shrimp)  Our tummies were happy, but we were all sad to finish our last Chilean meal.  I paid, and the lady at the counter made me say "camaron" a million times, and went next door to the bakery.  We all bought a final panqueque, and then we headed back to the hotel.  I was mostly packed at that point, so I joined Matt in the courtyard for some Chilean dancing.  I ate my panqueque, and we all whined together about how much we're going to miss this place.  Everyone was also freaking out about how much their luggage weighed, so we all used Justine's scale to make sure we were under the 50 pound limit.  We gathered in the sunroom, crowded together due to the many suitcases, and we were all informed that we couldn't take our beans home.  This was extremely disappointing news, as I had to go through my suitcase to find this can of beans, and by the time I found it the bus had arrived.  We went to the bus, gave the driver our luggage, and sat looking longingly out the windows.  The Chilean students who came to say goodbye stood outside crowded together, all waving goodbye.  This was definitely the saddest moment of the trip and I'm not going to lie, I totally teared up a bit.  This was such an incredible experience and I learned not only about Chile, but about various business and engineering topics.  The memories I made and the people I met will be unforgettable, and I'm already missing all the stray dogs on the street.

Visiting the Vina del Mar's beach a final time

Farewell, OK Mart.  You will be missed.

Horsey!

The holy grail of the days in Chile was today... horseback riding!  Everyone was more than excited to head off to the ranch, but we all didn't have any idea what to expect.  When the bus started slowing down to turn into the ranch, I saw how it was directly across from the ocean and started getting really excited.  We got off the bus only to be greeted by many animals, so naturally Brice was freaking out.  People were once again petting the dogs, and Brice was yelling for hand sanitizer.  There was an adorable baby cow, two dogs roaming around, a gigantic pig, and chickens scurrying everywhere.  After a certain traumatic experience with the cow, we headed over to where the horses were.  We signed release forms and were given leg protectors, and soon enough we were all sitting on top of horses.  Horses were picked based on their personality, so because I have ridden a couple of times in the past, I asked for a horse that would run a little bit.  Little did I know I would be given quote "the most active horse", and it wanted to gallop every two seconds.  For about an hour everything was all well and good with this horse, and Daniela told me that the owner said he was impressed how I was handling it.  Sure enough, about five minutes after, my horse went galloping away, and I was hanging on for dear life with one foot out of the holder.  I guess the horse realized that running through the bushes wasn't the best idea, so at that point it decided to slow down.  The owner told me how we were now switching horses, and his horse was a million times calmer, and I had no problems the rest of the ride.  The ride, might I add, was three hours long, so we stopped for a break at one point, and we were given juicy pineapple to munch on.  Back on the saddle, we went from the sand dunes to the beach again, and we galloped by the water most of the ride back.  Everyone was sore at this point, so I couldn't help but laugh when another round of galloping ensued.  Back at the ranch, we were given what was probably the best meal we had yet.  There was rice, salad, pork, steak, chicken, and much more, and all of us had full plates.  We sat around and talked for a while, and eventually marshmallows were brought out and we all roasted them over the fire.  After the marshmallows, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for our last meal with the Chileans.  We went to "Diego's Pizza", where they had all sorts of interesting types of pizza (I decided to go with "three cheese").  A gift exchange then occurred with the Chilean students, where we gave them Pitt T-shirts and they gave us the most legit USM sweatshirts you'll ever see.  All of us are visibly disappointed that this amazing trip is coming to an end, but I think we can all agree that we're so lucky to have this experience.

The cutest cow I've ever seen

The start of our ride

Coming off the dunes to the beach

What a real barbecue looks like

We're Professionals at Relaxing

This was definitely the most chill day of the entire trip thus far, as we camped out by a pool at what could be best described as a country club.  Upon arrival, we were ushered to the food area, where we were given a drink and an (another) empanada.  I was disappointed to find that this empanada was the traditional one, as I have already had this several times and it's not exactly my favorite.  There is one olive and one hard boiled egg, and the rest, I believe, is onion and some sort of meat.  I typically pick the olive and egg out immediately, and nibble on the remaining empanada.  After the food, I got as comfortable as you can get laying on concrete, and fell asleep listening to Karen's ipod.  When I awoke,  I found mostly everyone was gone (I found out later they played soccer), so I proceeded to grab one of the now available lounge chairs and fell back to sleep.  It was a really nice day as well, so I was in shorts and a T-shirt for the first time in months.  I woke up again, a little red from the sun, and decided to wander to the other pool with Karen, Brendan, Kelsey, and Josh.  Kelsey and I had been dying to play tennis, so we went and asked one of the men working if they had rackets.  Besides me being socially awkward when I didn't know what he meant when he asked me, "How are you today?" (I'm only mentally prepared for a simple "hola"), Kelsey and I proudly understood what he was explaining to us in Spanish.  Unfortunately the place that had the rackets was currently closed, so Kelsey and I laid around the pool for a couple of minutes before I was summoned for a soccer game.  This was a small game, as not as many people wanted to play, but it was still really fun playing with the Chileans.  Even Verner played, and he scored a couple of goals as well!  Finally around 5:30 we all headed out, taking a short walk to Verner's house for a barbecue.  Upon first arriving, we watched Jorge water the plants and we ate grapes straight off the vine as Verner brought out the foosball and pingpong.  We all then joined in a game that consisted of keeping the soccer ball up in the air, and Brice managed to smack the ball in to the next yard, where promptly the dogs ripped the ball apart.  This ended the game, and the weather got cold really quickly.  We headed to the fire, where a chef was cooking hotdogs and skewers of meat, and we were all excited when we finally got to eat (we're always hungry).  Everything was delicious, as per usual, and later in the night Rodolfo, Sebastian, Paula, Ignacio, and others arrived at the party.  After a while of chatting and shivering from the cold, we finally left Verner's house, thanking him for his hospitality.

One of the pools at the country club

Morgan, Jeff, and I hanging out by the pool

The sun setting at Verner's house

The Day We Had Three Company Visits

Today was an extremely busy day, as we visited three companies, Hela, Conservas Centauro, and Bosque del Mauco.  Hela was the first visit of the day, which is a company that produces various types of tools.  I had no idea what to expect from this factory, but I ended up being mesmerized by the process.  We were given ear plus and goggles, and made our way over to where they wrapped and boxed the paint brushes.  The preciseness of the machines was amazing, and I watched in awe the plastic being perfected melted to wrap the brush.  We also saw how they made the metal pieces on the brushes, how the attached the pig hair, and how they printed their company name on the brush.  We moved on to the metal brushes, which were round and prickly.  While touching one, I was poked and bled a bit, which shows just show sharp the metal was.  There was one machine that twisted the metal, and a couple of my peers and I discussed the computer engineering needed to create a machine so accurate.  Using our basic knowledge of computer programming, we did not even want to think of the code required for such a machine.  We then were back on the bus, heading to Conservas Centauro, which is a canning company.  Their primary focus is tomatoes, but they produce other foods as well.  When we arrived we were given fashionable hair nets, and were guided around the factory.  The jalapenos smelled delicious, and we were allowed to taste the tomato paste and ketchup.  We then were introduced to the owner of the company, and he told us more about the different foods produced, and gave us a can of beans to take home.  We all stared longingly at the beans, as we were all absolutely starving at this point, so we said our goodbyes and left the factory to grab some empanadas.  The restaurant we went to this time was really interesting, as it was beach themed, decorated with plants, and had seashells as the gravel floor.  Everyone ordered two empanadas this time, as it was about 3:00 at this point and we still hadn't eaten, so I got my favorite, the shrimp and cheese and tried something new-- the sweet milk.  Both were delicious, but I struggled with the sweat milk, as the delicious carmel liquid inside was scalding hot and spilled all over my hands.  Although I made a fool out of myself, it was still very, very yummy, and we all left feeling a thousand times better.  We then went to the place that our noses have been waiting for, Bosque del Mauco.  We were warned about the smell of this mushroom farm at the start of this trip, and it didn't disappoint.  Noses were held as we wandered through the farm, seeing the different process necessary to create the optimal environment for mushroom growth.  After the factory, we went back to the hotel, and disposed of our shoes, calling it a day.

The machine used to produce the tools at Hela

Jalapenos being sliced at Centauro

The restaurant we visited for lunch

Brice enjoying the mushroom factory

The mushrooms grown in the crates at the farm

Presentations, Jaime, and Futbol, Oh My!

Alas, today was finally the long awaited presentation day!  After another lovely bus ride to the university, we all finally had our chance to present to Jaime about our companies.  Everyone did a great job, and Jaime provided additional information about each company.  This man might just be the smartest man I ever met, knowing a details about everything.  We then discussed the oddities of Chile, and of course one important discussion was the amount of stray dogs.  I personally asked him why the Chileans were always annoyed when we paid with the 10000 peso bill, and he explained how typically the Chileans do not make that much in a day, and so breaking that bill is more difficult for them.  These kinds of topics really make you think about the Chilean culture, and how it differs from ours.  The 10000 peso bill is the equivalent of a 20 dollar bill, which is a common form of payment in the United States.  Moreover, he explained why items such as clothing were so expensive, and said how many of the clothes purchased in Chile are from cheaper markets rather than the mall.  He let us leave early, so all of us enjoyed the weather outside and took a million pictures together.  We left the university, skipping what would have undoubtedly been another delicious meal, to go back to the hotel and change into proper soccer attire.  We then ran over to the mall, and I had an extremely healthy Burger King lunch to get me ready for running around.  Extremely full, we headed up a big hill to play soccer against the Chileans.  We split up into four teams, and I was on a team with Colin, Hannah, Jeff, Kelsey, and two Chileans.  Everyone was actually pretty good, and we had more games than I could count.  I haven't played soccer since I was five years old, but I still really enjoyed running around.

Jeff and Morgan doing a fabulous job presenting

A view from the university

Everyone enjoying the soccer game

Still Chillin' in Chile

Lazy free day, round two.  This morning I awoke to the cleaning lady at the door, so I was forced to wake up and go to the sunroom.  In desperate need of a shower, I sat around on my computer, uploading pictures and hardcore Facebooking.  Finally when our room was cleaned, I sprinted to the shower so I could get something to eat with everyone.  We ended up eating at an Italian Place called "Elena's," so naturally I was excited that it had my name.  Although it was extra hard to understand our waiter (we had to ask several times for a menu), when our food finally came it was absolutely delicious.  I got raviolis with meat, and as per usual we asked for extra "pan."  After leaving, we went to the boardwalk, passing the restaurant that we were planning on eating at for dinner.  There I found a cool fork ring that I have been showing absolutely everyone.  Coming back from the beach, we got dressed up to go to a very nice dinner at Tierra del Fuego, the place we saw earlier.  This restaurant had glass windows everywhere, and our group had the whole second floor all to ourselves.  Our group got a big seafood appetizer, which had everything on it-- shrimp, squid, scallops, oysters, and crab.  Then came the main meal, and I got "King Crab Spinach Lasagna."  It was literally the best thing.  Even though I was full as anything at that point, I still made room for dessert, as we got a sampler of all their top selling items.  My personal favorite was the chocolate lava cake, but all of it was good (except for the flan).  After the meal, we walked back to the hotel and had another group meeting.  Brice and Jorge explained that we had our presentations to look forward to tomorrow, as well as a soccer game with Chileans.  Everyone then worked on their presentations, and we have a movie in Brendan and Matt's room planned for the rest of the night.

The beautiful restaurant we ate at

King Crab Spinach Lasagna with wine

Dessert sampler!

Libre!

Today, thankfully, was a free day.  Sleeping until noon was a beautiful thing, as we have all been pushing ourselves to see and do absolutely everything.  We constantly find ourselves reminding each other, "We only have two weeks in Chile!"  When I finally woke up, Brendan, the Kelseys, and I went to the market to grab some more water and the made a stop for coffee.  The place was absolutely adorable, smelled fantastic, and had John Mayer playing nonstop.  Can it honestly get any better than that?  We had our coffee and ate some cookies, and went back to the hotel to meet the others.  We went back out again to actually grab something to eat, and ended up going to nice place where you split the food among the table.  I totally went against that trend and got my own sandwich, which was thick bread with steak, bacon, and cheese.  We paid and left the restaurant, got some more money out at the McDonald's, and headed to the beach.  I visited practically every gift stand, browsing all the handmade pieces.  It is so pretty by the beach, as we passed a number sand sculptures and the sun was starting to set over the ocean.  On the way back, we realized that we totally took the long way to the beach; you only need to take two roads with one turn.  Usually I am pretty good with direction, but here I only ever follow people around, hoping they know where they are going.  Upon arriving back at the hotel, we found that all the people who did not come with us were sound asleep.  Morgan, Jess, Kelsey, and I talked in our room, and soon I will be getting ready to go out with Chileans again.  Tomorrow is our second free day, and I believe a bakery tour is planned for the morning! 

The coffee shop we visited in the morning

More of the delicious Chilean food