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

Pablo and Wine

Vina Indomita was the company visit I was most looking forward to, and today the visit finally arrived.  Getting out of bed in the morning was once again a challenge as we have been moving non-stop, but sleeping on the bus constantly has been so clutch.  When we arrived at Vina Indomita, the view once again was memorizing, and so another photo-shoot of the scenery ensued.  We walked through the vineyard, climbing up many more steps to get to the building.  This was the classiest building I have ever seen, as the windows were all mirrors and the interior was well put together.  We met the tour guide, and he explained the complex process of making wine.  There were so many rules that they have to follow, and I did not realize how easy it was to ruin the wine.  The grapes have to be kept at special temperatures, the grapes have to be picked at the perfect time, and their special storage process are all examples of this complicated process.  The most interesting fact I learned was the reason why they have roses planted everywhere.  Roses are an extremely weak plant, so if there is a disease attacking the field, the roses affected will be the first indicator of a problem.  We also went inside and toured the place where the wine is made.  There were huge tanks that stored wine, and barrels of wine all over the place.  The basement where the wine was stored was really cool as well, and the whole place reminded me of the movie The Parent Trap because the dad owned a winery.  After the tour, we went upstairs for some wine tasting, and my favorite was the white wine.  We then left Vina Indomita, and had another bus ride.  I did not know where we were driving to at the time, but it turned out to be one of my favorite visits.  We went to Pablo Neruda’s house, which had a little restaurant inside.  The restaurant overlooked the beach, and we had a delicious seafood dinner.  There was also the biggest spider I have ever seen crawling around, so of course Morgan was on high alert the entire dinner.  After dinner we went on a tour of Pablo’s house, and I couldn’t help but to be jealous of his house.  We stayed there for a while, sitting on the rocks outside taking in the view.  After the beach we walked back to the buses, making pit stops at the little stores along the way.  The last event of the day was another dance lesson with my favorite instructor ever.  The dances we learned last night were fun and fast paced this time, which made the lesson fly by.  Finally, I got another empanada for dinner, and called it a day.  Tomorrow is a free day, so I will no doubt enjoy sleeping in. 

A view of the winery

Wine tasting!

Dinner at Pablo's house

Me on the beach

The Return of Jose Luis

Today was our long anticipated trip to LAN!  Both lecturers we had discussed LAN and it was also our first company visit, so it was pretty exciting.  LAN is located in Santiago, however, which means another two-hour bus ride to look forward to. (Sleep is a wonderful thing.)  But prior to this visit, we had a quick dance lesson.  In this dance lesson we learned the cueca, and Jeff proved to be quite the dance partner.  After dancing, we ate more empanadas and got to talk with each and rest at the university.  We had lunch there, which once again consisted primarily of bread, and then headed to the bus to go to the airport.  With the super glamorous steel-toed boots on, we ventured into LAN, where we were given nametags allowing us to get inside.  Once inside, we went to the hanger, where two massive planes were held.  The guide explained to us how the planes were inspected, and talked about the materials used to create the planes.  After that informative session, we went outside and split up into groups.  I was in the first group that got to go in the plane, and in comparison to the plane that we took to Chile, LAN’s plane was incredible.  I could not stop staring at the seats in first class, and unlike our plane, each seat had a tv in front of it.  After we got off the plane, we went inside where our lecturer from the other day, Jose, told us more about the airline.  He explained why certain planes were stored here, the most efficient fuel methods, and other interesting tidbits.  This concluded our tour, and we left the airport.  We stopped on the way home to grab some food, unfortunately leading to our second dance lesson being cancelled.  Even though the weather was as great as usual, it was still a great day filled with more Chilean culture.

Jose Luis telling us about the planes

The plane we got to go on