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

Lectures Galore!

Today was a lovely lecture day, as it was so nice to take a break from hiking up mountains and through cities.  It was hard waking up in the morning as usual, but we hopped on the bus for another pleasant ride to the university.  Our lecturer, Jose Luis, was extremely nice, and gave a very interesting presentation.  The people working at the university never fail to impress me with the knowledge they possess.  Their English is very good, and they answer all our questions with detail.  The presentation covered a wide range of subjects, my favorite being Chilean music.  I really enjoyed Francisca Valenuela’s cover of Violeta Parra’s song “Run Run,” and I loved watching Claudio Arrau play piano since I play piano myself.  The natural disaster section of the presentation was also extremely interesting, and it was crazy to hear where Jose was when the earthquake in 2010 occurred.  We learned what to do if there was an earthquake, and watched several videos of previous ones.  In addition to these topics, we also covered Chilean history, literature, geography, tourism, art and culture.  Jose also asked us for our input, and we discussed the differences between the United States and Chile.   If I ever forget that I am in Chile, I am easily reminded upon seeing another stray dog roaming the streets.  After the lecture concluded, we headed back to Hotel America.  The Chilean students will be picking us up soon to take us out for the night!

Jeff enjoying some delicious chips during our lecture break

Can't get enough of that cafeteria food

Santiago Livin'

This morning we had to get moving even earlier than usual, as we traveled to the capitol, Santiago.  Our first stop was the stock exchange, and we first went upstairs to watch a little movie on how the Chilean stock market works.  Following this video, we went back downstairs and were able to see the big board of stocks.  This was a relatively short visit, as we then went and toured the streets of Santiago.  We saw a couple more street performers, and a surprisingly less amount of stray dogs along the way.  There was a gigantic church we visited that was filled with many interesting statues and monuments, as well as a history museum filled with all sorts of different artifacts.  We were absolutely starving by the time we were done these tours, so we got lunch at some sort of fish market.  I honestly question if there is any bad Chilean food, because once again I had a delicious meal, which this time consisted of sea bass covered with a seafood sauce.  Once we were full, we headed to the Presidential Place.  It was interesting comparing it to the White House, and we had soldiers following us everywhere through the tour.  We then left the Presidential Palace and changed from our nice clothes on the bus, and went to another incline.  This incline was much larger, and we went to the top of a mountain.  At the top of the mountain, it was possible to see all of Santiago.  Gorgeous mountains once again surrounded us.  Another two-hour bus ride ensued, which I surprisingly, although I am running on little sleep, did not sleep through.  Getting back to the hotel, we were free for the night, so a group of us decided to run errands.  We got dinner together, which this time was my first Chile quesadilla.  We are all tired beyond belief now, but there are so many sights in Chile to see it is more than worth it.  

At the stock exchange

Roomies!

Candles on the top of the mountain

Santiago

Va Va Valparaiso!

Chile is fantastico!  Today we went to the University for the first time, bonded with the Chilean students, and toured the beautiful Valparaiso.  Breakfast was early as usual, but after finishing breakfast we took the public transportation for the first time.  Chile’s transportation was proven to be quite a thriller, as we constantly fell on top of each other on the overcrowded bus.  Upon arriving at the University, we took (more) group shots, and we were given a tour of the campus.  There were various differences between Pittsburgh’s campus and this one, such as the beautiful outdoor pool and their lack of Market, but all of us were truly stunned by the scenery.  We then went to lecture, and we learned more about Chile compared to other countries.  After lecture, we went upstairs for some lunch, which was overwhelming due to its crowdedness.  I was excited to finally try the grapes, which were absolutely ginormous, and they turned out to be delicious as well.  From lunch, we headed to a bus tour, and we were dropped off at various tourist locations.  The Sky Museum was definitely the highlight of my day, as all the buildings were beautiful, and I once again took as many pictures as possible.  We had a friend, a stray dog, follow us the entire hike as well.  After the hike, we went to little shops by the water, and browsed through all the various trinkets they had.  Back up the mountain we went after the shops, except this time we took the incline.  Now experts of Valparaiso, we finally went to get food, getting the beloved empanadas.  They were everything we expected and more, and as a bonus we went to the bakery next door.  Karen and I unfortunately had to carry the cake that we bought for hours, as we immediately went to dance lessons.  Although I am not exactly the best dancer, I thoroughly enjoyed these dance lessons, as the teacher is a real ball of energy.  It was only after dance lessons that we were finally free for the night, and Karen and I got to enjoy our cake with our Chilean friends.  

Brice and I overlooking Valparaiso

Some of the houses in Valparaiso

Karen and I, waiting to eat our cake