Vino, Comida, y Amigos- Perfecto!

Although we began our day waking up to absolutely no water in our hotel, it turned out to be a really relaxing day! We continued with our company visits as we traveled to Viña Indomita, one of the Chile's largest vineyards. It was another gorgeous day which made the visit of the vineyard that more enjoyable. We were walked through several processes of the wine production process and were even given a tour of the wine cellar! The winery has been in operation since 2001 and is ideal for wine production due to the cool, windy climate in the valley and the heavy fog in the morning which prevents the grapes from getting dried out. Of course, the best part came at the end of our tour when we were invited to taste 3 different types of wine! They were all delicious and everyone enjoyed relaxing over the gorgeous terrace. Unfortunately they do not ship to the US- sorry Mom!!

View overlooking the terrace at Viña Indomita

Enjoying a glass of Chilean wine

Following the visit we drove to Isla Negra, a beautiful little town right on the water that is home to Pablo Neruda, a famous Chilean poet. I have studied some of his poems in my Spanish class last semester so it was really interesting to see where he grew up! We ate lunch at a fantastic seafood restaurant with a great view and afterward walked down to the beach and relaxed. The view was great, and everyone enjoyed getting a little sun!

Lunch at Isla Negra

Beautiful view

On top of the world!

We then toured Pablo Neruda's house. Most of the rooms and items were completely original! Our tour guide spoke no english but luckily I was able to understand almost everything. We learned a lot about Neruda's life in Chile with his wife Matilde and were shown where he wrote many of his works. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take any pictures but the tour was really neat!

After shopping for some souvenirs from Isla Negra, we got on the bus and headed home to Viña del Mar. Tomorrow we are going to a "spa" (don't get too excited- it's basically just a soccer field and a pool!) to hang out with all of the Chilean students and then will be going to a barbecue at the director of the university's house. It should be a great start to the weekend! Stay tuned!

LAN Airlines and Bosques del Mauco in the Sunshine

Yesterday and today have been two more gorgeous days! We began our Wednesday by waking up as usual, eating breakfast, and once again heading to la Universidad Technica Federico Santa Maria for our morning lecture. We had a new instructor named Jose Luis who was really engaging! He taught us a lot about Chilean culture, covering everything from history to music to art to language. We ate lunch as usual in the cafeteria around 1 and then boarded the bus for LAN Airlines, S.A. It was right near the Santiago airport, so we had about a two hour ride. Once we arrived, we were greeted by an employee named Luis who gave us a brief tour of the offices and then gave us a detailed overview of his company. We learned that LAN recently just merged with TAM airlines in Brasil, allowing for both companies to basically eliminate competition within South America. LAN has also been doing a lot lately to reduce carbon emissions and runs their aircrafts completely on biofuels. It was really interesting and made for a great first company visit!

LAN Airlines, S.A.

Once returned to Valparaiso, we had another salsa class and then ran back to the hotel to quickly change and get ready to go out with the Chilean students. They took us to a club called 'Journal' that was a lot of fun! We're all staring to realize that South American nightlife is quite different than that in the States- 4 am is considered a normal time to arrive home, which is pretty difficult to manage considering our days start so early. Thankfully we're all doing fine running on basically no sleep! 

This morning we had our final cultural lecture with Jose Luis and learned a lot about how Chilean business is conducted. It was interesting to compare and contrast how meetings are run in the US vs Chile. Personal relationships are valued in much higher regard, and Chileans feel it is very important to get to know someone on a very personal level before doing business with them; long lunch meetings including discussion of family and friends are quite normal, whereas phone and Skype interviews are completely unheard of.  We also focused in on Chilean marketing and ad culture and found a lot of common themes within some recent commercials, such as religion and family. Chileans have such a deep sense of pride for their country that I find truly amazing, and this pride can be clearly seen in almost everything the country does and creates. I posted the link below for one of my favorite commercials that we looked at that displays Chilean fútbol culture. The poem being recited in the background is famous in Chile and represents the pride of its citizens in a very powerful way. Sorry there are no translations!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRW-yQLa3Gw

Once again, after lecture we had lunch and then headed to our second company visit with some of the Chilean students. We drove along the coast on our way and the view was probably the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. It was by far my favorite part of the day!

View exiting Valparaiso along the Chilean coastline

This time we visited a mushroom company called Bosques de Mauco (Nature's Farm). It was definitely different from our previous visit but it was really interesting! We got a tour of the entire mushroom plant, from everything to the fermentation process to packaging and shipping. The company currently produces both fresh and canned mushrooms and exports them all throughout South America.

Outside of the Bosques de Mauco plant

Mushroom Production

After our company tour, we headed back to the University for our final dance class! Tonight the Chileans are taking us out to a discoteca inside of a local Casino. I'm excited! Tomorrow will be a more relaxed day because we don't have lecture, just a company visit to Viña Indomita (winery)! I'm looking forward to another fun filled day. Hasta mañana!

Hola, Santiago!

Today was another beautiful, fun-filled day in Chile. Unfortunately we all had to wake up very early after our fun night with the Chilean students, but thankfully we were able to rest on the 2 hour bus ride to Santiago. Once we entered the city, we walked to the Santiago Stock exchange and saw a brief presentation on the history of the stock exchange. We also learned a lot about MILA, an agreement between Chile, Peru, and Colombia that allows citizens of all three countries to interchangeably purchase stocks and bonds from one another. After the presentation we were escorted to the trading floor! Obviously, nowadays it is not used very much since everything is online, but it was really interesting to see where the Chilean stock market used to operate years ago.

The (renovated!) trading room at the Santiago Stock Exchange

After our tour at the stock exchange, we were led around Santiago by Javier and another Chilean student also named Javier. We walked to the city's center where there were a lot of vendors, shops, and museums. The city center is also home to one of the biggest and most beautiful cathedrals I have ever seen! The pictures truly don't do it justice. The statues, ceilings, and architecture was incredible.

The inside of the Cathedral in Santiago's City Center

We then spent about a half hour checking out a free museum right next to the Cathedral which was awesome! It had a lot of different interactive exhibits for children as well as really impressive statues and art. After we were finished looking around, we took the bus to one of the nicest, upscale seafood restaurants in Santiago called Augosto's. The meal was delicious and the atmosphere wasn't so bad either! We all enjoyed bread, fish, and meat over great conversation and authentic Latin American live guitar music! There were also a lot of vendors inside selling clothes, jewelry, and souvenirs, which gave us a nice chance to browse around after lunch.

Lunch at Augosto's

Following lunch, the Javier's took us up a very steep, long incline ride to an amazing view of all of Santiago. It was incredible! Unfortunately the pictures didn't turn out great due to a heavy layer of smog covering the top of the city, but it was beautiful nonetheless. It makes the city of Pittsburgh look VERY tiny, as you can see!!

View of Santiago de Chile from the top of the incline

Our group!

After riding the incline back down, we got some delicious frozen yogurt as a group and then boarded the bus to head back to Viña del Mar. Once we got back we had another dance class, this time reggeton! These classes are becoming one of my favorite parts of the day. I'm looking forward to trying out some of my new moves when we go out the rest of the week! After our class we were all exhausted and decided to just grab something to eat and come back to the hotel for the night. Molly, Allie, Alyssa and I were able to find some authentic American snacks at the local grocery store and even ate Pizza Hut for dinner! A little piece of home right here in Viña. We are heading to bed now to make up for an extreme lack of sleep the past few days. Tomorrow we are getting up early once again to have lectures at the University and visit LAN airlines. Another busy day....more to come later!

First full day...and very busy!

Today was our first full day in Chile and it was extremely busy! We woke up at 7:00 am, got ready, and ate a authentic Chilean breakfast consisting of bread, jelly, fruit, yogurt, and coffee. At 8:30 Javier and Camilo, another Chilean student, met us at the hotel and escorted us to the Universidad Técnica de Federico Santa Maria. The university was absolutely beautiful! It reminded me a lot of Notre Dame. Javier and Camilo gave us a brief history and tour of the Universidad, including some interesting information on traditions at the University; for example, when each student graduates, he/she is thrown into the pool with their graduation clothes on! The views surrounding the college were gorgeous, and it didn't hurt that the weather was about 70 degrees F and sunny. We then attended a lecture by Jamie, one of the best professors at the Universidad who also received his doctorte from Pitt. We learned a lot about the statistics of the school itself. For example, the only fields of study are engineering, business and architecture. Also, this university is one of the best in all of Chile and is extremely completive to be accepted into. There are approximately 6,000 current undergraduate students. Jamie taught us a lot about the economics, industries, and environments of all the Latin American countries. It was a great introduction into our South American travels.

Our view of the ocean from the Universidad!

Following our first lecture, we bought a quick snack at a kiosk outside of the Universidad before the second lecture on the environment and industry of the South American countries. After that, we ate lunch in the cafeteria with all of the Chilean students which was very interesting. Javier then took us to meet Daniela and Valerie, two Chilean students who escorted us on a 4 hour bus/walking tour of Valparaiso. They were great resources for information and taught us so much about their lives in Chile. We saw so many amazing sights! Their English was perfect, which of course was very helpful. 

Pitt Business Students in Valparaiso!

A sea port in Valparaiso

After our tour, we ate one of our best meals of far as a group- EMPANADAS! They were absolutely delicious, and I am sure that we will all be making a return to the same restaurant before the end of the trip. There were many option of what to order and we all enjoyed our time there.

Mi empanada con camarón y queso (shrimp and cheese)! DELICIOSO! 

After our meal came one of the most fun parts of the day- salsa classes! Our instructor didn't speak any English, but thankfully Javier was there to translate. We all did really well and had so much fun! I am excited for our next lesson tomorrow to learn more complicated and intense steps. I am sure that I will be joining the Salsa Club at Pitt next semester, along with a lot of my peers!

We then returned to the hotel and went out with Javier and some of the other students to sing Karaoke. It was a blast! Tomorrow we are waking up extremely early to drive to Santiago. There, we will see the Santiago stock exchange and the rest of the city. The weather is supposed to be great once again. I can't wait to learn more about the industry of Chile and to see more incredible cultural sights. Time for bed now...hasta luego!

Hola Viña!

Our first day in Chile was awesome, aside from the less-than-desirable rainy weather. Nevertheless, we made the most of it and saw some great sights. After landing in Santiago and paying our "entry reciprocity fee" to Chile, we were directed through customs and security. Our trip advisor, Dr. Abad, and Javier, one of the Chilean students at the Universidad de Santa Maria, met us at the airport and helped us exchange some US dollars for Chilean pesos- $1 for approx. 450 Chilean pesos- an interesting and confusing exchange rate! After that, we took a coach bus from Santiago to Viña del Mar. The sights along the way were great, but nothing beat the breathtaking view once we arrived to the Valparaiso region!

The view driving into Viña del Mar, Chile

After unloading our luggage, we checked in as a group to Hotel America, our humble abode for the next 2 weeks. It is quite different from the luxorious hotels we have back home in the States, but very quaint! There are 3-4 of us to a room. We all have our own beds and private bathrooms which is great. After unpacking a bit, we went as a group to a local Mexican restaurant called Tiki Taco- by far the best Mexican food I have ever had! The service was fantastic and the food was incredible and really authentic. We all enjoyed a nice, long meal with some great conversation.

Dinner at Tiki Taco

Alli and I enjoying fajitas con pollo y bistec!

Following dinner, we met Javier and his little brother back at the hotel and they escorted us to a local fútbol game! Even though it rained the majority of the time, it was really exciting- and to make things better, team Viña made an incredible comeback to win the match 3-2 against San Marco, a rival team from Northern Chile. The fútbol culture was unlike anything I have ever seen, and to be honest, makes American football fans look pretty lame. The crowd truly never stopped cheering.

Viña vs. San Marco

On our walk back from the stadium, we stopped at a local supermarket to buy some bottled water and snacks before arriving back at Hotel America. We're going out now for a quick bite to eat and drink before heading to bed- we have a full day tomorrow, consisting of a 7:00 am wake up call and a trip to the Universidad! I'm looking forward to meeting more of the Chilean students and seeing the campus. That's all for now. Buenas noches!

Today's the Day!

It's so hard to believe that today we are beginning our travels to Chile! When I was accepted to the program and started attending the group workshops, our trip seemed so far away. Time has flown! In a few hours we will be heading to the airport to fly to Miami, and from there to Santiago. I'm sure it will be a long, tiring day of travels, but I know it will be well worth it!

Yesterday we had a group orientation on campus at Pitt with all of the Plus3 students- including those headed to Germany, China, Vietnam, and of course, Chile. It was a lot of fun to see everyone and interact with the other students. We were divided into groups based on the country we will be traveling to and from there created skits representing the "do's and don'ts" of business etiquette pertaining to each specific country. I had no idea how much professionalism could vary across the globe- for example, in Chile, it's considered normal to greet each business partner individually with an affectionate hug and a kiss, while in Germany, such behavior would be viewed as completely crazy! It was a great way for us all to learn a little bit more about the culture in each of the different countries.

I know that traveling to Chile will be an all-around awesome experience. While abroad, I hope to better my Spanish, learn more about the country's industries and economics, build friendships, and learn more about the culture and general way of life of Santiago and Valparaiso. I can't wait to start our adventure!

That's all for now...time to finish up some last minute packing! Hasta luego!

First Blog Post

I have just created my Chile Plus3 blog and can't believe the trip is under 1 month away! I'm looking forward to traveling to Chile and learning lots about the language and culture. Blogging will be a great way for family and friends to keep up to date with my adventures. May 5 can't come soon enough!