update week 1

Lots has happened since my last post. It is hard to believe that we have already been to three company visits as well as had all of the lectures. I have learned more about Chile in these past few days than I ever could have imagined.

Every day I find the transition to this culture easier and easier. Other than special requests at restaurants, the Chilean people are highly receptive to our broken spanish and are more than willing to take the time to try and help us out. Lo siento and gracias have proven extremely helpful as well as some of the more fluent students. 

The whole group went out together Monday night and we got to try some local favorite drinks. We also pitifully sang some karaoke. Tuesday we went back to the university for some lectures learning about the business environment in Chile as well as the unexpected link between Pennsylvania and Chile. 

Yesterday we visited Codelco, the state owned copper company as well as attended a futbol game for the local team Everton. The fans were spectacular and we got some tasty churros. After the game we stopped at a small restaurant near the hotel for empanadas the most popular (as well as Chile's signature) food here. They we stuffed full of cheese, chicken, onions, and tomatoes and fired in a flakey and delicious dough pouch. Last night I got the chance to try out some of the salsa we had learned as well as check out if the reggaeton dancing was all that different from our dancing in the US when we went to a local club Sala. 

We started off this morning with a visit to Vina Indomita, a mid-sized winery outside of Santiago. We toured the factory and tasted some of the wines they produced. We all got adventurous at lunch ordering a special we did not really understand. Fortunately, it all worked out and we got back on the bus to LAN very full. We then toured the LAN Airlines facility outside the Santiago airport and learned about some of their expansion strategies as well as new fuel saving technologies. We even got to walk into the hangers to see some of the maintenance and tests going on. 

We ended the day with a nice long bus ride back to the hotel (perfect for a nap) with plenty of time to spare allowing me to make it back down to McDonalds to update the blog and check some e-mails. The wireless in the hotel comes in and out and while I have picked up some spanish, I still cant decipher the keyboard or the chilean webpages off the computer at the hotel. 

I am looking forward to tomorrow's day at the farm (a resort for us Americans) where I am told there will be free food and drinks all day as well as a pool. I mights just have to splurge and get myself a massage as well. This first busy week of travel might just warrant it. 

Pictures of some of the activities will follow shortly!!