Friday, May 21

Today is our last day in Chile. I did not see most of the students until we were about to leave. I think they celebrated with a very late night last night. We are in the Santiago airport and we should be boarding very soon. It appears the flight is on time, which means we may make our connections in Atlanta. But, it would be good to check before you head to the airport.

Thursday, May 20

Today was our last full day in Chile. We went horseback riding near Con Con. The ride of almost three hours took us through marshes, sand dunes and along the ocean. The scenery was beautiful. There were a few scares with horses not cooperating (one decided to sit down and then play dead because his saddle was too tight) but everyone returned safely. My horse was determined to sprain my leg by bumping into things but he didn't succeed. We had four great guides riding with us. After the horseback riding we had a barbecue at the ranch. Tonight we have our farewell dinner at Diego Pizza with friends from Santa Maria.

Wednesday, May 19

Today was a beautiful day to do almost anything. The sun was shining, the sky was clear and the air was warm. We had nothing to do but rest up or go shopping in the morning. At lunch we went to a local restaurant Entremasas for empanadas or salads or whatever. In the afternoon, a few students from Santa Maria took us to the local beach to play games in the sand. This evening our students go back to Santa Maria for their last salsa class. Today the hotel manager told me what great guests the students have been. This is the first time in my Plus3 career (8 trips)that a manager has complimented the students instead of complaining about them--thank you, parents, for your good work!!!

Tuesday, May 18

Today we went to Isla Negra (not really an island but a town right on the ocean) to see one of the homes of the famous Nobel poet Pablo Neruda. The museum is one of his three houses--this one built with a nautical theme and where he spent his last years (early 1970s) with his third wife, Matilda. Neruda had amazing collections and it is always disappointing that we are rushed through the tour. One could spent an hour in each room of the house. One tour was in English and the other two in Spanish. Usually I am the best Spanish speaker in the group, but not this year. Lots of the students and Ben Pilcher have excellent Spanish skills (much better than mine)and the others are improving as well. After the tour we had lunch in the museum restaurant looking over the ocean. Following the visit to Isla Negra, one of the Chileans suggested we go up to the coast to the town of Algarroba where we visited the largest pool in the world, at a development called San Alfonso del Mar. The pool is almost a mile long, ten or 11 feet deep and quite wide (though I can't remember the dimension). It is right above the ocean and it is a salt water pool. It is so large that people sail boats in it. Facing the pond and the ocean are huge condominium buildings, which apparently have their own pools for swimming. Only people who own the condos can use this pool and it seems like these are summer or weekend apartments since the place is not that near to Santiago. It was really amazing, but apparently Dubai is building a bigger pool.

Monday, May 17

Today we left early to go to Santiago. Our first stop was the Bolsa de Comercio de Santiago, where we learned about the exchange and then had a tour. Afterwards, we walked about downtown, seeing the outside of la Moneda (the president's office) and the Plaza de Armas. Next we had an enormous lunch (mostly fish and shellfish except for those who preferred meat) in Mercado Central. Then we took a funicular to the top of a hill, San Cristobal, I think. Unfortunately, despite the recent rain, there was a lot of smog and we could barely see the Andes. Finally we did some shopping in the Bellevista section of the city and headed home. This was our last company visit and most of the rest of the trip will be sightseeing and other relaxing activities.

Sunday, May 16

We have the weekend free from formal activities, which gives the students a chance to rest up and explore the area. It was forecast to rain all weekend, but yesterday afternoon the sun came out and the weather was beautiful. It is also nice today. On the negative side, some of the museums and churches are still closed because of earthquake damage. Tomorrow (Monday) we have our last company visit at the Bolsa Comercial de Santiago (stockexchange) and a tour of Santiago. It rained in Santiago Friday and we hope that will clear the bad smog they have been having.

Friday, May 14

Thursday was such a busy day that I forgot to post a blog. Thursday morning we went to visit Vina Indomita, a medium-sized vineyard. We had a tour and then a wine taste. Afterwards we stopped for lunch at a traditional Chilean restaurant "los Hornitos" where the waiters were dressed like huasos (Chilean cowboys). In the afternoon we had a great tour of LAN Airlines. We went into several hangars to see them maintaining planes. We were even allowed to go inside one plane that was being maintained and try out the new "beds" in business or first class--the closest most of us will ever get to sleeping in first class. In the evening we had a wonderful barbecure at Professor Werner Kristjanpoller's home, though it was tough for our vegetarian. The students also practiced some of their new dances. After the barbecue some of the students went with Chilean students to a nightclub in Valparaiso called "Huevo." It has five different floors with different music on each floor. Today (Friday) was a day to relax and we went to a "farm" (resort) called Rosa Augustina. Unfortunately, it rained most of the time, but they did get in some good games of futbol (soccer) before it started pouring again. We had a delicious buffet and the students played table tennis and other games in the afternoon. We are back in Vina where it is cold and raining, weather similar to what Pittsburgh had earlier this week, but it is the first time I have experienced heavy rain in my six trips to Chile. I hope the students use the rain as an opportunity for catching up on their sleep.

Wednesday, May 12

Today was a very intense day. We started off at 8 AM with our safety shoes for a visit to Codelco Ventanas, where they convert copper ore to 99.99% pure copper. Because we had our safety shoes, we were able to go inside the plant to see the various stages of production. They gave us a short lecture in Spanish with some English translation on the company, the smelting process, and their commitment to safety. We were given a hard hat, safety glasses, a gas mask, and a protective vest and we were off for the tour. The guide took us to some of the control rooms that guests usually do not see because he said you "came from so far" and because the students ask a lot of good questions and were interested in the processes. We next went to Conservas Centauro, a food processing company. The plant we visited focuses on tomato products. We had an excellent tour and again the students asked excellent questions. Our tours were so long that we had to postpone the afternoon lecture from 4 to 5 PM. Jose Luis Cortes gave another excellent talk on cultural issues in Chile, which generated a lot of questions. The talk ended with a surprise serving of typical Chilean empanadas called "pino." The students stayed after the class for another Salsa class.

Tuesday, May 11

Today was another day spent on the campus of the University of Santa Maria. In the morning we heard from Leslie Wheeling, a Plus3 Chile alumna. Leslie participated in Plus3 Chile in 2004 and is now working in Santiago for TradeChile. TradeChile contracts with Pennsylvania to help small and medium-sized Pennsylvania businesses export to Chile. In the afternoon, after another lunch in the student cafeteria, we heard about economies in Latin America, including Chile, from Professor Jaime Rubin de Celis. He also has a Pitt connnection as he is earning his PhD in strategy from the Katz Graduate School of Business. In the evening there was another salsa class. Everyone has promised to go to bed at a reasonable time tonight as we have an early morning visit to a copper smelter tomorrow.

Monday, May 10

Today has been a very busy day and it is not over yet. We went to the University of Santa Maria this morning on a public buse and heard very interesting lectures on the the history and literature of Chile, the music of Chile and the recent earthquake. The speaker was Jose Luis Cortes (Mimo). At lunch we all at at the casino (student/staff cafeteria). It is amazingly efficient give the huge number of people who want to eat at the same time. In the afternoon Mimo took us on a tour of Valparaiso and then the beach at Renaca. We finished the tour with seafood empanadas in another beach town of Con Con. We stopped for a break at the hotel but are about to go back to the university for a dance lesson. Given that we are in the southern hemisphere, it was dark by 6 and is cold and damp.

Happy Mothers' Day, Sunday, May 9

Happy Mothers' Day. It is Mothers' Day in Chile also and we expect the restaurants to be filled with families and their mothers. We have all arrived safely in Chile and are checked in at our hotel. Despite little sleep on the plane, everyone is out exploring Vina del Mar. I happy to report that no one missed his or her flight and no suitcases were lost; no one was detained in customs for smuggling carrots into the country. Our flight was on time but it took us over an our to get from the plane to the outside of the airport. We had to buy entrance fees, go through passport control, buy pesos and have our baggage x-rayed before we could leave. Tonight we will have a group dinner and tomorrow early we head for the University of Santa Maria.

Essays Due Today

Hi everyone, your predeparture essays are due today, if you have not already sent them in. Don't forget to get steeltoed shoes. See you Saturday. If there is a problem with your flight call Ben at 412-390-5044.