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.