Chile Plus3: Riding Seabiscuit (Post 10)

    Today we had no plans beyond going horseback riding. Having no prior experience, I was naturally unsure of what was to come. Being the tallest kid with some of the worse luck on the trip, I was paired up with the biggest horse...naturally, I named it Seabiscuit.We went on about a four hour trip, split up by a pineapple and water break. It was amazing to see the change of environment through out the trip; from the city to the beach, and from the forest to desert. At first, I was not sure how I could tame such a powerful and huge animal, but eventually got the hang of it. Rules of thumb: Kick to move, pull to slow/stop, lean/pull in either direction to turn; easy enough. However, mess with the bull and get the horn.... After about 20 minutes of riding, Seabiscuit was getting anxious/uneasy and really wanted to display his dominance over the other horses by unleashing all of his speed...with me on his back. So, his walk went to a trot, trot went to a gallop, and his gallop turned to a sprint--I was essentially a 6'3 jockey for a moment. The sprint felt better for my back than the awkward horse trot did, set I let him run (until the real Chilean Cowboy told me to stop). It was a lot of fun riding for Seabiscuit, but I was definitely ready to take a break and eat a full meal.
     Riding up to the ranch, I could smell the feast that awaited. After dismounting Seabiscuit, I mad way to the camp site for lunch. The meal consisted of chicken, hot dogs, steak, pork, salads (tomato and onions) and soda. Think with my stomach, I took one of everything. It was an awesome lunch and great conclusion to a great relaxing day. Tomorrow will consist of going to a spa, and no worries, I'll tell you how it goes.
   

Chile Plus3: 396,000 Pesos (Post 9)

     Today was yet again another day that we could do anything we wanted. With that, I decided to sleep more than half the day, exactly til 1:30 pm (thanks to someone in my plus3 group...) and then was reminded to get up again at 1:36 by yet again another group member... After finally getting up and dressed, I caught the moving train to the mall. After walking around 100 blocks, we made it to the massive, 3 story building. There, a few thing really stuck out to me, such as the fact there were approximately 5 MacDonalds and Dunkin' Donuts. Interestingly enough, regardless of the huge popularity of MacDonalds, there are practically no massively over weight Chileans unlike in the US.

     After our trip to the mall, on the way home, we walked through approx. 200 yards of street vendors and even some sand-castle artists--people who make different designs in the sand such as sea creatures and sometimes Homer Simpson. With out any success of finding something worth buying, the group and I went to get some pizza and returned to the kingdom of Hotel America.

     When returning, I instantly got dressed up for our fancy Sunday evening meal at Tierra de Fuego. I was repping my business suit with a blue and gold tie, blue shirt, and a classy pocket handkerchief--considering 90% of the clothes I packed were really dressy business clothes and I haven’t needed any of them yet, I had to get dressy tonight. To be straight up, the dinner was all around amazing. Starting the meal, I had a corn, tomato, green-pea salad. Following my "ensalada", I had a perfectly cooked, medium steak. Two minutes later, it was completely consumed. Though many weren't interested in desert, I ordered a Piramide de Chocolate. To compliment the best entree I have had, I consumed the best desert I've ever had. Two huge meal successes in one day is unheard of. 

      Today was a great, simple, enjoyable day. Tomorrow the trip schedule will return to normal and we will all be horseback riding..wish me luck

Chile Plus3: Football (Post 8)

      Today was an easy day for us; we were able to sleep in as late as we wanted and do whatever we wanted until 5:45 pm where we met up in the lobby to head over to a Chilean soccer game! To be frank, I didn't really do anything with my free time besides catch up on much needed sleep, fix my disastrous blog, and eat a single meal. Fixing the blog was quite the task, but was very successful and the meal I had BROKE THE STREAK! I had a great wrap that can be compared to no other in this country. It some carrots, tomatoes, lettuce, chicken and some sort of sauce. For only three thousand pesos, I think I might eat the rest of my meals there. Statement.
      At the soccer game, there were so many fans and policemen. Entering the stadium, there were dogs, police, and a couple tanks...how intense can these fans be? It turned out they were absolutely fanatics. We were seated in some form of quiet or safe fan section (each section was separated by 10 ft tall barbed fence). In the rowdier section, the fans were singing, playing the drums, and jumping the entire game. During any goals, they would all carry one huge team flag and shake it. Every poor play however--it's a minor league soccer team--there would be progressively worse boos and the crowd would become a little bit more violent and uneasy. After watching this game, it was clear how much of a major sport "football" is. It is definitely a sport that instils much pride into this nation.
     As this journy continues, I am taking in so much about business, South America, and the country of Chile. Around every corner is a new experience that I will most definitely carry with me for many years to come.

Chile Plus3: Mass Confusion (Post 7)

            Today, the day started with the horrifying noise of shaky pipes. Possibly an earthquake? No, just the noise of the hotel’s hot water supply depleting...another shower-less morning. None the less, the group and I were ready for a 9:30 departure for Isle Negra to visit the home of the world-famous Chilean poet Pablo Neruda.

            When rolling up at approximately 11 am, we were greeted to the area with wild packs of dogs, vandalized/graphittied buildings, and no sign of law enforcement; we were entering a very run down city. Moments after our arrival, we were informed that we had a 4 :00 pm appointment at the Neruda museum, meaning that we had 5 hours to spend in this dilapidated city….horrifying. So, we boarded the bus and drove around—actually, took multiple laps around the same buildings for about 30 minutes. After meandering on the bus, we ended up driving up a hill to the tomb of another (less famous) poet. Unfortunately, the tomb site was also vandalized and graffittied all over.  To be honest, the city, environments, and stops were initially intimidating and frightening, but the whole experience turned out to be very positive and definitely eye opening.

            After that 10-minute stop, we found a great restaurant that served things from steak—finally found a steak place—to seafood. We had scallops, mussels and our main entrees. Though continuing my streak of picking entrees that didn’t agree with my stomach or sense of smell, I still enjoyed the meal and trying something new.  

            After, we visited/glanced at the worlds biggest pool; it had an area of 20 acres with depths as high as 150 feet deep. It initially seems to be the perfect pass-time visit, but it turned out to be completely absent of water. But, to see such a huge man made body of water was incredible enough to make the trip out there worth it.

When we finished our trip to the pool, we finally went to the museum. To my surprise, Neruda’s house was incredible and modeled after the ocean and sailboats (low ceiling and small doors with things such as shells and other treasures from foreign travels). Such an amazing tour makes me want to learn more about Neruda’s career and his most famous works—if I spoke spanish and could understand his poems in Spanish, I would have bought a copy of one of his books.

Today was a day a messy scheduling and definitely weird events, but nonetheless it resulted in an amazing cultural experience that will most certainly not soon forget. Tomrrows plans: go to a soccer game!!

Chile Plus3: Wine, Dine, and Planes (Post 6)

             Today, we continued our tours of local companies by visiting the Chilean winery Indomita and the airline LAN. We started off the day with visiting the winery. This visit consisted of a tour of winery production facility, wine storage, and a wine tasting! Specifically, we learned about the pressurized and delicate process of the wine making process, and the proper way to test and taste wine. When sampling wine, one must observe the wine against a light looking for any debris, etc. After, one must make an initial smell of the wine, followed by another smell of the wine after it has been stirred lightly (doing this creates a completely different scent compared to the still wine).  After stimulating one’s senses, one can drink as much of the provided wine as he or she wants. This was definitely a completely different experience that I’ve never had be for, especially at such a beautiful setting.

            After this, we went for a quick lunch break at an old, traditional Chilean restaurant. Being brave, I ordered the Chile-original Pastel de Choclo. This was a sweet corn sauce dish mixed with chicken. It was initially very tasty, but then turned a lot less enjoyable…the texture was very chunky with and the corn tasted unbearably sweet. But, nonetheless, it was awesome to try such a foreign dish that I could get nowhere but Chile.

            When we finished lunch, we headed straight to the Santiago International Airport and visited the airline company LAN. This was a very interesting time to visit because LAN was in the process of acquiring another airline (TAM) as well as a new type of jet liner and making a route to Paris, France. We began the visit with a conference-like meeting/Q&A session followed by a tour of their hanger and several aircrafts. We were able to get as close as we wanted to the planes and observed an inspection on cargo plane (even got a picture in the pilot’s seat). This was a very interesting and active day; I look forward to many more to come!

Chile Plus3: Canned Goods with some Salsa (Post 5)

Today, the group and I visited two companies: Centauro and Bosque. Both of these companies were involved in the fresh food market; Centauro producing products such as canned/powdered tomatoes and peaches, and Bosque producing canned/packaged mushrooms.

            Visiting Bosque was initially very unpleasant because of the awful smell of ammonia that infested the entire property. As we learned about the multiple several-day steps, the first step was unanimously hated the most (due to the heavy involvement of manure). But, the further into the process we went/learned about, the better smelling the environments were! Not only that, but the transformation of the mushrooms was incredible; the final mushrooms were very big, juicy and white. With both of Bosque’s competitors knocked out due to the past earthquake, it is safe to say that they will be around and prosperous for many years to come.

            At Centauro, the main works were shutdown due to its number one product, the tomato, was currently out of season. Regardless of this fact however, the company was still working on the taste and quality of there tomatoes. Also, they will be producing their products in plastic wrapping rather than producing there own metal cans and canning there own products.  In attempts to minimize costs and maximize profit, Centauro has been packaging their products in plastic wrapping rather than canning all of their products. We also learned about the differentiation of products that Centauro produces, such as the lower price and quality products for different regions of Mexico, Chile, and South America.

            After the lectures on Chile, we continued our salsa lessons. Every practice, I got noticeably better, and tonight was simply one “twirl” away from getting it all right—switching up partners, I was so close to putting it all together but barely missed perfection!  We only have one more practice, about I fully intend in performing the Chilean salsa perfectly! But, in the final practice, I fully intend on performing at least one beginning to end performance!

            Today was an awesome first impression on how Chilean businesses function and conduct their transactions, I look forward to observing two other businesses, and eventually, the business I personally conducted research on!!

Chile Plus3: Chile and the Countries Around Us (Post 4)

       We woke up around 9 am today. It was a relatively swift awakening (in terms of getting out of bed and downstairs) and before I could begin to mentally rational things, we were in the bus off to a full day at the University of Santa Maria.
         At the university, all of us listened to a lecture on the economies of various South American countries given by Jaime Rubin de Celis, a professor at the university who was both an business teacher and engineer. The present was very straight forward and essentially the raw percentages of things such as GDP, trade partners, and countries’ specialty products .After, we ate a lunch in high school like cafateria and was served a pizza entree for lunch. It was essentially a sliced tomato, ham, and cheese pizza. After lunch, we finished the lecture, and we asked the professor many questions about the college, his job, and his travels. We were told that the Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María was considered to be an ivy league school in the United States. They have about a 35% drop out rate after first semester of freshman year. With his business views and knowledge, he believes this to be very negative--contrary to the beliefs of the engineers at the school--and wants to change this pattern.
        After the lecture session, we presented our company to USM teachers--my specific company was the stock exchange of Chile, Bolsa Comercio De Santiago. The performance was definitely sub-par, but no doubt, we will be ready for the company visit.

After the day of classes, we had a "regaeton" dance class. This was a dance that was very physical and unheard of in the States. With a huge audience of Chileans and students, we practiced and performed anyways. Though it was difficult and the dances looked funny, everyone had a great time. 

After the long day of work and classes, we met up with several USM students and went to a bar and hung out; a great way to end the day. I look forward to tomorrow and visiting companies!