Day 14

Day 14:

The final day has arrived. I feel terribly sad but I’m also happy knowing I’ve made some fantastic friends and I have an endless amount of stories and memories from this trip. We woke up at a decent hour and Brendan, Josh, Karen, Alana and I took a trip to the beach to do some souvenir shopping. Unfortunately, many of the cute stands were not set up yet so our options were pretty limited. Still, we all had pesos to spend so we made the most of it. I found an awesome hat at a great deal and felt pretty content with my purchase. Our last meal of the trip was of course empanadas. We went to the cute little empanada place we had visited earlier and I went with the classic carne y queso (beef and cheese) this time. After our meal, we stopped into the bakery next door where I purchased a panqueque with raspberry in it. A few others bought pastries as well and we planned to have a pastry party once we got back to the hotel. We arrived back at 1:00 pm and had to be completely packed and in the lobby at 1:45. I quickly threw all my clothes in my suitcase and weighed it to make sure it was under 50 pounds, which it was thankfully. Then I enjoyed my pastry with Brendan and we had our last cup of Chilean instant coffee! We all met in the lobby and a few of the Chilean students met us there to say our final goodbyes. We boarded the bus and looked through pictures from a trip trying to relive some of our recent memories.

My roommate, Justine, and I after moving out of our room

Soon we arrived at the airport in Santiago. It was around 4 when we got there and our flight wasn’t until 8:45. It took us a while to get our bags checked and go through security so we didn’t reach our gate until around 5:30. A few of us looked in the gift shop for some last minute purchases but decided everything was way too overpriced. We found a  group of people who wanted a substantial meal for dinner and we ate at Ruby Tuesday’s. The burger I got was exactly what I was craving and even though it was expensive for a burger, it was totally worth it. I also stopped at Dunkin Donuts for some coffee and snacks for the long plane ride. Then we all took a group picture in our matching USM hoodies before we boarded our flight. On the plane I traded seats so I could sit between my fellow Philly girls, Karen and Alana.

I think the most interesting thing to think about for this trip is how quickly we all got to know each other. During the pre-departure sessions, none of us knew each other and we were all really quiet. Since a majority of the students in our group were in the engineering school, they would always talk about engineering during these sessions and I always felt left out and awkward being a business student. After being together for a few days though, we all started to open up with each other and it became really easy to make friends. It’s just crazy to think that two weeks ago I barely knew everyone’s name and now I’ve become so close with all of them. It’ll be weird not spending everyday with the people I’ve grown so accustomed to and I only hope that we all keep in touch and stay close throughout our time together at Pitt. This trip has definitely been the best two weeks of my life. I’ve learned so much and made so many great memories that I won’t ever forget. 

Day 13

Day 13:

Today was the day I was most looking forward to: horseback riding. When we arrived at the farm the first thing I noticed was the baby cow lounging in the shade. It was so adorable and all of us were making such a big deal over it. The owner of the farm prepared a bottle of milk and let some of us feed the cow!   

After waiting to get organized, we put on some protective covers for a legs and saddled up. My horse seemed like one of the bigger ones there, which was a little weird considering I'm probably one of the shortest on the trip. But he was well behaved, not crazy like some of the other horses. He was a little on the slower side I noticed, since I was always toward the back of the group. Our voyage started walking down a dirt road to the beach. Then we walked up in a nice open area before venturing into the woods. We eventually took a break and ate some fresh pineapple before continuing on our journey. We walked along some sand dunes, which was a little nerve wracking, but it was all okay in the end. Soon we were back on the beach where we started but instead of walking or trotting like we had been doing most of the ride, we started galloping. This took me by surprise but it was so much fun. After a while it began to hurt but overall was fun. 

We finally got back to the ranch at it was time to barbecue. I was starving and was too pumped to eat some food. There was chicken, pork, and steak cooking on the grill as well as more sausages. Everything was so delicious and I kept going back for more and more. There was also a small bonfire and after eating our meal they offered us marshmallows to roast on the fire. This was definitely one of my favorite days and I'm glad it was saved until the end. It was the perfect end to a perfect week and it brought everyone together even more.

Day 12

Day 12:

Today was our “spa day”! We basically went to a country club that had a pool and tennis courts. There was nothing planned except for lunch so we could do whatever we wanted. When we arrived, it started to get sunny which was perfect for lying by the pool. It probably was a little too cold to swim, but lying by the water was so nice.  

Photo cred goes to Justine!

It was nice to relax and socialize for a bit and soon it was time for lunch. We were served french fries with beef and a fried egg on top. It was pretty good and went pretty fast. We finished and went back to our spot in the sun. A few people went to play soccer but I was still pretty sore from the past few days and opted out. I must have dozed off for a little because when I woke up my friends were gathering up their things and heading back to the main pool where our home base was located because it was almost time to go. I arrived just after "surgery" had occurred. My dear friend Brendan injured his big toe nail while playing soccer and it was necessary to remove the entire nail. It sounded painful but he's so tough that he sucked it up and took it like a man. I was thankful to have arrived when I did because I do not deal with blood very well. Even when everyone was talking about it, I felt squeamish. 

Next on the agenda was a barbecue at Verner's house. Verner is the guy in charge of organizing this program on the Chilean end at USM. In his backyard there was a pool, a ping-pong and foosball table, as well as an area for barbecuing. I was impressed with the apple trees and grape vines he had growing around the yard. He pulled down a bunch of grapes and gave them to us to eat which was awesome. A chef arrived to cook us dinner which was sausages and chicken and beef kebabs. All of it was so good! I kept going back to the grill for more. It started to get a little cold out, and none of us really brought a change of clothes so we huddled by the grill to keep warm. A few people (well, mainly Dave) took on the challenge of building another picnic table, since there wasn't enough room for everyone at the one table already there. I was very impressed that this task was completed in a relatively short amount of time. It was a great night but it was kind of sad because it made the end of the trip seem even more realistic. We all realized this was one of our last nights together in Chile:( 

Day 11

Day 11:

Today we had three company visits on our agenda: Hela, Centauro’s, and Bosques de Mauco. It was an early morning and I fell asleep very quickly on the bus ride to our first company. We reached Hela, a company that makes paintbrushes, rollers, and some saws and similar equipment. Our guide spoke only in Spanish so we had one of the Chilean students translate for him. It was surprising how many of the products were made by hand. In the United States, machines and robots would be doing a bulk of the work, but here every worker had a specific job with a certain machine.

After that visit, we loaded up the bus again and headed to Centauro’s. This company produced canned food items, specializing in tomato paste. Again, our tour guide only spoke Spanish and we had the students translate. The smell of tomatoes and onions hit us immediately when we walked into the building and the first thing we did was receive hairnets. Of course, we all looked fabulous in them. The guide explained how the equipment worked, but since it was not tomato season, most of them were not being used. Aside from making tomato paste, the company also made canned fruit and some prepared meals. We saw some workers loading a machine with jalepeno peppers, which would be used for some of the prepared meals. The guide let us taste some of the tomato paste that was being cooked as well as some of the ketchup that was already packaged. I found it interesting that instead of packaging ketchup in plastic bottles, they put them in bags with a nozzle that pours the ketchup. Another interesting thing I learned was how dependent this company is on the weather. One of the executives explained to us that they were relying on rain this week to successfully produce their peach crop for the season.

Next stop was a lunch, and of course we all got empanadas (our favorite!). I’m not sure where we stopped but it was someone near the beach in what appeared to be a somewhat empty town. Our empanadas were ready pretty quickly and after lunch we headed to Bosques de Mauco, a mushroom farm. Once we stepped off the bus, you could smell the compost and it was not pleasant. They combined straw, horse manure, and chicken manure to create the compost and walking through this combination was not an enjoyable experience. We then went in to a few of the rooms where the mushrooms were growing, and we even saw them being picked. Our guide explained that it is necessary for the mushrooms to be picked by hand, but the labor costs were not that high because growing mushrooms is not very costly but is very profitable. Once we finished all the visits, I again took a nap on the bus. It was a very tiring day but I learned so much.