Day 6

Day 6:

Today the first thing on the agenda was learning the cueca, a traditional Chilean dance. We had some dancers demonstrate it for us and then they tried to teach it to us. It was kind of difficult to learn because there were a lot of different parts and the dancers only really spoke Spanish. I enjoyed learning the couple parts that we learned and watching everyone else try to dance. After class the students brought us some empanadas and we all sat and talked for a little bit until our next activity. Next we headed to our first company visit, LAN. This airline company was located just outside of Santiago so we had a bit of a bus ride, where I took a nice nap. When we got there, we had to change into our industrial work boots and then we met with Luis and Jose Luis (the same who lectured us yesterday) to give us a tour. They took us into the warehouse where a few of the planes were being worked on and talked to us about the processes and procedures of maintaining the aircraft. Then we were able to go into the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, one of the newest and nicest planes. It was so awesome. I wish I could have taken a flight in one because it would actually be enjoyable and not horrible. The first-class seats looked so comfortable and the coach seats were significantly better than any other airplane I’ve been on. After a few pictures with the plane, we switched groups and went inside to talk to Jose Luis about the company some more. He answered all of our questions and made us laugh. It was definitely a memorable experience. On the way home from Santiago, we stopped at a gas station to grab some food, since we wouldn’t have a lot of time when we got back. I ate my food and then fell asleep once again. Our night was dedicated to experiencing the nightlife in Valparaiso and it was definitely a fun night.