May 17: On Our Way

Today I woke up early in order to visit the beach in Viña del Mar one final time.  Hannah, Hannah, and I went to visit the shops and I found a woolen sweatshirt and gloves with llama designs on them.  Afterwards, we returned to our favorite empanadaria in order to have one last empanada before leaving.    We then returned to the hotel to finish packing.

As we awaited the bus, we shared an emotional goodbye with some of the Chilean students.  They promised us that we’d meet again, and I hope we do.  Their hospitality and amiability were second to none throughout the trip and they tried their very hardest to ensure that we’d have the most amazing and varied experience possible.  Without them, our trip could not have been as fulfilling, meaningful, or fun as it was.  So if you are reading this, I want to thank all of you – Sebastian, Paula, Javier, Javier, Valeria, Daniela, Consuela, Rocia, Rodolpho, and Tomas.  Also, thank you Diego and Andres; even though you weren’t part of the program, without you my experience would not have been the same.

I am currently on the airplane towards Dallas, and I am extremely tired.  Goodnight Chile, I will miss you sorely.  Here is a final picture of me in my llama outfit:

May 16: I Wanna Be A Cowboy

Today may have been the most memorable day of the entire trip, for better or for worse, and I completely understand why it is the last day of activities.  We headed to a place called Ritoque to join a unique excursion on horseback.  We entered a ranch that was filled with animals: horses, pigs, dogs, roosters, and a baby calf.  It was interesting to see that the owner simply allowed his roosters, dogs, and calf to wander around as they please.  Here are some pictures of the animals:

Next, we were each assigned a horse based on our previous riding experience.  I was given a rather feisty, especially for his relatively small size, horse named Kiko.  He was a very interesting partner throughout the entire excursion because he was very rebellious and enjoyed galloping freely, though he always stopped to eat grass as well.  Still, as time went on, we managed to come to an agreement and I was not worried about him despite his stubbornness.  Another interesting thing about Kiko is that he was extremely intelligent compared to most of the other horses.  He always knew exactly what the correct path was when other horses decided to go astray.  I felt that our personalities were pretty similar. 

Our journey took us through an amazing variety of terrain.  We began by traveling down a hill and crossing a street, which the horses all seemed to realize was something that should be done quickly.  After this, we walked beside the beach for a while, though the shore was covered in stones so we did not go quickly.  We then branched off on a side trail, passing through fields, crossing a river, skirting by marshes, weaving through a forest, and trudging through sand dunes.  Yes we actually encountered all of these different terrains.  Once we passed the forest, we tried our first gallop, which was a terrifying experience for me because my shoes came out of the stirrups and I had to clutch the saddles for dear life.  After we finished galloping, I regained my composure and control over Kiko.  It was interesting to see how as soon as one horse galloped, the others would immediately begin to do so as well.  As we made our way through the dunes, we galloped a few more times, and thus I was able to learn how to better control Kiko and myself at such a high speed.  Finally, we took a break, where our guide cut pineapple slices for us to eat.  Amidst many comments that Chilean pineapple was the best pineapple we had ever eaten, our guide laughed and explained that Chile imports most of its pineapple from Ecuador along with most other countries. 

After our break, we set off again through more dunes but soon made our way to the sandy beach beside the Pacific Ocean.  It was here that we galloped for long stretches of time, amidst periods of rest for our horses.  It was also here that I decided that I began to feel significant pain due to the motion in the saddle.  That’s all the detail I’ll give you there.  Yet, I managed to work through the discomfort, which, strangely enough, was mostly not caused by Kiko galloping.  Horses apparently have 4 “gears”, similar to cars.  First is the gentle and comfortable “walk.”  Next is the incredibly uncomfortable and bouncy “trot”, which gave me the most pain of any of the gears.  Third is the slightly more tolerable “canter”.   Finally, is “galloping”, in which the horse extends its stride significantly and such the ride is actually much smoother.   Here are pictures from our journey:

Ultimately, we returned to the ranch, dismounted, and were surprised to find a large barbecue awaiting us.  As we ate and felt all of our weariness sinking in, I chatted with a pilot and stewardess from Air Canada.  They told us about their recent flight experiences, and we asked them questions about challenges they face during flights. 

We then returned to our hotel and prepared for a final dinner with the Chileans at an artesian pizza restaurant.  The mood was somber but we were happy to see them as we reflected on all of the memories we’ve made during the trip.  At the end of the dinner, the Chileans presented us with unique hoodies that have the logos of both the Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria and Pitt on them.  Afterwards, we said goodbye and prepared for our final night in Chile.  Tomorrow will be full of sadness because we’re leaving such an amazing experience, but I know we’ll be happy as well.  Also, it will be the last blog post. 

May 15: A Day at the Spa

Today was a pretty relaxing day.  We woke up late and took a drive to a country club and were greeted with pino empanadas, with meat, onion, and an olive.  Unfortunately, compared to most of the other empanadas we had had on this trip, these ones were not particularly great and were too cold.  Afterwards, we lounged around the pool for awhile, until it was time for lunch.  At lunch we were treated with a special dish of a sunny-side-up egg on top of steak on top of French fries.  It was very good.  After lunch we relaxed more, and some of us played soccer.  Here are pictures of the club:

After we finished our relaxing day, we were invited to a barbecue by Verner, the head of the Chilean students who had guided us throughout the trip.  We only had to walk a few blocks to reach his country home.  There he had a chef prepare various barbecued meats while we played with soccer balls, a foosball table, Ping-Pong, and helped him build a table.  Yes we actually built a table.  We used precut wooden planks and measured out all of the appropriate dimensions in order to transform the planks into a bench/table.  It was quite an interesting idea for a barbecue.  Here are pictures:

Above is the foosball table at which Dave and I defeated Brice and Jorge.  Dave did a victory lap afterwards.  Below is a picture of the finished table in its rightful place:

Finally, we said our goodbyes, boarded the bus, and returned to the hotel.  Tomorrow is our final activity day in Chile.  I can’t wait to ride a horse!

May 14: Tools, Tomatoes, and Terrible Smells

We spent today touring the final 3 companies that we researched before coming to Chile.  First, we visited Hela, a producer of household and industrial tools and brushes.  We were able to follow the full processes for how they manufactured various tools and see the heavy machinery in action.  It was almost entrancing to watch the machines pumping and shifting.  There was almost a rhythm to it and I now understand why industrial rock exists.  Here are some pictures:

After Hela, we visited Conservas Centauro, a major food producer in Chile.  They are responsible for various brands in Chile and produce tomato paste, ketchup, canned fruits, and some prepared meals.  It was interesting to see the entire process of producing ketchup, from washing the tomatoes to peeling them to crushing them to heating them to remove water and finally adding vinegar and other extras.  We were also shown the packaging process and were able to see the machines that sealed bags of tomato sauce.  The best part, though, was when we were given the chance to taste the ketchup, which was sweeter than Heinz and much better than other ketchups we had encountered in Chile.  Apparently, the ketchup production was a new project that Centauro had only recently taken on for the supermarket chain Jumbo, so we were some of the first people to taste it. Here are some pictures:

Finally, we traveled to Bosques del Mauco, a mushroom producing company.  Our guide was a consultant from the Netherlands who had the role of trying to improve the efficiency of the company’s processes and prevent errors.  He took us to see the piles of compost, made of straw, chicken manure, and horse manure.  Apparently, the temperature within the piles becomes extremely hot, and so they begin to fume.  Yes, there were fuming piles of horse manure.  They smelled.  Very bad.  Still, we eventually got somewhat used to the smell as we visited their stockpiles of raw materials, such as corn and wheat, that they add to the compost to provide extra nutrients.  The aim of this is to grow bacteria that will produce amino acids from the nutrients.  The amino acids would form proteins to be used by the mushrooms for food.  After this, we visited the tunnels where they use climate control and pressurized oxygen in order to cause the mushrooms to grow.  They also use super-heated steam to destroy any unwanted contagions. Once the mushrooms begin to grow, they transfer them into special wooden trays and put them in a controlled shed in order to grow.  Then they harvest the mushrooms over a period of 2 weeks, where every day the mushrooms nearly double in size.  Here are pictures of the mushroom farm: