Final Week and Plus 3 Reflection

I have now had a few days to reflect on my Plus 3 trip to Chile and now more than ever do I realize how great of an opportunity it was for me. Through lectures about Chilean culture I was able to see the impact that Pablo Neruda had on the Chilean people however in visiting his home I was able to learn more about the man himself. His design for his home was amazing to me. The way he specifically laid out each room and gave such detailed attention to its contents; Giving each room a purpose or meaning it was a fascinating thing to see. The trip to his home was one of my favorite parts of Plus 3 and I am very grateful to have had the chance to see it.

The only thing I did not like about my trip was that my camera/phone died whenever there were things to take a picture of. In Santiago I was unable to take pictures of the grand structures in the business area and the artwork in the Violeta Parra Gallery. Another time when I was without a camera was the day we went horseback riding. I choose not to take it for fear of losing it and had I brought it I’m pretty sure I would have. I was a little apprehensive about horseback riding at first but it proved to be an amazing experience. Once on the horse and used to the discomfort that this entailed we were taken on a tour. This tour first took us through streams and up sand dunes. The sand dunes I think were the coolest part of the ride and galloping up one on a horse was exhilarating despite the fact that it was also painful. Once through the dunes we went to the beach and here we were allowed to go as fast as we wanted on our horses and my horse and I took full advantage of this. It was a lot of fun and when we got back to the ranch we were treated to a great meal. Chilean barbeques definitely have delicious food.
Chilean food in general is good, especially the seafood. During the last week we were treated to two seafood lunches and each one was delicious. At our farewell dinner on Thursday we went to a pizza place that had an odd selection of toppings but once I found a combination I liked it turned out to be good. Despite the food being slightly different from what I am used to it was all good the best thing that I had in Chile I’m sure was the empanadas.

Thursday was the final time we got to see any of the Chilean people who had guided us and helped us through our two weeks I am very grateful to all of them especially Maro, Werner, Memo, and Arturo for their guidance and warm welcome into their country. I think what I will take way most from this trip are the relationships I was able to build with the people of Chile. The company visits, tours, and lectures were very important and allowed me insight into certain aspects of Chile but I feel more important was the experience of being immersed in the Chilean culture. This is the main reason why I applied for Plus 3. I was able to meet interesting, fun people who were different from me and enjoy their culture with them. Though I struggled I was able to communicate with Chilean people and learn from them. That is why my interactions with the people of Chile are the part of the trip that I will remember the most. The people are the reason why I had so much fun and such an amazing time and they are also the reason why I hope to return to Chile some day.

The First Week in Chile

It has been really difficult to update this blog because of the strict time constraints, lack of wireless in the hotel, and late nights but now as the schedule starts to have more breaks I am able to update.

In short Chile has been amazing. Every experience here has been so much fun and such a learning tool. Most of the people I have come into contact with have been very friendly and very patient with my Spanish. I have gotten to hang out with and get to know a few Chilean people during my week here and despite the fact that for several minutes we find it difficult to understand each other we manage to have a good time. In fact I believe that this language barrier adds to the experience. I consider it an ice breaker of sorts. My fellow Plus 3ers and I have so much fun each time that we go out with our Chilean friends. I believe that being able to communicate and share a good time with people from a different hemisphere is such a remarkable thing in that our commonalities outweigh the differences that we may have.

From the business side, I feel that all the Chilean businesses that we have visited and encountered are similar to those in the United States. Being that I have limited knowledge of the structure and operation practices of the stock market, airport, wine, canning, copper industries (the industries of the companies we have visited) I don’t know how accurate it really is however I believe that the same principles that American companies adhere to are also followed by the Chilean companies. For example the company that I have been assigned for the presentation, Bolsa de Comericio de Santiago, operates in a similar manner to the New York Stock Exchange just on a smaller scale.

One of the more interesting aspects of Chile has been the stray dogs. They are some of the coolest dogs I have seen and although some of them are in bad condition most appear to be healthy (except for maybe having fleas). They like to walk us home and I adopt one each night. Tonight I have adopted Brown Dog.

The cities of Viña del Mar and Valparaiso are beautiful. There are so many hills and different landscapes here. On Tuesday we went to the coast and we were able to see spectacular coastal rocks and only a few hundred yards away were sand dunes. Tonight we were on a bus looking down on the city we were able to see the millions of lights in the town.

I can’t believe how quickly this week has gone by, we have done so much in such a short amount of time and I feel that this is such an invaluable experience. Just being somewhere outside my comfort zone allows me to view the world in such a different manner. It is such an exciting occurrence to be placed somewhere and not know the language, the culture, the people, or the habits. However I find even more stunning the ability to, in such a short period of time, learn the language (if only minimally) and begin to understand the culture as well as the people from the simple interactions that I have had. This skill is one of the more valuable lessons I have I think I have learned here.