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.
No comments:
Post a Comment