One of our best tours and presentations was on the Chilean wine industry. Mr. Aresti came and talked to us about his vineyard and his company. I really never understood how wineries worked, but after his presentation I couldn't wait to visit one that afternoon because he made it very interesting. I never knew that wineries were so complex with the different kinds of grapes made to make all the different kinds of wine. Also, there are so many different components that go into making wine from the vineyard to the final bottled product. In the afternoon we visited Concha y Toro, which is one of the largest wine producing companies in Chile; their wine is very well known throughout the world. We got to walk through one of the vineyards and through some of the holding rooms where there were just barrels after barrels of wine aging. Also, they have one of their original underground cellars, and we could walk through that as well, which was really interesting. I had never really had that much interest in Chilean wine before this trip, but now I am very aware of where wine is from and if I recognize the company.
Week 2 – A New Family
The trip down to Concepción felt really quick, even though it took about six hours. Once we arrived at the university in Concepción , there were eleven faces looking at us in the bus and all of us looking at them. No one really knew what to expect, so this was going to be a new experience for all. Some were excited to meet their new family and some had a few reservations, but it was time to get off the bus and meet them. We all paired up with our host brother or sister and we were off to meet our new family. I was paired up with another UC student, so we were off with our host sisters Isodora and Sophie. We lucked out too, because one of the other sisters in the family (Camilia) just had come back that afternoon from a semester abroad, so the family was throwing a party. It was a big Welcome Back party for Camilia and a Welcome party for us. I was a little nervous to meet my family and a large group of people, but everyone was very nice and welcoming to us. They were having a barbecue. Typical food for a barbeque in Chile is not hot dogs and hamburgers. It was really interesting to see pia being made instead. This was also my first time trying pia, and it was wonderful. All the different spices mixed with the rice and all the different meats/seafood were really good.
Over the next four days I really got to know my host family. Even though we had school during the day, at night we would always go somewhere around Concepción together. We also had the chance to meet all of the other host sisters and brothers during different events at night. It was really comforting because we had a small family to be with and a group of people who wanted to show us all Concepción had to offer. I know some students were worried about staying with a family they didn't know, but this was one of the best experiences I had on the trip. I don't know if I was expecting Chilean families to operate completely different than how American families do, but I found out that there really aren't too many differences.
The company visits in Concepción were really different and intriguing as well. One of the unusual ones was a mine we went to in Lota, about thirty minutes away from Concepción. The mine isn't open anymore, and hasn't been for some years, but it is located under the ocean. The part I didn't like was that the ceiling of this mine was held up by this wooden beam system, and has been there ever since the mine was started. It was just hard to trust the beams when you knew the ocean was above this mine. If one of these broke, the whole mine would cave in. Being down there in the tight spaces for sixteen hours a day was something I would never be able to do, but it was a good experience to have. We also visited a lumber company to learn about the forest industry in Chile. They took us to see their nursery, where they grow thousands of trees to replace those that they have cut down. We also go to see how each cone was planted, I never knew the seed for a pine tree was about the size of the tip of a pencil, and only two seeds could be in each cone. Another place that we visited was Food Corp. This was a fish processing and packing plant. The only problem was that there wasn't any fish. Due to the weather the company hasn't been able to catch any fish for about three months. Minus the fish, we got to walk through all the buildings and see all the processes that would have occurred. I didn't think that preparing fish was that big of an operation, but I was quickly proven wrong.
Week 3- It all comes to an End
The first two weeks flew by, and now it is back to Santiago for the last week. Over the weekend though, the group took another four-hour bus ride South of Concepción to go to Pucón for four days. Pucón has a large lake that attracts many visitors along with a gigantic active volcano to climb. The city has endless options with all its adventure tourism it has to off which we took full advantage of.
On our afternoon off, a group of us decided to go Hydro-Speeding. This turned out to be one of my best experiences on this trip. Hydro-Speeding is going white water rafting on boogie boards. The views of the mountains and volcanoes that surrounded the river were stunning. Even though we had a full body wet suit on with pads, some of the rocks weren't so nice to hit. Some of the rapids were pretty intense and threw us around, but for the most part they provided a great adrenaline rush!
For class we also took a tour of some of the gorgeous waterfalls and lagoons that are around Pucón. I have never seen water this clear with such vibrant blue and green colors. Since most of the waterfalls are protected National Parks, you can't swim in them. I'm sure this has helped protect them and keep them nice and clean. Also, since the water comes from the mountains, it was freezing cold and I don't know how anyone would be able to swim in it.
The group also went about a third of the way up the large volcano that overlooks the city of Pucón. Many come to Pucón to climb this volcano because it is active and you can look inside of it when you are at the top. Since it is an all day climb, we weren't able to do it. It was something that would have been pretty extraordinary to do. I can now say I have climbed part of a volcano now too!
One of the visits we had back in Santiago was at P&G. It was really interesting to see how P&G operates in a different country. I came to the conclusion that there really wasn't much difference in the operation. It was interesting though to see the different kinds of products that are offered and how the company approaches capturing the market.
On one of our last afternoons we did an unforgettable community service project. We went to a daycare center for underprivileged kids that live in drug and alcohol infested neighborhoods and were asked to play with them for the afternoon. None of us expected that we were going to have as much fun with them as we did. We each had small games or crafts to do with them but face painting won the gold. By the end of the afternoon all of our faces were covered in original paintings by the kids. Even though it took us awhile to take it all off, seeing all the kids smiling and having fun made it all worth it.
The last day in Chile the group went to Viña del Mar, which is a city on the beach. This was a great way to end the trip. We went to three museums including Pablo Neruda's house, a famous poet. It also has some gorgeous views of the ocean. The architecture was also very creative and different. He definitely created a relaxing retreat house with all the windows and bright colors. Museo Fonck has the only Moai statue, so it was nice to be able to see without having to travel to Easter Island. Plus they had some really crazy things inside like spiders, shrunken heads, and mummies. The last one we visited was Castillo Wulff, which is this big castle on the ocean. The part I loved about this was the glass floor; when you walked over could see the ocean below you.
Looking back at everything I feel that I am very fortunate to have had this opportunity to study abroad and have this experience. It showed me that the world has so much to offer and that there are so many different opportunities outside of the US. I have a greater appreciation for different cultures and experiencing them. If I do travel anywhere else I know to have a better knowledge of the language. This would have helped me communicate better with others and learn a bit more about the culture. There really isn't anything about this experience that I would change either, except the length of the trip. The three weeks flew by and I wish it would have been a quarter long trip. I feel that Chile has so much to offer and I only got to see a glimpse of it. I hope one day I will be able to go back and spend more time exploring more of what Chile has to offer.
