Day 2: Exploration and Empanadas

For May 9, 2011

We began the day by catching a bus to la Universidad Tecnica de Federico Santa Maria (USM), the school with which Pitt has partnered with for this trip. Around 8:15 we were out of the door with two local students, both of which happened to be named Javier. Javier Perez, one of students here, gave us a tour around the campus. With a beautiful view of the crashing waves, USM has a campus full of majestic architecture, open space filled with interesting plants. It has a tennis court and soccer field for the sports that interest most of Chile. During the tour, I began to get a feel of what is important to the university and students. For example, it seems to be a professional atmosphere with focus on knowing multiple subjects really well so that graduates will be able to use their intelligence to help their country. So students can attend for free because the local belief is that people with the talent should use it and give back to their country.

We were formally welcomed by Werner Kristjanpoller & Aldo Araneda along with the director of civil engineering here, Cristóbal Fernández. We each even got login info for the campus wi-fi. Oh snap, it's official!

Right after that, Werner introduced Jose Luis Cortes, a 26 year old USM graduate who has participated in this program as one of the students who took them out at night. Now, he teaches this class. Jose lectured about Chilean culture. In that, he wanted us to give our input and compare and contrast the history and transformation of Chile to that of the US. He lectured about the political and cultural history. Really, he explained the key information we needed to get a foundation for a better understanding of its people, customs, traditions and other stuff. He seemed to really know his stuff about a wide range of stuff. I think that part of that is because USM's educational structure gives students a thorough education in business and civil/industrial engineering.

We had lunch, and that was an experience. It was just different. Lunch consisted of a choice of bread, juice, ravioli, grapes, apples and salad.

After Jose finished his lecture, he took us on a good bus tour of the area. We went to Renaca and around Valparaiso. We saw some ritzy shops, a church, a delicious empanada storefront, the shore and some locals who set up shops near an incline. I was able to speak and interact with the vendors and buy stuff! Of course I loved it!

Then we went back to USM for a group dance lesson. We learned some salsa! It was fun. People would stop and watch. It was super fun and entertaining! Loved it!

After that, we came back to the hotel, got collected and went out to hang with our new Chilean friends. They know soooo many American songs and proved their skills. The opened karaoke with As Long as You Love Me by the Backstreet Boyz. It was an overall great experience. So fun!

So now, its early in the morning, and I need to bright eyed for the activities that ensue.

Hasta luego,

~Briana