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After a long day of travel and plane issues I am home...although my luggage is not. I was wait listed on an overbooked 10am flight and got on. When I arrived in Philly I was told that my luggage would be in by 2:30 and taken to my house tonight. It's now 12:12 and no sign of it. Oh well I had a great time.

Today we headed into Santiago for my group's company visit. While walking around the city some of us witnessed a man get his bag and cellphone taken while he was using both. That was a nice reality check and everyone started holding their things a little closer. The stock exchange was interesting and ended up being pretty funny. The women who was presented had no confidence in her English so she kept asking why we weren't asking questions. She said it was impossible for us to have understood her and called us liars for saying we had no questions. We got to walk around the trading floor but it was empty since the exchange is entirely computerized. We went to what i thought was going to be a single restaurant but when we arrived it was a building with about 15. Everyone started yelling at us to come to their place over the competition but we had reservations. One man offered us free drinks because we are American and started singing Born in the USA. We went to another incline and did a little shopping and then came home and did the usual...Go to McDonald's.

Sun. May 9, 2009

We were able to wake up whenever we wanted today so that was a plus. The empanadas at a local place were so good and only 1200 pesos. I got 2 empanadas- a cheese, ham, and chicken one and a spicy chicken one. They were amazing and we talked about if selling them in the USA would be a profitable business.

Sat. May 8, 2009

We went to a BBQ at Werner’s house and it was the opposite of what I expected. I thought it would be very professional because he is the head of the MBA program of the university but instead it was a very relaxed environment. The food was also amazing. They had little hotdogs/sausages that tasted incredible. It was very interesting to hang out with teachers our of a classroom setting. After, we went out to a dance club called stingray and it was awkward because the people there were of all ages. I saw some people that looked older than my parents.

First Post

I have been having so much trouble with the internet but this time it actually worked. So far the trip has been amazing. I explored Vina with Justin and Cory and successfuly ordered food for us. I was impressed because I feel as if my Spanish is terrible.

The lectures and company visits have been interesting and I have learned a lot about the economy and business practicecs in Chile.

The social life has also been amazing. The students are very helpful and are willing to speak spanish, english, or spanglish. Today at the farm we played soccer and got killed. We challenged them to a game of basketball but they wisely turned down our offer.

Tomorrow is our first free day and i feel as if maybe some sleep would be in order. I also need to find a laundrymat because I have less hand eye coordination than I thought.