Leaving Chile....the sad goodbye

So after an absolutely amazing night yesterday, it was time to say our goodbyes to Chile. We got up around 12 and had lunch at a local restaurant, packed our stuff up and headed to the airport. I was not looking forward to such a long flight and the thought of just not getting on the plane crossed my mine. Then I checked back into reality.  I was really sad to go. I’ve never experienced a trip like this before and I was truly disappointed it couldn’t last any longer. I’ve never felt so down about leaving a place before and I think it was because it wasn’t just a vacation for me, I got to live here for a little bit and be completely involved in the lifestyle. The culture here is so much more alive and I love the area. I’m so glad I got to meet such amazing people and then progressed to becoming friends. I was really sad to say goodbye to them but I truly believe I will get to see most of them again, especially since I see a trip back to Chile in my future. I hope they don’t forget about us, because I sure will never forget this trip and the friends we made. This trip has really made me consider traveling abroad and where I want to go, Chile being one of the possible locations. I’m really happy I did this trip because it has been my best traveling experience so far.

Thursday May 20th

Thursday we had nothing scheduled till 12 which at that time we were going to meet to go to the university. So after a late night out, we all got to sleep in a bit which was very nice saying as we were running on very little sleep this entire trip. When we woke up, a couple of other girls and I headed over to some shops to do some last minute souvenir shopping. They have some really cute shops along the beach and in the strip where we ate lunch the very first day. So after we shopped we headed back to the hotel. When we got to the university, we listened to Werner talk about studying abroad at Universidad de Santa Maria. I was really interested in it. On this trip, I’ve really come to love Vina and the culture here, and not to mention all of the amazing friends I’ve made here. Listening to him talking about the option to study abroad here really is making me consider it. After the seminar, we grabbed some lunch from the cafeteria and then met some of the other Chileans at a court to play a pick-up game of soccer. I really had a great time. I love playing sports, and getting to play with the Chileans was really cool because they are so good at soccer! I managed to get the ball into the goal twice, so I was pretty happy with myself and even though I got to play on the Chilean team, we somehow still managed to lose! I couldn’t believe it, or maybe they were just taking it easy on the gringos (; Afterwards, our boys got to show off their basketball talents since the Chileans clearly dominated with their soccer skills. It was fun, although I forgot how much cardio it takes to run back and forth for a game of basketball. After the activities, we headed back to the hotel to shower. Then around nine, we met everyone we were basically hanging out with for the past two weeks for pizza at Diegos. The pizza was really good, and again I really enjoyed spending time with everyone. When we were finishing up, Werner gave us all these really nice sweatshirts with the University de Santa Maria logo and the Pitt crest embroidered on the sleeve. I can’t wait to wear it.

Since it was technically our last night in Chile, all of our Chilean friends went out with us to give us a night we would never forget and I’m absolutely sure I won’t. I’ve never had so much fun. They really helped us live our last night up.

Wednesday May 19th

Today we visited the city of Santiago. We had an early start, getting on the bus around 8 and had an hour and a half bus ride so almost all of us enjoyed a nice nap. The first thing on our agenda was our company visit to Bolsa Stock Exchange. It was located in a very nice building and we were given a presentation all about the company and what they do. The trade room wasn’t open so our visit only last an hour at most. After, we walked around the city a bit and also went inside a museum. We then went to the Fish Market where we had lunch. The salmon was very good and it tasted very fresh.  I’m pretty sure everyone enjoyed their meal so the restaurant, Donde Augusto, was a great pick. After we went up this huge hill and at the very top you could see the entire city of Santiago which is pretty large. The top of the hill was also a place of prayer, having pews and benches to pray with a statue of the Virgin Mary at the very top. It was very beautiful and the view was amazing. They also had a few souvenir shops at the top so we all browsed and also enjoyed some ice cream bars. When we were finished, we headed back to the hotel where we all chilled out and grabbed some dinner. There are only 2 more nights here left and all of us can’t believe its coming to an end. We all went out tonight with the mentality that we only had two more opportunities to enjoy our nights in Chile and that’s just what we did. 

Tuesday May 18

Today was our day at the SPA day. We all got on a big tour bus and headed out around 9. When we got there, we were a little unsure about the place from the front but after walking in, we were impressed. It was a very nice resort and saying as we had no idea what to expect, it was a pleasant surprise. First, we enjoyed some empanadas and the open bar, with also free ice cream. Then we headed out to play a pick-up soccer game. It was a 5 on 5 game and Chelsea and I were the only girls who volunteered to play. I really enjoyed playing since I used to play soccer all the time when I was younger. I wasn't very good, but I still had a lot of fun playing. After the game, we lay out in the sun for a while since it was such a beautiful day, then had lunch. After lunch, we lounged around for a little longer and socialized with the Chilean students. It was really nice just hanging out with them. I’ve been trying really hard to keep in their conversations but I still have no idea what they are talking about sometimes ahah. After staying at the SPA for a bit, we then we headed back and went to Werner's house for a barbeque and a little party. There was a lot of good food, and we all learned some new dances, including the Chilean students. After the party, we hit up one of the local bars to keep hanging out because the place we were at kicked us out at 12. 

Monday May 16th

On Monday, we all woke up and headed out for a ranch to go horseback riding. The ranch sat on this huge hill that overlooked the sea and city, and the mountains were in the background. The name of their business was Ritoque Expediciones and they have horseback riding expeditions and also kayaking. They had at least 20 horses and they were all so pretty. They put each of us a horse and we went off down towards the beach. It was really cool riding the horses, they each had such distinctive personalities and individual horses even had personal problems with others so it was neat seeing them interact although sometimes scary. Sometimes they would try to bite each other and at one point the one even tried to kick the other. Walking along the beach was so pretty. The ocean was so blue and it was such a beautiful day. My horse kind of enjoyed going off by himself, a lot of the time we trotted along the water while the group was over to the right. We then headed off into this sand dune area and it was weird going from such different scenery, suddenly it was like we were in a desert. It was really neat. After the horse ride, we went back  for a delicious barbeque lunch made by the owners. I really like the horseback riding and I wish on this trip we could do more stuff like that.

Sunday

Today we had a free day again so after another long night out, we all got to sleep in a while. When we did finally wake up, we headed off for the mall. We took a path then went along the water’s edge and ended up coming across a very long line of souvenir shops. So we spent a few hours there, looking at every single stand. They all had the same kind of stuff, but we we’re all worried about buying something at the one stand and then coming across another stand that had it cheaper or even worse some better. We came up with a plan that we would mainly just browse all the way down, go to the mall just to see it and then on the way back actually buy stuff. It worked out pretty well, we got to see what every stand had and get the gist of the prices and went to the mall. The mall was huge with three floors and probably a McDonald’s on every single one of the floors. After looking around, Julie and I broke off and headed back for the shops while the others grabbed some lunch. I was finally successful at getting pretty much everyone a little something from Chile. After we got back, we hung around for a while before our dinner reservation at Tierra de Fuego. The food was really good and the restaurant was very nice; we all felt a little spoiled after that. Then we went back to the hotel and hung around for the night. Sundays are pretty calm here in Chile so there wasn’t much to do but I’m sure none of us really minded chilling out for the night.

Saturday

Today was our free day and after a very long night, we all got to sleep in. I woke up around 12:30 and finally got a nice warm shower. Then a few of the girls and myself headed off for some shopping where we had lunch the first day. Most of us found some cool souvenirs for friends and family and then we had lunch along the strip we were at. After shopping, we went back to the hotel to meet everyone for the soccer game. We left around 6 and it was a good half hour walk at least and pretty chilly out with misting. The game was pretty cool, but unfortunately the team we were rooting for only tied. However they had some pretty sweet plays and they're so good with keeping control of the ball and knowing where to place it. It got pretty cold, so I was pretty glad when the game finally ended but I was not looking forward to the long walk back. As we were walking down the hill away from the stadium, Werner turned and said he could take three people in his car back to the hotel. So Julie and I thankfully got to skip out on that really long walk back in a nice heated car haha. When we got back, we planned out our night. We decided on going to a bar and then to a discotech. We went to the same bar we went to on our first night and we all hung around and listened to music until 1:30 and then headed to the dance club. We went to the club Scratch this time which was a bit more of a walk but overall it was a pretty cool club. They play some pretty awesome dance music here in Chile and they dance with a classier edge then americans although they still look hot doing it.