I left for South America on May 7, and returned home May 28. During that time I travelled through Chile, Argentina and Uruguay. Each country was unique in its own respect. There was so much that I saw and experienced that it would take a novel to tell everything, so I will do my best to try and give the big picture and some of the highlights.
The first 10 days of the trip were occupied by the international course, which basically meant that almost every moment of the day was pre-planned for us. I was joined by about 35 of my classmates from Northeastern University, many of which have become great friends since the beginning of our program. We travelled to a variety of different businesses to learn about how business is conducted in Chile and Argentina, as well as different influences that impact their businesses. It was truly amazing to be able to see this different aspect of other cultures.
We started out in Chile, visiting the cities of Santiago, Valparaiso and Vina Del Mar. The climate of this area was surprisingly similar to southern California. Also similar to California, the area is prone to earthquakes. We were told not to worry about the structural integrity of buildings, because all of the weak ones have already collapsed from previous earthquakes - really reassuring!
Santiago is a very modern city extensively filled with skyscrapers and surrounded by the foothills of the Andes Mountains. It is the capital and largest city in Chile with a population of 6 million. We toured the city, visiting such places as La Moneda, Plaza de Armas & National Catedral. La Moneda is the presidential palace located in the heart of the older section of the city. It was named for producing coins (coin = moneda in spanish) for over a hundred years. It was partially destroyed in a military coup led by Pinochet, but has since been rebuilt. Plaza de Armas is a central plaza in front of the National Catedral, not far from La Moneda, which had a festival atmosphere. There were lots of local merchants selling their crafts, while groups danced wearing brightly colored traditional outfits.
We also visited the Adolfo Ibanez University, which has the leading business school in Latin America. There we learned about Chile's political and economic situation. We also visited the US Embassy and learned about their role in assisting Latin American countries to improve their economies, international trade, and promote improved living standards. We were very fortunate to be able to visit the United Nations (CEPAL), where we learned more about the financial and inflation development in the region, as well as the effects of the world recession. Chile has been very fortunate, through proactive financial planning and savings from copper mining, to fair better than most countries in the world during the recession. The last place we visited is the Concha y Toro Winery, Chile's largest winery, where we were burdened with learning about their business model while taste-testing their wines :)
Valparaiso is Chile's principle shipping port, with the city built on steep hillsides surrounding a large ocean bay. The homes and buildings precariously perched on the hillsides are painted in a variety of colors, making it a very scenic city. Throughout Chile, and the other countries we visited, there are wild dogs that can be found almost anywhere in the cities. The dogs are surprisingly friendly, although not exactly pet-able. With a few snaps of your finger they will start following you as if they were your pet, and so sometimes we would have 3 or 4 dogs running around us as we walked through the different cities. In Valparaiso in particular, we had one that we called Chuck Junior (named after Chuck, our classmate that fed him) that followed us throughout the entire city. He often acted as our protector, rallying other dogs to his cause, clearing people of the sidewalk ahead of us, and even chasing away any cars that came too close. We were sad to have to leave him behind.
We then travelled to Mendoza, Argentina for the remainder of our course trip. The flight between the two cities was the most turbulent I have ever been on. It is the same flight path as the plane from the movie Alive. Thankful to arrive safely, we found ourselves on the opposite side of the tallest mountains outside of the Himalayas. While in Mendoza we visited a couple of manufacturing companies, IMPSA and Cartellone Holding, that produce power plants, bridges, tunnels, and dams. It was impressive to see their facilities. We also visited a Alain de France - a leather apparel store, Nucete - an olive and olive oil producer, and Lagarde Bodega Winery.
Our last day was spent at Estancia La Alejandra, which is a ranch at the base of the 20,000 foot Andes. This was one of my favorite days of the trip. We spent the first half of the day horseback riding, and rounded up a herd of wild horses! Lunch was an amazing Argentine BBQ, followed by a lesson in roping. They then put us in a corral with some wild horses and gave us the chance to rope them. Unfortunately I didn't catch one, but I got some spectacular photos out of it! This was the last day of our course, and most of my classmates returned home the next morning.
About 12 of us stayed behind, and flew to Buenos Aires. This was a crazy city, with a population of 14 million! We spent a total of 4 days in the city, wandering around the different districts visiting too many places to list. We visited museums, the government buildings, shopping centers, street merchants, and more. I did so much walking in this city I developed some nice calluses on my feet! We sampled the electro tango in the streets. We were intrigued by the impressive statues on every other corner. There is a strong European influence in the Argentine culture, with many people having immigrated there from Spain, Italy and Germany. Surprisingly, they have excellent Italian food down there. But the best food of all is their famous beef! I drool just thinking about it.
We also travelled to Uruguay for several days. Uruguay was a noticeably poorer country, with clear evidence that more prosperous days have long since passed. The people were also noticeably less friendly to people from the US (I avoid saying Americans, because many people from other countries that reside in the Americas, north or south, consider themselves Americans - and take offense to people from the US proclaiming themselves as the only Americans). The people weren't rude or anything toward us, it's just that they were less approachable. We spent a couple of days in Montevideo, the capital city. Again we could see strong European influences in the people, culture, architecture and food. We were fortunate to have a classmate that is from Uruguay that showed us around a bit, and treated us to a wonderful BBQ at her house.
We took a bus ride out to the city of Punta Del Este, which is considered one of the premier beach destinations in South America. It was absolutely beautiful, and since it was the off-season we had the whole town to ourselves. We relaxed on the beach, watched sunrises and sunsets from the beaches on opposite sides of town, and enjoyed the nightlife.
In the end this trip was an incredible learning experience, shared with some of the greatest people I have ever met in my life. I can only hope to return to SA someday, hopefully to share it with Sam :)
Be sure to check out the photo albums for each country!
