The end

Well, I've tried writing this blog entry multiple times now.  It's so hard to accurately sum up my time in Chile on Plus 3 .  This trip has honestly been more than I could have ever imagined and there's just simply so much to say.  When we left for Chile I barely knew everyone's name and now I have made countless amazing memories with everyone on the trip.  No one would ever guess we only met each other two weeks ago.  It's so eerily quiet in my house without everyone here, and I can't believe I won't see everyone again until August. Saying goodbye at the airport was surreal, it was hard to comprehend that we wouldn't see each other again for three months, and it would never be in the same context as before. 
There are so many unforgettable memories from Chile, and we definitely lived by our motto, 'YOICO', which stands for you're only in Chile once.  There's not one thing I would go back and change on our trip.  Hotel America may have forced me to take cold showers every morning, had wifi in only one room, and had holes in the walls, but I wouldn't trade the memories from that hotel for anything.  I'm definitely going to miss running out to get empanadas for dinner then having everyone crowd into one little room to blog,  story time on megabed, and just the general company of everyone.
I loved everyday of this trip(with the exception of the day we left), and have no regrets.  I wish I could name a favorite day or memory, but I can't. I loved the day we went to the Vina Indomita and La Isla Negra becuase it was so relaxing, and just a nice break from the chaotic busy days we had had up to that point. But I also loved the day at the spa since we got to spend so much time together, getting to know each other and the Chilean students much better.  Then there's also horseback riding, which was something I have never done before, and I love to have new experiences.  There's also the tour of Valparaiso, which was interesting to learn about the culture of the city.  There's not one thing I would change about this trip at all.  It was such a great experience that I wouldn't trade for the world.  While our trip's saying was YOICO, I would love to go back to Chile again, focusing more on improving my Spanish. 
 Lastly, I want to thank Jorge and Sarah for such an amazing trip.  They were the best trip advisors and we all really appreciate the work they put into making the trip the best possible.  

The last full day

Once again today was absolutely amazing.  Unfortunately, its our last full day here but it was probably the best.  We went on a three hour horse back riding trip.  I have only ridden a horse once when I was little, but I wouldn't really call it riding, more of sitting on the horse while it followed the one in front of it.  Today was much different though.  The horses were much bigger and we had  more control over them. We started out our trip by riding by the beach, which was a very pretty view.  One downside however was that it was pretty cold and windy outside and not very sunny.  After traveling through the beach we went through a foresty area.  It was really nice in there, with abunch of pine trees, and it was very quiet.  We are constantly in city areas where you can hear the cars going by, but in this area the city noises were gone.  After this we reached giant sand dunes, which was absolutely gorgeous.  I have never seen anything like the view in this area. I can't really explain it well, but it was just so weird being surrounded by only sand and it was just so pretty the way the sand made the dunes.  There were some pretty scary times when a couple horses tried to go up a really steep hill and started falling down the side of it.  Luckily everyone was fine, and only one person got knocked off their horse the whole trip.  We rode for two hours then took a fifteen minute break for the horses to rest. After the break we began to ride back to the camp grounds.  This time we trotted a lot more and even galloped a lot.  This was like no other experience I have ever had.  Riding a horse while it was galloping down the beach was truly amazing.   

When we finished our horseback rides we came back to an amazing lunch.  There were a bunch of different salads and big pieces of meat cooking on the grill and in the mud oven.  It was definitely one of my favorite meals.  At the house, there were some really cute farm animals also.  The piglets were absolutely adorable, and they also ate seaweed which I found kind of odd.  But there were also boars, chickens, and cows.  They also had a puppy and a couple cats.  It was so nice to see cats and dogs that you could feel safe petting and playing with.  It made me miss my pets.  Also at the house there was a fire to keep us warm, where we also roasted some marshmallows and also hammocks to relax in.  After an exhausting day of horseback riding, sitting around the fire was just what I needed.
Now I am waiting to go to our last dinner in Chile together.  We are going to get pizza as a group with the Chilean students.  I cannot believe today is our last full day in Chile.  The time has honestly flown by and I'm really going to miss it here.  This whole trip was full of experiences I never could have gotten anywhere else.

Day ten

Today we didn't have much planned again.  We had our morning open, which was really nice.  We went out to a panderia for breakfast, we just got a bunch of fresh bread and ate it at a bench on the side of the road.  The bread was really good and the weather was amazing.  Afterwards, we went to a couple stores and did some shopping. The stores pretty much had the same things as all the others we have seen before, which was a little disappointing.  Then we walked down to the beach, which was a couple minutes walk from our hotel.  It was such a beautiful day and the beach was gorgeous.  It's been so long since I have been to the beach and it was so nice to just lay there and enjoy the view.  We took a bunch of pictures which was really fun too. 
When we came back from the beach we played paintball.  I had never played paintball before, so I wasn't sure what to expect.  It turned out to be pretty fun and my team won.  I wasn't very good but I still had a good time. 
After paintball we went out to dinner at a Chinese restaurant. Our waiter actually was from Arizona.  His mom was Chilean and his father was Argentinian, so he lived in the United States until three years ago, when he moved to Chile. He had grown up speaking both Spanish and English, so he was completely fluent in both without an accent, which is really impressive.  
I can't believe we only have one more full here though.  It will be a really good day, but I'm pretty upset it's our last day.  It doesn't feel like we have been here for so long.  I feel like there is so much more I want to do here.  

Day nine

Today was another really busy day.  We started off by going to Hela, which is a company that makes tools such as paint brushes, saws, and brushes.  We got to see the production of a lot of their different products.  Typically one person would do one step in the process of creating one of the tools.  I couldn't imagine having a job like the people who work at Hela.  They do the same simple action repeatedly all day. 
After Hela we went to Centauro, which was the company I researched before the trip.  Centauro is a company that mainly produces canned fruits and vegetables, but they also have some prepared meals that they produce also.  One of the owners of the company gave us the tour which was pretty cool.  We tasted some of the products, like the canned peaches, canned tomatoes, and tomato paste.  The peaches were really good and the tomato wasn't too bad.  It was weird tasting straight tomato paste though.  After we taste tested, we went around to see the process behind the canning.  We were lucky because they were creating squash puree when we were there.  Typically, they don't can anything during the Chilean winter, but they started canning the puree yesterday.  We also got to taste the squash puree, which was actually pretty good tasting.  The owner took us around the company and showed us a lot of the machinery necessary for the canning of fruits and vegetables.  One interesting thing that Centauro does is change its labels depending on where the product is being sent.  If it is being sold in Chile, the label will say Centauro.  However, if it is being sent to Venezuela, United States, or any other country, the label has a different name.  For pizza sauce and tomato products the brand name is called Bozzolo.  That was the last name of the founder of the company, who is also the great-grandfather of the current owner.  Since Bozzolo is an Italian last name, they thought it would be a better name. 
After Centauro, we had more empanadas and then went to another dance class. This time, we danced cueca, which is the national dance of Chile.  It was very different, but not too difficult.  The hardest part was trying to multi-task since we were supposed to be waving a handkerchief around at all times while dancing.  

Day Eight

Today was our last day at the University.  We had to present the powerpoint presentations we made during our pre-departure meetings for the trip.  There were five groups, each group researched one of the companies that we are visiting this week and last week.  My group researched Conservas-Centauro, the canned fruit and vegetable company.  We will be visiting them tomorrow, which will be interesting.  Afterwards, we had our last lecture with Professor Jaime, which was more of just a question and answer session with Professor Jaime.  One thing that Professor Jaime said that surprised me was that the fruit and produce here can be expensive or not as high quality. This is surprising since agriculture is such a huge part of Chile's economy.  The reason why the fruit here isn't as high of quality is because they tend to export all of the best crops instead of selling it at the local markets.  Luckily, this was also our last lunch at the University, but today's lunch wasn't too bad.
Afterwards, I was lucky enough to get to take an hour long nap, which was really nice.  It was really hard to get up again, but we got to play soccer again afterwards, so it was worth it.  We played soccer on turf fields again with some Chileans.  This game wasn't as intense as the last game, but it was still fun.
Afterwards, we went back to the mall again, we got some ice cream and then walked around for a little.  We went back out to the other stores on the street and I bought a couple things.  The prices at the stores inside the mall are pretty expensive, but the street stores were pretty cheap, which was nice.  Once again I got empanadas, which were still delicious.  I think the empanadas are definitely my favorite food so far this trip.  One thing that has been difficult to get used to however is the lack of unlimited water.  We always have to buy bottled water, so its weird to not to be able to just go get a glass of water whenever I want. 
I can't believe its already Monday night though.  I am not ready at all to leave on Friday morning.

Day seven

Today was another relaxing day.  I slept in really late for once, so it was nice to catch up on my sleep.  Then a group of people and I went shopping.  We found a lot of little outdoor vendors which was really cool.  There were a lot of people selling handmade things which was cool.  I bought a lot of scarves and there were a lot of really cool clothes.  There were really cute leather jackets for sale at one of the stores but they ran really small and they didn't have any in my size.  I would have loved to have gotten one of those.  There were also a lot of people knitting and even a guy making shoes right in front of us.  There was a lot of really unique stuff, and not just typical souvenirs.  Afterwards, we went to the mall.  The mall was not as cool as the outdoor markets.  The mall was essentially the exact same as the malls in America.  There were a lot of really nice stores there, and everything was pretty expensive. 
Afterwards, we went out to dinner at La Tierra de Fuego.  It was a gorgeous restaurant with a really good view of the ocean.  We ate so much food there- we had shrimp and beef as appetizers.  Then for my main course I had a steak with goat cheese on top and artichokes with a spinach puree.  For desert I had a bitter chocolate mousse, which was very rich.  All of the food was delicious, probably the best food I have had all trip.  I also had Chirimoya juice which was also really good.  Chirimoya is a type of fruit, and I’m not exactly sure how to describe it.  It doesn’t have a very strong flavor and its actually kind of creamy. 
Tonight, we are just staying in and preparing our presentations that we ahve to give at the university tomorrow.  Its been really nice to just relax these past days.  I feel I won't be exhausted this coming week now.  

Day 6

Today was another amazing day in Chile.  It may have been better than yesterday, our day at the beach and vineyard.  We got to sleep in a little and then we went to what was called a spa.  I think its more along the lines of a resort though.  We had no idea how gorgeous it was going to be there.  I was not expecting much, but there  were a lot of huge pools, foosball tables and also ping-pong tables.  There were at least four or five pools and also an area to play soccer.  So we started the day off by playing soccer with some of the  Chileans who were with us.   I luckily got to be on  the team with some of the Chilean students and a professor, who were all extremely good at soccer.  I actually scored the first goal of the day! But it was a lot of fun and it has been a long time since I've gotten to play, so it was really nice to play again and get good exercise. 
After I was exhausted from playing so much soccer, I went to the pool side and just relaxed with my feet in the water.  The water was freezing, but it was so nice just to relax for a little. I wish I had brought a bathing suit though because there was a heated pool indoors, which would have been fun to swim in.  We then had lunch, which was really good food. We also got to sing happy birthday to Allison and Abby for their birthdays, since they both turned nineteen in the past couple days. 
After lunch we just hung out and relaxed pool side for a couple hours then all left to go to a barbeque at the house of one of the professors from the university. We had sausages and kabobs which were really good.  It was a good time also just hanging out with the Chilean students. It was really nice to be able to just relax and not do much at all today.