To summarize, we had three business visits on Tuesday, followed by dinner with an IU alumna. Lots of taxi and metro travel that day. The dinner was awesome - more about that sometime in the future.
Wednesday we had an interesting visit with Coca-Cola. We took the metro to the area and had a bit of a walk to their office, so we were a few minutes late. Following Coke we had a bit of a break to eat lunch and shop at a big fancy mall nearby. Then we had to walk about 1.5 km to the next business - near a busy, loud road at the hottest time of day. We were fried. Following the visit we had to walk more than 2 km back to the metro and ride the thing through rush-hour traffic to the hotel.
Thursday we had a totally awesome visit to the Economics and Business faculty at Universidad de Chile. The Kelley staff met with faculty and admin to discuss potential partnerships while our students participated in an International Business class, making new friends through the small group exercise. Later that afternoon we had our final Santiago business visit which was, thankfully, practically next door to the hotel.
Thursday night we went out to celebrate Katelyn's birthday and St. Patrick's Day. The pub was packed, but our new best friend Fernando (founder and president of Recycla) met us there to buy a round of drinks.
Friday was a cool day. We left way too early for Valparaiso, a major port on the Pacific. After visiting a shipping company, we headed to the waterfront for brief harbor tours on a pilot boat. The weather and the views of the city were amazing! While we waited, a gull took a great big poop on Andrew. As disgusting as it was, he kept a good attitude about it and a local told us it was a sign of good luck. Not long after he got cleaned up (as well as he could), a duck took a great big poop on Jeff and Darryl! They kind of got it on the head, so they weren't too pleased.
We did a little shopping at the waterfront before walking into the city for a quick lunch of empinadas. Next we took one of Valpo's many ascensors to a hilltop for a great view of the city and harbor. There was more shopping. (The ascensors are incline railways, or funiculars, or elevators - think the 4th street elevator in Dubuque, which I'm no longer sure is the "shortest, steepest incline railway in the world.")
Next we took taxis to La Sebastian, the home of Nobel Prize-winning poet Pablo Naruda. We toured the quirky home and enjoyed the great views. While there, I discovered I left my souvenirs in the taxi, but no matter - I got them back when I called the taxi for the return trip. Following dinner, we took a tiny ascensor down the hill to meet our bus - the steepest funicular I've ever ridden!
We had a really pretty drive back to Santiago, with dramatic ocean views, and a full moon rising over the mountains and vineyards.
Back in Santiago I went out for a glass of wine (and razor clams) with the other chaperons. We found a really cool neighborhood just a short walk from the hotel. (Wish I had discovered that sooner!)
Later I went over to the Bella Vista neighborhood - the hub of Santiago night life, where we had been out for dinner a couple times before. I went to check out the gay nightlife. In Bar 105 I met a guy named Jaime (what a coincidence!) who enjoyed the opportunity to practice his English with me. We had another drink at Patio Bella Vista (a mult-level happening spot with shops, restaurants, and live music), then headed to a big, crowded dance club. I could have danced a lot longer, but it was already pretty late following a long day of sightseeing.
Yesterday we got to sleep in a bit (finally!), but still had to get up to check out of the hotel. They held our bags while we explored the city throughout the day.
They're calling us to board the flight to IND, so I've got to wrap this up. More later!
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