Day 3: Santiago

May 8, 2012

Yet another amazing day has passed by here in Chile, it feels like we have already been here for weeks, has it really only been 3 days? We have done so much in there three days, as our days begin early in the morning and end so late at night. Today was no different, as we began our day with breakfast at 7:30 and an hour and a half bus ride to the capital city of Santiago followed. Our first stop in Santiago was the Santiago Stock Exchange, where we watched a video about the exchange, were given a presentation on the exchange, and then got to actually tour the trading floor. One thing that I found really interesting about the exchange is that nearly all of the trading is done online now, so the trading floor is virtually empty in recent years, used mainly as a museum and attraction for tourists and field trips. After leaving the stock exchange we began our grand tour of Santiago, and there were some very cool sights to see. We visited the Cathedral of Santiago, the oldest and largest church in Chile, and it was beautiful. I was awed the first time I was in Saint Paul's Cathedral in Pittsburgh, but the Cathedral of Santiago outshines it several times over. We also walked by La Moneda, the house where the Chilean presidents conduct affairs, and then took an incline up a gigantic hill near the edge of the city to look down and try to see as much of the city as possible. It was an interesting view. As far as the eye could see, was city. Santiago, with its 5 million inhabitants, stretches over an enormous amount of land, and because of the combination of that and the smog, we could not see the end of the city. In addition to touring Santiago, we had lunch there at Augusto's Fish Market, which was a giant restaurant seated inside a building that looked kinda like an old train station. My Chilean Sea Bass was quite good, but the salmon that other people got was out of this world. After the traffic-filled ride back to Valparaiso, we had our first reggaeton class, which is more upbeat dancing than salsa, basically the Chilean's party music. In our practice, we danced to fun songs like Danza Kuduro by Don Omar, and it was a great workout as well! The night ended with a nice group dinner, and now here I am late night blogging in the hotel.

Fact of the Day: Unlike American public restrooms, which always must be free for public use, Chilean public bathrooms cost 300 pesos to use!

Hasta mañana,
Christian

 The trading floor of the Santiago Stock Exchange

 Inside of the Cathedral of Santiago

The view of Santiago from the highest point in the city