Another exciting day in Chile! Today began bright and early
with a bus ride to Santiago, Chile’s capital city. I was really surprised by
how large the city is. I guess it’s a bit ethnocentric, but I didn’t anticipate
Santiago to be larger than Pittsburgh. Nonetheless, Santiago is a beautiful
city. It’s architecture seems to be a mix of many different styles. While some
buildings were newer or more upscale, others displayed older, more artistically
elaborate styles. We first saw the stock market, which was really interesting.
It was explained that all of Chile’s trading is done online, which is a little
different from that of the US. I wondered if they had an equivalent of “Mad
Money” or Jim Cramer from the US, but didn’t ask.
After the stock market, we headed to a historical museum
about Chile. I really enjoyed this part because I was able to practice reading
Spanish since all of the plaques were in Spanish. We also had the opportunity
to talk more to the Chilean students for added practice.
Next, we went to a large church, which we were told is the
biggest Catholic church in Chile. I think it shows a difference in terms of
religious importance to a country that there were dozens of people inside
praying, even though there was no service going on. After the church, we headed
to lunch at a large enclosed market. Since the menu was primarily seafood, most
of us decided to take advantage of the opportunity to eat some authentic
Chilean sea bass. I had to take a picture to show amazing it looked, and it
tasted just as good too.
Finally, we boarded the bus once again to go climb a nearby
mountain! The views from the top were spectacular, I especially liked all of
the candles and messages of thanks written on plaques at the top of the
mountain. This was again indicative of the high religious presence in Chile.
The ride home was certainly quiet this evening, as we were all so exhausted
from such an eventful day. Time to get some much needed rest for the night.
¡Hasta Luego!
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