Day Two: Lectures and Tours and Salsa, oh my!

Our first full day in Chile kept us busy as bees. We started our morning with breakfast at the hotel and then took public buses to the Universidad Technica Frederico Santa Maria. Bus fare was less than I had thought it would be, despite the fact that gas is about 800 pesos/liter.  We got a tour of USM once we arrived on campus to see the main sites of the university. In the center of the campus there is a pool that is the center of some campus traditions. When it is your birthday or if you are graduating people throw you into the pool, no matter the weather outside. Allison and I both have birthdays while we're in Chile, but we're hoping we're not at USM those days so that we can stay dry. 

After our tour we met Dr. Werner and Jaime, two professors at the University. Jaime then taught us about the economies of some Latin American cultures with a specific focus on Chile. It was interesting to see how the nations of Latin America differed from the US. After three hours of lecture we headed to lunch at the campus cafeteria. It was more like a high school cafeteria than the university dining halls that we're used to. The seating area was crowded so instead of sitting as a whole group we spread out through the Chileans. Because we don't look very Chilean, a lot of the students would stare at us and whisper to each other about the Americans. 

Once lunch was over we met up with two more Chilean students who took us on a tour of Valparaíso and Vina del Mar. We visited the main square of Valparaiso, a memorial to Artouro Prat, and rode an ascensor to the top of one of Valparaiso's hills. While we were at the main square, we walked up hundreds of stairs to reach an area of Valparaiso that has many outdoor paintings. There is a lot of graffiti and street art in both Vina and Valparaiso, but most of it is actually really interesting and adds to the character of the area. The hill we climbed had many colorful houses, mosaic lampposts, and street art everywhere.

A painted building in Valparaiso.

You could tell the paintings were done with time and care and contributed to the atmosphere of Valparaiso. We finished our tour by heading over to Vina and seeing a clock made out flowers planted on a slope. It tells accurate time and even has a moving second hand. Post-tour, we grabbed some empanadas for a snack and then took a bus back to the University for our first dance class.

Sunset in Vina. The view is from the flower clock.

We met our dance teacher and found out that we found be learning how to salsa today! I've always wanted to be able to salsa so this class was something I was really looking forward to. Even though we may have looked like we didn't know what we were doing sometimes, the salsa class was so much fun! After learning all the basic steps on our own for the majority of the class, we paired up for the last few minutes to begin practicing dancing with a partner. We'll have another salsa class later this week so I'm excited to learn more!

In the evening our whole Plus 3 group went to karaoke with the Chilean students we had met and some of their friends. Almost everyone got up to sing and even though we don't all have the best voices, we had a great time. We had an early morning the next day, so I went to sleep as soon as we got back to the hotel. We're headed to Santiago tomorrow and I'm excited to see the Chilean capital.