Finally found time at four in the morning hah

Sorry for not writing in a couple of days but it has been incredibly busy! Yesterday (Wednesday) we went on our first company visits to Codelco which is the copper smelter and the fruit packaging plant. I was very curious to how the day would turn out because at first thought I would do think either sound very interesting to learn about. However, both were very informative and we got to experience everything up close and personal. At the smelter we walked around the entire plant and saw how copper travels through every step to make it the best. Also although the plant is cover in soot its interesting to know that the gases that go into the atmosphere are more environmentally friendly. Although this is the case it does not mean that we didn't get to wear safety gear. Along with the steel toed shoes which look absolutely fabulous if I do say so myself the gas mask and bright orange vest and hard hat made the trip very worth while and made for a lot of funny pictures. My favorite visit of the day though was the fruit plant. Our guide was so nice and made the trip very relatable and interesting to us. He showed us how to make tomato paste and how they package it and then gave us some freebies. We went to an international bar last night and it was a lot of fun too. I spoke a lot of spanish which was so great and the experience was amazing.

Today (Thursday) we went to Viña Idomita and Lan Airlines. At the vineyard we took a tour of the plant and the cellars and then had a wine tasting. It was so good but I think it is safe to say that I do not know what tastes make up a wine still and I will stick to white wine:). Lan was fun too. We went into two different hangers and walked all around the planes and made an inspection of a first class section. It was also cool because today was the first day that I saw some of the damage of the earthquake up close and personal. The vineyard had stone cracked in the front walkway and at Lan we saw windows that had been cracked. Tonight we went to our first "discoteca" and spoke a lot of spanish again. It is crazy though because the bus drivers in Valpraiso become kind of like taxi's at night and charge their own rates and will wait until the bus is completely full to leave. Also they have competitions to see who can fill their buses first.

I think this is all for the day, off to the spa in about 6 hours. Maybe there I will finally be able to catch up on my journal entries! haha

adios!