Neeley Fellows Trip to Chile - tjshepherd
I am traveling with the Neeley Fellows program to Santiago Chile for our International Management class. Not only will be able to get the cultural experience of a lifetime, but we will also be...

Fixin' to get to DFW
Fort Worth, United States
It's 4:05 PM and I'm leaving for DFW in a little under two hours... Getting pumped to go to Santiago, Chile! This will be my first time in South America and it should be a good trip. Only a 9 hour flight to get over there, hopefully I can pass out on the plane.
-Ryan Hoff
written by  tjshepherd on May 9, 2010 from Fort Worth, United States
from the travel blog: Neeley Fellows Trip to Chile

Preparations and packing
Dallas, United States
I am leaving for the airport here in about 2 hours as well and I am getting really excited. My parents are dropping me off and I need to stop and get some cash for the entry fee to Chile and to exchange at DFW for some pesos. I hope that I get through security quickly and have no problems. This will be my first time out of the United States so it is particularly special for me. Also, you should note that I was able to fit everything I am bringing into a bag that can be carried on and a small backpack. No checked baggage charges for me.
--Max
written by  tjshepherd on May 9, 2010 from Dallas, United States
from the travel blog: Neeley Fellows Trip to Chile

We're here
Santiago, Chile
We have just arrived at the Plaza El Bosque Suites in Santiago. So far the experience has been pretty interesting. After a long 9 hour flight with little sleep, we are ready to get the trip started with a City game in Santiago. We are about to go see as many of the sights we can see with the limited time we have. TJ, Ryan, Max, and Andres will win the contest and get the prize. We have the only native speaker of anyone here, game over.
-Ryan and Max
written by  tjshepherd on May 10, 2010 from Santiago, Chile
from the travel blog: Neeley Fellows Trip to Chile

Dia Numero dos
Santiago, Chile
I have just completed day two on the trip and have been having a blast so far. I have traveled around the entire city, used the subway, climbed to the top of San Cristobal (because we couldn't find the trolley), eaten some amazing food, been to the markets, and much more. The language barrier is not as tall as I expected and everyone here is very accomodating. The people seem to be very nice and not hateful towards Americans and they aure do love our women. My Spanish has been improving everyday and I can communicate very well with my broken Spanish and their broken English. Tomorrow we have meetings all day. I am about oto head to the welcome dinner with the Austral Group.
I have not experienced as much culture shock as I would have expected although I am not used to some things and have to catch myself before drinking tap water or eating some foods. The food has been extremely good although very different from America and sometimes I do not even know what I am eating. I am off to dinner, so more will come later.
--Max
written by  tjshepherd on May 11, 2010 from Santiago, Chile

When the Weather Outside is Chile
Santiago, Chile
We just got back from our night out here at Santiago and have officially wrapped up our second day of the trip. It goes without saying that it has been quite the phenomenal experience. Dinner tonight was provided by the Austral group, the people who are guiding us in our journey. It was phenomenal to say the least, I was able to indulge in a Chicken filled crepe, a lasgna, and some apple pie.
Today was so wonderful. We were able to venture to the top of The San Cristobal hill, the highest peak in Santiago. We actually hiked the hill instead of taking the Gondola, so when we reached the top it was quite the feeling of accomplishment. We meant to take the Gondola, but the language barrier proved to much to handle because "ascensor vertical" apparently translated to really steep dirt trail.
Regardless being at the top of the hill was in the top five coolest experiences in my life. There is a giant statue of the Virgin Mary cresting the top of the hill, literally 3 times higher than the tallest skyscraper in the city. It was amazing. It was much more spiritually overwhelming than I had anticipated. I feel like I will never be closer to god than when I was on top of the hill. It was awesome.
As is to be expected the nightlife here has been great thus far, and it is a great deal of fun being in a beautiful foreign place with 20 of my best friends. Check out the pictures!
-Teej
written by  tjshepherd on May 11, 2010 from Santiago, Chile

Day 3 almost in the books
Today is day 3 of our trip and we have just finished
our last speaker event of the afternoon. We had a busy schedule today starting with a speaker at Terra, a multinational internet news outlet. It was a relatively early morning, leaving the hotel at 9AM, but the early events were quite interesting. The second stop was at Entel, a large Chilean telecom company. During the visit we got a background of the industry followed by an in-depth look at Entel as an organization. The visit was capped off by a climb up the Entel tower. The tower was pretty incredible, especially looking straight down through small holes in the floor all the way to the ground (from about 24 floors up). Almost everyone braved the small tight spiral staircase to get to the very top of the tower. The top of the tower was a pretty spectacular spot to look out over Santiago. There wasn't much break between our first several meetings and our afternoon meetings. We had a quick lunch and walked a few blocks from our hotel for two more speakers. The first speaker was the CEO of a Chilean innovation company. He had a pretty interesting take on Chilean culture and the work-style of ex-patriots in Latin America. The second speaker was a member of the group we are going to work with tomorrow for our service-learning project. That should be an exciting event.
On a side note, the picture at the top is actually from San Cristoball Hill (yesterday), but it needed to be included somewhere in the meat of a blog entry. The view from the top of the hill was amazing and hopefully I will be back up there before the week is out. Time to take a short nap and find a late dinner somewhere in the city. Looking forward to a day of good works tomorrow. Until then,
-Ryan Hoff

Freddy Loco
Today we went to the plaza in front of the Cathedral of Chile. We found a street comedian who was obscene and graphic to say the least. After collecting 8000 pesos he gave us some jokes; we gave him some laughs. It was pretty good, but certainly an R rated production.
Andres

Empanadas Pino
We walked to the hill of San Cristobal, where a statue of the virgin Mary is. The view was fantastic... inspiration was certainly there. But most important of all, I got to try Empanadas de Pino. It tasted like a Chilean version of Philly-Cheese-steak Sandwich: greasy, lots of onions, poor quality.
Honestly, I didn't love it. I try it though, so now I can check it off my list.
Andres

SEAFOOD, SEAFOOD, NOW!
Its 7 p.m. and I am in my hotel room. To my left is Payton sleeping with the computer on his lap, to my right a wall, in front of me a desk, a light, baggage, a backpack, a... wait.... what's that??
Its my stomach growling. It is not just any sound, it's a scream for seafood.
Before I came here I asked around to learn what to eat. Seafood was always the answer. I am determined to eat it tonight.
We'll go to Bellavista to grab some food and maybe listen to some live music. Should be a good night: seafood, friends, and some pizcolas... what more could I ask for?
Andres

Pizcolas, Basketball, and Seafood
Yes, I am writing about seafood again. Yesterday that was my plan: to do something Chilean and experience something different other than the places around the hotel. But due to fear of not being safety enough, companionship was hard to find. As a result we did not go to Bellavista to eat seafood yesterday. That didn't put me in my best mood, however a couple of pizcolas changed that very quickly.
Today we spent most day cleaning a basketball court so Chilean girls could use them and play. It was not the most entertaining thing to do, but the laughs I got by talking and watching the girls interact with everyone else was great. The girls where much more extroverted than anticipated and were very determine to convince David to kiss Kate... of course that didn't happen. But I showed them how to try.
Tonight I am going to Bellavista, Max and Payton said they would come. That's all the people I need. So, I am crossing my fingers that tonight, my dinner will be very memorable.
Bon appetit!
-Andres-

Half way Done
We have just finished out 4th day in Chile and the time has blown by. We have been having some amazing experiences. Today, we went and did a service project for a girls "orphange" and it completely opened my eyes. The sad part is that we were not able to complete our project due to lack of tools. We cleaned off a basketball court and tried to replace the backboards and rims, but did not have the necessary tools to put the new hoops up. Therefore the girls have a clean court and no rims to play on. I think the VE Global volunteer group will be going to complete the project soon.
I am really looking forward to the netx few days because we will be having some extremely interesting tours including a vineyard and a major port. Unfortunately, our trip on Saturday has been cancelled due to the weather so that was a major disappointment for us all. I really was looking forward to the mine especially because it was the largest underground copper mine in the world, but I guess I will just have to go with the flow and find some other exciting activity to occupy my time.
Max

Mellow
The crowd:
- TJ, Mario, Carson, D. Bower, B. Lang (from the U.K., not Asia), Peyton (Not the Manning), and Abbs.
The Places:
- Azul Profundo: Fantastic Seafood restaurant and remarkable Chardonnay.
- Casa en el Aire: OK Music, OK wine, funny waiter, small table, great plaza.
As we walked towards the restaurant we all where very exited to realize it was a good choice. Everybody wanted to have everything on the menu. If our pockets were endless we probably would had. I would say that my favorite dish was the octopus carpaccio that I order with Peyton; it was simple, exotic, and very tasty. The wine was called Doña Dominga; crisp, not too fruity, with the perfect level of sourness.
We briefly had a French crepe. Some Split and went back to the hotel and some stayed for some live music.
It was definitively a good night. One that I was looking forward too.
-Andres-

Mis Amigos Por La Vida - theyre like really really really thin pancakes
We just finished up our halfway point here in Santiago, and one thing that has become painfully apparent to me is how absolutely blessed I am to be on a trip in a marvelous foreign country with 20 of my best friends. Granted, some people have developed tendencies to hang out with a specific group, but I can legitimately say that I have had the opportunity to thoroughly enjoy everyone's company, and with the caliber people that I am surrounded by, most of which I consider to be among my best friends, I am simply honored.
Today we got the opportunity to do some community service! It was one of the things I was most looking forward to, because back home community service is a large part of my life, so I was interested to see how that would transcend any kind of cultural boundaries or setting changes. We were able to work with a company called VE global that is a nonprofit that specializes in the maintenance of orphanages here in Santiago. We went to one of their properties and repainted the interior of a house and redid a basketball court so that the girls that resided there could have means to enjoy themselves. Most of them were either homeless, had drug problems at some point, or were from broken or unhealthy homes, so it was a blessing getting to be able to get a glimpse into their lives so that I could gain further perspective into my own.
The girls themselves were alot of fun to play with, and were surprisingly easy to communicate with. Also, the Chilean affection certainly transcended, as when we met the me were greeted with a kiss on the cheek, which is their customary hello. I felt like I got initiated into the culture!!! Also they loved playing with us, as we began playing games with them like telling them so and so were dating and that Abby had lots of boyfriends and dancing and singing with them and numerous things along those lines. It was awesome!
Also tonight we finally were able to venture out and experience the night life in Bella Vista, one of the more famous parts of town. We had some of the most delicious seafood I have ever had, including calamari, octopus, shrimp, shark steak, grouper, ceviche, and salmon. From there we went to the famous plaza to enjoy some authentic french crepes (!Delicioso!) and we had a few drinks at a patio bar enjoying the scenery and the people watching. Once again, I felt absolutely blessed to be surrounded by my best friends, as the smile was not able to be removed from my face all night.
-Teej

Amigas Nueva
Today we had quite the interesante potpourri of activities to say the least. We went to Agrosuper which is one of the major food commercialization plants in South America. they are in charge of things such as pork (which we got to see first hand), Chicken, turkey, and salmon, as well as their respective distribution throughout the world. We got to see the meat packing plant for pigs, which was pleasurable to some but extremely displeasure-able to others. All I'm saying is that the first thing that we saw when we walked in was the decapitated pigs lying on a conveyor belt. Nonetheless, it was like the star wars of slaughterhouses with all of the advanced machinery that they were able to utilize. It was astonishing to say the least.
Even though that was awesome, far and away my favorite part about Agrosuper was the school that benefited from their patronage that we were able to visit. All the children there were absolutely enthralled by our presence, and I got to do what I do best: play with children. It was so much fun. The amount of discipline that they instill in that institution is rivaled by none other I have ever seen, in a good way. Also, as previously stated we got to play with children. All they wanted to do was practice their English speaking skills on us, which relatively speaking were far and away better than my Spanish skills after a few years of refinement. Also, they composed a choir that performed in front of us, which was one of the most touching experiences of my life.
there was a young lady named Javii that Sam and I both fell in love with due to her enthusiasm and graciousness. We will see who wins in the Battle for her affection hahahaha. Overall, a great day indeed, and I am thankful for yet another opportunity to serve.
-Teej

Valparaiso and Vina Del Mar
Valparaiso, Chile
This picture also doesn't necessarily coincide with the events of today, but nonetheless it was a good time too.
We went to Valparaiso and Vina Del Mar today. The bus ride over was about 2 hours...a nice nap since I have been feeling pretty ill the past day or so. When we got to the city it was very compact, with houses stacked endlessly on top of other houses. The downtown area was nice but very old with a lot of damage from both time and earthquakes. We took a tour of the city by bus and got to see most of the major European communities within the city. It was very interesting to find out that each community...i.e. British, German, French, Italian, etc., all have their own fire stations, schools, and community areas. We took a couple of trams up hillsides, they were built in the late 1800's...which made a few people uneasy, but were in quite good shape for being so old. After we finished meandering around Valparaiso we headed toward Vina del Mar with a stop at the Yacht Club for lunch. The Yacht club was quite a nice little detour from the very crowded streets we had been on earlier.
At the yacht club we had initial appetizers outside on the veranda with drinks to wash everything down. We took lot of pictures out by the sea and were ushered inside to eat our 3 course meal. The meal was delicious, I had a steak covered in mushroom sauce. While we ate we got to enjoy the great view of the Pacific Ocean. Shortly after eating we were bused over to Vina del Mar.
At Vina del Mar a few of us decided to go to the casino at Hotel Del Mar. I walked out with more than I walked in with and was therefore in a pretty good mood. We walked down the coastline and eventually toward the beach. Unfortuntately I took a little spill into the water...just my feet, but still not the best. We ended the afternoon with a drink at the Tierra del Fuego followed by a two hour bus ride back to Santiago. A day well spent, and the night is still young!
-Ryan
written by  tjshepherd on May 15, 2010 from Valparaiso, Chile

You mean you didn't know?
I just wanted to add an interesting observation.
Carpaccio: Thinly slice poultry usually eaten with olive oil, lime, salt, and other condiments. It is usually an appetizer and a good source of protein.
I always thought that is was a globally eaten food. But my fellow fellows have asked me several times what it is; and so comes a new learning experience:
Learning is not only about getting to know new things about different cultures, it is learning that what you know about your own culture may not always be known by others.
- Andres -