Our Tour Guide Through Chile

As soon as we got to Chile we had no idea how it was going to compare to being in Argentina. We walked off the plane and saw a woman holding a sign that said Bryant University. This was our tour guide Francisca! Before we started any of our adventures we got to learn a little bit about her background. She was born in Arlington, Virginia and moved to Chile when she was about eight years old. She learned a lot of her Spanish from speaking with her parents but she also went to an elementary school in a Latin neighborhood so she was able to learn a lot through going to school. She was influenced to learn about the history of different places in Chile because her mother was very into it. She has never done any classes for tourism but has been in the industry for two years and does a lot of research through taking tours herself. Her biggest reason for knowing so much was that she had a lot of pride in her country.

Francisca always kept us moving around the city. From the beginning we were doing walking and boat tours around the city. Through Viña del Mar and Santiago we did many activities that everyone enjoyed and did not have much down time to be bored. From speaking with a few of the students on the trip it was easy to tell that we would not have been able to travel and learn as easy as we did without Francisca. Dustin thought she was very enthusiastic and enjoyed learning from her and asking her questions. Michael loved that Francisca was so informative and could answer any question that she asked. Liam though she was very helpful in getting us around the city and always making sure that we were having a good time. Although we were always on the move and may have just wanted to spend the day sleeping, we were happy to have all of the experiences that we did while we were here. 

              Everyone has enjoyed their time with Francisca and we will be sad to not only leave the city but to leave our tour guide that has helped us had an amazing time while in Chile. She allowed us to learn about her country in a way that made us wanted to stay here and that made some people even think about studying abroad in Chile for a semester. We thank her for everything that she has done for us and hope she gets to continue doing what she loves in her city. 

Pueblito Los Dominicanos

Greetings from south of the equator! As we reach the final countdown for our time here in South America (cue the sad music) we had some time today to shop for friends, family, and ourselves. 

After our business meeting this morning with Wayra, an entrepreneur accelerator in Santiago, we traveled to a place on the outskirts of Santiago called, "Pueblito Los Dominicanos". This area originated as a Catholic Church where merchants would go on weekends to sell their goods. Over time, as the success of the area grew, the merchants began to work throughout the entirety of the week and it transformed into a stable marketplace. Approximately 25 years ago Pueblito Los Dominicanos became an official establishment where each seller has their own space in adobe homes in order to showcase their finest handmade products. I talked to Kevin who thought the interaction with the shop owners was the most intriguing part of the stop. "From shop to shop, they were very friendly and accommodating with the American dollar when we lacked the Chilean peso," he said. In regard to price, it varies from store to store, however the high quality of the products is often reflected in a higher price.

The entrance to Pueblito Los Dominicanos
Hola Profesora Gomez!

Upon entering Pueblito Los Dominicanos, the rich culture that comprises Chile is immediately felt.  Each shop has a unique flare, whether it be leather, woodwork, ceramic, knit, copper, paint, etc., and the talent that these craftsmen and craftswomen have is incredible and one of a kind. The attention to detail in each product is prominent, and often times, is made within the walls of their quaint shops. 

One of the ally ways in the village

After meandering around the village of shops for some time, a lunch break was long overdue. A few friends and I stopped at a cafe for a bite to eat where we enjoyed a Latin American favorite, empanadas. Holly even said that she had to have her last bite of empanada before she left for the states, so the decision was easy. Following lunch, we wasted no time, and got right back to shopping.

  

Overall, it was a very successful pit stop in the middle of our busy day. Marta worded the experience perfectly, beyond really liking it, she continued to say, "There were a lot of artisan crafts and it seemed more genuine than other shopping opportunities we have had on the whole SIE trip."  A bonus, we were able to pick up some last minute gifts for loved ones back home before our quickly approaching departure, all while further immersing ourselves in the rich Chilean culture. 

Some of the girls showing off their purchases
From left to right: Maggie, Katie, Emily, Taylor, Holly, Ale

And now off to our next stop, the Santiago Stock Exchange!

The Am Cham Visit

The Chilean – American Chamber of Commerce (Am Cham), was our groups’ first destination of the day. We had Ricardo and Pilar, a legal advisor, start off the presentation by speaking about the main functions of Am Cham.

We then had Roberto take over and speak about the progression of Chile, from an underdeveloped to a developing country on the basis of social, political and economic factors. His presentation was segregated into three sections, the reality check and challenges, Chile’s development strategies, and the final results.

The Reality Check:

Roberto began by speaking about the geographical and climatic diversity of Chile, following which he put up a few facts about the country’s economy. Currently, Chile’s total level of output is equivalent to that of just one American company like P&G, which I found astounding. Chile is also only responsible for 0.4% of world imports whereas America stands at 13%.

Development Strategy:

Roberto spoke about the different strategies implemented in the country over the years. Until 1973 Chile followed the import substitution method, in which people produced their own goods rather than trading internationally. This period had high tariffs and the result was a rise in inflation. Between 1974 and 1989, the country followed the theory put forward by the Chicago Boys. They started producing what they were good at, in order to get more efficient. As a result, tariffs were lowered during this period, and resources were allocated based on market advantage. Since the 1990s Chile has implemented free trade agreements in order to increase trade with the outside world. They currently have 24 FTAs with 63 countries around the world.

Results:

As a result of the currently implemented strategies, Chile have been seeing a continuous growth in their economy, with a GDP of $268 Billion and an unemployment rate of 6.1% as of 2014.

Thoughts about the presentation:

On the whole, the presentation was very informative and straight forward, one that the students found easy to interpret. Matt Gosselin thought of Roberto to be a very intelligent and passionate man, who did a phenomenal job presenting the matter. Griffin Casey enjoyed the comparisons made between Chile and the United States in terms of their geography and economy, since it gave a real life perspective about the topic. Vidur Relan was quite pleased with the range of topics covered by Roberto and the overall flow of the presentation.  

Leaving Our Mark on Santiago

Our initials on the lock.

Our lock on the bridge.

On January 19th, as you may have read in a previous blog, we all participated in the city games. It was a great experience getting around Santiago on our own and seeing some amazing sights. During the city games, our group was composed of Katie Griffin, Maggie Carbin, Emily Helenius and Holly Kaufman. During our excursion, we found a beautiful lock key bridge going over a river. We were all excited and wanted to participate. A vendor on the bridge was selling the locks for only about $2.00 so we could not pass it up. We decided to leave our mark on Santiago and hope that maybe, someday, someone with affiliation to Bryant may see this and feel the same happiness we did in placing it there.

Maggie Carbin putting the lock on the bridge.