Free Day!

On Saturday, it was scheduled that we had a free day to do whatever we wanted.

Brice organized a pastry tour for 10:30 AM, and I definitely wasn't going to miss out on that. We thought we were going to be going to many pastelerias but we actually just ended up stopping at two because the pastries were so rich. My favorite pastry that I had was Tres Leches, a multi-layered cake made with three different kinds of milk. From what I can tell, Tres Leches is a common dessert here in Chile. The second pasteleria we went to was my favorite out of the three we visited. The entrepreneurs that were in charge of the pasteleria were very interested in us. They asked what we were doing in Chile and how long we were going to be here for. The woman who served us our pastries was disappointed to hear that we were only going to be in Chile for two short weeks. She also told us about how she hosts international foreign exchange students. The Chileans who owned that pasteleria were a prime example of the friendly and welcoming nature of Chilean citizens.

A few hours after the pastry tour, a few of us went out to eat lunch. While me and Morgan were walking around trying to find a place to eat lunch, there were many people who would stare at us. I was definitely used to people staring at us when we were in a large group with everyone, but it was still same with just two of us rather than all of us. This gives me a new perspective on how foreigners in the United States might feel. Morgan and I went to a restaurant that specializes in burgers and sandwiches. We were seated next to a Chilean couple who had already been eating their lunch. Me and Morgan ordered our food, ate lunch and paid before the Chilean couple next to us had even finished their meal. That experience reinforces to me that lunch is the largest, most important meal of the day for Chileans.

When we finished eating lunch, a few of us walked along the board walk by the beach. Comparing us with the Chileans on the board walk, I once again saw the cultural differences between us. For example, the Chileans walk rather slow and relaxed, which somewhat indicates how Chileans believe it is not important to always be on time. We made our way down to all of the vendors selling hand made crafts and souveniers. I saw a vendor selling hand carved wooden cutting boards and another selling copper crafted jewelry. There were a lot of vendors selling similar items, and now I can see what Professor James was saying when the Chilean economy is very dependent on a few natural resources.

Saturday wasn't really that eventful but everyone was okay with that because we just wanted to relax since we had been very busy all week. Tomorrow is going to be another free day. Right now we're planning on going back to the beach but some of the Chilean students said they may have something planned for us too. I guess we'll just have to wait and see!