Day 1 Update

We have arrived in Santiago!  We came in two batches but all arrived safely.  We only had one lost piece of luggage and we hope they will find it quickly.  The flights were uneventful.  We got to watch movies we hadn't seen because we've been so busy - I was thrilled to get to watch "Julie and Julia".

Here is a screen shot of the map showing our flight path - we went over Cuba and then down the west coast of South America.  It was about an eight and a half hour flight from Miami to Santiago.

Note:  You can always DOUBLE CLICK on any photo to enlarge it.

When we got into Santiago those holding US passports paid the $131 reciprocity fee and then we all went through customs.  After picking up our luggage we met Maria Jose Garcia, one of our hosts, and took the bus to the hotel.  Because we arrived so early in the day, our rooms weren't ready yet.  So, a few of us went out for bruch.

Leticia, Aureliano, Hugh, Maria Jose and Maricruz Larrea (our program manager for the trip) went to a lovely new restaurant near the Museum of Visual Arts.  The patio where we had breakfast was a visual feast unto itself.  It featured a large piece of the Berlin Wall - right in Santiago!  We had a traditional breakfast of coffee or hot chocolate, fresh orange juice, and toast with avocado.  The latte that Aure and I had was so beautifully presented - another piece of art!

Following that we headed back to the hotel for the Orientation Meeting. There we met up with the rest of our group.  Maricruz gave us a thorough introduction to Chile and what to expect - she reminded us that we should adapt to Chile and not expect Chile to adapt to us.  In particular she said to remember that things are a bit slower here and that there is a lot of kissing (on the cheek) when greeting each other. 

At the orientation meeting we met up with Shaun Sheffield and Barrett Helmet.  Shaun is originally from Muncie, IN and founded the Austral Group as part of a project for his MBA program. Barrett is the Sales Manager and was our original contact for this trip.  That's Barrett on the left and Shaun on the right.  We also met our other host for the week, Claudia Fernandez.

We are all now resting, showering, blogging, and otherwise amusing ourselves until our tour of Santiago at 3:30.  We will write more this evening.