After 2 1/2 days in the Sierra de Bellavista I am finally back to my WIFI connection and now have lots of catching up to do on this blog! I left off on last Wednesday when we were in Curico. That morning I was at a private school visiting with the principal and some of the administrators and teachers learning how things work in the world of private schools here in Chile. It was a wonderful visit. They treated me so well and had me hand out an award at an assembly that they had.
On Wednesday night we had the surreal, funny experience of being interviewed on a local access channel in Molina, a very small town near Curico. It was interesting to do an interview in Spanish! That night we had a Rotary club meeting where we did our presentation.
On Thursday, we rode the train to San Fernando (about 30 minutes from Curico) to spend the
day with the Rotarians there at an organic fruit factory and eating a delicius lunch. We had to dress up in all white lab coats and hats to take the tour (still not really sure why). The factory was called Greenvic and they mostly export organic apples, along with other non-organic fruits. Before eating lunch on a beautiful farm, we had appetizers at one of the most amazing places I've ever been, which was owned by the owner of Greenvic. He had this series of fairytale-like cabins admist some gorgeous land, so although the day was a little gloomy, the scenery was immaculate!
Before our Rotary dinner and meeting that evening we made a quick trip to the supermarket to get groceries for our weekend visit to the Sierra de Bellavista. What a trip! The store was packed because Friday was Labor Day so everyone was buying out the store for the long weekend. Needless to say it was quite hectic, but once again, a great learning and team-building experience.
On Friday morning we headed up to the Sierra de Bellavista where we did nothing but relax for 2 and a half days. It was very warm so we spent most of our time around the pool soaking up the sun. It was actually surprising how warm it was considering it was in the 60's in San Fernando the day before. It was soooo wonderful to spend time with only our GSE team, bonding and processing some of the amazing experiences we've had so far.
On Sunday morning we got picked up by the San Fernando team and brought to Santa Cruz where we are right now. We had an afternoon cookout with the Rotarians here, a visit to a local museum in the afternoon and ended the day with a trip to the casino. Even though I didn't win any money, it brought back some great Las Vegas memories (that's where I got married) and it was interesting (and maybe a little dangerous) to gamble a little bit in Spanish. We are here in Santa Cruz staying in a hostal for one more night. Today we are headed to another town called San Vicente. We will see what the day brings.
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