Back in Santiago

The team is very tired. Our days have been very full and we have seen so much. We all owe a huge debt of gratitude to the Rotary Foundation for providing us this excellent opportunity to get to know a part of the country of Chile, it´s people and culture from a truly unique perspective. One that no tourist could hope to find.

Tonight we say goodbye or chau chau to our hosts here in Santiago, and I suspect there will be no dry eyes.

Copper mine in Rancagua

Well, just a few miles outside of Rancagua, today we went inside the world`s largest copper mine.

We had on al the gear, helmets, headlamps, respirators, boots, etc. it was not as cold as predicted, though. we got to see a huge pestle crushing stone for removal. Very interesting place.

In Santa Cruz now

We arrived in Santa Cruz yesterday with a warm welcome and a great asado put on by the Rotarians in Santa Cruz, then off to visit a wonderful museum located here, We are now in
the very heart of the best wine region in Chile. We also visited a casino last night and that was fun. We have had our mid trip break, with no telephone or internet access and that was good, might be tough to get back on track now. We´ll do fine, though.

Gone south

On Sunday we took a train 2 hours south to Curico. We settled in with our new hosts. Mine are
Angel and Marisol, some very nice people and a very nice home south of the town out in the country. This is more my style and very comfortable. I was able to visit the local hospital today, later today we will be interviewed on television, meet the mayor, and give a presentation later tonight at the Rotary club.

Almost forgot to add the picture of me eating a barnacle. It may not sound good, but they are deliciosa. We enjoyed them and shrimp and razor clams which are to die for.

Saturday asado near Maipo

Horseback riding Santiago style

View of Santiago from atop San Cristobal Cerro

Our team atop Cerro San Cristobal

Rotary Club La Reina presentation

Meeting with the mayor of La Reina

My wonderful hosts

Hermann Meyer and his lovely wife Yolanda have been taking great care of me.Kinda like family. They both speak Spanish,
well, Chilean Spanish, and French and German, having both been born
in Switzerland.

Saturday fun in Chile

My suitcase arrived on Thursday, just 24 hours late and I survived it. Today we went out

into the countryside to Maipu and had an asado or Chilean cookout.

We also had wine, pisco, and manzanilla, a great after dinner digestivo. If I can figure

out how to upload pictures I will soon. We met most of the team that will be going to

North Carolina tomorrow. Thez are very nice and very ready to go. Having a great time

with wonderful Chilean hosts, they are so much fun. Singing, laughing and making sure we

are happy and comfortable.

We arrived.......

But I arrived without my suitcase. hopefully it will turn up tomorrow morning. My rotary

hosts, Hermann and Yolanda are wonderful, the spanish is going ok. Yolanda has already
had to do my laundry, as I have no extra clothes.

Had a restful day. Thankfully I had cigars in my handcarry.

Almost ready to go!

We have just over 3 weeks before we start our excellent adventure!

Our team

Our Rotary Group Study Exchange team from district 7670 in western North Carolina
is going to be visiting Rotary district 4340 in Chile, April 14,2009 to May 15,2009!

We are excited about our upcoming adventure, and we are in the process or planning our trip. the purpose of our trip is to promote goodwill and understanding between our peoples, study how various vocations are performed in Chile, and give presentations on our country, state, and Rotary district to Rotary clubs there.

The presentations will be in Spanish in Chile, and when we return home, we will give presentations to district 7670 Rotary clubs, church groups, and others,(in English!)

Pictured left to right are: Melinda, Adair, Erin, Mike, Michael, and me.