Our third day of fun and cultural learning began with a semi-chaotic ride on a public bus going from Vina Del Mar to Valparaiso. The bus drivers generally drive very fast and can cut some of their corners close, so it made for an exciting ride in the morning. Once we arrived at the Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria, we tour the campus and saw how photogenic it could be. The campus is off the side of the highway and on a hill, and has a beautiful view of the ocean and of the two cities. It was very hectic around campus, as we were touring around 10 am, which is when the earliest classes start. Being that it is a technical school, we saw a lot of computer labs and machinery, and all of the students that have helped guide us so far have all been Industrial Engineers, which has made it easy for me to ask them questions about the major. I was surprised to find out that they are in college for six years, as opposed to four. It also seems that they have more physics and chemistry courses than we take at Pitt for IE, which makes sense since they go to a technical school.
A view from campus
We then went to a lecture given by a professor at the university named Jamie, who studied as a graduate at Pitt, the focus of which was examining the economies of Chile and other Latin American countries. The presentation was full of interesting, concrete data, and it seemed that Jamie knew everything about anything. He made a tough act to follow, but also was a gauge of how our presentation might ideally run on Monday. After the lecture, we went to lunch at the cafeteria, and then we meet two other Chilean students named Rudolpho and Thomas who would take us on a walk through Valparaiso. We visited the Open Sky Museum and saw some nice views of the city, as well as visited some landmarks along the way. After that, we went to see the Arturo Prat statue and then up an incline to see the sunset from up high.
Valparaiso at sunset
Finally, we finished the day with dance lessons at the university. Our dance instructor was very enthusiastic, and though he spoke no English, he was still very funny. He started out with warm-ups before showing us some basic salsa moves. The lesson went on for about an hour, before it ended, and with that, so did our day. It has been really eye-opening being in another country so far. Though there are some parallels with Chile and the U.S., talking to the students, walking around the cities, and just generally absorbing the culture has been a real unique experience.
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