First Update!

Hello everyone!!!

So, as many of you know I have safely arrived in Santiago and am settling into my internship and life in general. I am extremely lucky because my first week went extremely smoothly because the President of the company I am working for (RECYCLA) were extremely generous and let me stay with them initially. They have provided my transportation to work and most of my food :) The family has two children Maria Jesus (12 years) and Fernando Jr. (15 years). They are wonderful kids and speak English well too - though we mainly converse in Spanish (or Castillano) because I need more practice with my Spanish than they do with their English! Below is a picture of me the family on my first day in Santiago!!!

(From right to left) La Tere (Mom), Maria Jesus, Fernando Jr., Fernando Nilo (CEO of RECYCLA)

Me with the family - right after I arrived from the airport at about 9am!

I also really like my work at the office. I have only been here one week and already I have seen and participated in many events. My first day (Monday of last week) the first thing I did as an official RECYCLA employee was to attend a special 'invitation only' conference where there were some very high powered Chilean business people who are invovled in the information/technology (IT) sector of Chile. There I met some wonderful students from a University in Mexico City who are studying business and were here on a week long tour of business operations in Santiago. They also came and had luch at RECYCLA on Wednesday of last week! Also, the people that I work with are awesome and work hard...

This is my computer and desk at the office! When I am there, I use this space :)

The lovely Claudia, a co-worker of mine who is a student at one of the Chilean universities in Santiago

Mauricio! The co-founder of RECYCLA and environmental manager. Before coming to RECYCLA, Mauricio was a big hot shot journalist - he has met Shakira and other famous people!

This picture is a bit dark, but this is the wonderful Gabriel who always sings to me whenever I see him in the office...apparently there is an old ballad in Spanish called "Lady Laura"...I have a recording of him singing it that I will post later!



Another dark picture :( But this is the lovely Emma who works extremely hard and cooks me really excellent food and brings me bread for lunch :)

The lovely Veronica (pictured right) with Don Fernando (left) preparing a presentation. Veronica is the marketing specialist at RECYCLA and is very smart!

Last weekend I also went on a brief tour of a Pueblo that is now very touristy called Los Dominicos...it is a lovely place with lots of artwork and crafts! and even a clown!

This week has been especially crazy. As I was telling my parents over the phone, I hardly have time to do my own work because I am always attending "Reuniones" or business meetings so I have not had as much time to work on my grant applications for RECYCLA as I would like. But I am slowly getting that work done. However, at the same time there are a million other things that come up - like an interview last week with a reporter from a Canadian network who wants to to a documentary on RECYCLA...and other various people that want to talk about what RECYCLA does! However, the business meetings are very interesting too - so far I have visited Honda, Microsoft (in Chile), Banco Santander (a huge banking chain), and many others...I have not said too much in the conversations because I am still becoming used to the accent and getting back into my Spanish fluency...but I am to be a more active participant in later negotiations.

This week I also visited the recycling plant where all of the goods are processed because HP (Chile) had a shipment come in of printers that had been returned by customres because they were not working properly. Basically, after unloading the goods, the workers sawed open the printers so the core parts could be taken out. Then, all of the metals and other materials (copper, aluminum, etc...) are extracted from the equipment by hand by other workers. They use proctective gloves and eye wear, and have passed HP inspection standards...so the process seems pretty sound to me. As you can see from the pictures, there are tons of computers and other parts that have been piled up because it takes so long to process this waste...I was asking Fernando and his wife about productivity and they told me that 1 female worker can dissemble 100 CPUs per day...but these are just estimates.

The interesting thing about RECYCLA is that it is a social entrepreneurship...meaning that it is integrating social, environmental and economic factors together. As a result, the workers in RECYCLA are newly released prisoners from Chilean jails that normally would not have a chance to integrate back into society - as opportunities for ex-convicts are few and far between.

Also this week I met the President of Chile (Michelle Bachelet)! Yes -I am a lucky cookie :) Fernando was invited to the signing ceremony of a document to create a new ministry position in Chile for the environment! Appropriately, this signing took place on June 5th (World Earth Day). I was not invited, but Fernando pulled a few strings and I was able to get inside. Not only did I meet many of the Ministers in Chilean government, but I was able to weasle my way up front and get a picture with Mrs. Bachelet! Very exciting. That picture was not taken with my camera, so once I have it I will upload it for proof of my claim :)

This picture was actually taken a different day than when I attended the signing ceremony - but until I post pictures of that this will ahve to do! This picture is of me with a palace (or La Moneda as the Chileans call it) guard in the courtyard (right by where the signign took place!). There is a reason why there is a big height difference between the two of us --- all of the palace guards must meet a certain heigh requirements!

Then today I went to another business meeting in Vina del Mar which is very close to Valparaiso (a famous Chilean port) which is very close to the beach! I loved walking around Vina del Mar, and also toured (by car) Valparaiso just a bit. I plan to return there on a weekend in the near future.

Vina del Mar - Me encanta!

My favorite colors - right next to each other!!! This use of vibrant, happy colors is very typical of Vina del Mar - it is a beautiful, charming town.

Valparaiso

What a beautiful place!!!!

That is all I have for now! Thanks for reading and que te vaya bien!!! I will update more later - but let me know how you are if you get a chance!

Much love,

Laura :)