Morning

MBA and PUC Presentation, Practicum Meetings

As far as the university, the accommodations were comfortable.  Matko opened the session with a ‘welcome’ and initial perspectives of the historical and socio/political climate at work in Chile.  This historical rendition would be repeated again and again throughout the trip.  (Marilyn)

Working with my team mates that first day was very good.  They seemed eager to work on the project and they seemed to have a good grasp of the project and interviews they had completed. (Marilyn)

It was really nice meeting the full complement of Chilean students today.    Although the country is very homogenous, I am surprised by the fact that many of the people in the class are from other places in Latin America: Peru, Venezuela, and Columbia (Brodrick)

Afternoon

In the afternoon, we went to four different grocery stores to evaluate the deli meat departments.  We also interviewed a manager at Jumbo.  Although the meeting was in Spanish, I could tell it was going well.  He shared consumer trends in Chile, namely that consumers are highly price-conscious.  Sometimes price discounts exceed 70% the regular price!  He also helped us understand the different Chilean brands on the market and why there is a paucity of imported brands.  We definitely gathered good information to share with our sponsor. (Rosanna)

Evening

Alumni Dinner at Zanzibar Restaurant

As we walked onto the rooftop, we were all awestruck.  The low-hanging crème sheets billowing above our table created an Arabian Knights ambiance…and it was so relaxing to sit back on the pillows (Rosanna)