Day 4: Codelco and Centuras

WEDNESDAY: Today we had our company visits to Codelco (a copper smelter) and Centuras (a canning factory). At Codelco, we had our first experience with how men are supposed to act in Chile. While we were sitting down for a presentation about safety, there were boys in seats and that left some girls standing. Our presenters at Codelco made the boys get up out of the seats and give them to us girls. I wish boys did this in America because it is very polite. Our tour guide at Centuras, Mario, was a very intelligent and interesting guy. He told us how on Friday, Centuras is launching its own ketchup which they tried to make very similar to Heinz ketchup. They basically just used trial and error and attempted to make it taste the same. Mario also gave us some tomato sauce and Chilean soup, which I am excited to try. After our tours, we went back to the University and had a lecture about Chilean society. He told us about some major differences in Chilean business and culture such as how Chile is a very family-focused country (and that it is common that if after a kid graduates college, he usually gives money back to their family), that maternity leave for Chilean women is 9 months (3 months before the birth and 6 months after), which is very different than in the US, and finally he said that people below the poverty line in Chile receive free healthcare which I found very interesting. It was nice getting to see how different Chile customs are different than what we are used to here in the US.