I know electronics are supposed to be turned off during that time, but it looked so cool I couldn't resist :) When I woke up on the flight, and looked outside of the window, I received my first glance of South America. In this picture, we are flying over Bolivia.
When we finally landed in Buenos Aires, it was a whole new challenge. I had to go through immigration control and explain to them that I was only passing through the airport on my way to Chile. Then I had to get my bags from the carousel and clear customs. Finally, I checked into my flight from Buenos Aires to Santiago and went right back through security (which is much, much, much more relaxed than U.S. Airport security. I had water in my water bottle, my laptop never left my backpack, and the only thing that had to come out of my pockets or off my body was my cell phone.) While checking into my flight, I made friends with a woman from Ecuador who had about 4 bags to carry onto the airplane (2 of which were heavier than mine). She was headed back to Ecuador after visiting her daughter in Buenos Aires. She was no taller than 4'6" and had a broken wrist. I offered to help her with her bags since we were on the same flight, so I carried my two bags and two of her 4 (the two heavy ones). Because of her wrist, we got to board the plane early, so I helped her get her bags on the plane. Although we weren't sitting together, I waited at the end of the flight to help her unload her bags as well. Since she was continuing on to another flight, we parted ways when I had to go through immigration control. I went through immigration control and customs (again) and finally met up with Sebastian (my boss). We drove to the Grupo Tonelero Andino location (where I will be working), and I met the employees. Sebastian gave me a tour of the warehouse and the offices. In the first picture, I am standing in front of a bunch of finished barrels. The other picture is the front of the office/warehouse.
The coolest part about this building is that it's made to look like a wine barrel :)
After this, Sebastian showed me the car that I will be using while in Chile (pictures of this to come), and then I followed him to the apartment where I am staying with his in-laws. They are very welcoming and very friendly (pictures with them to come as well). We ate dinner together and now I'm about to catch up on some much needed sleep. Feel free to comment below or send me an email if you would like to hear more about something :) Love to you all!
-Ryan
