CHILE - Day 4&5

This is a picture of where I sat for the meeting. Each country had their own flag, name plate and a translator so we could understand the other countries.

Yesterday was a full day of meetings. After the meetings, we had dinner where we sang songs and danced. Let's just say...every country has a song that brings out the "best" in them.

I am currently getting ready to get on a bus to head back to where we will catch our airplane. I will be leaving this evening and will be back in Fresno tomorrow afternoon.

Have a good day at school and tell Mom and Moose, I will be home soon!

God Bless,

Ottster

CHILE - Day 3

The first two pictures were taken in the meseum. The one on the left is a picture of one of several cars. It is a famous Chilian race car driver's ride and raced at the Indy 500. The next picture is a dinosaur bone (actually this is its head). The last two pictures were taken at the hotel where we rode horses. The first picture is of my horse. The second is the cowboy that taught us how to ride and lead us up into the mountains and around the lake.


It was a blast today. After Breakfast, the world kiwifruit delegation met and begun giving its country reports. After a full morning and half of the afternoon, several discussions focused on how we could work together to move more kiwifruit in the world.

After the meeting, our group toured a meseum next to the hotel. There was an incredible amount of artificats, including: fossils, dinosaur bones, old guns, gold, silver, treasure chests, indian cloths, cars, trains, farm equipment and the actual Chile constitution.


After the tour, we loaded up on a bus and went to a house that has been converted into a hotel. The house was originally built in the early 1600s, before the U.S. was even a colony. I met a real cowboy and rode for the first time a horse. We took a ride on a horse up the mountain and around a lake. After we returned to the stables, we were entertained by several dancers. The dancers showed us the "napkin dance", and it is a very traditional dance in Chile. After the dancing and singing, we had dinner, boarded the bus and then returned to the hotel.

Tomorrow will be another busy day of meetings, followed by our farewell dinner. On Tuesday, we will board the bus and visit some growing areas before traveling to the airport to come home.

It has been a great trip thus far, however, I am looking forward in coming home soon. Congratulate mom for her win in football! Also, give Jordan a big hug and tell him to be good in school tomorrow, and have fun in dance!

God Bless,

Ottster

CHILE - Day 2

Pictures of our train. The third picture is of the "killer watch dog" I met, we was very friendly and reminded me a lot of Dub! The last picture is of the horses that pulled our buggy!


Another busy day...but lots of fun! We began with a bus ride to Santa Cruz. After reaching the city we took a steam engine train and toured the country side. On the train, they sang music, served cheese and wine. After we finished the train tour, we went to a winery. This is a big place where they grow grapes and then make the grapes into wine. We got to tour the vineyard by horse and buggy. After the tour, the tour guide placed us into four groups where we made our own wine. It was France, Italy, New Zealand and the U.S. as different teams. You will be pleased to know that we took second and barley lost to the New Zealand team. Oh Well, next year!
After our wine making, we had dinner on top of the hill, where we learned lots about the first indians of Chile. This included learning about Easter Island, several other tribes and finally a chance to look through several telescopes at the stars. We concluded the evening with a dinner at the top of the mountain on top of nearly 2,000 acres of vines.

Tomorrow will be a busy day. We begin our two day meeting sessions and will work together with the other countries to understand the global kiwi industry.

Congratulations on your big win and your goal! You did a great job...keep up the great work! Also, tell Moose he did good too at his game.

Give mom a big hug...until tomorrow,

God Bless,

Ottster!

CHILE, DAY 1

The first two pictures are inside the President's Palace. This is similar to the U.S. White House. It is where the President works. The Bull is a statue inside the court yard. The other picture of one of several police officers that guard the palace. The third picture is one of the orginal cannons used when the Spanish came to Chile. The last picture is a few of the dancers that performed for us (yes they are real cowboys)!


Crazy day today. I left yesterday afternoon from Fresno and arrived this morning at 7:45 am. What a beautiful sight. There are very tall mountains boarding the east of this coastal country. What is amazing is this country is 5,000 miles long and on average only 80 miles wide. It is longer to drive from the top of the country all the way to the bottom than it is to drive from California to Washington D.C. Pretty amazing!

After I arrived at the hotel, I met several other kiwi growers from around the world, including: Italy, Spain, France, New Zealand, Korea, Chile and of course USA. After having lunch with the group, we toured downtown Santiago, the Capitol of Chile. It is a city rich in history. In fact the famous "Easter Island" statues come from this country (they look like Dum Dum, Gum Gum, from Night at the Meseum).

After the tour, we changed and went to dinner where we were entertained by several different dancers from around the country. Several of these dances included cowboys, Indians, and several Hawaii dances (from Chile and brought to the islands).

Tomorrow, we wake up early and we depart for Santa Cruz, Chile. We will be taking an old steam train to see several areas of the country side. We will then go to the Colchagua Museum and then have a couple of group activities in the evening.

Until tomorrow, have a great soccer game...do your best and give your brother and mom a kiss and a hug.

God Bless,

Ottster

CHICAGO TRIP - AUGUST '07 - DAY 3 & 4

Weather has been terrible here in Chicago. Yesterday, I faced my first tornado watch with lightning and thunder pounding the city. Today, off and on rain with more thunder this evening. Very crazy weather.

However, even with the weather, I managed to sneak out of the hotel and visit a couple of stores...including the Candy store. After tasting some yummy treats (sorry no golden tickets in this candy), I was able to visit the Disney store and the Apple store (of course).

Today, after our breakfast meetings, I was able to swing by Bentley Gold Cost. Oh, yea the cars were awesome!


Which car is your favorite?

I have to run and catch another meeting in a few minutes, but wanted to check in. I leave tomorrow morning. Until then...

God Bless,

Ottster!

CHICAGO TRIP - AUGUST '07 - DAY 2

Meetings...Meetings...Meetings, Today was a day of meetings. The only thing I got to see in Chicago was this statue of a man holding an umbrella waving at a taxi. Lots and lots of meetings. Tomorrow, the conference begins and I will be able to sit in more meetings, meetings and more meetings.

Not much to report today except that I went to lots of meetings, meetings and more meetings. I think you get the picture.

Tell mom and Moose hi! Hope everything is going well and I miss you!

God Bless,

Ottster

CHICAGO TRIP - AUGUST '07 - DAY 1

Greetings again from Chicago. I love this city! Lots to do, good food, nice people, and wonderful atmosphere. Tell mom, I saw lots of "nice buildings".

Today, we left Fresno at 7:30 and flew to Dallas, Texas. From Texas we flew to Chicago, Illinois. We then took a taxi to our hotel and I went to dinner. It was great. After dinner, my group went to the top of the John Hancock building. It is the second tallest building in Chicago. The picture to the left is me in my room and a stick that was in my drink. The "drink stick" is an image of the building that we were in. We had a drink on the 96th floor of this building. That is 96 of your schools stacked on top of each other...a long way up.

Tomorrow, I have a meeting where we will talk about apples. Have a good day and be good in school. Keep reading your books and fill out your journal. Give Moose and mommy a big hug for me!

God Bless,

Ottster