By Katie Sanderson – Katie is a GlobaLinks Learning Abroad 2013 Summer Correspondent who is participating in a 10 Week Internship in Chile. Katie is from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln.
Katie Sanderson – 10 Week Internship in Chile
You would think after living in a city for five weeks you would get bored, but I just keep finding more fun things to do! This weekend I finally went to Bellavista to dance all night with friends, but I did so much more than that! I also went to the beautiful Santa Lucia, a ¨cerro¨ like San Cristobal but smaller. It doesn´t end there though; I also flew above Santiago and the surrounding mountains on a plane!
My weekend started with the lively Bellavista with my roommate, Loes, and her friend, Odi from Holland. I was very nervous to go dancing in a new culture, but once there I quickly got over it and had tons of fun. We even got in for free! Although I think my hearing is permanently damaged (it isn´t!), I had a fantastic time dancing to Chilean and American music with my friends. After dancing our hearts away we went to McDonalds since it was the only restaurant open at 5am. It was our first time in a McDonalds in Chile, so naturally we decided to take a picture with our foreign fast food, which shattered any illusion of not being foreigners we had. Of course being of blonde, light brown, and dark blonde hair color we didn´t exactly fit the Chilean description to begin with.
Although smaller than the famous towering San Cristobal, Santa Lucia has been my favorite hill in Santiago. While winding up and down the stairs of the ornate architecture I ate my favorite Chilean food, empanadas, with my friend Hector.
That weekend I had empanadas for four of my meals and I even learned how to make them! Empanadas are one of my favorite foods in Chile. Santa Lucia´s main feature is her fountain that is guarded by a statue of the God Neptune. But that wasn´t all the former volcano had to offer! Hector and I loved going through the forested areas of the hill towards the top, where we could see a beautiful view of Santiago.
It had even rained the day prior, so our view was unhindered by smog. I think I like Santa Lucia the most because of how it integrated itself with nature. While it had beautiful statues and views, it also had trails with vegetation unique to Chile. I really liked this secret feature of the hill and I plan to return to Santa Lucia after my trip to Brazil.
Later that day I was able to see a view few people have the opportunity to experience. I flew over Santiago and the surrounding mountains with Hector and a couple of his friends. It was an amazing view and sunset; I feel so lucky to have seen it!
The day was perfect for flying and my view was unsurpassed. The mountains also stretched on miles and I knew that if we had kept flying we would have eventually reached the sea. Far above Santiago I recognized a few places I had visited, although I most wanted to find the plant I work at. Maipu is about an hour from downtown Santiago, which was the easiest to locate because of the towering buildings. Before our flight I noticed we were fueling up with COPEC fuel!
While on our flight I caught myself wondering how much Fatty Acid Methyl Ester was in the fuel we were using. At work one of my tasks currently is to develop and implement a procedure to find the amount of Fatty Acid Methyl Ester (FAME) in aviation fuel. FAME is used in biodiesel, a ´green´ fuel that uses plants for energy, but is not suitable for aviation fuels due to its higher freezing point and its impact on the thermal stability of the fuel. Pipelines are not used for solely one fuel and FAME contaminants the other fuels because it adheres to the walls of the pipes. Very small quantities of FAME are allowed in the jet fuel, 5 parts per million preferred, and my task is to quantitatively determine the amount of FAME in COPEC´s fuel. After researching about FAME and ways to detect it I approached my boss with the items I will need along with my proposal for a procedure. Although I have learned many things at COPEC, this is probably my favorite. Before starting this project I didn´t even know what FAME was and after hearing about it I had many questions that I spent hours answering online. I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of my materials so I can start testing fuel!
Chao from Chile!
