Experiments

During our stay here in Chile, our research has expanded beyond the walls of the electrochemistry lab. We have constantly been conducting both quantitative and qualitiative research. The phrase "It will be an experiment!" has made its way into our daily lives. Our quantitative research has been measured by our success of achieving (or at least getting close to) our goal. Some examples include, but are not limited to:

1. Riding the bus-We have successfully completed every bus ride to the appropriate destination. But, today is another day that includes TWO more attempts, so who knows?!?!

2.Oven/Stove & Cooking in General- It took a couple of days (and calls to the front desk and the property owner) for us to figure out how to start the range and the oven. Even after that, we are still conducting further experiments on how to keep the oven lit and NOT burn what we are cooking. We have yet to have overall success, and morale is running low as far as the oven goes.

3-Shopping-We have conducted many experiments as far as shopping. We have learned that all produce and fresh bread must be marked prior to getting to the cash register (there is someone that just sits in the department and puts a barcode on the items for you). Yes, it was a lesson learned quickly. Also, shopping at the open markets has been quite a learning experience. We have learned that there is more than one type of avacado here and they do not all necessarily have the same taste or texture. We are sticking to hass avacados from here on out.

4- Purchasing tickets for the tour buses for the correct destination and time is one experiment that has gone extremely well, considering the language barrier. Included, navigating our train experience to La Campana, which required the purchase of a special card, was a success.

5- The Laundry Mat- We are pretty sure that the sweet woman there feels bad for Brant, since he is always with two women who are laughing at him (which we are laughing because of the language barrier, yet Brant still tries-with little success). We have been using the services of the lavanderia since our first experiment of using the washing machine (which we have only found to have a HOT cycle and it takes 4 hours to run with an additional 36+ hours to air dry the items-depending on the temperature during the day).

Our qualitiative research was unexpected to each of us. It is focused on the amount of interest Chilean people have on us. We get many glances and long stares. Jennifer and I are becoming accustomed to random "cat calls", honking of horns, flashing of headlights, and wistles while we take our daily walks/runs. From our understanding, this is normal in Chile. It is going to take some getting used to when I return to my quite neighborhood in South Dakota and just hear the lawn mowers & dogs barking.